A Concert for George Harrison that represents Portland

Kate O’Brien leads the string section of All Things Must Pass

By Claire Levine

Kate O’Brien was in high school when she first heard GeorgeHarrison’s masterpiece, All Things Must Pass. When she started listening to the songs in preparation for the Feb. 1show of the same name at Revolution Hall, she realized, “These songs are in mybones,” and in the bones of most Americans of her generation.

“I was so honored when (producer) Mark Bowden invited me to pulltogether the string section,” Kate said. While she had always related to themusic, she realized that she’s always listened as a fan, not as a violinist. Sothe task of learning and coordinating the string accompaniment presented both achallenge and a joyous opportunity to learn the music from an entirelydifferent perspective.

One of the things that attracted Mark to the All Things Must Passalbum was Phil Spector’s “wall of sound.” The show’s poster touts that the showwill be “in all its Phil Spector glory.” That means a lot of musicians (morethan 30) and a whole bunch of instruments. Kate said all the musicians arespending a lot of time listening to the original recording to best recreate thefull measure of the music.

“I imagine the strings and the horns as creating a layer ofwoodchips on the floor of a playground,” forming a flexible basis to supportthe lead instruments and vocals. “Every once in a while the sound of a horn ora violin will rise up,” and catch everyone’s attention, but for the most partthe instruments are a beautifully integrated texture of tones, Kate said.

Kate is a classically trained violinist who established and runsthe MosaicString Academy. She has been gigging with a widevariety of bands for nearly 20 years, and recently ventured out as asinger-songwriter. She also currently plays and sings with the GerleHaggard Band.

For several years, Kate has performed in TheNext Waltz productions – the annual recreation of The Band’s last performance(proceeds of which also support the JWF Musicians’ Emergency Healthcare Fund).This production draws on an already close-knit musical community, and manyperformers come back year after year.

“It’s like a big musical family, with an annual reunion of people you love.”The 2019 show greatly expanded that family, with the addition of newperformers, including several young women of color.  These musicians added vitality to what isalready a high-energy production.

Everyone rose to the moment and “made each songtheir own,” in Kate’s words, while respecting the nearly iconic performanceswe’ve been listening to on the film and albums for more than 40 years.

All Things Must Pass also benefits from the diversity of talentavailable in Portland and the concert will feature many women and a diversegroup of performers.  When Kate was askedto assemble a string section, she thought of four of the most talented peopleshe knew – all of whom happened to be female.

Kate said it’s a pleasure to watch Mark pull this event together, adding vision while guiding more than 30 musicians “who really work at being musicians.” She, like Mark, is excited for what she hopes is the first of many annual tributes to George Harrison.