Portland’s COMMOTION is a live experience that you do not want to miss!  Drawing from funk, hip hop, and afrobeat rhythms, they bring a non-stop dance party from start to finish.  Having presented such high concept shows as Live Band vs. Ohmega Watts (band vs. DJ) and Afrobeat Tribute to Michael Jackson, the band is well versed in dance music and draws from these styles and other rhythms from around the globe!

Led by keyboardist, Ben Darwish, COMMOTION features core members Dan Duval on guitars, Sam Howard on bass, Russ Kleiner on drums, and a rotating cast of impressive horn players and percussionists.  Members of COMMOTION have also performed with artists such as Ohmega Watts, Curtis Salgado, Blue Cranes, Reggie Watts, and March Fourth Marching Band to name a few.

Things are heating up for COMMOTION, and clubs have caught the fever. Recently, top northwest clubs have counted on the group to start the party and keep it strong!  COMMOTION has appeared at the Goodfoot Lounge, Tractor Tavern, Jimmy Mak’s, Jo Fed’s, Luckey’s, and at the Crystal Ballroom for Obama’s historic inauguration!  The group released their first full length album in August to a sold-out show at Someday Lounge.

Most recently, they were featured at PICA’s Time-Based Art Festival presenting an Afrobeat Tribute To Michael Jackson.

Keep an eye out for COMMOTION show dates because live is where they thrive!

[ORCHESTRAL FUNK] Whether reimagining Michael Jackson through the ears of Fela Kuti or exploding with any number of local jazz projects, Portland keymaster and composer Ben Darwish is a musical sponge, and he soaks up funk like a steroidal Brawny sheet. With Commotion—Darwish’s long-standing project with guitarist Dan Duval, bassman Sam Howard, drummer Russ Kleiner and an on-call army of guest players—Darwish proudly flaunts his debt to Kuti, Herbie Hancock, 1970s orchestral funk masters and damn near every funk master of the past 40 years. The world-beat and hip-hop-infused compositions are, by nature, repetitive. But anyone impressed by skilled musicians holding down a groove and letting the horns do the talking would be hard pressed to find a better live dance party.

- Willamette Week

“…they know how to have a good time live and want to help you do the same. Do yourself a favor and let them entertain you!” -Eugene Weekly

“Combining two styles of music that share an entirely danceable beat (for example, a three-person percussion section) Ben Darwish and the folks of Commotion kept the majority of the audience in motion from start to finish, a feat that has rarely happened at any tractor [tavern] show.” -www.melophobe.com

Listen to some tracks from our album or visit the albums page for more info, tracks and links for purchasing.

COMMOTION (2009)

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