Fractal Quintet is fronted by guitarist Libby Roach. Along with a rotating roster of local professional musicians and sit-in soloists, Roach presides over a group that takes classic jazz influences along with a love of 70's fusion (ala Davis, Corea, Hancock) and adds an awareness of conceptually jazz-rooted musics such as Avante-Garde, Experimental, Jungle, Drum'n'Bass, etc.

Roach, the principal songwriter and bandleader, earned her Bachelors in Music degree from Portland State University, working under the direction of jazz greats such as Jerry Hahn, Darrell Grant, Alan Jones and Glen Moore. She has played in various PDX jazz and rock bands since 2000 and has opened for Maceo Parker, The Average White Band, Robert Walters' 20th Congress, and The Cherry Poppin' Daddies. She has performed at venues such as Jimmy Mak’s, The Aladdin, and The Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

 

FQ was featured on the show "Homegrown Live" on Portland's Jazz station, KMHD 89.1 FM, and has performed at Musicfest Northwest along with other local music festivals.

Fractal's current line-up is rounded out by bassist Damian Erskine (Tony Furtado), drummer Kipp Crawford (Celilo), Keyboardist Matt Weiers and multi-instrumental soloist/percussionist Paul Evans (Taarka). Though currently a five-piece band, Fractal's instrumentation includes soprano sax, melodica, all manner of Latin percussion, electric piano, and classic synth tones along with Roach's guitar and the solid and progressive rhythm section provided by Crawford and Erskine. The result is music with a forward-thinking structure, well rooted in the foundations of traditional Jazz music, and presented in the sonic vernacular and instrumentation of classic 70s fusion.              It's Jazz, man.