Concert: The Tinnitus Brothers, Saxophone & Bass Jazz Duets

Camden Public Library welcomes The Tinnitus Brothers for a jazzy concert on Tuesday, October 20 at 6:30 PM in the Picker Room! Free as always. Cozy refreshments included.

Bassist Doug Rich and alto saxophonist/guitarist/vocalist Willie Sordillo have been playing together in a wide variety of bands and as a duo for nearly 30 years. Their musical collaborations have included jazz ensembles, funk and R&B bands, eclectic groups led by one or the other of them, pick-up bands, backing up a James Brown impersonator, the Marlene Jazz Ensemble, the Geoffrey Dana Hicks Quartet, MSQ, the RPS Band, Four Corners, Harmony Grove, and providing music for hundreds of jazz church services. As the Ballad Project, they toured the Midwest in 2019, and with Harmony Grove and as the Tinnitus Brothers, they accompanied Indiana-based poet Ketu Oladuwa for the Northeast legs of tours in 2024 and 2025.

The Tinnitus Brothers’ repertoire draws from both jazz and folk traditions, and includes well and lesser-known instrumentals from the jazz canon, original jazz instrumentals, and original songs with lyrics. In all genres, their seeming ability to communicate telepathically is the result of their deep friendship and long history of collaboration.

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Willie Sordillo has been performing professionally for a half century, working extensively as a freelance player, a member of diverse bands, and leading his own ensembles. With the Latin American ensemble, Flor de Caña, he is a multiple Boston Music Awards winner. Performing in concerts and festivals throughout North America and internationally, Willie’s original compositions have appeared in numerous song books, magazines and college texts and on his own and other artists’ recordings. He has contributed music to several films, and an arrangement used on the television show ER. He has performed with or opened shows for Pete Seeger, Ruben Blades, Kurt Elling, Richie Havens, Avery Sharpe and Tito Puente, among others. He served as Music Director for Jazz Worship at Old South Church in Boston for 18 years and regularly brings jazz to churches throughout Massachusetts as well as playing in a variety of other settings as both a leader and a sideman. Willie has recorded for both the Folkways and Flying Fish record labels, and his solo albums are now distributed by the Smithsonian Institution.

Doug Rich has varied and extensive experience as a bassist in several musical genres including jazz, gospel, and R&B. He has held the bass chair for jazz musicians such as tenor player Ray Felder and gospel groups like the Voices of Myrtle. He was the bassist for the house band at Myrtle Baptist Church in Newton, MA for over 20 years, and played regularly at the weekly Jazz Worship service hosted by Old South Church in Boston. He is the bassist in the eclectic quartet Harmony Grove, led by Willie Sordillo and vocalist Zoë Krohne. Doug is the founder and leader of the fusion project, the RPS Band. A cum laude graduate of Berklee College of Music, Doug has had the honor of working with legends such as Lionel Hampton and as an opening act for the Winans with Vanessa Bell Armstrong.