Known for her evocative work with Pacific Northwest mainstays like Blue Cranes, Swansea, and Loch Lomond, Portland pianist, vocalist, and composer Rebecca Sanborn presents her most personal and expansive project to date with Shadow Work (PJCER 071). The album began as a cycle of late-night compositions written at the piano in the quiet solitary hours while her young daughter slept, serving as an intimate exploration of dreams, identity, motherhood, and the subconscious journey toward wholeness. Over several years, these quiet meditations evolved through live performance and collaborative development into a monumental 50-minute multi-movement suite that bridges singer-songwriter vulnerability with the harmonic scope and dramatic power of a large jazz ensemble.
To bring this lush narrative landscape to life, Sanborn assembled a formidable 18-member ensemble spanning Portland’s jazz, classical, and indie music communities. The album’s eight original tracks feature bespoke arrangements by a stellar lineup of collaborators—including Douglas Detrick, Todd Sickafoose, Randy Porter, Andrew Oliver, Joe Cunningham, Kyleen King, and Sanborn herself—who weave complex brass, woodwinds, and string quartets around her shimmering keyboards and layered vocal harmonies. From the driving intensity of “Minotaur” to the cinematic narrative arc of “Cutting the Path,” Shadow Work balances virtuosic solos and feature performances with tight, orchestral group dynamics.
Produced and mixed by acclaimed bassist/producer Todd Sickafoose (Hadestown, Ani DiFranco) alongside vocal producer Ji Tanzer, the recording captures an atmospheric depth tracked across Oregon at Hallowed Halls, Mason House Cemetery Studio, and Earycanal. The project’s originating spark comes full circle on “Nadia’s Lullaby,” which features guest vocals from Sanborn’s daughter Nadia. Mastered by Jeff Lipton and Costanza Tinti at Peerless Mastering, and packaged with cover design by Dylan Marcus McConnell at Tiny Little Hammers and photography by Jason Quigley, Shadow Work stands as a defining milestone in Sanborn’s career and a premier showcase for the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble and PJCE Records.
Personnel:
Rebecca Sanborn – compositions, lyrics, vocals, harmonies, keyboards, engineering
Quinn Walker – trumpet
Dick Titterington – trumpet (Minotaur, So Easy, Flower Dance, Nadia’s Lullaby)
John Whaley – trumpet (The Big Room, Chariot, Not Knowing, Cutting the Path)
James Powers – trombone
Chris Shuttleworth – trombone
Mary-Sue Tobin – alto and soprano sax
John Savage – alto sax, flute
Tim Willcox – tenor sax
Mieke Bruggeman – baritone sax
Ryan Meagher – electric guitar, acoustic guitar
Randy Porter – piano on The Big Room, Chariot, Not Knowing, Cutting the Path, arrangement for Cutting the Path
Jasnam Daya Singh – piano on Minotaur, So Easy, Flower Dance, Nadia’s Lullaby
Jon Shaw – bass on The Big Room, Not Knowing, Cutting the Path
Eric Gruber – bass on So Easy, Flower Dance, Nadia’s Lullaby
Todd Sickafoose – electric bass on Minotaur, Chariot
Ji Tanzer – drums, electronic drums, engineering
Patti King – violin
Bryce Caster – violin
Anna Fritz – cello
Kyleen King – viola, arrangement (Not Knowing)
Nadia Tanzer – vocals on Nadia’s Lullaby
Composer Credits: Rebecca Sanborn
Arrangements: Douglas Detrick (Minotaur, So Easy, Flower Dance, Nadia’s Lullaby), Rebecca Sanborn and Todd Sickafoose (Minotaur), Andrew Oliver (The Big Room), Joe Cunningham (Chariot), Randy Porter (Cutting the Path), Kyleen King (Not Knowing)
Recorded by: Justin Phelps at Hallowed Halls, Portland, OR, Ji Tanzer and Rebecca Sanborn at Mason House Cemetery Studio, Portland, OR, and Todd Sickafoos at Earycanal, Eugene, OR
Mixed by: Todd Sickafoose at Earycanal, Eugene, OR
Mastered by: Jeff Lipton at Peerless Mastering, Boston, MA
Assistant Mastering Engineer: Costanza Tinti
Executive Producers: Ryan Meagher and Rebecca Sanborn
Producer: Todd Sickafoose
Vocal Producer: Ji Tanzer
Art design by: Dylan Marcus McConnell at Tiny Little Hammers
Album photography: Jason Quigley
PJCER 071
BIO
Rebecca Sanborn began writing songs at the age of six, with an early pattern of creative straying from sheet music. She studied at the Contemporary Music Program at The College of Santa Fe, in New Mexico, under the experimental composers Joseph Weber and Peter Gordon. While earning her B.F.A in Theatre Arts, Rebecca was moulded by Martha Graham’s personal demonstrator, Juanita Barry, in rigorous modern dance classes for four years.
Upon returning home to the Northwest, Rebecca met her husband and musical partner, drummer Ji Tanzer. They are both members of the adventurous jazz quintet, Blue Cranes, and the art pop trio, Swansea. Rebecca also plays in Portland’s veteran indie group Loch Lomond, and the all-female synth trio, Echo Echo Echo with Kyleen King (Brandi Carlile) and Jenny Conlee-Drizos (The Decemberists).
Rebecca and Ji starred in the film “Light of Mine”, which garnered a coveted spot at the A.F.I. Fest in 2011. “Light of Mine” was the only independent film from The States to be included in the festival.
Following her love of the written word, Rebecca earned a spot in the highly competitive Tin House Winter Workshop in 2016, mentoring under the Pulitzer Prize winning author Mitchell S. Jackson. She has completed five novels.
In 2021, Rebecca was commissioned to write for the Montavilla Jazz Fest, resulting in the song cycle “Shadow Work”. In 2023, Rebecca received a RACC grant to record Shadow Work with the Portland Jazz Composers’ Ensemble. In 2025 she received the Holler Fund grant, and the Echo Fund grant to continue the work on this large-scale project involving 29 musicians and artists. Shadow Work will be released on the PJCE label. In true bookend fashion, this album release will occur on the opening night of the Montavilla Jazz Festival on September 4th, 2026.
When she is not performing or writing, she can be found chasing after her skateboard-obsessed eight-year-old daughter, Nadia, or trying to get some sleep.