Inspired by the Metropole Orkest in the Netherlands, the American Metropole Orchestra is a 30-piece ensemble dedicated to preserving American jazz, traditional pop, and rock-era standards through live performance. Founded in 2005 by music director Keller Coker, then a music professor at Western Oregon University, their first decade together included concerts with Allen Toussaint, Joe Lovano, Lynn Anderson, and the Platters' Sonny Turner, just to name a few. In 2017, the orchestra was featured on Out of Nowhere, a live album by the Monkees' Micky Dolenz. Capturing a performance at Western Oregon University's Rice Auditorium that April, it found them backing his rock band on several Monkees hits as well as covers of tunes by Buddy Johnson and the Beatles. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi