One of the founding members of N Touch, drummer Anthony is Eldon’s younger brother who Eldon inspired and encouraged to play music. He studied architecture and music at Portland State with pianist Darrell Grant and performed with the flamenco group Al-Andalus. He joined Pink Martini in 2011, and he recently returned to Portland to be home more with his wife Portia and their baby daughter. Anthony has toured the world and performed at Carnegie Hall but considers playing with N Touch “like coming home.”
Chris Turner
Another original N Touch member who’s returned home after touring with Prince and living in Houston is “Funky” Chris Turner. Chris brings a ton of energy, fun, and professionalism to every performance, often utilizing a synthesizer, keyboard, and keytar. In 2020 he released his first solo album, Love & Legacy.
Zack Poelwijk
Zack was classically trained as a pianist but came to love soul/R&B music. After attending Barlow High School in Gresham, he studied gospel music with the University of Oregon Gospel Singers who won multiple national championships with Zack at the keyboard. In 2017 he married Claire who also sang with the UO group. In addition to N Touch, Zack has played with Oregon Music Hall of Fame Soul singer Andy Stokes, Grammy Winner Thara Memory, Alonzo Chadwick & Zoulful Muzic, and he is the organist for Emmanuel Church of God in Christ United.
Torry Ward
Torry is a bassist who maintains a love of keeping the bottom moving. He began playing bass at Jefferson High School, played and recorded with several artists, later to find himself in the midst of Portland’s hip hop scene as a producer. Today the husband of Sheila and father of three can also be found playing bass with LaRhonda Steele and New Song Community Church and finding his way back into the studio from time to time.
Jonathan Schuler
nathan makes the guitar sing with his blues licks. Originally from Hawai’i, he studied music at Warner Pacific College where he joined the band of Rwandan soul singer Enric Sifa. After graduating, he began playing with Embrace, a gospel music group led by Mike Dean, Zoulful Music, and N Touch. He is a regular player at Imago Dei Eastside and in the Portland gospel music community.
N Touch
From Left to Right: Linda Tellis, Anthony Jones, Jonathan Schuler, Torry Ward, Zack Poelwijk, Ruby “Blue” Jones, Chris Turner. Seated: Eldon T Jones
Past & Present Members and Special Guests
Patrick Cooper, keyboard David Allen, guitar Darius Fentress, percussion Donovan Fairley, bass Tracey Harris-Woods, singer Jeffrey Andrews, bass Terry Taylor, percussion Matthew Minnieweather, keyboard Ben Jones, bass Tomo Maruta, guitar Erick Hailstone, guitar Geno Michaels, keyboard Charles Tellis, drums Steven Holt, drums Alvin Johnson, keyboard Gary Lomprey, guitar LaRhonda Steele, singer Ronnie Wright, singer Alonzo Chadwick, singer Ruby “Blue” Jones, singer Linda Tellis, singer
