Beginning on Friday, February 17 and lasting through Sunday, February 26, Portland will be Jazz heaven. The 2012 Portland Jazz Festival, the ninth annual, will continue to demonstrate why it is highly regarded nationwide, both among audiences and performers.
Once again, Oregon Music News, as official festival Online Sponsor, will cover the festival in all aspects, including, for the second year, podcasting all of the Jazz Conversations. Here is our podcast page, which includes all of the Jazz Conversation from the 2011 festival. They are also available for download for free on iTunes.
Tim Willcox writing for OMN this year.
Our team of reporters and photographers will be all over the concerts bringing you previews first, and then photos and reviews of the performances… and we’ll give you the flavor too, as we always do in our popular, “The Music and the Hang” posts. Check our 2011 and 2010 coverage.
We are thrilled to have saxophonist/composer Tim Willcox join the festival writing staff this year. Jack Berry, Jeff Melton, Angela Allen, Kevin Tomanka (who is also a photographer), and Tom D’Antoni will give you blanket coverage. Photographers Anthony Pidgeon, John Rudoff, and Jason Kaplan will give us memorable photographs. Kelley Shannon and Stephen Blackman will record the Jazz Conversations, which we’ll post moments after each is concluded.
Here are the headliners, followed by OMN’s best bets in the clubs. Here is all of the venue information. Here’s where to buy tickets.
Thara Memory kicks off the festival with “Artfully Miles” performance and an award
While the festival awards him the second annual “Portland Jazz Master,” adding to his list of honors which already include the Jazz Society of Oregon’s “Musician of the Year” award and induction into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame, Thara Memory will pay musical homage to Miles Davis and Gil Evans. Friday, February 17th at 7:30pm at the Winningstad Theatre in the Portland Center for Performing Arts, tickets.
The honor is a no-brainer. Esperanza Spalding put it nicely when she said, “Thara’s commitment to our music is a beacon of inspiration to musicians everywhere, and an example for all practitioners of the arts and all educators.”
The show is very exciting. Although some of the Davis/Evans collaborations get airplay on Jazz radio, they are seldom if ever recreated in the form in which they were originally presented. Memory will include compositions and arrangements from classic albums Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain.
That we will be able to hear Memory’s take on these classic and beautiful pieces is a wonder.
Many of Memory’s past collaborators will be on hand including: tubist Ja’Ttik Clark (principal with the Oregon Symphony) and violinist Peter Piazza (Portland Opera), as well as lead trumpeter Ben McDonald, bassist Ben Jones, drummer Israel Annoh, pianist Janice Scroggins, trombonist Stan Boch, trombonist Dan Brewster, French hornist Bill Stalnaker, and tenor saxophonist Renato Caranto, among others. They will perform music from these respective records, which are an upwards of six decades old, including: “The Buzzard Song,” “Gone,” “Summertime,” “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” “Will o’ the Wisp,” “Concierto de Aranjuez,” and a solo from “Seven Steps to Heaven.”
Memory says, “I met Miles once but he never taught me straight on. Yet his teaching was so prevalent, for four or five decades he constantly changed the music. I hope by doing this program, I can pick up where Miles left off and I can continue going with that torch and making sure it stays lit.”
OMN Preview: Tuesday, February 15 by Tom D’Antoni / Concert photos by Kevin Tomanka
JAZZ CONVERSATION: Thara Memory with Carlton Jackson at the Art Bar, 1:30pm, free, hosted by Oregon Music News, available on OMN podcast shortly after it concludes.
OMN Best Bets in the clubs
Damian Erskine
Chance Hayden and Marc Hutchinson at West Cafe, free, 6:30pm — Guitar/saxophone conversations.
3 Leg Torso at Tony Starlight’s, $13, 8pm — Portland’s famed Third World Party band.
Ezra Weiss Group at Ivories Jazz Lounge, $10, 8pm — Watch the OMN interview.
Bobby Torres at Heathman Hotel 8pm — Watch the OMN interview.
John Stowell and Rob Davis at Riverplace Hotel, free, 8pm — Another set of guitar/saxophone conversations.
The Patrick Lamb Band at Jimmy Mak’s, $15, 8pm — Jazz and soul and good feelings.
Robert Moore and the Wildcats at Touche, 8:30pm, cover — Trumpet and voice, Moore is the real wild cat.
David Friesen and John Gross at Camellia Lounge, 9pm, $6 — Bass and saxophone of the highest order.
Damian Erskine and Carlton Jackson at Nel Centro at Hotel Modera, 9:30 — Bass and drums, two of Oregon’s finest.
JAZZ CONVERSATION: Enrico Rava with Tim DuRoche, 5pm, The Art Bar, free, hosted by Oregon Music News, available on OMN podcast shortly after it concludes.
Enrico Rava Tribe plus Tony Pacini Trio
The ECM trumpeter weaves tapestries of soothing, molten beauty. His Portland Jazz Festival debut. Winningstad Theater, 7:30pm, $22-42
OMN Preview: Wednesday, February 15 by Tim Willcox / Concert photos by Anthony Pidgeon
Watch “Tears For Neda” from his latest ECM album Tribe:
OMN Best Bets in the clubs
Tablao at Brasserie Montmartre, 5:30pm, free — Exciting Flamenco from bassist Al Criado, guitarist Dan Romero and (when he’s in town) Pink Martini percussionist Martin Zarzar… watch who comes and sits in.
Dan Balmer Trio at Aloft Hotel, 7:30pm, free — guitar, piano and drums. Solid. Very, very solid. Leaders all.
Devin Phillips Band at Jimmy Mak’s, 8pm, $10 — If it’s Jazz or Funk or both, Phillips bands are worth it.
Ron Steen Jazz Jam at Clyde’s Prime Rib, 8:30pm — The Sunday night jam on Saturday… always a treat.
Kelley Shannon Quartet featuring David Friesen, “A Tribute to Sarah Vaughn” at Touche, 8:30pm — One of our best Jazz singers sings doing one of the greatest Jazz singers of all time’s best tunes… and Friesen, too!
Tom Wakeling & Steve Christofferson Quartet at Ivories Jazz Lounge, 8:30pm — Right around the corner from Touche, too.
Better Homes and Gardens at the Art Bar, 9:30pm, free — Blue Cranes’ Reed Wallsmith and Joe Cunningham (Sly Pig), Jon Shaw and Tim DuRoche… must see.
Late Nite Jam led by George Colligan at Ivories Jazz Lounge, 11:45pm — Not the festival jam (that’s next weekend), but players will be flocking to this to play with Colligan.
JAZZ CONVERSATION: Roy Nathanson & Curtis Fowlkes of The Jazz Passengers with Marty Hughley at The Art Bar, 5pm, free, hosted by Oregon Music News, available on OMN podcast shortly after it concludes.
The Jazz Passengers with guests Dan Balmer and Farnell Newton
Are they Art Blakey, Frank Zappa, Stravinsky or Spike Jones? Maybe all of the above. Great music, great fun… and Farnell and Dan, too! 7pm, Winningstad Theatre, $22-$42
OMN Preview: Thursday, February 16 by Jeff Melton / Concert photos by John Rudoff
OMN Best Bets in the clubs
George Colligan Trio with Nicole Glover at Ivories Jazz Lounge, 4pm — Glover is the new saxophonist emerging from Alan Jones Academy… watch her OMN interview.
Quadraphonnes at the Blue Monk, 8pm, cover — Guaranteed musical satisfaction as Portland’s all-female sax quartet takes you through dizzying musical diversity.
Charles McPherson
Charles McPherson with Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, Alan Jones Academy of Music and Portland Youth Jazz Orchestra workshops
The veteran saxophonist and collaborator with Mingus will spend the day and night at Jimmy Mak’s starting at 3pm, free, with these workshops.
Charles McPherson with the PSU Jazz Group featuring Darrell Grant at Jimmy Mak’s, 7:30pm, $10-$15
JAZZ CONVERSATION: Charles McPherson with Randy Porter at Jimmy Mak’s, 9:30, $15-$20, hosted by Oregon Music News, available on OMN podcast shortly after it concludes. Followed by McPherson performance with Randy Porter Trio in a Tribute to Lester Young and Charlie Parker.
Note: Performance will not be podcasted.
OMN Best Bets in the clubs
Nancy King and Mary Kadderly Winter 2012 Jazz Singing Workshop and Performance at West Cafe, 7pm — Can you find better teachers? Nope.
Mardi Gras at the Mission Theater with Bridgetown Sextet featuring Andrew Oliver, Devin Phillips and Marilyn Keller
Mission Theater, 7:30pm, $15 — The festival takes a stab at Fat Tuesday for the first time. Who ‘dat?
OMN Preview: Saturday, February 18 by Tom D’Antoni / Concert photography by John Rudoff
OMN Best Bets in the clubs
Dan Duval & Bill Athens at Brasserie Montmartre, 5:30pm — Duval a very special composer/guitarist and Athens a top bassist… run there.
Belinda Underwood at The Heathman Hotel, 7pm — Her Jazz appearances are getting scarcer and scarcer, catch this one.
White Bird Dance Company presents Garth Fagan “Griot New York” at Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 7:30pm, $26-$64 — “…legendary collaboration between the Tony Award-winning choreographer Garth Fagan, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Wynton Marsalis and celebrated sculptor Martin Puryear. Set to Marsalis’ melodic and haunting jazz score…”
Chuck Israels Jazz Orchestra plays the music of Bill Evans, 8:30, Ivories Jazz Lounge, cover — And he ought to know, he played and recorded with Evans for years.
JAZZ CONVERSATION: Dee Dee Bridgewater with Renee Mitchell at PSU Lincoln Hall #75, noon, free, hosted by Oregon Music News, available on OMN podcast shortly after it concludes.
Dee Dee Bridgewater: To Billie Holiday with Love: A Celebration of Lady Day at the Newmark Theater, 7pm, $28-$58
One video is worth a thousand or so words:
OMN Preview: Tuesday, February 21 by Angela Allen / Concert photography by Anthony Pidgeon
OMN Best Bets in the clubs
Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble at Gallery 135, 8pm, cover — Gathering of most of the Indie Jazz talent and talents… do not miss.
PDX Jazz at Nel Centro: John Gross with Cameron Morgan & Scott Cutshall, 9pm, free — What will Gross be up to tonight… one never knows and it’s always worth finding out.
PDX Jazz at The Art Bar: Rebecca Kilgore & Dave Frishberg — Totally simpatico duo, excellent enough to relax and enjoy themselves, that’s why we do, too.
JAZZ CONVERSATION: Roy Haynes with Mel Brown at PSU Lincoln Hall #75, noon, free, hosted by Oregon Music News, available on OMN podcast shortly after it concludes.
Roy Haynes Fountain of Youth Band at Newmark Theater, 7pm, $28-$58
He’s 86 years old and he still burns as brightly as he did when he was 26. Will be the highlight of the festival for many.
OMN Preview: Wednesday, February 22 by Kevin Tomanka who will also photograph the concert
Here’s the band. Sorry, Chick Corea will not be along for this ride:
JAZZ CONVERSATION: Vijay Iyer with Sean Brennan at The Art Bar, 5pm, free, hosted by Oregon Music News, available on OMN podcast shortly after it concludes.
Bill Frisell “For Portland Only” The Music of John Lennon, Speedy West and Jimmy Bryant at the Crystal Ballroom, 9:30pm, $25-$45
West and Bryant are country legends, Bryant a guitarist, fiddle player and producer, and West a pedal steel guitar player. The opening set, dedicated to West and Bryant will feature Frisell, Greg Leisz (steel guitars), Tony Scherr (bass), and Kenny Wollesen (drums). The second set, titled “All We Are Saying,” pays homage to John Lennon and features the same lineup in addition to Jenny Scheinman (violin). Lennon originals “Across the Universe,” “Revolution,” “Nowhere Man,” “Imagine,” “Come Together,” “Julia,” “Love,” “Beautiful Boy,” “Mother,” “Give Peace a Chance,” and more will be performed.
In talking about West and Bryant, Frisell said, “I’d never heard anything like it. The more I listened, the deeper and deeper it seemed to get. The labels, Jazz, Country, Swing, started melting away, which is one thing I always look/hope for in my own music. I was hearing pure music on the highest level.”
OMN Preview: Tuesday, February 21 interview with Scheinman / Concert photography by Kevin Tomanka
Watch a behind the scenes look at the making of Bill Frisell’s September 2011 release “All We Are Saying” featuring the music of John Lennon:
OMN Best Bets in the clubs
Kelley Shannon
Pete Krebs and the Portland Playboys at the Secret Society, 6pm, free — Tasty swing, Krebs may be the coolest guy in town… watch an OMN interview and see if you agree.
Farnell Newton Group at Ivories Jazz Lounge, 8pm, cover — Always interesting to see what trumpeter/composer Newton has up his sleeve.
PDX Jazz at The Nines: Kelley Shannon Trio, 8pm, free — She always has the best players in town with her because she’s one of the best singers in town.
Alan Jones Sextet at Brasserie Montmartre, 8pm, cover — Famed Jones 6 at the newly opened downstairs room at the Bra… great combination.
David Friesen Trio at Touche, 8:30pm, cover — There is no bad time to see Friesen, he always excels, excites and astounds.
PDX Jazz at Hotel 50: Justin Morell Trio featuring Damian Erskine and Ben Darwish, 9pm, free — Inspired trio who do not usually play as one and we just don’t see enough of Morell… at all.
PDX Jazz at Rogue: Reggie Houston Trio at Rogue Distillery and Public House, 9pm, free — New Orleans’ loss, Portland’s gain, now a Portland icon… magnificent.
Tim Willcox Quartet featuring David Goldblatt at Camellia Lounge, cover — When he’s not writing for us, he’s playing sax, great intimate room like no other.
PDX Jazz Midnight Jam Session hosted by Ezra Weiss at the Mission Theater, midnight, free — Always a festival favorite, especially if members of the headliners’ bands show up.
JAZZ CONVERSATION: Bill Frisell with Robert Baird at the Art Bar, 12:30pm, free, hosted by Oregon Music News, available on OMN podcast shortly after it concludes.
Bill Frisell solo and the 858 Quartet at Newmark Theater, 7pm, $28-$58
The 858 ensemble includes Scheinman, Eyvind Kang (viola), and Hank Roberts (cello). They will perform material from their recent release, Sign of Life.
OMN Preview: Thursday, February 23, Frisell interview by Jack Berry / Concert photography by Anthony Pidgeon
Here’s the Quartet performing “Signs of Life” in April 2011:
JAZZ CONVERSATION: Charlie Hunter with Matt Fleeger at The Art Bar, 2pm, free, hosted by Oregon Music News, available on OMN podcast shortly after it concludes.
MUSICIAN’S PANEL: Charlie Hunter, Dan Balmer and Dan Duval with OMN’s Tom D’Antoni at The Art Bar, 3:30pm, free, hosted by Oregon Music News, available on OMN podcast shortly after it concludes.
Charlie Hunter: Solo Jam and the “PDX Afrobeat Breakdown” featuring Scott Pemberton Trio with Ben Darwish, Commotion and Jujuba at the Crystal Ballroom, 9:30pm, $25
According to the festival, the idea is to “…explore and ‘breakdown’ the historical Afrobeat discipline as a pivotal root in the modern funk and jam band experience which combines the improvisational character of jazz with the raunchiness of funk and flavor mixture of African tradition.”
And they’re calling the show a “marathon.”
Here’s Hunter playing “How Ya Gonna Keep ‘Em Down on the Farm” at Neerland Winterfest 2010:
Here’s Commotion performing a portion of “Sippy Cup” at the Goodfoot in April 2011:
JAZZ CONVERSATION: Branford Marsalis with Devin Phillips at the Art Bar, 5:30pm, free, hosted by Oregon Music News, available on OMN podcast shortly after it concludes.
PDX Student Stage: Area high school and youth bands all day from 1pm at PSU Lincoln Hall #75, starting at 1:30pm, free
Great way to discover the kids who will be Portland’s Jazz stars of tomorrow.
OMN Best Bets in the clubs
Portland Jazz Quintet (says Quartet on the festival site) at Ivories Jazz Lounge, 8pm, $8 — Dick Titterington, Rob Davis, Greg Goebel, Dave Captein and Todd Strait… five of Portland’s finest players… straight-ahead paradise.
Bobby Torres
Stolen Sweets at the Secret Society, 8:30pm, free — The Boswell Sisters live… last time we saw them they were expanding their repertoire.
PDX Jazz at Hotel 50: Bobby Torres Trio featuring Dan Gaynor and Chris Woitach, 8pm, free — Seen prepping last weekend at Touche and sounding great… Woitach not seen nearly enough around here.
PDX Jazz at Rogue Ales: Louis Pain, Micah Kassell and Renato Caranto at Rogue Distillery and Public House, 9pm, free — Pain’s newish Nord still sounds like his B3, Ranato is full of soul, and Kassell is one of the finest, if least discovered drummers… a good time.
Rich Halley Quartet with Michael Vlatkovich, Clyde Reed and Carson Halley at Camellia Lounge, 9pm, cover — Read what OMN said about them when they played there in January.
PDX Jazz at The Art Bar: Upper Left Trio, 9:30pm, free — Clay Giberson on keys, Jeff Leonard on bass and Charlie Doggett on drums… grown up stuff… just released their fourth album.
PDX Jazz Midnight Jam Session hosted by Ezra Weiss, Mission Theater, midnight, free — Always a festival favorite, especially if members of the headliners’ bands show up.
Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo Duo at the Newmark Theater, 3pm, $28-$58
Just the two of them. Their album is called Songs of Mirth and Melancholy and they do both excellently.
OMN Preview: Friday, February 24 by Tim Willcox / Concert photography by Jason Kaplan
PDX Student Stage: Area high school and youth bands continue all day from 1pm at PSU Lincoln Hall #75, starting at 1:30pm, free
Great way to discover the kids who will be Portland’s Jazz stars of tomorrow.
OMN is hosting and podcasting all of the PJF Jazz Conversations. They will be available online shortly after they conclude live. Here is our podcast page, Also available on iTunes.
Oregon Music News is happy to be exclusive Online Media Sponsor for the Portland Jazz Festival 2012
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