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Alaska Airlines & Horizon Air
Portland Jazz Festival presents
Somethin’ Else:
Blue Note Records @ 70
Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of Blue Note Records
February 13-22
Festival Packages & Single Tickets on Sale November 10
PDX Jazz Member Advance Sale Starts Today
McCoy Tyner + Joe Lovano Quartet
Cassandra Wilson; Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Terence Blanchard’s Requiem for Katrina
Dianne Reeves w/Oregon Symphony; John Scofield
Patricia Barber; Don Byron’s Ivey-Divey; Jason Moran
Bobby Hutcherson; Pat Martino; Lou Donaldson; Jacky Terrasson;
Lionel Loueke; Jane Bunnett & The Spirits of Havana; Aaron Parks; Judi Silvano
Alaska Airlines & Horizon Air Portland Jazz Festival presented by The Oregonian A&E will present Somethin’ Else: Blue Note Records @70, celebrating the 70th Anniversary of Blue Note Records, as the primary thread through the 2009 Portland Jazz Festival, February 13-22. All festival ticketed concerts feature current Blue Note headliners and Blue Note heritage artists who have passed through Blue Note at some point in their legendary careers. The thematic package of events will include performances, plus jazz conversations with Blue Note officials and artists, panel discussions with jazz writers, journalists & thinkers, and archival Blue Note film screenings. In addition, Portland Jazz Festival will also feature free showcase performances around town with regional jazz artists, midnight jam sessions, and approximately 50 jazz education & outreach events.
The 2009 Alaska Airlines & Horizon Air Portland Jazz Festival celebrates the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records, the most prestigious American jazz recording company, along with the 25th anniversary of the label's re-launch under legendary music executive and current Blue Note CEO Bruce Lundvall. Each of the headline concerts within the festival schedule will feature current Blue Note artists or heritage artists who have passed through Blue Note at some point in their fabled careers.
Cannonball Adderley's Somethin' Else, featuring Miles Davis and Art Blakey as sidemen, remains one of the most treasured classic Blue Note recordings. The 1959 release is a primary example of the Blue Note sound blending hard bop jazz improvisation with soul and early rhythm & blues. Long before Motown, soul, and rap, it was Blue Note that crystallized the sounds of Black America.
Founded in 1939 by passionate visionaries Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff, Blue Note Records holds a seminal position within the evolution of American music. From the early recordings of Sidney Bechet and Meade Lux Lewis to Miles Davis' landmark The Birth of the Cool, Blue Note has set the standard for jazz tradition. While photographer Wolff had an eye for jazz with hundreds of groundbreaking album covers, it was Lion's keen ear that developed and recorded the great masters including Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Clifford Brown, Horace Silver and countless others. As an early champion of post-war jazz, it was Lion who first recorded the most influential modern jazz ensemble, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, which forged the trademark Blue Note sound along with stalwarts Lou Donaldson, Bobby Hutcherson, and McCoy Tyner.
Over the past twenty years, John Scofield, Jane Bunnett, Pat Martino, Eliane Elias and Don Byron are among those who have found both their sound and their audience via Blue Note. Today, these same traditions continue with Joe Lovano, Terence Blanchard, Jacky Terrasson, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba along with young emerging artists Lionel Loueke, Jason Moran, and Aaron Parks. In recent years Blue Note stretched to produce jam band improvisations of Medeski, Martin & Wood and other new music experiments. Curiously, Lion eschewed the recording of jazz vocalists, but when Lundvall assumed direction he signed Dianne Reeves, Cassandra Wilson, Patricia Barber, and others.
With Wolff's death and Lion's failing health, Blue Note was sold to Liberty Records and eventually to EMI/Capitol. After a few years of indifferent leadership and a misunderstanding over how to promote jazz, Blue Note's artistic impact and sales were waning. In order to preserve the fierce independence and vitality of Blue Note, Lundvall, former President of Columbia Records, assumed direction in 1984, and teamed with music producer and archivist Michael Cuscuna, creator of Mosaic Records, to successfully re-launch Blue Note as the premiere recording company of America's classic music.
Blue Note's most recent history includes such diverse projects as re-mastering the remarkable discovery of acetate tapes from the 1957 Thelonious Monk & John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall along with non-jazz projects by pop vocalist Norah Jones, hip hop sounds of Us3, and adventurous singer-songwriters Amos Lee and Priscilla Ahn.
The history of Blue Note, however, is synonymous with the legacy of jazz. It is those traditions that are the foundation of Portland Jazz Festival's Somethin' Else: Blue Note Records @ 70 featuring performances by Terence Blanchard's Requiem for Katrina with full orchestra, McCoy Tyner & Joe Lovano Quartet along with Lovano's new Us5, and Don Byron's Ivey-Divey tribute to Lester Young. Insightful conversations featuring Bruce Lundvall and Michael Cuscuna will be presented along with panel discussions with prominent jazz writers and journalists, artists, and other Blue Note representatives. There will also be screenings of archival Blue Note films by Lena Horne, Michel Petrucciani, Bobby McFerrin, and the famed One Night with Blue Note, celebrating Lundvall's 1984 re-launch concert with rare moments by Cecil Taylor, Stanley Turrentine, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, and many more.
Discounted Ticket Packages can only be purchased from the PDXJazz Box Office.
The A-Train (Superior Seating / Level 1)
Do you want to attend all shows? Here is your best option to get our Superior level seating. Price varies based on availability. (Includes Blanchard, Lovano, Scofield or Reeves, Tyner, Loueke, Wilson, Hutcherson, Barber and Martino)
Weekend One (February, 13-15)
Blue Train Weekend 1 (Prime Seating / Level 2) $164
Great seats at a great price!
Maiden Voyage Weekend 1 (Reserved Seating / Level 3) $121
The Something Else’packages give you the choice to add any two shows to the pre-set package. (Some restrictions apply and price will vary depending upon available seating.)
Something Else’ 1
Weekend Two (February, 20-22)
Blue Train Weekend 2 (Prime Seating / Level 2) $138
Maiden Voyage Weekend 2 (Reserved Seating / Level 3) $121
The Something Else’packages give you the choice to add any two shows to the pre-set package. (Some restrictions apply and price will vary depending upon available seating.)
Something Else’2
All over downtown Portland. Major performances are held throughout downtown Portland in concert halls and hotel ballrooms. This year there are 12 ticketed concerts and dozens of free jazz performances, as well as free jazz education and outreach programs.
Tickets are available at TicketMaster outlets. Tickets for all performances are available at PCPA Box Office, 1111 SW Broadway Open 10AM–5PM, Monday through Saturday, or the Portland Jazz Festival office, 133 SW Second Ave, Suite 420, open 10AM–4PM, Monday through Friday.
YES! Please visit our volunteer page for more information and to sign up!
The headling performers for the 2009 festival have not been announced at this time.
It depends on the venue, but tickets usually are offered in three different price categories ranging from $20 to $75.
Yes. There are seven different packages available which give you tickets to multiple shows at a discounted price. For a list of our different packages, please refer to the TICKETS tab on our website. Packages are only available for purchase through the Portland Jazz Festival Box Office, which is open Monday through Friday, 10 -4.
If tickets are still available, they can be purchased on the day of the show. Ticket prices increase by $10 per ticket day of show.
8. What events will take place during the festival besides the ticketed shows?
9. Where can I stay nearby the festival if I am coming from out of town?
10. I am an artist, how do I get considered for the Festival?
11. What is superior/prime/reserved?
12. What time is the box office open?
13. How do I become a member?
14. How do I make a donation to PDX Jazz/Portland Jazz Festival?
The full talent line-up will be announced November 6. At that time we will be commencing our pre-sale for members. Tickets go on-sale to the public on November 10th. We would like to invite you to become a member of PDX Jazz. Your membership supports this organization, gives you access to our pre-sale, and many other benefits.
With your confirmation we will send you more information on the pre-sale, as well as details on the pre-sale happy hour.