Featured Artists
Portland Jazz Festival provides opportunities for all to discover and enjoy some of the world’s greatest musicians in one of this country’s most beautiful cities.
ACS: Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Esperanza Spalding
none scheduledACS (Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington and Esperanza Spalding) gathers three of the most important female instrumentalists in current jazz. Formed out of their work together on Carrington’s Grammy Award winning album “The Mosaic Project,” the small ensemble stretches boundaries and revels in the art form. In response to their debut at New York’s legendary Village Vanguard, The Village Voice remarked, “the set’s expressionistic push-pull turned out to be a show of jazz fealty as disorienting as it was riveting.” The trio is elegant, experimental, and unquestionably bold. Read More
Afro-Cuban All Stars featuring Juan de Marcos
none scheduledThe Afro-Cuban All Stars is a unique orchestra that has always been devoted to promoting the full range of Cuban music, one that embraces several generations and all musical styles. Over the years many of the band’s musicians have become international stars, including brilliant performers such as Rubén González, Ibrahim Ferrer, Guillermo Rubalcava, and Manuel "The Guajiro" Mirabal. Read More
Alfredo Rodriguez
none scheduled"One of the most prolific and gifted jazz pianists of the 21st century" – Quincy Jones Read More
Art Abrams Swing Machine Big Band
none scheduledThis band's impressive collection of musicians and their musicianship is what makes the Swing Machine stand taller and swing harder and longer than any other band on the scene today. The musicianship of this band allows it to play to any situation, be it a dance or a concert. It gets down and blue with tunes like "Goin on Blues", played in the gospel style of "God Bless the Child", it captures the romanticism found in the delicate harmonies of ballads like "Misty", and it can generate the hard swinging heat of Woody Herman's Apple Honey". Read More
Blue Cranes w/ special guest Wayne Horvitz
none scheduledHailing from the fertile scene of Portland, Oregon, the Blue Cranes create music that is as invigorating as it is disarming. Working a thin line between improvisation and catchiness, Blue Cranes arrive at a unique place. They have found a way to make exploration seem like the most enjoyable process around. Read More
Galactic
none scheduledNew Orleans funk powerhouse Galactic is a unique collaborative band centered on the stable quintet of musicians that have developed a tight rapport through the years. Though not including a permanent vocalist, Galactic is a prominent member of the diverse community of musicians in New Orleans. The band - comprised of harpist/horn player Ben Ellman, keyboardist Rich Vogel, guitarist Jeff Raines, bassist Robert Mercurio and drummer/percussionist Stanton Moore - will be performing with Corey Glover of Living Colour-fame on vocals as well as Latryx featuring Lyrics Born and Lateef the Truth Speaker. Read More
Kenny Garrett
none scheduledOver the course of a stellar career that has spanned more than 30 years, saxophonist Kenny Garrett has become the preeminent alto saxophonist of his generation. From his first gig with the Duke Ellington Orchestra (led by Mercer Ellington) through his time spent with musicians such as Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis, Garrett has always brought a vigorous yet melodic, and truly distinctive, alto saxophone sound to each musical situation. Read More
Kurt Rosenwinkel
none scheduledKurt Rosenwinkel continually presents music that conveys a sense of masterful storytelling and breathtaking imaginative reach. His significance as a composer to the ever-evolving jazz landscape in fact transcends the oft-cited lineage of jazz guitar in much the same way that Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter both impacted colleagues much beyond the scope of their respective instruments. Kurt Rosenwinkel and his New Quartet will make their Portland debut supported by a stellar cast: Seattle native Aaron Parks, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner who previously appeared on the festival with Pharoah Sanders and the Mingus Big Band. Read More
Matt Wilson Arts & Crafts
none scheduledNew York based drummer and Grammy® nominee Matt Wilson is one of todays most celebrated jazz artists. He is universally recognized for his musical and melodic drumming style as well as being a gifted composer, bandleader, producer, and teaching artist. Matt’s positive energy, sense of humor and ability to explore a broad range of musical settings keeps him in constant demand. In addition, Wilson’s dedication to jazz has helped establish him as a beloved world ambassador for the music, on and off the bandstand. Read More
Nancy King
April 18 | 7:30 pm | Mission Theater & Pub | BUY TICKETSShe’s been called everything from a “Cult figure” and an “uncompromising artist,” (Earshot Jazz) to “the greatest living jazz singer,” (Herb Ellis). As one of the few improvisers in vocal jazz to master the vocabulary, Nancy King has “indefatigable scat chops and a remarkably elastic range.” (The Oregonian) Read More
NEA Jazz Master Dr. Barry Harris
none scheduledBarry Harris is an Internationally renowned Jazz Pianist, Composer and Teacher. Dr. Harris is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Northwestern University. He has received theLiving Jazz Legacy award from the Mid-Atlantic Arts Association, and an American Jazz Masters Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition, Dr. Harris received the Manhattan Borough President Award for Excellence. This award was given for recognition of his devoted public service and in honor of excellence in the field of music. He received the 1999 Mentor award for his work with youngsters at the Manhattan Country School in NYC. Read More
NEA Jazz Master Gerald Wilson
none scheduledIn his first Portland performance since 1949, where he performed at McElroy’s as lead trumpeter in the Basie band, NEA Jazz Master Gerald Wilson will lead the PDX Jazz All-Star Student Big Band and the PDX Jazz Educators Septet. The 94-year-old bandleader, composer, trumpeter, educator and jazz icon, has a career that dates back to his first gig with the Jimmie Lunceford band in 1939. Known for his advanced voicing and pioneering the use of eight-part harmonies, Wilson went on to write for some of the greatest jazz orchestras (Ellington, Basie and Benny Carter, among others) and continues to compose to this day at his home in Los Angeles. Read More
NEA Jazz Master Jack DeJohnette
none scheduledBorn in Chicago in 1942, GRAMMY® winner Jack DeJohnette is widely regarded as one of jazz music's greatest drummers. Music appreciation flourished in DeJohnette's family. He studied classical piano from age four until fourteen, before beginning to play drums with his high school concert band and taking private piano lessons at the Chicago Conservatory of Music. DeJohnette credits his uncle, Roy I. Wood Sr., who was one of the most popular jazz DJ's in the South Side of Chicago, later vice president of the National Network of Black Broadcasters, as the person who initially inspired him to pursue music. Read More
Patricia Barber
none scheduled"Patricia Barber makes jazz the way Tiffany makes crystal -- sleek and smart and dazzling. You must hush the world when she plays and listen to that which no one ever thought to do before with notes, with voice, with style penultimate. She is, for my money, the best jazz performer currently working the planet." - Esquire Magazine Read More
Scott Hamilton
none scheduledScott Hamilton is one of the premier 'mainstream' saxophonists in jazz today. Known especially as a balladeer for his novel interpretations of standard tunes, Hamilton is clearly one of jazz’s most prolific recording artists, having appeared on 87 albums, including 45 as a leader and 14 others as a co-leader. He also has made 28 recordings as a special guest or sideman. Read More
Sexmob
none scheduledSteven Bernstein sums up the Sex Mob ethos like this: “Jazz used to be popular music. People would go out to clubs, listen to the music, go home, and get laid. Simple as that. We’re bringing that spirit back.” ~ Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide Read More
Shanghai Woolies
none scheduledThe Shanghai Woolies play “hot music,” 1920’s and 30’s jazz and pop of Chicago and New York City. The eight-piece ensemble, created by Pink Martini trumpeter Gavin Bondy, swims in the romance of Louis Armstrong, the mystery of Duke Ellington, the whimsy of Paul Whiteman, and the swing of Benny Goodman. They use a respectful, slightly unorthodox approach, inspired by the colorful liberation of the original. Read More
Steve Kuhn
none scheduledOver a career of a half-century and counting, Steve Kuhn has earned renown as one of the most lyrical and affecting pianists in jazz, with an unfailingly beautiful touch and a sophisticated sense of swing. “Steve is an original stylist,” points out Dan Morgenstern, director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers. “He’s one of the finest pianists out there today.”Jazziz magazine described Kuhn’s distinctive sound: “Few other pianists, regardless of genre, can tease such an evocative range of timbres from their instrument. Kuhn’s lower register is as dark and rich as Belgian chocolate, and his upper register has the light, translucent quality of ice-cold champagne.” Read More
The Jazz Message: Celebrating Art Blakey
none scheduled“We started the Messengers because somebody had to mind the store for jazz. No America--no jazz. It is the only culture that America has brought forth.” – Art Blakey Read More
Wayne Horvitz
none scheduledComposer, pianist, and keyboardist Wayne Horvitz performs extensively throughout Europe, Japan, and North America. He is leader and principal composer for the quartet Sweeter Than the Day in addition to Gravitas Quartet and the Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble, and performs regularly as an improviser on both piano and electronics. Past ensembles include The President: the Horvitz, Morris, Previte Trio: Pigpen; Zony Mash; The New York Composers' Orchestra; Ponga and The Four Plus One Ensemble. Read More
