Battle of the Sextets
Featuring The Mel Brown Sextet and The Alan Jones Sextet
Tuesday, July 5th
For over 20 years, The Mel Brown Sextet has been delivering hard-bop and post-bop jazz in the tradition of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. The Alan Jones Sextet has been a fixture on Portland’s jazz scene for many years, and brings to the stage hard-hitting post-bop jazz, fueled by Alan’s intelligent compositions and powerful drumming.
Tonight, these two stellar bands will throw down for a night of some of the best jazz that Portland has to offer.

Mimi Fox, with The Mel Brown Quartet
Wednesday, July 6th
Mimi Fox is an internationally renowned guitarist/composer who has been named a winner in six consecutive Downbeat Magazine international critic’s polls…she is one of the most eloquent jazz guitarists on today’s scene.
Tonight, she has the world-class backing of The Mel Brown Quartet. Mel’s Quartet is no stranger to working with legendary artists, having worked with Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller, and Chuck Redd, among many others. Also note that Mel and Mimi worked together on Don Lamphere’s CD, Like a Bird, and have a great swinging vibe between them.

A reunion of the original Mel Brown B3 Organ Group
Thursday, July 7th
This is the band that really started it all for us, establishing the signature sound of Jimmy Mak’s. Their combination of soul-jazz, old-school Motown, and soul music turned Thursday nights at Jimmy Mak’s into the most happening show anywhere in town. In honor of our 15th anniversary, founding member Thara Memory joins the band, along with the man who really brought us the soul, vocalist Sweet Baby James Benton. This will be a special night, with many other special guests dropping in.

“The Divas of Soul”
Featuring Linda Hornbuckle, LaRhonda Steele, and Janice Scroggins
with special guests Reggie Houston and Richard Arnold
Friday, July 8th
Tonight will feature a tribute to Detroit Soul music, with a little bit of New Orleans thrown in. This truly Portland All-Star line-up will blow you away with some of your favorite soul music from the great era of Motown.

Bruce Conte, with Soul Vaccination
Saturday, July 9th
Soul Vaccination is one of the Northwest’s great funk & soul outfits, bringing you tunes from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Earth Wind & Fire, and Tower of Power. Did I mention Tower of Power? Original Tower of Power guitarist Bruce Conte will join the band tonight, lending his funky groove to this mighty band.

It’s almost time for the Silverton Wine and Jazz Festival again.  In the festival’s 5th year, Silverton will continue its tradition of brining in some of the finest local jazz talent for a day-long jazz extravaganza.  This is always a great chance to walk from venue to venue, getting a taste of a larger variety of jazz than you’ll probably have any other time of year in Oregon.

Sherman: A Jazz Opera is loosely based on the life of saxophone player Sherman Thomas, who died tragically in the ’70s. But it also celebrates the legacy of post-war North Williams Avenue when it was known as “Black Broadway,” because live jazz by black musicians and singers from around the country – including Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Billy Holiday – was being played night and day in a least 10 clubs along the entertainment strip. This performance is historical because Portland doesn’t have anything else like this during Black History Month. We also are creating a documentary and scheduling a Feb. 23 Black History Month reception in City Hall, that features Grammy nominated bass player Esperanza Spalding and a mayoral proclamation.

Dates: Feb. 18-27, 2011, last two weekends of Black History Month. All shows begin at 7 p.m.

Location: Ethos@IFCC, 5340 N. Interstate Ave., on Yellow Max line

Tickets: $15 and $10 for seniors and students, available at Reflections Bookstore and Geneva’s Salon, both on MLK Jr. Blvd. and online at http://ethos.org/

Featuring: JANICE SCROGGINS, REGGIE HOUSTON and RITA MARQUEZ!
Musical score: THARA MEMORY  /   Libretto: S. RENEE MITCHELL

Sponsored by a grant from The Regional Arts and Culture Council

This two-weekend run of “Sherman: A Jazz Opera,” is a community tease to a larger show that we hope to put into full production in 2012-13, in partnership with the Portland Opera. The story is based in the 1940s-50s and also features the jazz-themed art of the late Philemon Reid. This project is unique in itself because it establishes, for the historical record, the role Portland played in the popularity of jazz. As the city’s black population burgeoned during WWII to build war ships, they brought their East Coast music to Portland. And the railroad allowed many jazz legends, such as Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, to perform in the jazz clubs on Williams Avenue and other parts of the city. The Dude Ranch, considered a nuisance by whites, was the hottest supper club west of Chicago from 1920 to 1946. It featured a tap-dancing emcee, an elaborate dance floor and celebrity stars, such as Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday.

Sherman Thomas stood out as a gifted star among stars. When he wrapped his full lips around the mouth of his saxophone, the fierceness of his notes electrified Portland’s smoky jazz clubs, sending brown-skinned women’s hips to swaying and married jazz lovers to make promises they couldn’t keep. But, Sherman took his natural talent for granted, and eventually he complimented the high he chased with harder drugs. In the end, he lost his hold on both of his loves – jazz music and his sweetheart, Marion. Eventually, his life and notoriety, like his music, faded, leaving the memory of a sweet, familiar tune you couldn’t quite remember but still can’t get out of your head.

The qualities of jazz music – improvising, group interaction, developing an individual voice, and being open to different musical possibilities – provide reminders of valuable life lessons to all those who will attend the show. All performances will conclude with a question and answer session, and a documentary interviewing musicians and jazz lovers who experienced William Avenue’s legacy.

Big changes continue to roll out over at KMHD, which became a partnership with OPB and Mt. Hood Community College last year.  Today, they’ve announced a new lineup of shows and hosts, including Tim DuRoche, Bill Rhoades, Nick Gefroh, Carlton Jackson, Krishna and Rebecca Kilgore.

“Our daytime schedule will continue to tell the whole story of the music; its heroes, its trends and artistic accomplishments, with shows that mix classic jazz and the side trips it’s taken over history,” said Matt Fleeger, KMHD assistant program director. “And our evenings and weekends will break out with specialty shows that will bring listeners fresh ideas about jazz while maintaining the vibrant spirit of KMHD!”

The trend of bringing on musicians as hosts of KMHD is a wonderful thing to watch — having an informed host to guide listeners through the music is something that few stations manage and Matt Fleeger is making sure that KMHD is moving towards the top of the pack.

For more information, visit KMHD.fm#mce_temp_url# on the web.

Lynn Darroch‘s KMHD program (Fridays from 1-4 PM) is being rebranded as “Bright Moments” — “Live performances, interviews, musical stories and recorded music exploring local routes with a global reach.”

As part of the rebranding, they’ve setup a YouTube channel with some of the past in-studio guests that Lynn has had on the program.  Because of the size of the studio, they’re limited to solo and duo performances, but this can lead to some interesting performances that you might not get to hear otherwise.  For example, Carlton Jackson plays solo drums:

Mike Horsefall solo vibes:

Tim Gilson solo bass:

Check out the YouTube channel for more and be sure to tune into the program to hear more performances live.

In 1997, percussionist Bobby Torres organized members of Portland’s drum and percussion community for a project called “Convergence.”  The 20+ minute piece featured some of Portland’s most well-known drummers.  Watch and see how many you can find.

This Friday, April 9th, bassist Damian Erskine will be releasing his new CD, “So To Speak” at Jimmy Mak’s. The CD features eight of Erskine’s original compositions, featuring performances by Chris Mosley on guitar, Ramsey Embick on piano, Reinhardt Melz on drums, a horn section featuring John Nastos on tenor sax, Jason DuMars on soprano sax, and Paul Mazzio on trumpet, and percussion by Rafael Trujilo and Derek Rieth.

For the CD release, Erskine’s current working band will be performing — Ben Darwish on keyboards, Justin Morrell on guitar, Reinhardt Melz on drums, and John Nastos on saxophones.

Ben Darwish’s band will be playing the opening slot for the evening.

Friday, April 9th at Jimmy Mak’s

8:00 PM

$12

In this month’s issue of the Jazz Society of Oregon’s magazine JazzScene, Lynn Darroch and John Pomietlasz tackle the issue of whether or not jazz from Portland can be branded in the same way that jazz from Norway was branded during the recent Portland Jazz Festival.

The article has interviews with a number of people involved in the local scene in different capacities, including KMHD’s Matt Fleeger, pianist Ben Darwish, the Oregonian’s Barry Johnson, PDXJazz’s Bill Royston, and more.

Head over to the JSO website to read the interviews.