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

Los Angeles-based Latin percussionist Luis Conte will be in Portland this weekend for two shows where he will be the featured guest with two Portland-based groups.

First, on Friday, February 12th, Conte will join the Portland Jazz Orchestra for a concert at the First United Methodist Church (1838 SW Jefferson St) for a concert called “El Rey del Timbal” where the big band will explore the music of Tito Puente.  Don’t miss this chance to see Conte with some of Portland’s best jazz musicians, including Darrell Grant, Alan Jones, Farnell Newton, and more.  Also, Portland’s own Latin-jazz king Bobby Torres will be joining the group on percussion for this special event.

Then, on Saturday, February 13th, Conte will join the Bobby Torres Ensemble at Jimmy Mak’s for another evening of hot Latin jazz.  You won’t find another percussion section like this in Portland again in 2010: Bobby Torres, Carmello Torres (Bobby’s son), and Luis Conte.

Dave Fleschner’s organ trio will release their new album “Creapin’ Up” at Jimmy Mak’s on January 15th.  If you’re itching to get your hands on the disc even sooner, it’s already available on CD Baby.  Also, be sure to check out Dave’s regular Monday night jam sessions at the recently-reopened Brasserie Montmartre.

Saxophonist John Nastos will perform with the Upper Left Trio as well as his Duo Chronicles project Monday, December 14th at Jimmy Mak’s.  The evening will feature different combinations of:

• Clay Giberson -- piano
• Jeff Leonard -- bass
• Charlie Doggett -- drums
• John Nastos -- saxophones

As usual on Mondays at Jimmy Mak’s, there is no cover.  Music goes from 8-11 PM.

On Tuesday, December 1st, pianist Ramsey Embick will play a solo piano set from 6-7:30 opening for the Mel Brown Septet.

The gig is a CD release party for his new disc, titled “Extended Shelf Life.”  You can read Tom D’Antoni’s piece on Ramsey and the new album at Oregon Music News.

David Friesen’s Quintet (Dan Balmer – guitar, Tim Willcox – saxophone, John Gross – saxophone, Charlie Doggett – drums) and Darren Klein’s Kleintet (Noah Bernstein – saxophone, Elysia Strauss – saxophone, Akila Fields – piano, Russ Kleiner – drums) return to Jimmy Mak’s on Friday, November 27th.  Music starts at 8 PM for a $10 cover charge.

Portland State University’s newest jazz professor, trumpeter Farnell Newton, is bringing his student ensemble to Jimmy Mak’s tonight (10/20) to open for the Mel Brown Septet.  The PDX Jazz Project brings together some of Oregon’s most talented young players to get coaching in a group-setting from professional jazz musicians in the area.  Newton also often uses compositions from local composers for the students to play in the ensemble.

The PDX Jazz Project will take the stage at 6:30 PM.  The Mel Brown Septet starts at 8.

Vibraphonist/percussionist Chuck Redd returns to Portland this week for what seems to be turning into a semi-regular appearance with the Mel Brown Quartet at Jimmy Mak’s.  Redd will join the band this Wednesday night (10/7) for what will surely be a night of hard-swinging jazz.

If you’re a fan of the Wednesday-night group down at Jimmy’s, but haven’t seen Redd with the group, be sure to check out this show.  The vibraphone is a perfect compliment to the acoustic ensemble featuring Dan Balmer on guitar, Ed Bennett on bass, Tony Pacini on piano, and of course Mel Brown on drums.

There will be a $10 cover for this event.  Music starts at 8 PM.