Although they’ve given it a horrible title (you’ll have to click through to see), KGW has posted a video they shot at The Cave for the return of the Alan Jones Sextet.  The band (featuring Warren Rand on alto saxophone, John Gross on tenor saxophone, Randy Porter on piano, Paul Mazzio on trumpet, Tom Wakeling on bass, and of course Alan Jones on drums) played at The Cave for their return after a hiatus of a few years.  If you don’t own them already, do yourself a favor and go buy their albums: Unsafe, and the Leroy Vinnegar Suite

Got this message from the Ex-Cave this morning:

The EX-CAVE Presents:

This Saturday March 14, 2009

FROM NEW YORK CITY: The HAL GALPER Trio

With Jeff Johnson bass, John Bishop drums

PSU Extended studies bldg(the new music bldg)

1633 SW Park Ave room #183

Music 7:30-10:00, $10 cover, All ages welcome

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This Friday at The Cave, drummer/composer Ken Ollis will release his new CD, “Confluence.”  The disc features Ollis’s compositions as performed by Tim Jensen (woodwinds), Dave Fleschner (organ), Lars Campbell (trombone), and Bill Athens (bass) – all strong and recognizable forces in the Portland jazz scene.

Ken Ollis was a long-time protege of drummer Alan Jones at Portland State University, where Ollis did his undergraduate and graduate studies.  After Jones left for Europe, Ollis took over the teaching spot, where he remains as the jazz percussion instructor there.  Jones’s influence is clear when listening to Ollis play (which is reason enough to check him out alone), but he has clearly developed his own voice as well, both playing drums and in his compositions.

The Cave is located at 636 SW Jackson, by Portland State University.  The cover charge for events is $5, and the music starts at 8 PM.  Minors are welcome for the first set.

Here’s an excerpt from The Oregonian’s Friday, February 20th article on Portland-based jazz vocalist Nancy King:

Wednesday night is frequently Nancy King night at the Cave, and with ulterior motives in mind, we sat in a couple of days ago to hear what she and pianist Steve Christofferson had to say. We also had a nice plate of falafel and noticed that a lot of the audience was pretty young — in their 20s — which reassured us that the future is in good hands. Because if you’re 25, say, and you’ve already sussed out that Nancy King has something to tell you, then you are WAY ahead of the game.

This week, The Cave presents:

• Tuesday, 2/17 – The Cave/PSU jam session
• Wednesday, 2/18 – Nancy King with Steve Christofferson
• Thursday, 2/19 – Nancy Curtin with Steve Christofferson
• Friday, 2/20 – From San Francisco: Wally Schnalle Band: Wally Schnalle drums composer, Jeff Massanari guitar, Charles McNeal saxophone, Jason Muscat bass, Murray Low, keyboards
• Saturday, 21 -The Alan Jones Sextet – Warren Rand (alto saxophone), John Gross (tenor saxophone), Randy Porter (piano), Tom Wakeling (bass), Paul Mazzio (trumpet), and Alan Jones (drums)

The Cave is located at 636 SW Jackson.  See their website for more details

Note: The Cave is now serving up jazz five nights a week with the addition of a new jazz jam session led by the PSU jazz department on Tuesday nights.

This week, The Cave presents:

• Tuesday, 1/20 – PSU Jazz Department jam session
• Wednesday, 1/21 – Nancy King with Dawn Clement (in from Seattle)
• Thursday, 1/22 – Alan Jones and The Cavemen with Tom Wakeling on bass, Randy Porter on piano, and Tim Jensen on tenor
• Friday, 1/23 – Devin Phillips Quartet with Ramsey Embick on piano, Eric Gruber on bass, and Alan Jones on drums
• Saturday, 1/24 – Gordon Lee Trio with Ron Steen on drums and Kevin Deitz on bass

The Cave (Portland’s newest jazz club) is located at 636 SW Jackson, near PSU.  Music starts at 8 PM for a $5 cover charge.

Remember LV’s Uptown?  When it closed it’s doors a couple of years ago, a couple of different clubs started up to fill the gap in the SW downtown (or uptown?) music scene: The Cave, and Rafati’s Encore 310.

Tom Grant is the featured performer at Rafati’s, and you can find him there sometimes as often as three days a week.  He’s often joined by vocalists such as Kate Davis, Mary Kadderly, or Kirsten Rian.  Sometimes, other groups make an appearance, such as Dave Frishberg and Rebecca Kilgore, who will be appearing on the 31st of this month.  Music on Thursdays is from 6:00-9:00pm and Friday and Saturday nights from 7:30-10:30pm.

Rafati’s Encore 310 is located at 310 SW Lincoln Street in the University Place Hotel.

Just received this from The Cave:

The Snow Hasn’t Slowed Us Down –

THE CAVE at the Green Onion is

OPEN TONIGHT, Saturday Dec 20!

The Cave is cozy and warm, with great food and the cool David Friesen Trio!

Music 8:00-11:00, $5 cover, All ages welcome

Saturday 12/20 The David Friesen Trio: David Friesen acoustic bass, Randy Porter piano, Alan Jones drums

These 3 remarkable musicians have been playing together for many years, have toured all over the world, recorded 3 internationally acclaimed CD’s, and have a virtually telepathic rapport with each other that makes for some of the most inspiring, masterful and beautiful piano trio playing one is likely to hear anywhere.  With their very busy schedules, this is a rare and special opportunity to hear them perform together here in Portland.