PJCE Records announces new showcase series at Portland jazz club, the 1905.
Original Portland Jazz. First Sundays. No Cover. 6 pm to 9 pm.
(PORTLAND, OR) - Modern jazz in Stumptown got a big bump this week as Portland's only active jazz record label has partnered up with the city's brightest jazz hotspot. PJCE Records, a label that grew out of the non-profit Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble (PJCE), has been at the center of curating the Portland sound since 2013. It is a record label that is known for presenting full-length records that feature most of Portland's highest profile jazz artists, and many of its important composers. Releases have been featured in international jazz publications, have received critical acclaim from local outlets, and have helped raise the profile of emerging artists on the Portland scene.
Now in its third year, The 1905 is possibly Portland's most important jazz venue. What separates this humble pizza joint from other venues in Portland is its connection to the scene itself. The face of the business, Aaron Barnes, is a jazz musician himself, as is another key investor, Holly Resnick. The 1905 is the one place in town where audiences can enjoy live jazz seven nights a week, and the variety in types of jazz that one can hear each night is monumental. From straight-ahead groups like Alan Jones's Social Music and Darrell Grant's All 4 Naught, to modern groups like the Christopher Brown Quartet and George Colligan Trio, to funkier acts like Farnell Newton's The Soul of Jazz and Noah Simpson's groups, there is something for anyone that likes jazz at the 1905. Combining forces, PJCE Records and the 1905 will be bringing PDX the best originally composed jazz on the first Sunday of every month.
January 6th | Ryan Meagher - Simple Songs
With three releases on the PJCE Records label under his own direction, Meagher is no stranger to the Portland jazz community. 2018 was a busy year as he released his Lost Days and Evil Twin albums, appeared on the PJCE's Maxville to Vanport album, and Bryan Smith's two albums, This Is Water and Let Me Take You There. Simple Songs is a new direction for Meagher's coterie of trusted improvisers wherein memorable melodies and luscious soundscapes are front and center while the high-flying virtuosity of the quartet's individual members serves in support of the transparent material.
February 3rd | George Colligan's Other Barry
Downbeat poll-winning keyboardist, George Colligan, leads a fusion power trio with two of his former students that are leading the way for new jazz in Portland. The music is intense, original, challenging, and exciting. Electric jazz does not get much more high-flying than it does when this group is on. And they are always on.
March 10th | Grasshoppers: PJCE's Young Composers Program (Note: SECOND SUNDAY IN MARCH)
The PJCE has become one of Portland's most important cultural organizations in recent years, and they have had their eye turned toward education for the past several years. The Grasshoppers program is one that aims to plant the seeds with the next generation of Pacific Northwest composers so that they may craft their own identifiable sound. This showcase event will feature a quintet of PJCE's regular musicians performing the works of budding composers who will have spent weeks working on their tunes with a composer/mentor. The latter half of the evening will be a Composers Jam Session where composers and performers in the community are encouraged to bring in their original tunes to be workshopped.
April 7th | Trio Untold
One of the more exploratory groups on the record label, Trio Untold is a group of improvising composers who compose music spontaneously. The group is comprised of three music professors in Oregon. James Miley of Willamette University (WU) plays piano and synthesizers. Mike Nord of WU plays guitars and electronics. Ryan Biesack of Oregon State University plays drums, cymbals, and percussion. Together they freely compose music that Douglas Detrick says, "sounds carefully sown, and intently cultivated. Where some improvised music sounds like a fight between broken-down robots, or like old friends catching up after years apart, this music sounds like a garden."
May 5th | To be determined at a later date
June 2nd | Kathleen Hollingsworth and Renegade Gospel
Kathleen Hollingsworth, director of choir at Clackamas Community College, had wanted to start a community choir for years but never had the time. This PJCE Records event is a spin-off of her community-based gospel choir, Renegade Gospel, which is based on inclusivity and accessibility. Hollingsworth's idea for Renegade Gospel came from her experience at Burning Man. "I felt like I was just preaching to the choir there, and giving this wonderful Sunday-morning experience a non-dogmatic, very on-your-feet gospel- style inspirational but not religious service to people who have already been through this huge choir experience, and I was just kinda like, I gotta do something with this," said Hollingsworth. This set will be smaller- a jazz trio, a couple of choral numbers and some electronic music.
July 7th | Andrew Durkin
Durkin's music is unmistakably unique, and is wrought with quirk. His Breath of Fire release on PJCE Records was featured as one of Downbeat Magazine's Best Albums of 2017. His suite for four saxophones was premiered at the 2017 Montavilla Jazz Festival and performed by the venerable Portland sax quartet the Quadraphonnes. This evening will feature both of these groups who really should be playing out much more often.
PJCE Records Presents... A New Music Series at the 1905
The First Sunday of Every Month at the 1905 (830 N Shaver St, Portland, OR 97227).
