Originally from Reno, Nevada, drummer Matt Mayhall took a typically meandering path to land here in Portland. After graduating from high school, he slipped...
Sep 09, 2022
Trumpeter Cyrus Nabipoor would be forgiven for shedding a few tears. The last couple of years have been difficult for the 28-year-old musician, from the loss...
Aug 26, 2022
Thirty years ago, the Portland jazz community lost one of its most dynamic voices. Until his passing from lymphoma in 1992, saxophonist Jim Pepper had amassed...
Jul 14, 2022
When friends and frequent collaborators Thara Memory and Ken Berry dreamed up the Creative Jazz Orchestra in the late ’70s, their concept was simple: to keep...
Jul 12, 2022
The physical space where a piece of music is recorded can have as much of an impact on the sound as the choice of microphones or the instruments being used....
May 17, 2022
International Jazz Day is Saturday, April 30th!
The Jazz Society of Oregon presents four shows at The 1905 in celebration! All four shows will be live-...
Apr 30, 2022
One of the best ways to make a career out of being a jazz musician in a market as relatively small as Portland is to be as flexible as possible — able to play...
Apr 27, 2022
In Ken Burns' documentary Jazz, bassist Charlie Haden remembered the conversations he and Ornette Coleman would get into about the radical sound they were...
Apr 19, 2022
Something about writing music for his trio integer seems to mellow Todd Marston out. In his various guises, either solo or working with his long-running world...
Apr 15, 2022
The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA), the august body of jazz writers and photographers from around the world, recently announced their 2022 slate of Jazz...
Apr 07, 2022
The dull reality that independent jazz artists have to face these days is that, without the help of a record label, to make a proper recording of their music...
Mar 29, 2022
In an era when, due to continually shrinking funding options and pitiful payouts for streams, most independent artists are being forced to maintain a lean...
Mar 17, 2022
Filling the shoes of Douglas Detrick, the multi-talented artist and composer who, after eight years is stepping down as the executive director of the Portland...
Mar 09, 2022
Story by Robert Ham — February 17, 2022
Nicholas Salas-Harris took on the role of PDX Jazz Artistic Director at the best and worst time.
As he stepped into the...
Feb 17, 2022
Story by Robert Ham — Feb 5, 2022 —
Jazz musicians, at their best, love to dangle off a cliff, with only their wits and their fingertips holding themselves and...
Feb 11, 2022
Review by Robert Ham — February 2, 2022 —
Alan Jones deserves to sound as relaxed and in reponse as he does throughout his latest album You Took Me Home. The...
Feb 02, 2022
Note: This article is being published in memory of Dave Frishberg who recently passed. This appeared in the Jazz Society of Oregon's JazzScene magazine in 2007...
Nov 19, 2021
Greetings. I hope this finds you well.
My first live recordings since the pandemic began — two new stories with pianist and composer Tom Grant.
— “Rivers (...
Nov 03, 2021
Preview by Tree Palmedo, August 2021—
When this year’s Montavilla Jazz Festival kicks off, audiences will be greeted not by a lineup of live performers but by...
Aug 17, 2021
This self-guided sound walk will be released in full August 28, 2021 on the ECHOES mobile app.
This one-mile walking tour explores Albina’s musical culture of...
Aug 13, 2021
Preview by JSO Staff, July 2021—
This weekend brings the return of a Portland tradition: the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, live and in-person. With fair...
Jul 12, 2021
Interview by Tree Palmedo, July 2021—
Ramsey Embick has lived many lives in the music industry. An Oregon native, he has been a pianist, producer, arranger,...
Jul 11, 2021
Archival Interview by Don Campbell, November 2008—
Portland's music scene lost one of its titans this week when drummer, bandleader, and radio DJ Carlton...
Jul 06, 2021
Interview by Tree Palmedo, July 2021—
As musicians have come and gone from the Portland scene, Barra Brown has stuck around. Since moving to Portland from...
Jul 03, 2021
