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ree event at the Oregon Historical Society on Friday, May 10th from noon to 1 pm, jazz writer Rick Mitchell, author of Jazz in the New Millennium: Live and Well, will give an introduction of Pepper’s work in the context of jazz’s broader story. His introduction will be followed by a discussion about Pepper’s legacy and contemporary Native artists in Portland and a performance by Gordon Lee and 2 8 Tha Native.

Gordon Lee, a Pepper bandmate for many years and mainstay of the Portland scene, offers an arrangement of Pepper’s “Remembrance” and a new work commissioned by PJCE in a tribute to his friend and colleague. Guest 2 8 Tha Native (Fish Martinez), a hip hop artist and traditional singer and dancer, will collaborate on his songs arranged for PJCE’s 12-member jazz ensemble by Farnell Newton and Stephanie Kitson and on an original piece by Clay Giberson. The concert will also include Gordon Lee accompanying 2 8 Tha Native as he performs a traditionally-inspired song dedicated to his son.

Many concerts have been staged in honor of Pepper’s contributions to American music. PJCE’s will feature some music by Pepper but will focus more on Pepper’s creative process itself, fusing jazz with other forms of music that express the world of indigenous people. Hip hop has emerged as a contemporary idiom of particular importance for Native artists across the country, and — in the spirit of Jim Pepper — PJCE’s concert brings representatives of that movement into contact with its large jazz ensemble, letting jazz composers and improvisers add their creative energy to the impact of the lyrics.