The 2011 Portland Jazz Festival | Feb. 18th-27th, 2011
SFJAZZ COLLECTIVE, REGINA CARTER, DON BYRON,
THE 3 COHENS, RANDY WESTON, JOSHUA REDMAN,
AND ESPERANZA SPALDING TO HEADLINE THE 2011 PORTLAND JAZZ FESTIVAL
BRIDGES AND BOUNDARIES:
JEWISH & AFRICAN AMERICANS PLAYING JAZZ TOGETHER
Among this year’s headliners are the SFJAZZ Collective, in the world premiere of new repertoire paying homage to African American pop icon Stevie Wonder; NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston, performing solo piano in support of his new release, The Storyteller, and autobiography, African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston; celebrated clarinetist Don Byronand his new project dedicated to the great Jewish entertainer, Mickey Katz – a reunion of the groundbreaking and virtuosic klezmer ensemble that recorded Byron’s eponymous Nonesuch album and spearheaded the klezmer revival in the 1990s; a special performance by The 3 Cohens,featuring siblings, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, saxophonist/clarinetist Anat Cohen, and pianist Yuval Cohen; famed African American violinist Regina Carter will return to Portland, presenting her newest project, Reverse Thread, which traces the musical history of African cultures, including tribes of Ugandan Jews; saxophonist Joshua Redman – son of African American saxophonist Dewey Redman and Jewish American dancer Renee Shedroff – leading his new project, James Farm,that includes both African American and Jewish American musicians; andthe Portland Jazz Festival’s new Artistic & Community Ambassador,bassist Esperanza Spalding (who will lead her new Chamber Music Society in an exclusive Portland area engagement).
Complete concert schedule:
- Friday, February 18, 7:30pm, Winningstad Theater, Randy Weston
- Saturday, February 19, 7:30pm, Winningstad Theater, Anat Fort
- Sunday, February 20, 7:30pm, Winningstad Theater, Dave Frishberg
- Thursday, February 24, 7:30pm, Newmark Theater, Don Byron
- Friday, February 25, 7:30pm, Newmark Theater, Esperanza Spalding
- Friday, February 25, 9:30pm, Crystal Ballroom, Poncho Sanchez
- Friday, February 25, 9:30pm, Alberta Rose Theatre, Nik Bartsch’s Ronin
- Saturday, February 26, 2:00pm, Crystal Ballroom, The 3 Cohens
- Saturday, February 26, 7:30pm, Newmark Theater, SFJAZZ Collective
- Saturday, February 26, 8:00pm, Tony Starlight’s, Gerald Clayton
- Saturday, February 26, 9:30pm, Crystal Ballroom, Regina Carter
- Sunday, February 27, 2:00pm, Newmark Theater, Joshua Redman
- Sunday, February 27, 7:30pm, Crystal Ballroom, Maceo Parker
The Story Behind the Theme
This year’s festival theme, Bridges and Boundaries: Jewish & African Americans Playing Jazz Together representspast, present and future collaboration between African Americans andJewish Americans. “The original idea for this festival came from NatHenoff’s writings about jazz as a meeting place for African and JewishAmericans.” said Bill Royston, Artistic Director of the Portland JazzFestival. “His writings of Steven Bernstein’s ‘Diaspora Blues’ to theodyssey of Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith were of primary influence.Historically, the music drew people together, and today there is a newwave of Israeli musicians who have moved to New York and elsewhereacross the United States.”
For more than 100 years, jazz has beenthe timekeeper of change in America’s moods, lifestyles and overallsocial awareness. Jazz has historically broken down racial color linesand cultural differences. Its stage has been a magnet for AfricanAmericans, Asians, Hispanics, and Western Europeans; all playingtogether in jam sessions long before the Civil Rights movement existed. Truly, jazz is America’s classical music, and its only indigenous artform.
In his acclaimed history of Portland jazz, Jumptown,Robert Dietsche documents how communities were divided and destroyed byurban development. As I-5 segmented the Black community and signaledthe death of the N Williams cultural scene, I-405 shattered the Jewishneighborhoods. In many cities, the Black community evolved from whathad originally been a Jewish neighborhood. These physical boundaries,however, only enhanced cultural divisions and misunderstandings, whichremain prevalent today.
Movements in contemporary jazz are againleading the way in creating bridges between African Americans and JewishAmericans. This merger of new directions in Jewish music with AfricanAmerican jazz improvisation has brought together the theme of the 2011Portland Jazz Festival (February 18-27).
Jazz Education and Outreach
Jazz education and outreach events include a week long performance at Portland Area Middle Schools of The Incredible Journey of Jazz,a Black History Month celebration staged each February. The 60-minutemusical/theater piece was originally developed by Portland StateUniversity professor and pianist Darrell Grant and the Leroy VinnegarJazz Institute. The performance features seven actors and musicians whoeach play multiple roles in depicting the experiences of AfricanAmericans through the history of jazz. Early scenes have studentscommunicating through African rhythms, and then follow the evolutionfrom gospel, blues, ragtime, Dixieland and New Orleans. Eventually, wewitness the migration of African Americans traveling up the MississippiRiver to Chicago and other industrial centers with the big band soundsof Ellington and Basie, to the bebop of Dizzy Gillespie and CharlieParker, contemporary experimentation of Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman,and ultimately to rap and hip hop.
African and Jewish Americancommunity leaders, national jazz journalists and festival performerswill participate and interact in panel discussions, focusing on a widerange of artistic and social perspectives. Additionally, featuredheadliners and members of the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) willparticipate in the one-on-one interview series, Jazz Conversations.These interviews are presented before a live audience in the intimatePCPA ArtBar, among other locations to be announced. Notable participantswill include author and journalist Nat Hentoff and DownBeat correspondent Paul De Barros.
Tickets
PDXJazz Members have the advantage of reserving the best seats during theexclusive pre-sale period from October 13 – October 22. New and renewingmembers can join at any time.
On Saturday, October 23,Portland Jazz Festival tickets will become available to the generalpublic at all TicketMaster locations, by calling 503-228-JAZZ (5299), oronline at pdxjazz.com. Those who sign up for the PDX Jazz mailing list will receive the first notification when tickets go on sale to the public.
What is PDX Jazz?
PDX Jazz is Portland’s jazz organization, producing the annual Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Portland Jazz Festival presented by U.S. Bank.PDX Jazz offers an array of distinguished programs throughout the yearin a variety of indoor and outdoor settings boasting internationallyrecognized artists while supporting regional fan favorites from theNorthwest, often times presented in newly configured formats. PDX Jazzin partnership with Oregon Music News recently initiated a monthly jazzseries at PDX Jazz @ Tony Starlight’s, an intimate music venue, located in northeast Portland.