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Machado Mijiga

Portland-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and educator.

About Me

Multi-instrumentalist and Portland native Machado Mijiga wears many hats, both literally and metaphorically.

Classically-trained, jazz-weathered, and eclectically inclined, Mijiga left the proverbial creative “box” at a very early age, with access to many instruments and a diverse musical background brought about by an intercultural heritage.

Mijiga is a musical polymath; composer, producer, bandleader, educator, gear fanatic, and audio engineer, to name a few.

Authenticity and uniquity assume the locus of Mijiga's artistic identity. Self-expression is the prime directive, and the medium of choice changes like the weather

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because it is a blank canvas. "Jazz" is such a blanket term that it has become more of an approach than a genre. I like that you can dive as deep as you'd like and never even scratch the surface of what's available. You forge your own path in the jazz realm, and I appreciate how much space there is for artistic identity within the idiom.

My House Concert Story

I co-hosted a jazz house concert series last summer in a friend's backyard and treated it as an opportunity to bring some of my favorite jazz voices from around town together to appreciate music, but also to just connect. It can be difficult to get the community together to just socialize and enjoy music without worrying about networking or career advancement, and I felt like this yard series really contributed to that environment in a fairly unobtrusive way.