The 2007 Portland Jazz Festival, presented by Qwest & The Oregonian A&E, expands to two full weeks of programs, February 16-25. Festivities will begin on Friday, February 16 with dual headline concerts featuring Chick Corea & Gary Burton (7:30 PM, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall) and Branford Marsalis (10:00 PM, Newmark Theater at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts), and will wind up with the out-of-Chicago premiere of An Evening at the Green Mill with Kurt Elling & Patricia Barber (8:00 PM, Crystal Ballroom) on Saturday, February 24. The festival will officially close with the annual First Jazz performance, presented by the Jazz Society of Oregon, Sunday, February 25, 4:00 PM, at the Hilton Portland Grand Ballroom.
The Corea & Burton duo performance will mark the 35th Anniversary of their landmark recording, Crystal Silence, on ECM Records. This year's festival will present Crystal Silence--The ECM Story, a series of performances, lectures, workshops, panel discussions, and jazz dialogues featuring Sarah Humphries, President of ECM-USA, plus panel discussions conducted by Howard Mandel of the Jazz Journalists Association and participation by Corea, Burton, saxophonist Charles Lloyd and other ECM artists. In addition, there will be special workshops on ECM graphic design, acoustic engineering, and pioneer business management of an independent recording label. Founded by Manfred Eicher 37 years ago, ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) was one of the first, niche-driven “indy" labels specializing in European and American artists that defy categorization--termed over the years as chamber jazz, improvisational soundscapes, and jazz that does not swing.
Lloyd will perform with his quartet (Geri Allen, Eric Harland, and Ruben Rogers) on Sunday, February 18, 2:00 PM, at the Portland Marriott Oregon Ballroom, on a co-bill with Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba performing solo. Additional European, ECM artists yet to be announced will be featured on Saturday afternoon, February 17. Saturday will also feature Don Byron's Music of Junior Walker & The All-Stars project (7:30 PM at the Newmark Theater) and the Dave Douglas Quintet, featuring Uri Caine, Donny McCaslin, James Genus, and Clarence Penn, named as the 2006 Downbeat Artist of the Year (10:00 PM at the Hilton Portland Pavilion Ballroom).
The second weekend begins Friday, February 23 with Grammy-award winning trumpeter Roy Hargrove, performing with his jazz quintet as a fundraiser for Cascadia Behavioral Health Care (8:00 PM, Newmark Theater) and continues Saturday evening with a unique pairing of vocalists Kurt Elling and Patricia Barber, who literally and musically grew up together in Chicago at the legendary Green Mill jazz club. After nearly ten years of cajoling by artistic director Bill Royston, both Elling and Barber agreed to a one-time collaboration and return to their jazz roots.
In addition to these headline concerts, PDX Jazz will also unveil a new Discover! concert series, which will specifically highlight emerging jazz artists both regionally and nationally. Royston says the Discover! concerts “... will bring artists that I have worked with in other regions for Portland's audiences to experience. These artists are not yet well-known, and in some cases have played as sidemen with other performers. I'm asking that audiences trust me and discover new artists and new music." Discover! concert tickets will range from $10-15 each.
Sax man Devin Phillips, who is no stranger to Portland's jazz scene after relocating last year to the northwest from New Orleans as part of Portland Jazz Festival's NOLA2PDX initiative to support displaced musicians, will assemble an all-star New Orleans ensemble with special, surprise guests as part of the Discover! concerts. Also appearing will be pianist Diego Ramirez from Cabo del San Jose, Mexico, and Sophie Faught, who appeared on sax at last year's festival with Nicholas Payton is now sophomore at the University of Indiana, will return with her own quintet. Other Discover! artists appearing in February will be announced over the next few months.
The 2007 Portland Jazz Festival will again present over 100 separate jazz related events over the two-week period, including headline and Discover! concerts, plus over 30 jazz education and outreach events into Portland neighborhoods and schools, 20 free performances showcasing northwest jazz artists, and a variety of jazz programs produced by community, PDX Jazz partners (including Oregon Symphony, Jazz Society of Oregon, Leroy Vinnegar Jazz Institute at Portland State University, and others) and jazz in Portland clubs (Jimmy Mak's, LV's Uptown, and others).
Also new in 2007 will be reserved seating for all headline, ticketed concerts at the hotel ballrooms as well as the Schnitzer and Newmark. Pricing for the popular Gold Circle section has been reduced to $300 for the Best Seats in the House to the 7 major concerts. Tickets for the Chick Corea & Gary Burton performance at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall are available at all TicketMaster outlets. Ticketing for all other PDX Jazz ticketed concerts are at TicketsWest locations.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
