PDX Jazz @ Street of Dreams: Jazz with a View

August 6th, 2008

Two Nights of Jazz on the Top of Mt. Scott
Outdoor performances overlooking Portland

August 21 with Mary Kadderly, 6-9 PM
September 4, with Devin Phillips, 6-9 PM

Show Tickets and Directions

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Portland Jazz Orchestra at Cathedral Park

July 11th, 2008

The Portland Jazz Orchestra is performing at the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival.

  • Cathedral Park Jazz Festival
  • Sunday, July 20th
  • 4:00 p.m.
  • Free


Portland Jazz Orchestra 2008-2009 Season

July 9th, 2008

The Portland Jazz Orchestra announces the 2008-2009 Concert Series!

This year, enjoy our signature all-star cast in a broad range of spectacular jazz repertoire, from Duke Ellington’s virtuosic Nutcracker Suite to a deeply personal Coltrane tribute, to the innovative charts of Seattle-based composer Jim Knapp. Also this season, we welcome special guest Arturo O’Farrill from New York City’s Lincoln Center for a sizzling evening of Afro-Latin jazz ! And of course PJO performs on a national stage at the 2009 Portland Jazz Festival in February.

Best of all, you’ll receive a special discount when you order all four of these not-to-be-missed downtown concerts by September 25! Call the PDX Jazz box office to order (503-228-JAZZ), and visit the PJO website for complete ticketing information.



More PDXJazz Headlines

PDX Jazz @ RiverPlace Schedule



Uten Jazz Blitz eb Treg du Tass

August 1st, 2008

Uten Jazz Blitz eb Treg du Tass. The loose translation from Norwegian is Life without Jazz is less Meaningful. The moniker wrests on t-shirts, banners, placards and postcards throughout the Kongsberg Jazz Festival, reflecting a battle cry from top Norwegian officials in providing substantial support for Norway’s incredible jazz scene.

Kongsberg is a small ex-silver mining town (25,000) in Norway’s southern interior with a rapid river splitting the city in half. The region reminded me of the upper Rogue River valley in southern Oregon. Old town has 18th century European charm and the new town feels early 1950’s. During the first week of July, Kongsberg becomes the center for exciting and adventurous jazz-much of which we Americans have never heard!

I was recently part of an international delegation experiencing Norwegian jazz festivals. There was the pristine urbanity of Oslo, rustic Bolkesjo, midnight sunsets (and very early sunrises).. and 19 hip music venues in Kongsberg. There was one stage 3.5 km inside of a silver mine (with the great trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer playing a most eerie solo), and there was Tubaloon, a giant white structure which contains the festival’s one outdoor venue.

America covets its jazz, but barely supports it. We may be the cradle of jazz, but we are no longer its sole epicenter. America, wake up and smell the coffee, the most exciting new jazz is coming out of Norway and its neighbors-while much of our contemporary jazz is playing the role of Dylan’s Mr. Jones!

Something’s happening here, and we don’t know what it is..

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PDX Jazz, Portland's Jazz Organization, need you to become a member of Portland’s vibrant jazz community. PDX Jazz is the new jazz umbrella that is expanding to year-round jazz programming, including such recent performances as Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau, Sonny Rollins, the upcoming Portland Jazz Orchestra, and, of course, the Portland Jazz Festival. PDX Jazz is also developing consistent, annual jazz education & outreach programs with nearly 50 events scheduled, beginning February 2008, and PDX Jazz will continue to provide leadership as a center for Jazz Resource and Advocacy. Learn and join now.

Thanks for supporting American’s only indigenous art form - jazz.