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Welcome
to the Jazz Society of Oregon's Website
(Last
Update 6/29/2008)
We are proud to be part of a
vibrant Jazz community in the Pacific Northwest. On this site, you will
find original articles on local clubs, musicians, and events, as well
as, reviews of Jazz recordings, a great calendar and information about
Jazz Society activities.
Dive in, enjoy the articles,
give us some feedback.
Become
a member and you will receive the monthly JazzScene magazine
containing features and articles not available on the website. Here are
excerpts from the July
2008 edition.
Mt. Hood Jazz Festival Returns to College Campus
27th Annual Event Features Indoor and Outdoor Venues August 15-17
By Lynn Darroch
After five years in downtown Gresham, the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival, which
began at the Mt. Hood Community College stadium in 1981, is returning
to the college campus, but not to the original stadium location.
Instead, this year’s edition -- with headliners Diane Schuur, Joey
DeFrancesco and Benny Green – will include two evening concerts in the
College Theater on Friday and Saturday, and music and other free
activities outdoors in the college Courtyard, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on
Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The new configuration
will offer “a better venue … for hardcore jazz fans who prefer a more
intimate setting anyway,” says Susie Jones, MHCC Jazz Band Director and
Festival President. “And the outdoor events, which are free, will be
more festive, with more activities.”
This fits the Festival’s
mission, explains Jones. “We’re trying to draw in a new jazz audience
with the free outdoor events and turn them into hardcore jazz fans
who’ll want to buy tickets and come see jazz in a serious way. The jazz
audience is aging,” she adds. “We want to grow the audience and
encourage young people to hear this music.”
Festival organizers
believe the indoor shows “will sell themselves,” says Jones, “because
it’s a smaller venue and the names are known to local listeners.”
Those
indoor concerts will be held in the College Theater, which seats nearly
500 in comfortable chairs with excellent sight lines. The Benny Green
Trio will open there for Diane Schuur on Friday, August 15, and the
MHCC Alumni Band (with an all-star roster including Gary Hobbs, Paul
Mazzio, Tony Pacini, Jeff Uusitalo in a tribute to MHCC’s first Jazz
Band Director, Larry McVey) will open for Joey DeFrancesco on Saturday,
August 16.
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in July's Jazzscene)
Brothers in
Strings
Four Guitarists from Around the Hemisphere
Join in Portland Concert
By Lynn Darroch
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They
met for the first time last year in the Peruvian city of Arequipa,
during that city’s International Guitar Festival, where each
was playing solo. But in a week they’d become “like
family,” says Portland-based Alfredo Muro, a native of Peru.
“What we have in common is the Latin touch,” Muro
explains, and their program of solo, duo, trio and quartet arrangements
for acoustic guitar will indeed focus on music from Latin America (8
p.m., Saturday, July 12, The Old Church). “We share the same
passion for Latin music, and they were some of the best musicians at
the festival,” adds Muro, who performs annually in Argentina,
Brazil and Peru.
But each of the four has a distinct approach and background, which will
enliven the collaboration and offer international variety not often
heard on a Portland stage outside a festival. It’s rare that
accomplished players from such distant locations gather in Portland to
perform this kind of music.
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(continued
in July's Jazzscene)
Get
your own
copy of JazzScene magazine by becoming
a Jazz Society member.
Join now!
For over 30 years, the Jazz
Society of Oregon has had a simple mission: to promote "America's
Original Art Form" by promoting jazz musicians, sponsoring jazz
students and entertaining jazz audiences.
As a non-profit
organization, we sponsor shows and educational workshops. And we've
helped hundreds of young musicians improve their skills by giving out
tens of thousands of dollars in scholarships and grants.
The Jazzscene magazine is
Oregon's premier jazz magazine and keeps you in-the-know on who's
playing with whom in the northwest, where you can find them, what
they're up to, and more. Subscription is free with your paid membership
in the Society.
Ultimately, the JSO is a
fellowship of jazz lovers: the musicians and their partners in the art
form--their audiences.
UNITED WE JAZZ
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