2012 US Bank Portland Jazz Festival Runs February 17-26, 2012

The 2012 US Bank Portland Jazz Festival presented by Alaska Airlines will be held Friday, February 17 through Sunday, February 26 at venues throughout Portland. The 9th annual 11 day festival will include jazz education and outreach along with a series of concerts featuring an eclectic mix of internationally recognized and local musicians playing a wide-range of jazz styles.

Among this year's headliners are esteemed saxophonist Branford Marsalis and the prolific pianist Joey Calderazzo, playing songs off their latest album, Songs of Mirth and Melancholy; legendary drummer and NEA Jazz Master Roy Haynes, who has played with some of the most decorated names in jazz over the past 60 years and continues to "Snap Crackle at 86" and GRAMMY® Award winning singer Dee Dee Bridgewater, who will return to Portland (she last played the festival in 2006) performing the timeless songs of Billie Holiday.

The revered Seattle based guitarist Bill Frisell, in a two-night program titled "For Portland Only," will perform in four divergent settings, the first evening, paying tribute to the works of pedal steel guitarist, Wesley Webb "Speedy" West and guitarist, fiddle player and producer, Jimmy Bryant as well as pop icon John Lennon. Frisell's second evening will turn to the ethereal, boasting his classically sublime 858 Quartet and a captivating solo opening set. Seminal Portland trumpeter and educator Thara Memory will be honored as this year's Portland Jazz Master and will open the festival with ambitious large scale ensembles inspired by the music of MiLes Davis.

Guitar phenom Charlie Hunter will perform a program titled Solo Jam as part of the Portland Jam Band Marathon, an evening devoted to regionally based jam bands. The celebrated New York Times "jazz album of the year" composer-pianist Vijay Iyer will be joined by India based guitar-composer Prasanna and tabla player Nitin Mitta. They comprise Tirtha in an east meets west program titled "From New York to Tamil Nadu." Additionally, the influential Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava and his quintet Tribes will feature a program of introspective-tinged songs spanning Rava's celebrated ECM recording legacy in a show entitled A Jazz Pilgrim. New York downtown compatriots of actor/musician John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards, The Jazz Passengers, will play songs off their first album in 12 years, Reunion.

White Bird Dance will present Griot New York in partnership with the Festival. This is a highley anticipated and legendary collaboration between the Tony Award-winning choreographer Garth Fagan, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Wynton Marsalis and celebrated sculptor Martin Puryear. The pre-recorded three-part composition uses jazz to render the history and feeling of a city, and the emotional references connected to styles and rhythmic grooves.The preceding evening on February 21 on Fat Tuesday, the festival will celebrate Mardi Gras @ The Mission with a PDX flavored roux.

"From India to Italy and returning home to PDX via New York City, this year's festival maintains a longstanding tradition of embracing jazz as an evolving and fast changing global art form," states managing director Don Lucoff. This year's festival was programmed by Lucoff after the retirement of founding artistic director Bill Royston last spring. Lucoff concludes, "Royston re-wrote the rules for programming in the U.S. by giving audiences unsurpassed thematic presentations that resonated around the world." This year's festival will put a strong focus on local artists interacting with the arriving headliners through various outreach and educational programs, along with surprises to be announced in the future.

Complete concert schedule:
Friday February 17, 7:30pm, Winningstad Theater Thara Memory
Saturday February 18, 7:30pm, Winningstad Theater Enrico Rava's Tribe
Sunday February 19, 7:00pm, Winningstad Theater The Jazz Passengers
Tuesday February 21, 7:30pm, Mission Theater Mardi Gras @ The Mission
Wednesday February 22, 7:30pm, Arlene Schnitzer Hall Garth Fagan Dance
Thursday February 23, 7:00pm, Newmark Theatre Dee Dee Bridgewater
Friday February 24, 7:00pm, Newmark Theatre Roy Haynes Quartet
Friday February 24, 9:30pm, Crystal Ballroom Bill Frisell -Tribute to John Lennon "Speedy" West and Jimmy Bryant
Saturday February 25, 3:00pm, Crystal Ballroom Vijay Iyer, Prasanna, Nitin Mitta
Saturday February 25, 7:00pm, Newmark Theatre Bill Frisell solo & the 858 Quartet
Saturday February 25, 9:30pm, Crystal Ballroom Charlie Hunter solo and the Portland Jam Band Marathon
Sunday February 26, 3:00, Newmark Theater Branford Marsalis/Joey Calderazzo Duo
Tickets

Portland Jazz Festival Box Office
Hours of Operation: 2PM - 6PM, Monday - Friday
Order by Phone: 503-228-5299
Walk Up: 133 SW 2nd Ave, Ste 420 Portland OR 97204
Email: abarker@pdxjazz.com
Online: www.pdxjazz.com

 

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