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Welcome
to the Jazz Society of Oregon's Website
(Last
Update 9/02/2008)
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 September
2008 edition.
Keeping
Jazz Roots Alive
KMHD’s Phil Brenes Serves Up Trad jazz Spiced with History
By Nancy Barker
It’s
Saturday morning on KMHD, and Phil Brenes is talking about Fats Waller
and how his music was the inspiration for the Tony-award winning
Broadway musical, “Ain’t
Misbehavin’,” which is now enjoying a 30th
anniversary revival tour.
Brenes describes the stage set for listeners before he plays the
original cast recording. He follows up with two versions of
Waller’s “Honeysuckle Rose.” Next come
three numbers by Muggsy Spanier, a contemporary of Waller’s,
the third of which has a nice twist: Waller is featured on this one,
too.
“Contemporary players have built on the great artists
who’ve gone before,” said Brenes, who hosts the
Saturday trad-jazz show, 9- 11 a.m.
As if to underscore that idea, immediately following Brenes’s
show is a rebroadcast of Marian McPartland’s “Piano
Jazz,” with singer-pianist Diana Krall. When McPartland asks
Krall who were some of the early influences on her career, Krall cites
Fats Waller in particular.
This nice bit of serendipity was not scripted, but Brenes does
carefully craft each of his programs, featuring certain artists and
putting listeners in the picture with stories about their backgrounds.
“I really try to think in terms of the show, what order, the
flow, the holistic concept instead of just the individual
songs,” said Brenes.
“Since doing the trad-jazz show, the closet historian in me
has come out,” he added. “The older the piece is,
the more I talk about it.”
…..
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(continued
in the September Jazzscene)
The Portland
Jazz Orchestra: Striving for Legitimate Success
A Band, a Plan, a Concert Season
By Calvin Walker
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For
a city the size of Portland, Oregon, there is no shortage of great big
bands. From the traditional styles of The Art Abrams Swing Machine, The
Knights of Swing and George Rheinmiller’s Big Band, to
progressive ensembles like Steve Cannon’s Blow Hard Big Band
or Rob Sheps’ on-the-edge unit, we are all blessed with an
abundance of great musicians willing to lend their voices to an
ensemble sound.
Big bands are not the easiest musical units to organize and keep
together. Most have 15-18 members, and if the leader is lucky enough to
find the interest of the best soloists and lead players, they are
usually only able to get their commitment if the gig does not conflict
with something that pays a few bucks more. Music is highly competitive,
and although there is a comradeship for the most part in the musical
community, musicians still have to succumb to the ‘highest
bidder’ mentality. Let’s face it -- they train
their entire lives to reach a stature that allows them to perform at
the highest level they can. Most will tell you
“it’s all about the music,” but the
reality is they want to be paid according to their skill level.
It’s no small feat, then, that trombonist Lars Campbell and
bassist/composer Charley Gray have kept intact for more than three
years one of the best big bands the city has ever produced. They
started out performing at fundraisers, but the goal was always to
create a concert ensemble.
….
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(continued
in the September 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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