The Jazz Society of Oregon is looking for new writers for our online Clubscene column.  We want people with writing talent (Pulitzer prizes not required, but will carry weight), who like listening to live jazz, who can commit to at least two articles per month.  Take a look at our articles to get a feel for what we're looking for.  Our writers all have their own styles and we like it that way.  We want different perspectives and we want the readers to get a feel for what they will see and hear in the clubs.  This is a great service for jazz in the community.  Clubscene writer is an unpaid volunteer position, but the working conditions are superb!   if interested.

Here are the Jazz Calendar listings as they appear in the JSO JazzScene magazine. 

To submit listings for our jazz calendar, please or fax your listing to (503) 452-4009.  Deadline for calendar submissions for the next month's calendar is the 15th of each month.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome!

RADIO JAZZ

Sundays
KMHD 89.1fm-"Fendel in the Afternoon," host George Fendel, 2-4pm

Mondays
KBOO 90.7fm-"Blue Monday," host Bill Rhoades, 1:30-3:30pm
KMHD 89.1fm-"Jazz Profiles," host Nancy Wilson, 8pm

Tuesdays
KMHD 89.1fm-"Jazz Set," host Dee Dee Bridgewater, 8pm

Fridays
KMHD 89.1fm-blues shows, 4pm-2am

Saturdays
KMHD 89.1fm
"Piano Jazz," host Marian McPartland, 11am (repeats Thursday at 8pm)
"Home Grown Live," host Mary Burlingame, 4-5pm
-- 8/5 & 9/2 "Some of the Best Of Homegrown Jazz"
-- 8/12 Bill Athens Unit
-- 8/19 Janice Scroggins/Nafusaria Scroggins Thomas
-- 8/26 Ben Darwish Trio
-- 9/9 Enion (focus on jazz violin)
KBOO 90.7 fm-blues shows, rotating hosts-Joan Semprebon, Tom Wendt, Errol Shervey, 2-4pm

Special shows this month
KMHD 89.1fm
"Jazz Dialogue," host Phil Brenes, 8pm
-- 8/3 Susan Werner
-- 9/7 Nicholas Payton

MANHA CARNIVALE!

The great 1959 film Black Orpheus starts with beautiful Bossa Nova lyrics, "Morning, such a nice morning, of a happy day that has begun!"

Each June we began our happy summer season of outdoor festivals, featuring both local and national musicians -- three months of the best in jazz.

From Cathedral Park in July to Mt. Hood in August to Newport in September, there's a lot of magnificent music to enjoy. 

The Jazz Society of Oregon will be there at all of the festivals.  We'll have T-shirts, visors and caps for sale, and we'll be spreading the word of the work that your society does to promote the music and musicians. This is where we get our new members, and it's also where we get to meet so many of our current members who stop by to say hello.

The JSO booth is run by volunteers, most of whom are members of the JSO board of directors.  We have four new directors this year: Pam Jones, Jolie Jordan, Bill Powers and Bill Royston.  They were elected at our annual meeting last month at LV's Uptown, and we're looking forward to the new ideas and fresh energy they bring to us. 

We also elected officers, and joining me on the executive committee for (yet) another term as president will be Eric Weber, vice-president, Margie Smith, First Jazz Chair, Mary Bunn, secretary, and Claire Little and Pat Auxier, our treasurers. 

The annual meeting is a time for looking back on past good works, like our new website, an outstanding First Jazz, new partnerships and a record setting year of scholarships for young jazz musicians.

This year the meeting was also a time to celebrate the strength of our organization, which is in the people who do the work of the society.  Our board members attend our monthly meetings (which are open to all!), and they also work hard between meetings, serving on various committees and working on projects.

At the meeting we also looked ahead.  This month's meeting at Wilf's (June 20) will be when we adopt a budget for 2006-2007, revise our by-laws, and schedule ourselves for the summer festivals.

Though our board members are actively involved, we depend on our ever-expanding corps of volunteers to spend many hours on behalf of the society.  This is your time to get involved!  Contact me if you would like to join us.  Not only do you get to support the society and meet some wonderful people - volunteers get into the event free! 

Also in the year ahead we plan to work with other jazz organizations around Oregon and Southwest Washington to coordinate bookings, explore possible grants, find new ways to support our young musicians, and grow the jazz audience.  There are exciting opportunities ahead and we'd love to have your involvement!

Chuck Carpenter
President
Jazz Society of Oregon

 

 
 
 

CHARMED CIRCLE

Believe it or not, JSO is already working on next February's 2007 First Jazz.  The Portland Jazz Festival is already booking the main attractions for next year, and we will be coordinating with them to provide you with some outstanding jazz. 

As we look to a headliner for First Jazz we can rule out those musicians who are already scheduled to be in the Portland area in January, February or March. But that's only one aspect of the search.  We also need to be sure there's a balanced program for our Sunday afternoon event. 

We traditionally have a student big band, one of the all-star groups in the Greater Portland area.  We open with a nationally known performer, for the last several years a singer.  We close with the headliner, an established star in the jazz firmament.

The remaining feature is the musician who is honored as the JSO Hall of Fame recipient of the year.  For balancing the program, we try to avoid having that person play the same instrument as the headliner.  That's why we need to determine the honoree now - so we'll have that information before selecting the last act of the evening.  And this is where you come in.

We'd like to know who you think would be a logical person to be included in the Jazz Society Hall of Fame.  There are two ways to approach the process.  One is to consider the criteria we've used in the past.  They include a) a respected voice for jazz in our area; b) an outstanding musician; c) an established reputation beyond the local area; d) a willingness to give of themselves to help aspiring young musicians; and e) roots in the Northwest, someone who has been here a while and will continue to be part of our jazz culture. Different musicians have different strengths in these areas, but all are to some extent important in the process of determining the Hall of Fame inductee. 

The other way to approach the selection process is to consider the musicians who have been honored in the past, a pantheon of jazz greats: Leroy Vinnegar, Mel Brown, Dave Frishberg, Nancy King, Ron Steen, Rebecca Kilgore, Tom Grant, Eddie Weid, Dan Balmer, and in 2006, Thara Memory.  Who in our area belongs with this stellar group?

i'd like your ideas.  Send me an email with your nominee, and reasons why you believe they are either of the same stature as our past honorees or how they fit most or all of the above criteria.  I look forward to your thoughts!

Chuck Carpenter
President
Jazz Society of Oregon