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| Portland Jazz Festival Fires up February 2005 The festival has grown significantly since last years inaugural Portland Jazz Festival, which featured such acts as Wayne Shorter, Regina Carter and Poncho Sanchez. This year offers more than 75 acts over 10 days, all in the heart of downtown Portland. With more shows, more diverse acts, more educational opportunities, there’s plenty for jazz fans of all ages. It also offers all the splendor of downtown Portland, complete with tax-free shopping, unique architecture, luxurious hotels and some of the best restaurants in the Northwest. So come, enjoy the jazz, enjoy Portland, and experience Portland Jazz Festival, February 11-20, 2005. The music is why people come to the Portland Jazz Festival, and this year offers some of jazz’s most elite headliners and interesting up-and-coming artists. The low end is a focus this year, with three of the genre’s top bassists headlining. Charlie Haden and his Quartet West have been hailed as one of the top groups in terms of creative expression, and the group features some of the west coast’s finest players, in pianist Alan Broadbent, saxophonist Ernie Watts and drummer Larance Marable. Bassist, composer and bandleader Dave Holland is on a roll of popularity with critics and listeners alike. The Grammy winner has topped a majority of magazine polls, and his Quintet, featuring Chris Potter, Steve Nelson, Alex Sipiagin, and Nate Smith, has reached a new plateau of public popularity and critical acclaim with a sound that is elegant, refined, and one of the tightest groups working today. John Patitucci was a favorite last year with the Wayne Shorter Quartet. This year, with guitarist Adam Rogers, Patitucci gets a chance to stretch out even more in a duo setting, with both artists given the room to improvise as well as create texture and color with their stringed instruments. The 2005 Portland Jazz Festival features two distinctive singers, both at the top of their games. 3-time Grammy winner Dianne Reeves has been hailed as one of the country’s finest vocalists, with a wide range, elegant voice and an innate sense of swing. Brazilian vocalist, and 2-time Grammy nominee Luciana Souza has been creating more of a stir this side of the equator with her smart blend of Brazilian, jazz, classical and new music. Some of jazz’s most innovative artists are descending on Portland. Steel drummer Andy Narell’s Parisian group, Calypsociation, a 13-piece steel drum orchestra that meshes the assorted sounds of the Caribbean with jazz, makes its North American debut at the Portland Jazz Festival. The group is unlike anything heard in jazz, with the unique sounds of the steel pans echoing with deep harmonies and rhythmic intensity. Vibraphonist Joe Locke & 4 Walls of Freedom burst through the structures of jazz with a unique and groundbreaking sound, with a conceptual sound played by one of the tightest bands playing today. Locke made a splash last year with local pianist Darrell Grant, and he gets a chance to truly shine here, leading a group that includes jaw-dropping tenor player Tommy Smith, who will also perform as a solo act during the festival. Danilo Perez was also a star last year with Wayne Shorter. This year, making the North American premiere leading his own group, Perez will show off a sound that smartly blends Latin elements with cutting-edge modern jazz, all led by his fleet fingers on piano. Patricia Barber keeps gaining fans. Her sparse but pointed piano playing, smoky, laid back vocals, and introspective jazz nature are the epitome of cool. Midwest trio The Bad Plus is the new face of jazz, blending rock, classical and other elements into a highly original, energetic acoustic jazz mash that has made them a favorite of younger jazz fans. The Portland Jazz Festival also features a wide array of fabulous local and regional talent. Artists like drummer/bandleader Mel Brown, virtuosic vocalist Nancy King, contemporary jazz favorite Tom Grant, Seattle singer Greta Matassa, genre-blending violinist Aaron Meyer, pianist/educator Darrell Grant, and numerous others are all fine headliners in their own right. Many of these artists are playing in local clubs, like Jimmy Mak’s, voted by Down Beat magazine as one of the country’s top 100 places to hear jazz, the hip and cool Blue Monk on Portland’s east side, and the plush, old-school Wilf’s, at the train station. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |