Portland Jazz Scene Part 1

Farewell, Winnipeg! Thanks for the memories!

For those of you who are new to my blog, just a quick refresher: I'm an American jazz musician who was born in New Jersey, grew up in Columbia, Maryland, lived in Baltimore and Washington D.C. in the early 90's, moved to New York in 1995, and was based there until 2009. In September of that year, I joined the faculty of the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Winnipeg is a small prairie city, smack dab in the middle of Canada, about an hour from the U.S. border and 3 hours north of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Winter lasts from late October to late April, sometimes into May. Zero degrees Farenheit(around -20C) is a nice day in the winter. Yes, it's cold ! However, there are some exciting things going on there, in terms of jazz; look back through some of my posts and you'll see what I mean. American bassist Steve Kirby has assembled a great faculty (Tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene, drummer Quincy Davis, and newly minted trumpet professor Derrick Gardner) at the U of M, and there are a surprising amount of concerts and gigs for such a small, isolated town. Kirby has even started a jazz magazine called Dig! , which helps promote jazz happenings around the area. And I met some really wonderful folks in Winnipeg, and I had some really great teaching experiences, and made some good friends and good music.(Plus, my son was born in Winnipeg, which makes him a dual Canadian-American citizen. I guess he'll never be President of the United States, though….)

However, life in academia can be somewhat unpredictable.Back in the early Spring, I auditioned for and won a tenure-track position at Portland State University. And so, my Winnipeg experiment had
sadly come to a close. It was time again to pack up everything and move west, even further west, to Portland, Oregon. I had not spent that much time in Portland before, but the handful of times I had

This is right across from my apartment......

been to this Pacific Northwestern city, I always thought, "Wow, this is a pretty cool town." Portland is the only U.S. city that's always on the "Most Livable Cities in the World" lists. It's known for being environmentally conscious, and for liberal attitudes in general. It has pretty decent public transportation, great culture, food, and green spaces. And there is a jazz scene---but we'll get to that shortly.

My wife and I flew out to Portland in July to look for an apartment. Kerry had never been here before, but she was really struck by how lively the Portland downtown area seemed to be. When you look at many cities in the U.S., like Detroit, Baltimore, Rochester, Toledo, St. Louis, etc…you find that downtown is usually a ghost town-people seem to avoid it at all costs. Even in Winnipeg, downtown is kind of dead at times. Portland is one of the few cities where the downtown is still a destination. Portland also has a pretty good public transportation system, which is also a rare thing to find in our auto-centric hemisphere. We looked for 4 days straight for an apartment; we looked at all the quadrants of Portland (Northwest, Northeast,Southwest,Southeast).We even made a trip out to Beaverton, which is a popular suburb of Portland. The last place we looked at, and decided to take, was an apartment right across from Portland State University! My commute time will be virtually zero minutes…..

Now that I had a job and a place to live, I had to organize the move; we were in New York for most of the summer, but all of our belongings, including my 2006 Toyota Matrix, were still in Winnipeg. I returned to Canada not only to retrieve my car and make sure our stuff got moved, but to teach at the

Aqua Books, my favorite venue in Winnipeg

University of Manitoba Summer Jazz Camp. It was a little bittersweet; saying goodbye to friends and colleagues, reminiscing about the good times…I performed in a farewell concert at my favorite Winnipeg venue, Aqua Books. All the usual Winnipeg suspects participated; Steve Kirby, Quincy Davis, Larry Roy, Jimmy Greene, Marco Castillo, Jaime Carrasco. I also asked a lot of the students to sit in. I was quite surprised when, to mark the occasion, Jimmy Greene brought out a farewell CAKE! Again, it's tough to move away from friends, but I promise you, Winnipeg, I shall return someday.

After the moving van was packed and ready to roll, I and one of my former students, trumpeter Simon Christie, got in my Toyota and drove 28 hours to Portland. That was quite an experience in itself: I've traveled a lot over the years, but I've never driven 28 hours straight. We drove down though North Dakota (I had never been there) in through Montana, Idaho(also had never been there), Washington

Who knew Miles City would be completely booked?

State, and finally Oregon. We had planned on stopping in Miles City, Montana; looking on the map, I stupidly assumed that a one horse town like Miles City would be a place where you could just roll in to town and find a room for the night. Well, everything was booked solid. We decided to just suck it up and keep driving( although an old drunken gentleman at the gas station offered to let us stay in his room for the night. I decided against it, for some reason. The man was shocked when he saw the Manitoba license plate."Manitoba?" he shouted, as he stumbled a little. It was as if he had spotted an alien spacecraft. Who knows what his poison of choice was that night….)

We pulled up to my new building at 5:58 PM Pacific Time the next day, with 2 minutes to get keys from the managing agent. After parking the car and decompressing over sushi and beer, Simon and I went back to the apartment and slept on the carpeted floor. I noticed before I went to sleep that my feet were swollen.

Simon had only driven through Portland once, so he wanted to check out the city and also some of the music scene. Now, previously, the only thing I knew about Portland's jazz scene was pianist Darrell

Pianist and Educator Darrell Grant

Grant. Grant was in New York in the 90's and played with many greats such as Tony Williams, Wallace Roney, and Don Braden. He's been teaching at Portland State University for about a decade. But he's still making great music. After you go back and check out his Criss Cross recording entitled " Black Art", you should check out his recent CD, "Truth and Reconciliation" for the Seattle-based Origin label.(This is a really great double CD which features an all star cast of John Patitucci , Brian Blade,  Joe Locke, Steve Wilson and guitarist Bill Frisell.) Grant is credited with invigorating the Portland scene, not just with his musical presence, but with his influence on the many students who are coming out of the Portland State University Jazz Program. (At some point, I'll try to get an interview with him. Clearly, there is a backlog at the moment for interviews…..)

But there is a lot going on in the Portland scene; there are a number of great players and venues. Having mostly recovered from our drive, we ventured out to two jazz performances. The first was at a restaurant called the Globe. On the bill was a fusion keyboardist/composer named Mike Prigodich. The performance featured original compositions from his latest recording, entitled "A Stitch In Time" . The band featured Scott Hall,a great saxophonist who also teaches at PSU. Also featured were Damian

Erskine on electric bass and Reinhard Melz on drums. Erskine and Melz are apparently two of the busiest musicians on the Portland scene. It was refreshing to hear some music on the fusion side; I've lamented the lack of appropriate venues in New York for this sort of music. Prigodich's band bristled with energy, yet maintained a tasteful volume.

After listening to a set and wolfing down some excellent pizza, we drove over to the Northeast to a place called the Afrique Grill. A young trombonist named Javier Nero was performing with his quintet. Nero was a student of mine when I taught adjunct at the Juilliard School of Music; he was in my remedial piano class; thus, I didn't really ever hear him play trombone! Nero impressed me with his virtuosity and musicality; his linear concept remind me of guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkle more than the assumed trombone influences. I think Nero has a lot of potential as a trombonist, and as a composer. (It was nice that Nero let me sit in with the band; I was itching to play some music after all that driving.) Nero has one more year at Juilliard; I'm hoping to convince him to do his Master's degree at PSU…..

The next night, we went to a venue in Southeast Portland called The Goodfoot. This venue seemed more like a rock club than a jazz venue. We saw two bands. The opener was a young drummer from Seattle named Sean Hutchinson. The trio, called Still Life, included Canadian Chris Massey on electric bass and Maryland native Erik Deutch on keyboards. (Erik studied with me in the early 90's. I think he was still in high school. Erik has gone on to be a seriously in-demand keyboardist, touring with the

Erik Deutch in action

likes of Charlie Hunter.) Hutchinson's concept struck me as very contemporary, even though the first tune of the night was a chilled out version of the classic "Stella By Starlight." This trio was more about sound design than super burning linear excursions; Deutch used what he  said was a custom made delay pedal to superbly personalize the Rhodes patch on the Nord Electro keyboard. Deutch combined that with expert use of the in-house Hammond B-3 with his left hand. Hutchinson presented his musical vision well; his compositions seemed not too concerned with "drumistics" as can be the case with composing drummers, but more with the overall vibe. A slick arrangement of David Bowie's "Life on Mars" was a memorable moment in the set.

The second band was led by bassist Damian Erskine. This band, which had keyboards, saxophone, and percussion, as well as Reinhard Melz again on drums, was more aggressive, featuring more odd meters and harder grooves. Erskine's playing reminds me of players like Anthony Jackson, Boris Kozlov, or Janek Gwizdala, but maybe a little smoother. (Erskine is the nephew of drummer Peter Erskine, and they play together in Peter's trio; I listened to their new

CD,"Joy Luck", in my car. I've enjoyed earlier versions of Peter Erskine's trio; I had some of the ECM CDs with John Taylor and Palle Danielsson. This inception features a pianist named Vardan Ovsepian who has a marvelous touch on the piano, much like John Taylor, but with a fiery side as well. And there are some nice touches of synthesizer as well.)

I drove Christie to the airport very early the next morning. Since my wife and son wouldn't join me in Portland until the beginning of September, I figured I should enjoy being a free man, and go hear some more music! The next spot was in the Pearl District, a place called the Camellia Lounge, which is inside a restaurant called The Tea Zone. I sat with some delicious ginger tea and listened to acoustic bassist David Friesen's band, which featured Greg Goebel on Fender Rhodes and John Gross on Tenor Saxophone. Friesen's music is quirky and intriguing; the melodies aren't necessarily catchy, but they quickly create a mood, which is a great catalyst for solos. Dissonant harmonies pervade Freisen's improvisational vehicles, and yet, because of the absence of drums, the band created a very pleasant, listenable, chamber music vibe.

And Friesen's keyboardist impressed me so much that I went to see the Greg Goebel trio at Wilf's the next evening. Wilf's is a nice restaurant right next to Union Station in Northwest. Gobel's trio featured

Greg Goebel

Phil Baker on Bass and Randy Rollofson on drums. Goebel is quite the prolific composer; most of the night showcased original music. Goebel was nice enough to let me sit in, although merely plowing through " East Of The Sun" seemed like a let down compared to Goebel's tightly arranged pieces. Wilf's is a really nice trio space; plus the food is excellent, and the staff is very friendly, friendly enough to make sarcastic jokes to me. (I guess Portland is pretty laid back….)

The bassist Phil Baker informed me that Sunday nights in Portland are a good time to check out Clyde's in Northeast for the Ron Steen Trio Jam Session. It's a bit of a drive from downtown, but since there's no TV or internet in the apartment yet, I decided to go check it out. It's quite a scene. First of all, I will again say that the food is good at Clyde's; I had a Mediterranean Pasta for $11 that really hit the spot, as well as a delicious Key Lime Pie. I sat and listened to Ron Steen and his trio, which featured bassist Baker as well as someone they kept calling "Professor", Mr. Phil Goldberg on piano. This is a jam session that reminded me of the jam session's I used to attend, and then actually host for a while, at Twins Lounge in D.C.. Clydes was soon packed with horn players and vocalists who were eager to get on stage. It was quite a lively bunch, I must say. However, drummer Ron Steen kept everything civil and organized, and he presided over the affair with a lot of warmth and humor. Of course, I played some piano, trumpet, and melodica. Jam sessions can still be a great learning experience, and I certainly had a good time jamming at Clyde's.

My last stop for the week was Monday night at Jimmy Mak's(which is the main jazz club in Portland). I walked down 10th Avenue (Imagine, a major jazz club within walking distance!) to see guitarist Dan Balmer with his fusion trio. Balmer is a Portland native; he spent years on the road with vocalist Diane Schuur. Balmer reminds me a bit of guitarist Paul Bollenback, who I have worked with quite a bit, in that, like Bollenback, he seems to be able to in almost any musical direction. I'm supposed to play with Balmer in late September;this will probably be my first official gig as a Portland resident. I'm looking forward to it, and also eagerly anticipating becoming more acquainted with the Portland jazz scene.

Guitarist Dan Balmer