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Pleasure will be headlining the 52nd Annual Oregon Juneteenth Festival on Saturday, June 15, 2024, at Lillis-Alvin’s Park. This show will be the band’s first performance this year and will also mark the band’s first performance since the passing of founding member Donald Hepburn. He passed earlier this year. It will be a homecoming for the Portland band who last played at Revolution Hall in 2023. *** Your browser does not support the audio element.

One weekend, three stages and an old haunt. In 2005, this was the humble beginnings of a new type of jazz festival, one that fused the sounds and energy of the present day, with the foundational music and spirit of yesteryear. Winter Jazzfest was created to be an experience of jazz exploration. A self-described hotbed of cultural discovery. A bridge made by music.

Let’s get into it. Below, check out KMHD’s top 10 jazz albums of 2022, curated and mused over by your KMHD hosts Deena B., Nicole D’Amato, Matt Fleeger, Alex Newman, Bri Richards, Meg Samples, Derek Smith and Bryson Wallace. And to take with you, a playlist put together incapsulating the year in jazz and beyond. Robert Glasper spins the dial to create a mixture of soul, gospel, blues, jazz and Hip Hop in his latest release Black Radio III.

Your browser does not support the audio element. There are many opportunities to see live jazz music this summer, including at festivals that might be better known for folk or rock. Derek Smith, host and operations coordinator for KMHD radio, joined Think Out Loud to share some of his favorite upcoming jazz performances. To listen to more Think Out Loud conversations, click here. Check out the playlist below for a mix some of the great artists on their way to the PNW.

As far as we’re concerned, life’s not complete without live jazz. Not only is this year’s PDX Jazz Festival a celebratory return to all in-person shows, but the lineup is a contender for the best, most vital we’ve seen. Find a day-by-day breakdown of our most recommended shows below, and view the full schedule at PDX Jazz’s website. *Please note that all festival events will be requiring proof of COVID vaccination and booster shots, as well as mask-wearing at all times. Thursday, Feb. 17 Homage feat.

Syl Johnson performs at the 32nd Annual Chicago Blues Festival in 2015. Paul Natkin / WireImage Chicago soul singer Syl Johnson, whose song “Different Strokes” was frequently sampled in hip-hop, has died at the age of 85. Director Rob Hatch-Miller of the 2015 documentary about Johnson’s work, Syl Johnson: Any Way the Wind Blows, confirmed his death to NPR.

Artists in isolation. Analog creations captured in digital times. A world still (still). Jazz: before, now, beyond. KMHD, Jazz Without Boundaries staff have curated some of the most noteworthy sounds we’ve encountered in the past year into imagined vinyl records. Scroll down to read about each side of the vinyl in this metaphorical analog compilation, and to learn more about the most ascending jazz albums, artists and singles of the year.

The week leading up to trumpeter Theo Croker’s Oct. 8 show in Portland was one of beginnings — the first week of the month, the second week of autumn, and only the second stop on his first extensive American & European tour since COVID-19 brought live music to a halt. It’s tempting to be dismissive of “quarantine albums” — those much-memed-about projects that musicians of all levels had time to tinker with in 2020 as an alternative to twiddling their thumbs.

Your browser does not support the audio element. Walk down North Williams Avenue near the intersection with Northeast Tillamook Street and you’ll find a leafy stretch of sidewalk lined with new apartments. The road swells during rush hour, as cars and commuters on bicycles stream by interrupting the ever-present hum of Interstate 5. Other than that, it’s mostly devoid of excitement except for the occasional ambulance heading to nearby Emanuel Medical Center.