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  • Attractions
    • women dances with large fans outside on a city street surrounded by people in colorful dragon costumesView All Attractions
    • Museums
    • Parks & Gardens
    • Family Friendly
    • Shopping
    • On a Budget
    • EVEN MORE THINGS TO DO
  • Culture
    • people dining at picnic tables in front of a food cartView All Culture
    • Arts
    • Beer
    • Biking
    • Cannabis
    • Cultural Communities
    • Craft Spirits
    • Food
    • Makers
    • Music
    • Nightlife
    • Outdoors
    • Sports
    • Weird
    • Wine
    • MORE CULTURE
  • Neighborhoods
    • aerial view of downtown area with buildings and roadways, bridges crossing a river to a smaller set of buildings that expand into the distanceView All Neighborhoods
    • Alberta Arts District
    • Belmont
    • Central Eastside
    • Division/Clinton
    • Downtown
    • Hawthorne
    • Lloyd
    • Mississippi
    • Northwest / Nob Hill
    • Old Town Chinatown
    • Pearl District
    • St. Johns
    • Sellwood-Moreland
    • Williams
    • ALL NEIGHBORHOODS
  • Region
    • RegionView All Region
    • Near the City
    • Columbia River Gorge
    • Mount Hood
    • Oregon Coast
    • Willamette Valley
    • ALL REGIONS
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Oregon Arts Watch

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Gary Bartz-Alto Saxophone
Culture / Arts / Music

Portland Jazz

Saturated in black coffee and rain, Portland is a perfect percolator for another acquired taste: jazz.

i
Gary Bartz-Alto Saxophone

Saturated in black coffee and rain, Portland is a perfect percolator for another acquired taste: jazz. Many jazz players call this region home and find the city’s low-key atmosphere inspiring. In Portland, it’s pretty easy to find small venues hosting intimate combos of world-class talent or bigger, more boffo live shows that still “got that swing.”

Jazz Festivals

For two weeks every February, the Biamp Portland Jazz Festival spotlights the best local talents and welcomes a fleet of jazz-world luminaries to Portland. This is easily the city’s most active jazz season. After a decade of jazz curation, however, the PDX Jazz organization has expanded its efforts into year-round support of the jazz scene. Check their calendar anytime for a solid show recommendation.

The Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, founded in 1981, the longest-running free jazz festival west of the Mississippi, is held beneath North Portland’s majestic St. Johns Bridge in Cathedral Park every July.

In August, pay homage to a historic Northwest legacy, the Vanport Jazz Festival, commemorating the pioneering musicians who established Portland as a true jazz city in the wake of the tragic Vanport Flood of 1948.

Across the river from Portland, the Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival draws national and regional acts to its outdoor waterfront setting each August.

Black Community in Portland

With a diverse range of organizations and businesses, Portland’s Black community provides visitors with resources and a friendly welcome. Explore the city's Black history and cultural events, as well as Black-owned businesses and restaurants.

Read more

Music Festivals

More music
a musician performs on an outdoor stage

Pickathon Music Festival

Every August, Pickathon draws diverse musical performers to celebrate music and the outdoors at the lush Pendarvis Farm just outside of Portland.

a quartet of string musicians wearing white tuxedos

Chamber Music Northwest’s Summer Festival

Chamber Music Northwest’s annual summer festival combines high-caliber classical music with a laid-back atmosphere.

large crowd enjoying a summer music festival in Waterfront Park with the Hawthorne Bridge over the Willamette River full of boats in the background

Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival

Every Fourth of July weekend, the Waterfront Blues Festival takes over downtown Portland’s Waterfront Park.

Venues of Note

Visitors to Portland can find regular jazz offerings at Wilfs. For a classic speakeasy vibe, descend into the basement of the Alder Building to the Jack London Revue.

In Northeast Portland, Tony Starlight’s keeps the beat for lounge and jazz acts. At 1905 you’ll find live local jazz artists and special guests almost every night of the week.

5 To Try

Jazz Venues in Portland

Sit back and listen to local and visiting jazz musicians at these live music venues.

  • The 1905

    The 1905 features craft cocktails, artisanal pizza and an event calendar featuring live jazz music.

  • The Tony Starlight Show

    Tony Starlight brings a Vegas-style dinner show to Portland. Live music, comedy, dinner and local beer, spirits and wine make this a great destination. Tony’s musical comedy performances range from tributes to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, the Copa.

  • Jack London Revue

    The Jack London Revue is located in the basement of a historic downtown building — it delivers a classic speakeasy feel in an intimate setting, and features some of Portland’s best jazz musicians.

  • Wilf’s Restaurant & Jazz Bar

    Located at Union Station, this family-owned restaurant and bar hosts live, local jazz. They offer a contemporary take on the classic American menu, with ingredients sourced locally whenever possible.

  • Blue Diamond Bar & Grill

    This unpretentious, locally owned watering hole hosts live music and dancing in an intimate setting. They also offer hearty food options and a full bar.

Grammy Winners

“City of Roses” is both another name for Portland and the name of a Grammy-winning jazz hit by Portlander Esperanza Spalding. Spalding, a young jazz bassist and composer that David Letterman once dubbed his “coolest guest,” became a figurehead for new jazz in Portland — and indeed the world — after her shocking 2011 “Best New Artist” Grammy win over Justin Bieber.

Other Notables

The Jazz Society of Oregon’s Hall of Fame helps record jazz luminaries (of memory’s general ilk) from the region’s present and past. Many of these inductees are still active around Portland.

Veteran pianist and composer Dave Frishberg, who wrote songbook classics like “Peel Me A Grape” and “I’m Hip,” gigged regularly well into his 80s.

Drummer Mel Brown plays regular sets with his combo The Mel Brown Quartet. Recently passed, veteran pianist and composer Dave Frishberg, who wrote songbook classics like “Peel Me A Grape” and “I’m Hip,” still gigged regularly well into his 80s in small clubs with singer Rebecca Kilgore. Portland was also home to the late Native American jazz saxophonist Jim Pepper, whose work is commemorated in the Jim Pepper Native Arts Festival, held each August.

Pink Martini, one of the highest-profile jazz/pop crossover bands of the last decade, is based in Portland but travels all over the globe. The Shanghai Woolies, a Pink Martini “hot jazz” offshoot, more regularly make the rounds in P-town. Growing jazz-rooted acts with broad appeal include Ben Darwish and Trio Subtonic.

Portland’s preeminent vaudeville acts also favor a jazzy live accompaniment. Vagabond Opera and Wanderlust Circus each play polka-flavored gypsy jazz and put on a glitzy, cheeky live show full of dancing, dialogue and various cirque-burlesque feats.

Jazz Radio

Portland radio listeners are lucky to have access to a dedicated nonprofit jazz radio station that plays the pantheon, from swing to soul. KMHD Jazz Radio broadcasts at 89.1 FM from Mt. Hood Community College in collaboration with Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Arts, Black Community, Cultural Communities, Music

Mentioned Elsewhere Online

Jazz Society of Oregon

PDX Jazz

Jazz in Portland

Explore Portland's Jazz scene at these upcoming events and concerts.

 Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall $35 & up

Experience the sensational Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, led by artistic director, trumpeter extraordinaire, and nine-time Grammy Award-winner Wynton Marsalis. The Chicago Tribune describes the band in concert: “The orchestra [tore] through this music as if chasing the wind. Only a group of musicians who have toured together for so long…could have attained this kind…

Music
Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023

Karl Denson's Tiny Universe

Revolution Hall $40 – $55

KDTU has electrified audiences worldwide, from the fields of Naeba in Japan at the infamous Fuji Rock Festival to the hallowed stage of Madison Square Garden, where they previously joined the Dave Matthews Band and The Godfather of Soul, James Brown. From performing as Sexual Chocolate (Karl was in the original band in the movie…

Music

More Portland Events

Visit our events calendar to discover even more things to do in Portland. Search by date, event type and more.

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