Portland Jazz Festival
The annual festival celebrates the rich local jazz scene and attracts international stars.
The Portland Jazz Festival, from PDX Jazz, celebrates Black History Month with a series of concerts and events presented over two weeks every February.
“We strive to produce a festival that reflects the fabric of a vibrant jazz community … there is no city of a similar size in America that boasts such a wealth of talented artists as Portland.”
Managing director Don Lucoff
Dedicated to preserving America’s indigenous art form by presenting internationally recognized jazz masters alongside local musicians, the festival always includes education and outreach programs that extend into Portland’s schools and neighborhoods, as well as a generous offering of free performances.
The annual celebration of improvised music brings some of jazz’s greatest living stars, including a touching tribute to Geri Allen, the beloved American jazz pianist and composer who sadly passed away in June 2017. It also offers the chance to see rising young lions from Portland State University’s Jazz and Contemporary Voice program, Monk competition winner Yotam Silberstein and saxaphonist Ian Christensen, plus a parade of Portland’s finest jazz musicians like Pete Krebs, Ezra Weiss and Marilyn Keller.