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PDX Jazz Supports Jazz Films
PDX Jazz, the presenting organization of the Alaska Airlines/Horizon
Air Portland Jazz Festival presented by U.S. Bank, is proud to announce the screening
of four jazz documentaries in the coming weeks:
· The Anatomy Of Vince Guaraldi via the 28th REEL MUSIC FESTIVAL (presented
by the Northwest Film Center)
· Two Sides of John Zorn's Masada presented by the Oregon Jewish Museum,
featuring two films: Electric Masada and Masada String Trio
· Icons Among Us: jazz in the present tense via the 2011 Alaska Airlines/Horizon
Air Portland Jazz Festival presented by US Bank
See below for more information on all films, screening dates/details, etc.
28th Reel Music Festival:
The Anatomy Of Vince Guaraldi
Tuesday, January 11, at 7 p.m.
Drawing upon rarely seen footage and recordings made by jazz writer (and Rolling
Stone co-founder) Ralph J. Gleason shot in the early '60s, producers Gleason and
Thomas explore the brief but astounding life and times of the celebrated composer
who pioneered a unique crossover of jazz and pop music. Vince Guaraldi-from his
celebrated scores for the Peanuts animations, the mega-hit Cast Your Fate to the
Wind, his reign at the cultural caldron that was the Hungry I in San Francisco's
North Beach, and the ground-breaking Jazz Mass at Grace Cathedral-was a phenomenon
until his death in 1975 at age 47. The film features new performances and insights
from Dave Brubeck, Dick Gregory, George Winston, Jon Hendricks, John Handy, Paul
Krassner, Paul Mazursky, and many more and sheds fascinating light on the social
and political times of the era. (116 mins).
To the casual jazz fan, the name Vince Guaraldi is practically synonymous with the
numerous animated television specials based on cartoonist Charles Schulz's Peanuts
characters - the first and most notable being A Charlie Brown Christmas, which made
its network television debut in December 1965 and has become a holiday classic in
the four decades since, thanks in large part to the whimsical and evocative piano
music that underscores the story.
But Guaraldi's own musical story began more than a decade before his affiliation
with Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, etc. Originally a sideman for vibraphonist Cal
Tjader in the early '50s and clarinetist Woody Herman a few years later, Guaraldi
formed his own trio in 1955 and spent the remainder of the decade and half of the
next making a series of fine recordings.
The Concord Music Group recently gathered the best of this body of work in a 2-CD
collection, The Definitive Vince Guaraldi, released on October 6, 2009. Additionally,
Concord assembled Peanuts Portraits, a collection of compositions written and performed
by Guaraldi specifically for the various Peanuts television specials aired between
1964 and 1974. The collection was released by Concord Music Group on April 20, 2010,
just a few months shy of the 60th anniversary of Peanuts' debut as a newspaper strip
in October 1950
After the screening, stay for a live performance by the Vince Guaraldi Tribute Band.
Sponsored by PDX Jazz.
Location: McMenamins Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan)
Admission/Tickets: $9 General, $8 Museum Members, Students, Seniors, $6 Friends
of the Film Center
Full schedule, film trailers, and tickets at http://www.nwfilm.org/festivals/reelmusic.
Two Sides of John Zorn's Masada: Electric
Masada and Masada String Trio
presented by the Oregon Jewish Museum
Tuesday, February 22, at 7 p.m.
After almost a decade of John Zorn's free-jazz and klezmer musical exploration
in a form of Masada band, this great musician decided to try mixing lyrical qualities
of the Masada songbook with the raw power of Naked City and the improvisational
madness of Cobra. A true downtown supergroup, this is Zorn at his very best. The
group includes, beside Zorn himself, Baron from original Masada line up (on drums),
Ribot and Wollesen from Bar Kokhba, Cyro Baptista from Bar Kokhba Sextet, and a
few regular Zorn collaborators: Trevor Dunn (bass), Jamie Saft (keyb.) and Ikue
Mori (laptop/electronics). Drawing on Zorn's wide ranging stylistic influences,
the band takes the Masada songbook into a whole new direction, reminiscent of jazz
fusion and noise rock. Zorn uses hand signals to conduct the band, allowing for
him to make up different arrangements on the spot.
Location: Oregon Jewish Museum (1953 NW Kearney)
Admission/Tickets: General Public $10 - Museum Members $8.
Advance reservations while 50 seats last.
For more information and tickets, please visit:
http://www.ojm.org/movies.htm
Icons Among Us: jazz in the present tense presented by
Amtrak Cascades
Thursday, February 24 - Sunday, February 27, at 5:30 p.m.
(each day)
Icons Among Us: jazz in the present tense is a documentary film series
that captures the metamorphosis of jazz by showcasing the words, music, and spirit
of the artists that are paving the way for an unprecedented musical revolution.
Broken down into four episodes, the documentary features a who's who of internationally
recognized jazz musicians, including, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Anat
Cohen, Avishai Cohen, Jason Moran, Danilo Perez, Dave Holland, The Bad Plus, Brian
Blade & The Fellowship Band, Ravi Coltrane, Lionel Loueke, Nicholas Payton, Aaron
Parks, and Charlie Hunter, among dozens of others.
Through interviews and live performance footage, the film explores the thoughts
and lives of the musicians spearheading today's jazz front lines. This diverse group
of musicians, who have committed their lives to their art, is being missed out on
by mainstream media and popular culture. They continue to record, play live jazz,
and exist in a world that has been distracted from their brilliance.
The filmmakers believe that Icons Among Us is hitting its stride at a critical
moment in music history. Icons' unique appeal will engage a largely untapped and
growing audience of both the culturally creative and the multi-generational music
lovers. The market is ripe, and the musicians are ready.
Each of the four episodes will be screened daily and sequentially during the
Portland Jazz Festival, from Thursday, February 24 through Sunday, February 27 (5:30pm).
On Friday, February 25, at 7pm, there will be a special "Jazz Conversation" with
the film's producer, John Comerford of Paradigm Studios, interviewed by Barry Johnson.
Following the Saturday, February 26 screening, at 7pm there will be a special
concert featuring saxophonist Devin Phillips' Quartet as well as Andrew Oliver's
Kora Band.
Location: McMenamins Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan)
Admission/Tickets: The film screenings and the Jazz Conversation are free.
The Saturday concert is $10.
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610.667.0501
Don Lucoff
PDX Jazz · Visit our new website: www.pdxjazz.com
133 SW Second Avenue, Suite 420, Portland, OR 97204 · 503-228-JAZZ (5299)
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