educational opportunties for
individuals. During these programs, instructors
and educators will explore jazz and the
African American experience with area students,
musicians and the public.
A portion of the net proceeds
from the Portland Jazz Festival benefit
the Albertina Kerr Centers. Since 1907,
Albertina Kerr Centers has given
hope to - and changed the lives of - our
community's most vulnerable citizens: severely
abused children, young people with significant
behavioral and mental health problems, families
in crisis and individuals with developmental
disabilities. Albertina Kerr Centers has
successfully fulfilled its 96-year mission
while maintaining an industry low overhead
of 8%, meaning that 92 cents of each dollar
goes to the direct care and treatment of
the people served by the organization.
Next, you may find yourself asking ...
What is jazz like in Portland,
Oregon?
Portland has a rich and vibrant
jazz history. The emergence of jazz and
funk was born out of frustrations and has
become one of the purest forms of freeness
that the music scene has ever experienced.
The dynamic sounds of jazz has electrified
the Portland area since the days of World
War II when tens of thousands of African
Americans, many from Texas, came by rail
to work in the Kaiser shipyards. After the
war ended, the black population resided
in an area that ran north from the river
to North East Fremont and east from North
Interstate to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue.
This area was often labeled as "Little
Harlem" and was controlled by the
black vice lord, Tom Johnson.
One of the most notable jazz
scenes during the post-war era could be
found on Williams Avenue. The street was
lined with clubs that thrived on entertainment
and jazz could be heard up and down the
strip 24/7. This was the place to be for
all aspiring musicians, for it was where
some of the best jam sessions of the Northwest
could be found. Portland, conveniently located
between two of the best jazz scenes in the
United States, Seattle and Los Angeles,
was a hideout for many of the early jazz
legends who traveled back and forth between
the two big cities. A local jazz pioneer,
Sweet Baby James Benton who hosted
jam sessions in his own backyard, recalls
that Portland in the 50's and 60's was the
best-kept secret for all who loved to get
down and jam. Many musical styles were shared
and improved upon during the infamous backyard
jam sessions. It was a chance for the elders
to mentor and the hopeful youth to learn.
In the early days, the club
scene was extremely intense. Even though
Williams Avenue has been bulldozed down
to make room for I-5, the Rose Garden and
the Memorial Coliseum, the memories that
have been passed along will continue to
live in the hearts of all who love the musical
genre of jazz. The clubs that lined Williams
Avenue all have fulsome stories and claims
to the many pioneers of Portland jazz. Frat
Hall was home to Don Anderson, Sid
Porter, Julian Henson, and Al
Pierre. Places like Savoy and Lil' Sandy's
was the stomping ground for musicians such
as T-Bone Walker and Cleve Williams.
Jackie's was the joint that Leo Amadee
showed Lorraine Walsh Geller how
to play bebop piano and Paul's Paradise
hosted battles between Seattle's Jabbo
Ward and Portland's Roy Jackson.
Blue Monk on Belmont will present the
"Original Cats," featuring Sweet
Baby James and Cleve Williams and others
during the Festival (Saturday, February
7 with sets at 9:30 pm &11:30 pm).
The Dude Ranch, which was
designed after "black cowboy"
establishments in Texas and has since been
shut down and turned into a Multi-Craft
Plastics store located in a triangular building
that divides Weidler from North Broadway.
In 1945, the Dude Ranch was the hottest
black and tan supper club west of the Mississippi
River. On December 4, 1945 there was a scene
that has never been paralleled - Norman
Granz brought an early edition of Jazz
at the Philharmonic, a traveling jam session
named after its place of origin in Los Angeles,
which included some of the biggest names
in the history of music. The list of names
included Coleman Hawkins, Roy
Eldridge, and the Thelonious Sphere
Monk. Some say that this marked the
beginning of modern jazz in Portland.
When the Dude closed it became
the Acme Club "the house that bop built"
and opened its doors with acts such as Carl
Thomas (Portland's version of Charlie
Parker) and Leo "Dark Eyes"
Amadee who came from New Orleans as
a boogie-woogie mastermind only to become
one of the greatest pioneers of the jazz
piano in Portland. Acme was a learning center
for six whiz kids from Fort Vancouver High
School, under the direction of Wally
Hanna. Bonny Addleman (bassist)
went on to play with hall-of-famer Don
Byas in Paris. Keith Hodgeson (bassist)
played so well that he acquired a chair
with the symphony in Washington D.C.
Quen Anderson (trombonist) became one
of the 3 best arrangers the city has ever
produced. Norma Carson (trumpeter)
went to New York and received rave reviews
from the dean of jazz critics, Leonard
Feather. Lee Rockey (drummer)
went on to play with Herbie Mann
and Neal Hefti.
Underneath Acme was a pool
hall where you could always find Ed Slaughter
- jazz historian and honorary mayor of Williams
Avenue. He was most remembered for his jukebox
that would be stacked full of the most recent
recordings of national blues and jazz artists.
This was the place where most of the aspiring
musicians heard their very first jazz records.
In 1947 the Acme became the
Savoy which was then bought in 1949 by Bill
McClendon, who was the driving force
behind the development of Williams Avenue.
Under new ownership, it was then called
the Rhythm Room. The Warren Bracken
trio played there with tenor sax Roy
Jackson, guitarist Warren Black
and drummer Ray Horn. In 1953, Duke Ellington
celebrated his birthday there with some
of Portland's most talented musicians. In
1952, McClendon booked some the most extraordinary
names in Portland jazz history: Wardel
Gray, Johnny Hodges, Earl Bostic featuring
John Coletrane and local trumpeter
Bobby Bradford, Tab Smith, George Shearing
and his quintet, and the Oscar Peterson
trio. McClendon bears in mind the impact
that the Oscar Peterson performance made.
"Oscar played two shows every day for
two weeks, and we turned thousands away
at the door. They were coming from everywhere
~ North California, Idaho ~ and I began
to think how important all these big jazz
names were in the area of human relations
and about how for the first time white folks
from the West Hills and downtown saw that
what we were doing here was valuable."
We would like to thank Bob
Dietsche for his help in documenting
this history. Mr. Dietsche is a columnist
and founder of Django Records. He has made
the study of Portland Jazz history his life.
His recent book is titled Golden Decade
of Portland Jazz.
Let's continue
to define jazz in Portland during the Portland
Jazz Festival, February 6-8. 2004.
