by Robert Ham • Jun 27, 2019 at 12:00 pm
Mel Brown photo: Diane Russell
The Montavilla Jazz Festival, the annual nonprofit celebration of Northwest musicians and composers, is set to kick off its sixth edition this coming August, and earlier this week, they announced the full lineup for this year’s event and it’s a beaut.
Headlining the two-day festival is the combo of drummer Mel Brown and pianist Gordon Lee. The longtime collaborators will be on hand to perform a set of Lee originals, arranged and backed up by the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble. If you’re not familiar with Brown, you clearly have had your head in the sand with regards to the local jazz scene. A former Motown session drummer, the 75-year-old has been a pillar of the Portland music community for decades now and still draws a healthy crowd to his regular weekly gigs at the Jack London Revue. Festival goers get two chances to bask in Brown’s beatific grin and smoothly swinging playing as he will also perform a set with his funk/blues-inspired B-3 Organ Group.
As for Lee, the pianist has an equally impressive resume, including stints playing with Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, and Gladys Knight and the Pips. Born in New York, he’s called Portland home for nearly 35 years, racking up plenty of hours writing both jazz and classical work and gigging regularly around the city. But he always finds his way back into Mel Brown’s orbit, giving the pair that kind of musical relationship built on trust and instinct. It’s always a joy to watch them play with and off one another.
Rounding out the lineup for the Montavilla Jazz Fest is a stellar mix of classic and forward-thinking sounds. In the former category, there will be a performance by Latin jazz percussionist Bobby Torres, who is this year celebrating his appearance at the original Woodstock as a member of Joe Cocker’s band; a set of bossa nova-inspired tunes led by pianist Kerry Politzer; and a new quartet led by vocalist Sherry Alves and multi-instrumentalist George Colligan.
The more experimental side of jazz will be represented by Seattle-based keyboardist Wayne Horvitz and Creative Music Guild’s artistic director Mike Gamble performing an all-improvised set, and composer/pianist Dana Reason who brings with her a suite of tunes that, according to the press release, utilizes “the concept of torque to create thematic and generative sonic rotations that move through ‘forgotten’ voices.”
This year’s Montavilla Jazz Fest is set to go down on August 17 and 18 at Portland Metro Arts (9003 SE Stark). Hit up the fest’s website for the full lineup and to buy tickets.