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îl?e JJortlanb © b seru er_______
November 30. 2005
Focus
¿-Three Nights of Extraordinary Dance
Portland’s Jazz
History Shared
Author, historian
introduces 'Jumptown ’
Combining music, politics, and social history,
the new book “Jumptown: The Golden Years of
Portland Jazz, 1942-1957" sheds light on a time and
place overlooked by histories of Portland and jazz.
In mid-twentieth century Portland, a thriving
African-American neighborhood— that would
soon be bulldozed for urban renewal— spawned a
jazz heyday rarely rivaled on the West Coast.
Such luminaries as Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker,
Oscar Peterson, and Dave Brubeck headlined Port­
land clubs and traded chops with the up-and-
coming local talent.
Jumptown author and jazz historian Bob Dietsche
will introduce and sign copies o f his book at
Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W. Burnside on
Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7:30 p.m., at St. Johns Booksell­
ers, 8622 N. Lombard, on Thursday, Dec. 8 at 7:30
p.m. and at Music Millennium NW, 801 N.W. 23rd,
on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 3 p.m.
Dietsche has taught courses in jazz history at
Oregon colleges and universities and was the
longtime host of "Jazzville" on Oregon Public
Broadcasting radio. He is the founder and former
owner of Django Records, Portland’s legendary
used-record store.
Lonzo King's Lines Ballet, a m ulti-ethnic d a nce com ­
pany, brings its thrilling technique and angular dyna­
m ism to Portland S ta te U niversity's Lincoln Hall on
Thursday, Dec. 8 through Saturday, Dec. 10.
Lonzo K ing’s Lines Ballet
is celebrating 23 years o f e x ­
traordinary dance m aking
w ith three nights o f p erfo r­
mances in the intimacy ofLin-
coln Hall on the Portland State
University Campus.
The W hite Bird sponsored
perform ances will be held at
8 p.m. each night from Thurs­
day, Dec. 8 through S a tu r­
day, Dec. 10
King last brought his Lines
Ballet to Portland in 2001
with the unf orgettable' ‘People
o f the Forest,” collaboration
w ith the B a-A ka m usicians
from Africa. T he latest w ork
from this m ulti-ethnic c o m ­
pany o f strikingly b eautiful
dancers is a thrilling program
displaying his unique fusion o f
classical ballet technique and
the angular dynam ism o f con­
tem porary dance, set to a
wide range o f m usic, from
blues and jazz toclassical and
contemporary compositions.
Novel Breaks Psychological Barriers Portland Artist Mixes First CD
ture story about hoops and the
‘hood, hip-hop and hypocrisy.
It’s also about the complex rela-
tionship betw een fears and
dreams.
The book dives headfirst into
the questions of life and the
stress of living and pulls no
punches concerning the possi­
bilities for the planet both good
and bad.
A near-great hoop dreamer,
hip-hop emcee and readaholic
attempting to make sense out of
life’s experiences with her de­
but novel, “21 Hustle.”
Author Melki presents a hi­
larious and exciting journey into
the world of possibilities that
speculate what black people
may face at the turn of the next
century. The book is an adven-
V I .
I
The new CD “Voice O f The
Streets” by Meezilini is creating
a buzz that harkens back to an­
other northwest recording artist.
Sir Mix a Lot with his hit single
“Baby Got Back."
Mark Miles of Portland, also
known as Meezilini, is 2Real
Record’s diamond in the ruff with
his inspiration lyrical technique.
His “Voice O f Streets” is both
a CD and DVD packaged to­
gether, a scripture of lessons
learned from the urban life grow­
ing up and surviving the inner
MEEZIUHI I
VOICE .".'.STREETS
city of Portland. His first
singles from the collection,
“ W e W ant M e e z i” and
“Voice of the Streets,” are
songs that capture au d i­
ences everywhere he per­
forms.
Meezilini’s debut album
also touches on subjects
such as social, political, eco­
nomical and environmental
issu e s. Y ou can v isit
www.2realrecords.net to lis­
ten to “We W ant Meezi” or
“Voice of the Streets.”
Celebrating Diverse Beautiful Skin
Jona Brow n’s "The
Shade Tree" is not only
entertaining, but it is
also a wonderful tool to
help children feel good
about them selves and
em brace all people of
color.
The book that can
lead your children to
discover the essence of
who they are.
D u rin g c h ild r e n ’s
early years, they often
get b o m b ard ed w ith
outside influences that
seek to set them an image o f who they are, that is
contrary to the values most of us would like to instill
as parents, Brown
said.
“System atically
and re le n tle ssly ,
o u r c h ild r e n o f
color are indoctri­
nated that the color
o f the face staring
back at them in the
m irror is associ-
Jona Brown
ated with all things
bad. Not only must
we remove the negative im agery, but also
we must then replace the negative with the
positive,” she said.
Brown is from Texas and served in the
armed forces during Desert Storm. She is a sister,
wife m other and grandm other.
apòjxo COLLEGE
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Yuletide Celebration
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Frl., Dec 9 at 7:30 p.m • Sat., Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Sun., Dec 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Sat., Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. • Sun., Dec. 18 at 3 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Mon., Dec. 19 at 8 p.m.
Charles Floyd, conductor
Micah Stampley, vocalist
Northwest Community Gospel Chorus
Charles Prince, conductor
Margie Bould, hostess
L ift holiday spirits high w ith the lively, soulful
sounds o f Christmas.
th e w hole fa m ily w ill love this all-new produc­
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dazzling t oslum rs, virtu o so soloists and a
retelling o f Charles Dickens’ *A Christm as Carol.
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Sunday Performances: '/ j price for kids 18 and
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