Portland observer., November 28, 2018, Page Page 6, Image 6

Page 6
November 28, 2018
Portland jazz and gospel singer Marilyn Keller fronts the Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble for their new CD “From Maxville to Vanport” a group of songs and original
music to tell the story of two historic Oregon towns rooted in early African American history.
Maxville to Vanport
C onTinued from f ronT
The multi-layered project, ac-
cording to Detrick, looks at the
history of both towns and high-
lights the need to showcase the
under-representation of black
people in Oregon history by
looking honestly at the prejudice
they faced and celebrating “their
resilience, courage and important
contributions to Oregon through
jazz, R&B and blues.”
Each of the songs has a dif-
ferent theme and tells a different
aspect of experiences of the res-
idents of the two communities.
Mitchell said she relied heavily
on the expertise of blackhisto-
rian Gwendolyn Trice, also part
of the creative team, along with
interviews in the homes of de-
scendants of those who lived in
Maxville, as well as the feeling
she got while standing at the
long-abandoned logging site.
“Being on a quad of land
where Maxville was once locat-
ed, everything has its own en-
ergy,” she said. “To allow the
words to come and giving them
over to Ezra, who is a musical ge-
nius — we had the right people,
the right kind of process and ev-
eryone brought their ‘A’ game to
the table.”
Mitchell said the evolution of
the project also included feed-
back from community members
after preview performances earli-
er this year.
“We invited people to glean it,
to really hear the themes we try
to make present, themes of resil-
iency, themes of really appreciat-
ing the connections people made
to help each other survive,” she
said. “One thing that came out
that was profound – how they had
to lean on each other to be able to
make it during those times, like
how high the snow was, how cold
the wind and rain was coming
through the walls…I’d love to
keep telling this story.”
Mitchell added that she’s even
like to see “From Maxville to
Vanport” made into a musical.
“There may be a play com-
ing down the pike at some point,
maybe as (part of) some curricu-
lum,” she said.
That would be just fine with
Keller, as she recalled the evolu-
tion of the music from those early
preview performances.
“We polled the audience and
they said we were on the right
track, but they wanted to hear
blues and jazz and the music of
the African Diaspora,” she said.
“And I think Ezra and Renee both
captured that.”
Keller said she and Weiss had
worked together before and by
the time she started singing the
music, it had become part of her.
She also recalled that trip to Max-
ville and how it affected her.
“When we went to the camp-
site of Maxville, standing in the
cold and snow and still feeling the
ghosts of the past, I knew this was
something we were going to be af-
fected by.”
The result reflects many differ-
ent styles of music, from the up-
beat “Oregon Sounds Like Free-
dom” to the haunting strains of
“What do Your Trees Tell You.”
“Woman’s Work” tells of the
hardships women in the settle-
ment went through: “Sleep is like
a tourist, who don’t know where
it belongs. It don’t come regular,
don’t stay long.”
The theme of the entire en-
deavor could be summed up in
the words Mitchell wrote for
“Maxville to Vanport,” one of the
songs on the CD: “Oregon didn’t
want black folks to stay; But we
planted roots here anyway.”
Weiss said Mitchell’s lyrics
came first, which inspired him.
“Renee is not only a poet but
was also a reporter with the Ore-
gonian for many years, so she was
able to bring in the facts of the sto-
ry and put it in this sort of poetic
treatment,” he said. “She was able
to create art from that, and for me
it was to just get the vibe.”