Page 6
July 24, 2019
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
Jazz vocalist, saxophonist and songwriter Eric Darius.
A Legacy of
Portland Jazz
The Queens of Soul Jazz band features flutist extraordinaire Althea Rene and the sultry sounds of
saxophonist Jeannette Harris .
Vanport Jazz festival
a cultural revival
Honoring the history of Vanport and the voices that
formed our jazz community, the Vanport Jazz Festival
will once again feature a lineup of internationally re-
nowed artists and breathe new life into Portland’s jazz
scene.
The annual event will be held this year on Satur-
day, Aug. 3 at the Colwood Golf Center, 7313 N.E.
Columbia Blvd., filling a stage with musicians who
carry the torch for a diverse generation of jazz artists
who came to Portland for work and then established
Portland as a true jazz city because of their vibrant
music and culture.
At its height, nearly 40,000 people lived in Vanport,
including 6,000 African Americans. Vanport was then
the nation’s largest public housing project and the sec-
ond-largest city in Oregon.
But Vanport wasn’t built to last. On Memorial Day,
1948, the Columbia River broke through the nearby le-
vees, unleashing a historic flood that displaced 18,000
people from their homes—a quarter of whom were Af-
rican American. The Vanport Flood was, in the words
of a former resident, the Hurricane Katrina of its time.
Smooth jazz saxophonist Euge Groove.
Portland’s jazz scene rose to a crescendo during and
after Vanport and over time, like the flood that dis-
persed it, evaporated in fragments. People passed away.
Venues closed. But the audience remained, waiting for
the music to return.
Today, the Vanport Jazz Festival pays homage to this
legacy by hosting a jazz experience for the modern day.
Featured artists for the upcoming event include Euge
Groove, Andy Stokes, Eric Darius, The Queens of Soul
Jazz featuring Althea Rene and Jeanette Harris and the
Northwest soul master Andy Stokes hit the top 50 of
the R&B charts last year with his hit “Best Day Ever.”
He will be one of the featured performers at the
Vanport Jazz Festival, coming Saturday, Aug. 3 to the
Colwood Golf Center in northeast Portland.
group War.
Living members of the Vanport community, nation-
al-caliber talent, and jazz aficionados everywhere are
invited to discover the legacy of Portland jazz and ex-
perience the revival. For tickets and more information,
visit VanportJazzFestival.com.