Page 8 The Skanner August 9, 2017
News
Jazz
cont’d from pg 7
a close-knit community.
For example, Hanks said,
nationally known Black
musicians played the
downtown clubs in the
1940s and 1950s, but they
couldn’t rent hotel rooms
in segregated Portland.
They relied on a network
of people in Albina to
pick them up at the air-
port and provide them
with places to stay.
While the 1940s and
1950s are regarded as
the “golden age” of Port-
land jazz, Albina’s scene
thrived through the fol-
lowing decades, and the
festival will feature some
musicians who came up
in Portland jazz during
the 1960s and 1970s.
‘Like night and day’
Drummer Ron Steen,
who hosts weekly jam
sessions at Clyde’s Prime
Rib and plays regularly
at Wilfs and Augustana
Lutheran Church’s jazz
gospel service, grew up
on Vancouver Avenue,
and started playing in
Portland clubs as a teen-
ager. He would cross
the street to play at Paul
Knauls’ Cotton Club.
Steen said growing up
in the neighborhood he
had the chance to see jazz
legends like Thelonius
Monk — and was men-
tored by a host of jazz lu-
minaries including Mel
Brown, Thara Memory
and journalist, musician
and club owner Bill Mc-
Clendon.
“All these people were
not just musicians. They
were just like surrogate
parents in a lot of ways,”
Steen told The Skanner.
Dennis Bradford also
came up in Portland’s
jazz scene, mentored
by his father, jazz trum-
peter Bobby Bradford.
The younger Bradford
started playing drums
when he was just eight
years old, and his career
has taken him all over
the world. He lived and
played music in Japan for
27 years, and while he
moved back to Portland
to be nearer family five
years ago, he still travels
heavily for work.
Traveling is part of life
for a working musician,
he said, but he said the
difference between Port-
land’s jazz scene in the
1970s versus now is “like
night and day.”
“There were a lot more
jazz clubs. There were a
lot more places to play.
The club scene was com-
pletely different than
what it is now,” Bradford
told The Skanner.
Both Bradford and
Steen will play at this
weekend’s festival, which
Hanks said was inspired
by his dad’s stories and
which is dedicated to the
memory of his mother,
Fern McCoy Hanks.
When approached to
play at the festival, Brad-
ford was eager to play lo-
cally again.
“I said it would be nice
to do it, because it would
be nice to let everybody
know I’m back home. It
would be nice because
I love music,” Bradford
said.
The Stingray Café is lo-
cated at 240 N. Broadway.
Tickets are $10 and are
available at the door. For
more information, visit
Albinajazzfestival.com.
Kam Williams
Movie Previews at
Award
winning
movie crit
ic
Revealing
celebrity s
interview
NEW MOVIES OPENING EVERY WEEK!
Film Review: It’s Halle Berry
vs. Hillbillies in ‘Kidnap’
Halle Berry plays a mother desperate to save her child in the action-packed ‘Kidnap’
by Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
K
arla (Halle Berry) is a stressed-
out single-mom waitressing in
a diner when she’d rather be
spending more quality time
with her young son, Frankie (Sage
Correa). In fact, today, he’s patiently
waiting right there in the restaurant
for her overtime shift to end.
“
Her maternal in-
stincts kick in, and
she decides to pur-
sue the perps
After she finally gets off, the two
drive to an amusement park for what
promises to be a fun-filled afternoon.
Trouble is, she’s in the midst of bitter
custody battle over Frankie with her
vindictive ex-husband (Jason George).
That explains why she wanders a
few feet away for a little privacy when
she gets a call from her divorce attor-
ney.
Unfortunately, it’s enough of a dis-
traction to afford a lurking kidnap-
per (Chris McGinn) an opportuni-
ty to pounce. Next thing you know,
Margo’s dragging the kid to a waiting
getaway car with her husband Terry
(Lew Temple) at the wheel.
Karla frantically rushes into the
parking lot where she drops her cell
phone before spotting a suspicious
Mustang GT with tinted windows and
no license plates peel rubber. At that
point, her maternal instincts kick in,
and she decides to pursue the perps
despite the fact that she’s driving a
relatively-sluggish, Chrysler Town &
Country.
What ensues is an extended chase
scene that lasts the rests of the movie.
So unfolds Kidnap, a low-budget vari-
ation of “Baby Driver” directed by Luis
Prieto (“Pusher”). Although the plot
arrives riddled with comical holes big
enough for Karla to drive her mini-
van through, the picture nevertheless
proves pretty compelling thanks to a
combination of heart-pounding ac-
tion and the protagonists convincing
embodiment of pure desperation.
It’s Halle vs. hillbillies in a high-oc-
tane showdown where there’s never a
doubt about whether “Mommy Driv-
er” will prevail.
Very Good HHH
Rated R for violence, profanity and
scenes of peril
Running time: 95 minutes
To see a trailer for Kidnap, visit
TheSkanner.com.