ALL THINGS MUSIC
PAGE 6 • GO! MAGAZINE
THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2022 • THE BULLETIN
Concert combines songs, short films
to present Black history in Oregon
BY BEN SALMON • For The Bulletin
A
t its height in the 1940s, Vanport, Oregon was the second-largest city in the state, with more than 40,000 residents, nine schools, 14 playgrounds,
shopping centers, a hospital and a 750-seat movie theater that offered three double features per week.
Today, if you zero in on Vanport on Google Maps — near the Portland International Raceway, just south of Vancouver, Washington — all you’ll find is
a historic marker. The town, which was 40% African American, was destroyed by a flood in 1948.
More than 300 miles to the east, there’s
another point on the Oregon map labeled
Maxville, where aerial photos show only
trees, trails, a couple
of roads and a whole
bunch of open space
If You Go
in the mountains
What: Portland
north of Wallowa.
Jazz Compos-
But 100 years ago,
ers Ensemble’s
Maxville was a bus-
“From Maxville
tling company town
to Vanport”
developed by Bow-
When: 7:30 p.m.
man-Hicks Lumber,
Wednesday,
and it was home to
April 27, doors
African-American
open 6:30 p.m.
loggers at a time
when Oregon’s con-
Where: Tower
stitution included
Theatre, 835 NW
Wall Street, Bend
a provision exclud-
ing Black people
Cost: $20-$29
from the state. It
Contact: tow-
was the largest com-
ertheatre.org.
munity in Wallowa
County from 1923
to 1933, when Bow-
man-Hicks’ logging operations in the area
ceased.
These two long-gone locations are the
framework for “From Maxville to Vanport,”
a multimedia concert of songs and short
films from the Portland Jazz Composers En-
On Wednesday at the
Tower Theatre, Portland
Jazz Composers Ensem-
ble will perform “From
Maxville to Vanport.”
The show uses music
and short film to tell the
story of Black history in
Oregon.
Submitted photo
two communities,
the people who lived
there, the prejudice
they faced and the roles
they played in Oregon’s
Black history.
The Tower perfor-
mance will coincide
with a special exhibit at
the Deschutes Histor-
ical Museum in Bend.
Ticketholders for the
show can get “buy one
get one free” admission
to the museum through
the month of May.
semble that will come to the Tower Theatre
next week. The production features text by
S. Renee Mitchell, video by Kalimah Abioto
and music composed by Ezra Weiss and
performed by the PJCE and vocalist Mari-
lyn Keller. The result of their work is a lively
assemblage of jazz, blues and gospel music
along with visuals that tell the story of these
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Bryan Bielanski
But mostly, you hear Bielanski: hooky, thoughtful, inspired,
driven. Hear it for yourself at bryanssuperhappyfuntime.
bandcamp.com.
He’s from Charlotte, N.C., which means he’ll be approx-
imately 2,600 miles from home when he stops in Bend for
a couple of gigs this weekend. Stop by one of ‘em and make
him feel welcome.
Bryan Bielanski, live in Bend: 8 p.m. Friday at Worthy
Brewing Beers & Burgers (806 NW Brooks St.)
2 p.m. Saturday on KPOV Bend radio, 88.9 FM
8 p.m. Saturday at Worthy Brewing Company (495 NE
Bellevue Drive)
More info can be found at bryansuperhappyfuntime.com.
— Ben Salmon, The Bulletin
Ben Salmon is a Bend-based music journalist and host of
Left Of The Dial, which airs 8-10 p.m. Thursdays on KPOV,
88.9 FM and streams at kpov.org. You can find him on
Bandcamp and Twitter at @bcsalmon.