Album Review: Blue Cranes

Swim (Cuneiform)

Album Reviews [MOOD PIECES] There’s no way around it: Swim, the fourth album by local jazz institution Blue Cranes, is as heady and dark as anything the group has done in its six years together. The big cha   More

 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 CASEY JARMAN

Album Review: Morning Ritual

The Clear Blue Pearl (Self-Release)

Album Reviews [POP OPERA] Concept albums demand some suspension of disbelief and a little imagination from the listener. When the story being related is in the realm of epic fantasy, as is the case with Morni   More

 

Wednesday, May 15, 2013 CASEY JARMAN

Bar of the Year 2013 Runner Up No. 2: Blue Diamond

Bar Guide 2013 It’s 9:30 on a Monday night at Blue Diamond, and a band called Sumo is playing War’s “Spill the Wine” for a couple dozen regulars. A pretty brunette swing dances with a guy who’s old e   More

 

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 CASEY JARMAN

Album Review: The Pynnacles

The Pynnacles (Self-Released)

Album Reviews [PSYCH-GARAGE FOREVER] I am not the target audience for throwback garage rock. It’s hard for me to see the point of taking something that was so vital in its day and cloning it for modern audi   More

 

Wednesday, March 27, 2013 CASEY JARMAN

Top Five Must-See Acts at Jazz Fest

Top 5 Barry Harris with Chuck Israels and Mel Brown (Friday, Feb. 15, at Jimmy Mak’s) Pianist Barry Harris, still sharp and dextrous at 83, is one of the last great bebop innovators we have, and bass   More

 

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 CASEY JARMAN

Winter Guide 2013: It’s Not a Portland Winter Until You’ve...

32 ways to distract yourself during the dark days to come.

Featured Stories Only the strong survive Stumptown winters with all their marbles in the bag. Even those who claim to love the rainy season know that the gray, low-hanging clouds always transform from familiar fri   More

 

Wednesday, January 23, 2013 CASEY JARMAN

Yaw’s Top Notch

Food Reviews & Stories Keener minds than mine spent much of the latest election cycle confronting and debunking the myth of the Good Old Days. You know the ones: You could buy a brand-new hot rod on one month’s pay, a   More

 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012 CASEY JARMAN

Top Five More Portland Bands I Want To Reunite

Top 5 A WeatherIt’s hard for me even to talk about this band without getting all misty. They were so good and so heartbreaking, and I didn’t go see them enough. Eskimo and SonsI’d be pushier    More

 

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 CASEY JARMAN

Old Boys’ Club

Shiny new Portland makes Menomena and the Helio Sequence feel very old.

Music Stories The Helio Sequence and Menomena have a lot in common. Both are made up of Portland-area natives (Beaverton, specifically). Both are signed to...   More

 

Wednesday, September 5, 2012 CASEY JARMAN

Headout: Casey Jarman Says Farewell

WW’s Music Editor is moving on.

Headout I was asked to speak at my high-school graduation. Not because of my grades (which were abysmal) or because of my community service (which was ordered by a judge), but because I had made fewer e   More

 

Wednesday, September 5, 2012 CASEY JARMAN