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

Music  If the fact that the Creative Music Guild has been in action for 21 years comes as a surprise to you, don't feel bad. Even though I have been familiar with the CMG as a group that supports experimental and avant garde music in the city, my best guess was that they were, at the most, eight years old. The truth is that Rich Halley and Rob Blakeslee, two well-regarded jazz players, created the ...   More

Music If you were lucky enough to catch the soul scorching set by Matthew Shipp Trio at Jimmy Mak's last night, you were also given the inside track on the lineup for the 2013 Portland Jazz Festival. Managing Director Don Lucoff took the stage and rattled off a quite impressive string of players and performers who will be gracing our fair city with their talent from February 15-24. But, lest we leave ...   More

Music There's a beauty to the jukebox. My favorite resides at the Springdale Tavern. The bar is located just outside of Troutdale and when you walk in, everyone turns to look, keenly aware that you're not a local. The jukebox there has a diverse catalog of both current and past hits and on one particular $1 well drink Wednesday, I plugged quite a few quarters into the machine. And while everyone in the bar ...   More

News So what's cool about the Northwest Dance Project's Cool Yule show? Its collaboration with Portland jazz collective Blue Cranes. Each of the six choreographers who contributed to the show chose a piece from the Cranes catalog and set work to it, which the band accompanies live onstage. Variations on this theme are not unusual in the dance world—a single choreographer choosing a suite of music ...   More