About:
PDX Jazz, the presenting organization of the Portland Jazz Festival, began operations in 2003 in preparation of the inaugural 2004 Jazz Festival. Conceived by former Mt Hood Festival Artistic Director Bill Royston, the proposed annual event was awarded a three-year city government grant with co-founder and partner Travel Portland (formally POVA). The Festival’s mandate was established as a cultural tourism initiative to celebrate February’s Black History Month by highlighting a series of jazz education and outreach programs that would extend into Portland’s schools and community centers.
The Festival began to schedule dozens of ways to experience jazz through free and paid performances, lectures, films, exhibitions and jam sessions. From the organization’s beginning, education and outreach were established as a core mission in developing the next generation of jazz audiences. The Incredible Journey of Jazz, developed by Darrell Grant and Lynn Darroch, established the Festival’s educational programming mission, focusing on middle school students through an illuminating multi-media presentation boasting historical narration and performance. The PDX Jazz Student Stage and the engaging Jazz Conversation series joined the IJOJ as complimentary initiatives. Recently added educational programs include Jazz in the Schools and the Jazz Forward Competition in partnership with Portland State University and the Leroy Vinegar Institute.
