Music❯Soul

Book Bar is a five-day pop-up bar, café and cultural clubhouse in the heart of downtown Portland during Portland Book Festival week, a place to meet before a show, keep the conversation going after a reading or make Book Bar the destination for the evening.

On Friday night, DJ Flor Violenta takes over the decks from 6:00–10:00pm with a vinyl set weaving together tropical cumbia, Latin funk, disco, neo-soul and more.

A Portland-based vinyl DJ, Flor Violenta (they/them) brings together contemporary cumbia with the nostalgic sounds of funk, soul and psych rock, shaped by their Latin heritage and roots in the San Francisco Bay Area. The former host of Freeform Portland’s Vinyl Pleasures Radio has recently brought their crates to Pickathon Music Festival and shared bills with acts including Orquestra Pacifico Tropical and The Sinseers.

Come by for a cocktail, grab a bite, meet fellow festivalgoers and settle in for whatever the night has in store.

Under the direction of Dr. Abbie Brown, the fall Jazz Nite will feature standards from prominent composers in jazz, including Gordon Goodwin, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Sammy Nestico. This concert will also feature works from rising composers like Paul Baker and Ahmad Jamal, and will feature funk, rock, and Latin-inspired works.

Ticket Prices: $11 general admission, $8 for seniors, military and non-Pacific students. Free for Pacific students, faculty and staff. Online ticket sales only. Purchase tickets at https://www.pacificu.edu/musictickets.

Joey Bradford (of Scotch Lodge) takes over the bar while DJ Flor Violenta spins tropical cumbia, Latin funk, disco, and more on vinyl. Free and open to all ages.

It’s Been Awful marks the moment Isaiah Rashad fully becomes his own genre. The Top Dawg Entertainment visionary returns with his third studio album on May 1, expanding his sonic world beyond hip-hop into cosmic jazz, psychedelic guitar rock, Soulquarian neo-soul, and flashes of genre-blurring experimentation. After five transformative years, Rashad delivers his most vulnerable and fully-realized work yet – an unfiltered reflection on addiction, growth, self-confrontation, and redemption. It’s soul music in its most metaphysical form, anchored by the same lyrical precision and emotional depth that have defined his artistry from the beginning.

Since emerging from Chattanooga, TN in 2012, Rashad has built one of the most impactful and emotionally resonant catalogs in modern rap. His debut Cilvia Demo immediately established him as a critical force, followed by The Sun’s Tirade, which debuted in the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 and earned Gold certification. His 2021 album The House Is Burning further solidified his cultural imprint, amassing nearly one billion global streams and widespread acclaim for its introspective storytelling and sonic evolution. Across his career, Rashad has achieved multiple Gold and Platinum certifications, with standout records including “Wat’s Wrong” (feat. Kendrick Lamar & Zacari) and “Pretty Little Birds” (feat. SZA), while maintaining a loyal, cult-like fanbase drawn to his honesty and depth.

Rashad has consistently pushed beyond trends to create timeless, deeply personal work. Now, with It’s Been Awful, he enters a new chapter defined by clarity, confrontation, and creative rebirth – reaffirming his place not just in rap, but at the forefront of music’s most compelling storytellers.

Hailed by France Musique as the new face of the classical guitar, Djibouti-born French guitarist Raphaël Feuillâtre regularly delights audiences and critics worldwide with his charismatic artistry, embracing everything from Baroque-period repertoire to compositions by trailblazing contemporary composers. His jaw-dropping precision, technical mastery, and creative vision make works from all time periods sound as if they were written yesterday–alive, heartfelt, and filled with color. Don’t miss a passionate evening of Latin music, including many of Feuillâtre’s own arrangements.

Presented by Soul’d Out at Revolution Hall, this performance spotlights John Scofield’s Electrospective, a project from the three-time Grammy winner that revisits the funk-infused side of his 54-year journey in jazz. Instead of recreating earlier favorites, Scofield brings fresh interpretations drawn from his Blue Matter, Uberjam, and A Go Go periods, alongside new pieces in a similar spirit. He appears with Scofield alum and drummer-producer Adam Deitch (Lettuce), keyboardist Larry Goldings (Scary Goldings, James Taylor), and bassist Oteil Burbridge (Dead & Co., Tedeschi Trucks Band, Allman Brothers). The program leans into the fusion grooves audiences often request, delivered by a lineup assembled to let the music speak.

With featuring OTEIL BURBRIDGE, LARRY GOLDINGS & ADAM DEITCH. Ages 21 and up

Come groove to the velvety sound of musical duo Reb Conner and Leon Cotter. Reb and Leon are the Ma and Pa of Portland funk and world band "Reb and the Good News," and their stripped-down duo set retains all that jazzy fullness, scaled to an intimate atmosphere. Multi-instrumentalist Leon is a touring member of the California Honeydrops, and Reb is a singer/songwriter with roots in jazz, soul, and world music. Reb and Leon inspire the heart and nourish the soul, with their curated blend of love songs, jazz standards, and uplifting original work. With a mélange of keys, sax, clarinet, guitar, and lush vocal harmonies, these two take the audience on a sultry, good-time ride that will keep listeners vibing all evening long.

Aterciopelados, Colombia's most influential rock band, is celebrating a landmark year in 2026 with the 30th anniversary of La Pipa de la Paz, the groundbreaking album that transformed Latin American rock and earned the band's first Grammy nomination. Led by Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitrago, the duo has spent more than three decades shaping Latin alternative music, earning 4 Latin Grammy Awards, two Grammy nominations (1998 and 2026), and releasing 10 studio albums that have made them one of the most influential bands in the Spanish-speaking world.

The La Pipa de la Paz 30th Anniversary Tour continues across the Americas and Europe, celebrating one of Latin rock's most iconic records. As part of the anniversary, Aterciopelados is releasing a commemorative EP featuring newly reimagined versions of songs from the album. The project launched with "Te Juro Que No," with additional singles and collaborations arriving throughout 2026. This year also marked the band's acclaimed NPR Tiny Desk Concert, which received widespread praise from critics and fans alike, reaffirming Aterciopelados as one of Latin America's most compelling live acts.

Jamila Woods is a musician, poet, and multidisciplinary artist from the South Side of Chicago. Her critically acclaimed debut album HEAVN – an ode to Blackness, girlhood, and home – was released by JagJaguwar Records in 2017. Her sophomore project, LEGACY! LEGACY!, features twelve tracks named after writers, thinkers, and visual artists who have influenced the creator’s life and work – including James Baldwin, Nikki Giovanni and Frida Kahlo. Her most recent album, Water Made Us, is a genre-blending song cycle on love and the wisdom of surrender.

Jamila has been featured on NPR’s Tiny Desk, CBS This Morning, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She has shared stages with Corinne Bailey Rae, Rafael Saadiq, Bonobo, Common, Chance the Rapper, Brittany Howard, Macklemore, and many others. An award-winning poet, Jamila’s work often blurs boundaries between poem and song. As cultural critic Doreen St. Felix writes, “It makes you wish all singers were poets.”

Join PJCE at Wilf's for Happy-Hour Jazz on Thursday nights Engaging! Entertaining! Uplifting! Each week features an artist for two early evening sets highlighting a mix of original music and well known tunes. Wilf's lively lounge is known for fresh, local ingredients, extraordinary service, and modern takes on classic cocktails.The high copper-colored ceilings, bronze