Patricia Reser Center for the Arts

Inspired by the interplanetary mythologies of Sun Ra, MettaSun reimagines a selection of the cosmic jazz pioneer’s most iconic recordings through Jimetta’s unique lens – a powerful expression of the female imaginary and a positive vision of radical hope and Black joy amid the chaos of contemporary America.

MettaSun is Jimetta Rose’s solo opus. Embracing Sun Ra’s sonic world-building and paying homage to Arkestra vocalist June Tyson, Jimetta adds her powerful female voice to the Afrofuturist tradition, stitching together a jazz- and gospel-tinted narrative of resistance and escape. Through interpretations of “Somebody Else’s Idea,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “I’ll Wait for You,” “Springtime Again” and “Nuclear War,” a new myth emerges – one in which music opens a portal to a world where love, peace, joy and harmony prevail.

Special guests The Cosmic Tones Research Trio join this performance for a night of musical exploration, energy and joyful connection.

This concert is Side B of Save the LP Volume 3 – a full day designed like a record with two distinct sides.

Before the performance, experience Side A: the Save the LP Record Show from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring more than 55 record vendors and a community of collectors, selectors, families and music lovers. Side A requires separate admission.

When the Record Show ends, the record flips over to Side B and Jimetta Rose presents MettaSun takes the stage.

This year’s LP is dedicated to KMHD and to honoring Jazz Without Boundaries.

This program is made possible through generous community support from the Music Time Foundation, Jazz Imagination, KMHD Jazz Radio—and from you.

Step into a night that feels lifted from a Parisian café and goes roaring into the 21st century. The Django Festival Allstars deliver a musical experience bursting with spirit, swing, and soul in what The Wall Street Journal calls “the best jazz show in town.”

Led by guitarist Samson Schmitt, son of gypsy jazz legend Dorado Schmitt, this all-acoustic ensemble of international virtuosos radiates joy and passion through blazing guitar riffs, soaring violin, dazzling accordion, and deep, grooving bass. The result is an electrifying blend of old-school swing and modern energy that brings audiences to their feet. DownBeat praises them as “the hardest swinging group,” while George Benson calls them simply “sensational.”

Whether you’re a longtime Django fan or discovering this sound for the first time, the Allstars promise an unforgettable evening of new music and a look back at Django favorites.

Sponsored by Ronni Lacroute

Enter the glorious world of International Chanteuse and Comedienne Extraordinaire Meow Meow these holidaze with her unique brand of holiday hilarity and musical mayhem. Let the festive feline wrap you in musical wonder, peals of laughter, and loving audience encounters of the ridiculous and (potentially) too close kind! A rollicking tonic for trying times, “Feline Festive” will fill you with childhood wonder again, and rekindle the true spirit of the holidays—sparkling good will and joy to the world! Featuring a band of superb musicians, and music ranging from jazzy vintage showbiz to wicked, witty Weimar 1920’s toons, French chansons, and original and contemporary classics and surprises! Come one, come all! It’s time to celebrate being alive!!

Meow Meow is ….an award-winning multidisciplinary artist whose work has been commissioned by David Bowie, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Pina Bausch amongst others. She has performed at Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, London’s West End, Sydney Opera House, Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Center, the Berlin Philharmonic, Paris Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Bobino and Théâtre de la Ville, and the Kennedy Center, among other venues, and she made her Carnegie Hall debut in March 2024. She hasperformed with major orchestras globally including London Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and San Francisco Symphony. She is a guest artist with the beloved mini-orchestra Pink Martini, and her album with Thomas Lauderdale, “Hotel Amour” was listed as one of the top albums of 2019 by the London Times.

Show Sponsor and Presenting Sponsor for the Holiday Season: Explore Tualatin Valley

Bob James’ music has made a mark in every decade since the 1960s and yet, he is far from a household name. Despite a prolific catalog and devoted audience, there’s a large segment of music fans who may not know his name or story but will instantly recognize his music.

“Bob James: Avant Smooth” is the story of jazz keyboardist, composer, arranger, and performer Bob James sitting down with Mikael Jorgensen of the band Wilco, son of Bob’s longtime recording engineer Joe Jorgensen, to discuss his challenges and successes across a genre-spanning music career from classical, to avant-garde, to jazz, and, very much by accident, Hip Hop.

Grammy-award-winning artist Mikael Jorgensen has been touring and recording with Wilco since 2002. Jorgensen cultivates projects parallel to Wilco, including Quindar, an electronic multimedia duo that remixes the NASA audio and film archives, and Expandards, a collaboration with the singer Isaac Koren that explores The American Songbook while composing new, expressionistic songs.

Now in its eighth year, PRAx and the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University present American Strings, a series of conversations and intimate performances with iconic musicians from the Americas whose perspectives shape our world. Prior guests have included Keb’ Mo’, Rosanne Cash, esperanza spalding, and many more.

Hosted by ethnomusicologist and public historian Kelly Bosworth, American Strings performances offer audiences the chance to hear artists play and reflect on their practice. In conversation, artists discuss process, biography, and the themes of their work. Conversation is followed by musical performance. Guests typically perform unaccompanied, but in select cases may appear with their ensembles.

Dr. Kelly Bosworth is Mary Jones and Thomas Hart Horning Assistant Professor of Public History and Ethnomusicology at Oregon State University, where she teaches courses such as “Social Change and American Popular Music” and “Musical Worlds of the Pacific Northwest.”She works at the intersection of sound, place, and belonging. Her research on music/sound/noisein U.S. history delves into the diverse archives of musicmaking, reconstructing often-silenced histories through the songs and sounds associated with place. Her PhD dissertation (Indiana University, 2024) explored “The Music of Miracle City: Vanport, Oregon and the Sonic Imaginaries of Multiracial Democracy.”

Sponsored by John & Kate Stirek

The Biamp Portland Jazz Festival, presented by PDX Jazz, welcomes Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band to The Reser in Beaverton on Wednesday, March 10, 2027. Featuring Jon Cowherd, Myron Walden, Melvin Butler, and Christopher Thomas, the evening celebrates a musical partnership rooted in friendship, shared exploration, and decades of collaboration.

Blade’s musical journey began with violin in his school orchestra before he followed his older brother Brady’s path to the drums at Zion church. During high school, both brothers studied with Dorsey Summerfield, Jr. and performed in his professional ensemble, the Polyphonics. These experiences introduced Blade to the music of John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Thelonious Monk, Elvin Jones, and Joni Mitchell.

In 1988, Blade moved to New Orleans to attend Loyola University, where he met pianist Jon Cowherd. Their connection laid the foundation for The Fellowship Band. Surrounded by the city’s rich musical community, they studied and performed with master musicians including Ellis Marsalis, John Vidacovich, and Harold Battiste.

Blade and Cowherd began recording their own music with The Fellowship in 1998. Alongside Thomas, Walden, and Butler, they have brought the group’s music to the Village Vanguard and major festivals in Newport, Ottawa, and New Orleans.

The band’s seven recordings trace its continuing evolution, from its 1998 debut, Fellowship, through Perceptual, Season of Changes, Landmarks, Body and Shadow, Live from the Archives, and Kings Highway. This festival performance offers an opportunity to experience the enduring creative bond of an ensemble whose roots reach back nearly four decades.

Tickets on sale beginning October 13th.

Brad Mehldau will be joined by bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Marcus Gilmore. One of the most lyrical and intimate voices of contemporary jazz piano, Brad Mehldau has forged a singular artistic path that blends jazz exploration, classical romanticism, and popular song. From critical acclaim as a bandleader to major international exposure through collaborations with Pat Metheny, Renée Fleming, and Joshua Redman, Mehldau continues to earn widespread admiration from both jazz purists and general audiences.

Described by the New York Times as “the most influential jazz pianist of the last 20 years,” his work in trio and solo settings includes inventive reinterpretations of music by The Beatles, Cole Porter, Radiohead, Paul Simon, Gershwin, and Nick Drake, alongside an expansive and evolving body of original compositions.

Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott), is a two-time Edison Award winning and five-time Grammy Award nominated musician, composer and producer. He is the nephew of jazz innovator and legendary sax man, Donald Harrison, Jr. His musical tutelage began under the direction of his uncle at the age of thirteen. After graduating from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) in 2001, Adjuah received a full tuition scholarship to Berklee College of Music where he earned a degree in Professional Music and Film Scoring thirty months later.

Since 2002, Adjuah has released twelve critically acclaimed studio recordings, three live albums and one greatest hits collection. According to NPR, Adjuah “ushers in new era of jazz”. He has been heralded by JazzTimes Magazine as “Jazz’s young style God.” Adjuah is known for developing the harmonic convention known as the “forecasting cell” and for his use of an un-voiced tone in his playing, emphasizing breath over vibration at the mouthpiece. The technique is known as his “whisper technique.” Adjuah is also the progenitor of “Stretch Music,” a jazz rooted, genre blind musical form that attempts to “stretch” jazz’s rhythmic, melodic and harmonic conventions to encompass multiple musical forms, languages and cultures.

Now in its eighth year, PRAx and the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University present American Strings, a series of conversations and intimate performances with iconic musicians from the Americas whose perspectives shape our world. Prior guests have included Keb’ Mo’, Rosanne Cash, esperanza spalding, and many more.

Hosted by ethnomusicologist and public historian Kelly Bosworth, American Strings performances offer audiences the chance to hear artists play and reflect on their practice. In conversation, artists discuss process, biography, and the themes of their work. Conversation is followed by musical performance. Guests typically perform unaccompanied, but in select cases may appear with their ensembles.

Dr. Kelly Bosworth is Mary Jones and Thomas Hart Horning Assistant Professor of Public History and Ethnomusicology at Oregon State University, where she teaches courses such as “Social Change and American Popular Music” and “Musical Worlds of the Pacific Northwest.”She works at the intersection of sound, place, and belonging. Her research on music/sound/noisein U.S. history delves into the diverse archives of musicmaking, reconstructing often-silenced histories through the songs

Red Baraat has toured the globe the past 16 years with stops at Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, Bumbershoot, New Orleans Jazz Fest, Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD festivals (Australia, New Zealand, Spain, UK), Dubai World Expo 2021, just to name a few. Along the way they sold out rooms as diverse as the Luxembourg Philharmonic and the New York City’s legendary rock club Bowery Ballroom, and performed at the request of The White House (Obama), TED, London Olympic Games, David Byrne, Padma Lakshmi and recent NYC Mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani. Red Baraat have released 7 albums with numerous accolades from major media outlets and ranked in top 10 lists on Billboard, Apple Music and World Music Charts Europe.

The band’s debut release, Chaal Baby (2010) set the band on a whirlwind USA tour as well as performances at Montreal Jazz Festival, Molde International Jazz Festival and opening for Gil-Scot Heron and Sharon Jones at the Pori Jazz Festival. They caught the ears of international audiences and in 2012, the band debuted in the UK with performances at Bestival, Sfinks Festival, The Barbican and closing ceremony for the Paralympics at Trafalgar Square. The Guardian (UK) said the band’s music brought a “punk spirit.” Shortly thereafter, Red Baraat was invited to perform at the prestigious WOMEX showcase in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Then the release of Red Baraat’s 2nd album in 2013, Shruggy Ji, debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Music charts and propelled the band on a nonstop world tour that only halted in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. There are too many performances to recount, but they clock in at over 800 clubs and festivals worldwide. One special moment of note was in 2015 at Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD festival in UK. The band magically stopped a 2-day continuous downpour, parted the clouds and brought the sun out at as thousands danced in their galoshes.