Our Story
The PJCE was founded in 2007 by pianist Andrew Oliver and saxophonist Gus Slayton, who, after graduating from Portland State University wanted to continue to create new music for large ensemble outside of the collegiate realm.
The band went on to premiere over 20 new compositions by Portland composers in its first few years of existence and became a nonprofit corporation in May of 2011.
The administrative team expanded with the addition of Dan Duval and in 2013 Andrew and Dan co-founded PJCE Records, a new record label branch of the organization, filling a void in the Portland music scene by documenting the rich variety of small group jazz and creative music being created by local composers and improvisers. In the first year of its existence, the label released one album per month, often recorded in informal live sessions designed to reflect the immediacy of the music’s creation and the natural sound of the groups. The label, now under the direction of Ryan Meagher, continues to regularly release a wide variety of high quality original music by Oregon artists.
In 2013, Andrew Oliver moved to London and Douglas Detrick was elected Executive Director upon his departure. Since then, the organization has expanded its scope to include collaborations with special local and national guests such as Darrell Grant, James Miley, Edna Vazquez, Jimmie Herrod, John Gross, Mel Brown, Gordon Lee, Taylor Ho Bynum, and Catherine Feeny and a variety of themed concerts tying into elements of local history and culture. Douglas Detrick helped the organization produce more ambitious, culturally-relevant programming (e.g.Oregon Stories, Maxville to Vanport, ,Oregonophony and Water Spirit: A Tribute to Jim Pepper) raising pay for artists and staff to competitive levels, and building a bigger, more diverse coalition of partners.
In 2016, PJCE asked Mieke Bruggeman, local educator and one of PJCE’s longest standing musicians to head the Young Jazz Composers program. A unique program to the Northwest, YJC is a mentorship and performance opportunity for students to learn how to compose music for jazz quintet.
After a decade of leading the organization to new heights, Douglas Detrick stepped down as both the administrative leader and creative voice of the PJCE. In his departure, Meg Morrow was hired as the organization’s third Executive Director, and Ryan Meagher was promoted from Director of Operations to Artistic Director. With the new leadership, PJCE continued increasing its impact in the cultural ecosystem on the region with programs that featured local luminaries like Portland jazz legend, Dan Balmer; blues and roots guitarist, Mary Flower; indie songstress, Rebecca Sanborn; and modern jazz supergroup, The Christopher Brown Quartet.
