One of Portland’s iconic jazz bands joins forces with the PJCE horn section to create a collaborative mega-band. This project includes new music composed by Blue Cranes, with eight horn players of the PJCE joining Blue Cranes’s two saxophones, bass, drums and keyboards to play new arrangements of Blue Cranes songs.
- Confirmed dates:
- November 21, 2019 at Holocene, Portland OR
- Available dates:
- November 19, 20, 24
About Blue Cranes
Since their formation in 2007, Blue Cranes have become a key player in the Portland, Oregon creative music/DIY scene and one of the most exciting groups to keep tabs on in the Northwest. They’ve developed a singular musical voice grounded in melody and explosive improvisations–marking off their unique microcosmic territory in post-jazz circles.
The members of the quintet–Reed Wallsmith on alto saxophone, Joe Cunningham on tenor saxophone, Rebecca Sanborn on keyboards, Jon Shaw on bass, and Ji Tanzer on drums–bring a unique array of experiences to their group-centered aesthetic, including work with AU, The Decemberists, Laura Veirs, Wayne Horvitz, Rebecca Gates, Laura Gibson, Ethan Rose, Pete Krebs, Black Prairie, and Portland Cello Project.
In June 2013, the band took an evolutionary step forward with the release of Swim, their fourth full-length album, on the Washington, D.C.-based Cuneiform Records. Swim is a departure from Blue Cranes’ previous, and in some ways simpler, albums. Steered dutifully by producer Nate Query of The Decemberists, it is a window into the sometimes messy emotional space of a group struggling with and celebrating the ephemeralness of life. This work is the culmination of several between-album projects, including a 30-day crowd-sourced Amtrak train tour in 2011, and a seven day group composition retreat, supported in part by a grant from Portland’s Regional Arts and Culture Council. However, the heart of Swim lies in indelibly profound life events–the passing away of two dear friends, a serious injury, two weddings, and the birth of a child–events at tragic and uplifting extremes, both cathartic and celebratory.
About Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble
PJCE is a nonprofit organization that is a cultural force in Portland’s arts scene. By harnessing the incredible diversity of creative energy in Portland’s jazz scene, PJCE builds bridges between music, place, and story that helps diverse audiences of Portlanders and Oregonians find themselves more firmly rooted to the communities in which they live.
PJCE is a 12-piece jazz chamber orchestra which commissions and performs original works by its members and by other jazz composers in the Portland music community and beyond. It is our mission to operate a large musical ensemble, to commission and perform original works by members of the ensemble and by other jazz composers in the Portland music community and elsewhere, to act as a forum for the development and presentation of works for large ensemble by established and emerging jazz composers, and to engage and enrich community awareness and appreciation of contemporary music. We also operate a grassroots label, PJCE Records, which releases albums of original music by local jazz artists.