Join us for PJCE’s annual fundraiser in the style of “Iron Chef!”
Three composers will head off in a friendly competition—who can create the most delicious, the most delightful, the most delectable new composition using the secret ingredient: Struttin With Some Barbeque a jazz standard that is ready to spice things up!
Local jazz mainstays and celebrities will provide colorful critiques and be the ultimate judges of who cook’s up the tastiest tune! Hosted by revered jazz artist and Oregon Hall of Fame Inductee, Marilyn Keller, prepare for a night full of new sights and sounds!
Happening in tandem will be our silent auction! More details coming soon.
Our 2024 fundraising event is in-person at the Historic Alberta House. Dinner is included in ticket price. Come hungry (and thirsty) to enjoy an evening of great jazz and support our upcoming programs at PJCE!
The Host:
Marilyn T. Keller, 2016 Jazz Society of Oregon Hall of Fame Inductee, is a 40-year veteran of music and stage performance in Jazz, Gospel, R&B, Pop, Blues, and theater, nationally and internationally. Her musical roots are diverse. Marilyn has built a career that has taken her as a feature artist to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Russia and the UK for concerts, festivals, nightclubs and recording work. Her voice can be heard on multiple recordings, movie sound tracks, commercials and documentaries. Marilyn’s formative jazz training was as a member of the Mt. Hood Community College Vocal Jazz Ensemble and as the vocalist fronting the award-winning MHCC Jazz Lab Band. She can be seen frequently at clubs, restaurants, festivals and holiday events throughout the Pacific Northwest. She remains active, performing with Don Latarski, Darrell Grant, Tom Grant, Black Swan Classic Jazz Band, Pressure Point Band and the Augustana Jazz Quartet, among many others, and is a board memeber for PJCE.
The Composers:
Steve Spiegl was born and raised in Southern California, where he attended Cerritos College and California State College at Long Beach. As a student, Steve wrote for and recorded with the Collegiate Neophonic Orchestra of Southern California, under the direction of Jack Wheaton, past president of the International Association of Jazz Educators, and studied trumpet privately under Carlton MacBeth, in Hollywood. In 1970 he became the chief arranger for the Stan Kenton Orchestra, arranging one Stan’s biggest hits, “Hey Jude” (from the Beatles), recorded on the “Live at Redlands University” album. In 1973, he won the Hollywood Radio and Television Society’s International Broadcasting Award for writing the music for the “World’s Best Broadcast Ad of the Year”.
Steve was Director of Jazz Studies and Brass at Pepperdine University, Malibu, and published over 50 original compositions for school jazz bands with Maggio Music Press. In 1985 the Concord Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corp used Steve’s composition “Bacchanalia” as their opener for their winning performance at the Drum Corp International. Over 12,000 schools throughout the U.S. and Canada currently use Steve’s compositions in their music programs.
Hailing from South Korea, Hae-Jeung Kang is a multiple award-winning vocalist and composer, currently based in Portland, OR. She was a winner of 2016 American Songwriting Awards, and Finalist & Honorable mention of International Songwriting Competition in 2016 & 2017. Her impressive array of awards, collaborations with world-renowned musicians, and studies makes her an in-demand educator and performer.
Hae-Jeung started her musical journey from the early age of 5, such as classical piano, and Korean traditional music. She studied Jazz/Pop composition and vocal performance at the Musicians Institute (Hollywood, LA), Jazz/Classical composition and performance at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music (New York City, NY). Hae-Jeung was presented by the prestigious Catalina Jazz Club (Hollywood, LA) as part of the “Young Artist Series”. She was presented as the most promising young composer and vocalist. In February 2023, Hae-Jeung was awarded an Executive MBA degree with honors.
Matt Mayhall is a percussionist, composer, session musician and educator based in the Pacific Northwest. In a career spanning over two decades, he has worked with an eclectic range of world-renowned performers in jazz, improvised music, singer-songwriter, folk, indie rock, indie pop, American roots music and performance art.
On his newest album Fanatics (self-released), he leads a trio with Jeff Parker on guitar and Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clarinet. Stereogum named it one of the best jazz releases of February 2020. The album was produced, engineered and mixed by GRAMMY-winning producer Paul Bryan. Mayhall’s debut album Tropes (Skirl Records, 2016) featured Parker, Speed, Jeff Babko on keyboards, and Paul Bryan on electric bass.
In addition to Parker and Speed, Mayhall has gigged with many internationally-known improvisers including Bennie Maupin, Brad Shepik, David Binney, Todd Sickafoose, Eyvind Kang, Anthony Wilson, Adam Benjamin, Ralph Alessi, George Colligan, Dan Rosenboom, Vinny Golia, Eric Revis and Tim Lefebvre.
The Band:
Raul Gomez, violin
Mieke Bruggeman, bass clarinet
Tim Gilson, cello
Tim Willcox, tenor sax, clarinet
Andrew Oliver, piano
Celebrity Judges to be announced soon!
