PJCE feat. Mary Flower Blues at
12th Annual Montavilla Jazz Festival
KICK-OFF NIGHT!
Virtuoso Mary Flower meets PJCE’s 12-piece ensemble for a night of musical fusion where fingerstyle roots blossom into jazz band brilliance.
Award-winning Portland guitarist Mary Flower blends Piedmont, Delta blues, ragtime, and jazz with masterful fingerstyle technique. A two-time International Fingerstyle Guitar Championship finalist and renowned educator, Mary joins Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble (PJCE), a nonprofit dedicated to creating and performing original jazz by local musicians since 2008. Together, they build bridges across Portland’s diverse communities through collaborative programming celebrating roots music and place-based creativity. Portland jazz artists Adriana Wagner, Bryan Smith, Kathleen Hollingsworth, John Savage, Ryan Meagher and Andrew Oliver will be arranging Flower’s music for PJCE!
This project began as a celebration of Portland’s rich musical heritage, bringing Mary Flower’s masterful roots compositions into conversation with our city’s innovative jazz arrangers. When we discovered Mary’s work seamlessly blends traditional blues forms with the harmonic sophistication jazz audiences appreciate, we knew her music would thrive with orchestration from our ensemble. Our arrangers have preserved the essential character of Mary’s fingerstyle brilliance while expanding the sonic palette to feature our 12-piece ensemble. We hope audiences experience how these arrangements honor the intimate storytelling quality of blues tradition while revealing new dimensions through jazz orchestration. This collaboration represents PJCE’s mission to build musical bridges across Portland’s diverse artistic communities.
Opening up the night, North Pole Studio presents: Rhythm & Hues A creative collaboration between musicians and visual artists with autism and I/DD, Rhythm & Hues, invites local composers/musicians to respond to artworks by North Pole Studio artists with an original song.
WHEN: Friday, August 29th, 8 PM
WHERE: Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta Street
