PORTLAND, Ore. — After a year of virtual concerts in 2021, the Biamp PDX Jazz Festival is back to live performances this year and the lineup is full of jazz’s most popular artists.
From Feb. 17-26, you can catch performances by acclaimed trumpeter Marquis Hill, the four-time Grammy award-winning artist Robert Glasper and more than 50 other artists.
KGW Sunrise caught up with a local producer known as Omari Jazz, who is performing Saturday, Feb. 19 at Holocene. He will take the stage with fellow producer MNDSGN for a night of ambient psychedelic beats. Their sounds are heavily influenced by jazz, hip hop and experimental genres.
Omari Jazz moved to Portland in 2016. He was born in New York and raised in Alabama. His parents introduced him to music at a young age, and over the years, he’s expressed his art through many mediums: music, painting and videography.
"I started playing like pots and pans in my living room," he said. "I was about... two, three [years old]. So I think that's probably where it all started. I eventually picked up the drums, because we would find ourselves in studio spaces."
In 2020, he released his album, Dream Child, which he describes as a sound somewhere between familiar and science fiction. It’s available for listening on bandcamp.com.
Other artists to check out at the 2022 Biamp PDX Jazz Festival are:
Makaya McCraven - percussionist
- Performing Saturday Feb. 19 at 9 p.m. & Sunday Feb. 20 at 8 p.m.
- Star Theater - 13 Northwest 6th Ave, Portland, OR
- Tickets available for $30
- 21+
Marquis Hill: New Gospel Revisited -trumpeter
- Performing Monday Feb. 21 at 8 p.m.
- The Old Church - 1422 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97201
- Tickets available for $35
Immanuel Wilkins - saxophonist
- Performing Tuesday Feb. 22 at 8 p.m.
- Jack London Revue - 529 SW 4th Ave, Portland, OR 97204
- Tickets available for $30
Domo Branch Trio feat. Gerald Clayton and Ben Feldman
- Performing Friday Feb. 25 at 8 p.m.
- Star Theater - 13 Northwest 6th Ave, Portland, OR
- Tickets available for $35
The Soul Rebels and Nate Smith + Kinfolk
- Performing Friday Feb. 25 at 9 p.m.
- Stage 722 - 722 SE 10th Ave, Portland, OR 97214
- Tickets available for $35
Robert Glasper a black radio production + Tahirah Memory & DJ Klyph (The Numberz)
- Performing Saturday February 26 at 9 p.m.
- Portland Art Museum - Kridel Grand Ballroom
- Tickets available for $50
You can find the full schedule of performances and buy tickets online.