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Portland Jazz Festival kicks off

The 2023 Portland Jazz Festival runs from Feb. 16-25. The two-week event takes place at more than 30 venues across the Portland metro area.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Stages and performance venues across the Portland metro area are packed with some of the biggest names in jazz music.

The 2023 Portland Jazz Festival kicked off Thursday, Feb. 16 and runs through Saturday, Feb. 25. The festival is in its 20th year. The two-week event takes place at more than 30 venues across the area.

The festival will kick off with a sold-out show by the Bill Freisell Four at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton. This year's lineup features emerging artists as well as dozens of world-renowned jazz musicians and bands including Angelique Kidjo, Hiatus Kaiyote, the Dave Holland Trio and Meklit.

Several artists and groups from the Portland metro area will also perform, including Storm Large's Burlesque Big Band, blues singer and instrumentalist Curtis Salgado and the Mel Brown B-3 Organ Group.

Not all of the shows will require tickets purchased ahead of time. There will be a number of singers and bands performing at venues for free, along with education events like a lecture series, jazz and blues conversations, a drum clinic and a beat workshop.

The nonprofit PDX Jazz has organized the festival each February to celebrate Black History Month. PDX Jazz is the largest organization presenting jazz performances and educational programming in the Pacific Northwest, according to the nonprofit's website.

You can view the full festival schedule and buy tickets to shows on the festival’s website.

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