Have the time to head up to Seattle on Thursday?  If you can swing it, make the trip and catch the annual Ballard Jazz Walk presented by the Ballard Jazz Festival and Origin Records.  The one-evening event presents 15 bands at 11 venues - and you can see as much of it as you can squeeze into the evening with just one ticket.

Most of the groups are made up of Seattle artists, including Greta Matassa, Jay Thomas, and Hadley Caliman, but you can also catch the Portland-based Bridge Quartet featuring Alan Jones, Darrell Grant, Tom Wakeling, and Renato Caranto (filling in for Canadian saxophonist Phil Dwyer).

The music starts at 7 PM on November 20th.  The Ballard Jazz Festival website has more information.

Today the Portland Jazz Festival released a list of national and international artists that will be performing during the “70th Anniversary of Blue Note Records” celebration in February.  Here’s the list of headliners:

• Friday, February 13, 7:30 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, A Tale of God’s Will (Requiem for Katrina) Terence Blanchard Quintet with full orchestra plus Gonzalo Rubalcaba Quintet
• Saturday, February 14, 2:00 pm, Portland Art Museum Ballroom, Joe Lovano’s Us5 plus Jacky Terrasson
• Saturday, February 14, 7:30 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Dianne Reeves w/Oregon Symphony
• Saturday, February 14, 9:30 pm, Portland Art Museum Ballroom, John Scofield
• Sunday, February 15, 2:00 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, McCoy Tyner + Joe Lovano Quartet plus Don Byron Ivey-Divey Trio
• Sunday, February 15, 6:30 pm, Hilton Pavilion Ballroom, Lionel Loueke plus Judi Silvano
• Thursday, February 19, 7:30 pm, Old Church , Portland Jazz Orchestra
• Friday, February 20, 7:30 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, Cassandra Wilson plus Jason Moran & The Bandwagon
• Saturday, February 21, 2:00 pm, Crystal Ballroom, Bobby Hutcherson plus Lou Donaldson
• Saturday, February 21, 7:30 pm, Newmark Theater, Patricia Barber plus Aaron Parks
• Sunday, February 22, 2:00 pm, Crystal Ballroom, Pat Martino plus Jane Bunnett & The Spirits of Havana

Tickets go on sale November 10th at the Portland Jazz Festival Office (133 SW 2nd Ave, Suite 420), through TicketMaster outlets, or at PDXJazz.com

Commenter Nich Anderson has provided a link to the customer feedback section of Alaska Air so that we can let them know how much Portland appreciates their support of the festival.  You can find the page at: https://www.alaskaair.com/www2/ssl/help/ConsumerAffairsForm.asp?Company=Horizon

In other PJF news, Brad Nelson informed JazzPDX this morning that the festival is still planning to continue the Blue Note Anniversary theme as originally announced at the end of the 2008 festival.

Today, the Portland Jazz Festival announced that it will return this February, despite recent concerns about sponsorship and funding.  As of a couple of weeks ago, the festival was around $100,000 short of their required budget, but with help from Alaska Airlines, the City of Portland, and others, the festival will be able to return in full capacity on February 13th, 2009.

Luciana Lopez at the Oregonian offers more detailed coverage of the announcement.  Click here for her article.

JazzPDX.org will keep you up to date with lineup announcements, scheduling, and everything else having to do with the Portland Jazz Festival.

The Oregonian has just published a breaking story highlighting the uncertain future of the Portland Jazz Festival after sponsorship troubles.  Here’s a clip from the article:

The Portland Jazz Festival, strapped for cash after losing its title sponsor in April, plans to stop operating as of Sept. 15. Barring a “miracle” infusion of about $100,000, the February 2009 festival — previously slated to be the exclusive 70th anniversary celebration for seminal jazz label Blue Note — won’t happen. Nor, most likely, will there be any festivals after that.

JazzPDX.org will try to get you up-to-date on future developments regarding the festival.

The 2008 Mt. Hood Jazz Festival is underway, presenting another revamped version of the festival that hopes to pave the way back to a successful community event.  The Oregonian has been providing a fair amount of coverage for the event including a few recent articles:

Mt. Hood Jazz Festival goes back to college

Mt. Hood Jazz Festival Preview

Mt. Hood Jazz Festival Highlights

You can check out the festival’s official website for scheduling and ticketing information.