Vocalist Retta Christie is releasing her newest CD this Sunday at the Old Church.  The CD features an all-star trio with saxophonist/clarinetist David Evans and piano-legend Dave Frishberg.  Tim DuRoche at Willamette Week has the following to say about Retta:

Retta Christie has a singular knack for that curious, vastly entertaining form of Americana that swings in the recesses between jazz and country. Think Jimmie Rodgers, dustbowl prophets like Cowboy Bob Wills or Floyd Tillman, or the flatland plains poetry of Hoagy Carmichael, and you’re in the neighborhood. Fans of Irving Berlin saloon songs will be swinging till the cows come home.

The show starts at 6:30 PM - tickets are $10 in advance through brownpapertickets.com or $15 at the door.

This Sunday, bassist Jeff Picker brings his New York-based trio through Portland as part of their West Coast tour.  The Uptown Trio features Sam Reider and Jake Goldblas, two of Jeff’s classmates from his year at the Manhattan School of Music.

Before Picker left for New York, he played with some of Portland’s top musicians, establishing himself as a top-call bassist before even graduating from high school.

Details: Sunday, June 1st at the Old Church.  Tickets are $10.

This Saturday, April 5th, the Jazz Society of Oregon will be presenting their annual fundraiser, First Jazz.  The event features two separate concerts - a daytime event at Jimmy Mak’s with the Whiskey Hill Youth band and Red Holloway, and an evening concert at the Old Church with Darrell Grant and Eric Alexander.  You can learn more about the details of the event at the JSO First Jazz page.

 Jazz series at the Old Church.  See oldchurch.org and devinphillips.com

“Sunday Jazz at the Old Church,” PDXV Quintet (Dick Titterington, trumpet; Rob Davis, sax; Greg goebel, piano; Dave Captein, bass; Todd Straight, drums), $15/$12 students, 3-6 pm, tickets at www.BrownPaperTickets.com

John Nastos will perform at the Old Church on February 21st as part of this year’s Portland Jazz Festival.

The following is from Darrell Grant’s press release about the event, which is hosted by the Leroy Vinnegar Jazz Institute at PSU that he founded:

“Conceived as a professional showcase to highlight the finest young jazz talent to come out of Oregon, LVJI’s series provides Portland jazz listeners the opportunity to hear the future as it arrives.” This year we are pleased to present a young player who is establishing himself as important new voice in Portland jazz–saxophonist and composer John Nastos. John will be joined by a stellar lineup of players that includes drummers Drew Shoals and Alan Jones, bassist Dave Captein and special guest New York pianist Sam Harris.”

The concert starts at 7:30. Advance tickets are $10 for general admission ($8 for students) and are available through the PSU box office (503-725-3307) or any Ticketmaster outlet.