In 2016, David Stuckey of Oregon Public Broadcasting wrote, "In the 1940s and '50s, Portland's jazz scene was a mixture of cultural progression and intense audio experience." [1] In 2019, Willamette Week described Portland, Oregon's jazz scene as "constantly shifting" and said, "It often feels like the fate of Portland jazz hangs in the balance." [2]
Jazz clubs in Portland have included Blue Monk, Brasserie Montmartre, Cotton Club, The Dude Ranch, Club Acme, [3] [4] Jack London Revue, and Jimmy Mak's.
Jazz musicians with connection to the city include Mel Brown, Cleve Williams, George Bruns, Alan Jones, Nancy King, Glen Moore, and Esperanza Spalding.
The Cotton Club was a nightclub located in North Portland, Oregon. Located at 2125 N. Vancouver Avenue, the club gained attention during the 1960s as the "only nightclub on the West Coast with wall-to-wall soul." Celebrities such as Cab Calloway, Sammy Davis, Jr., Cass Elliot, the Kingston Trio, Joe Louis, and Archie Moore would visit the nightclub when they were in town.
The Roseland Theater, sometimes called the Roseland Theater and Grill, is a music venue located at 8 Northwest Sixth Avenue in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The building was originally a church, constructed by the Apostolic Faith Church in 1922. In 1982, Larry Hurwitz converted the building to a music venue called Starry Night. In 1990, the club's 21-year-old publicity agent was murdered in one of the theater's hallways; Hurwitz was convicted for this murder ten years later. Hurwitz sold the club in 1991, claiming he had lost support from the local music industry. The venue was given its current name during the 1991 ownership transfer. During the 1990s, Double Tee acquired control of the hall's operations, then purchased and renovated the building.
Stag PDX, or simply Stag, is a gay-owned nightclub and strip club in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District, in the United States. The club opened in May 2015 as the second all-nude gay strip club on the West Coast.
Hawks PDX is a gay bathhouse located in the Buckman neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States.
Scandals, or sometimes Scandals PDX, is a gay bar in Portland, Oregon, in the United States.
The Know was a bar in northeast Portland, Oregon, in the United States.
Funhouse Lounge is a venue and bar in southeast Portland, Oregon's Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood, in the United States.
The Jack London Revue is a jazz club in Portland, Oregon, United States. The venue is beneath the Rialto Poolroom Bar and Cafe at the intersection of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Alder Street in downtown Portland. The Jack London Revue opened on May 27, 2017, shortly after Jimmy Mak's closed, and replacing the Jack London Bar. The venue is owned by Frank Faillace and Manish Patel. It has a seating capacity of 220, as of June 2017.
Teardrop Lounge is a cocktail bar in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District, in the United States. Daniel Shoemaker opened the bar in 2007.
Darcelle XV Showplace is a drag venue in Portland, Oregon, opened and operated by drag performer Darcelle XV.
White Owl Social Club is a bar and restaurant in southeast Portland, Oregon's Buckman neighborhood, in the United States.
Holocene is a music venue and nightclub in the Buckman neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The venue, which opened in June 2003, is a former auto-parts warehouse with an industrial, modern interior. Holocene hosts a variety of events, and was named the city's "Best Place to Dance" by Willamette Week readers in 2017.
William McClendon (1915–1996) was an American journalist, newspaper editor, educator, activist, jazz musician, and prominent member of Portland's civil rights community. He was born in 1915 in Atlanta, Georgia. He died at the age of 81 in 1996 in Portland, Oregon. He founded the Portland Observer, a newspaper focused on Portland's African American community before and during World War II.
The Dude Ranch was a jazz venue in Portland, Oregon that operated during World War II in the 1940s. It joined other jazz clubs along and nearby North Williams Avenue, a Black neighborhood. The venue was the self-proclaimed, "Pleasure Spot of the West."
The Republic Cafe and Ming Lounge are a Chinese restaurant and bar in Portland, Oregon's Old Town Chinatown, in the United States. The restaurant is one of Portland's oldest, established in 1922, and continues to operate under the Mui family's ownership. Serving Chinese cuisine such as Mongolian beef, General Tso's chicken, chop suey, and egg foo young, the Republic Cafe has been described as a "staple" of the neighborhood and the city's Chinese American history. Celebrities have visited the restaurant which has also seen several longtime employees. Ming Lounge is among the city's oldest bars and has been characterized as "seedy".
Southeast Grind was a coffeehouse in Portland, Oregon's Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood, in the United States. Opened by owner Kacey Birch in 2009, Southeast Grind was the city's only coffee shop operating 24 hours a day, as of 2019. Besides coffee and espresso drinks, the coffeehouse served juices, smoothies, teas, pastries, quesadillas, salads, sandwiches, and other snacks. Southeast Grind was described as a "safe, reliable spot", a "living room", and a "respite" for a diverse clientele, especially students. It closed in October 2019 because of lease issues, renovations required to address the building's structural problems and Birch's desire to focus on family.
The Original Hotcake House is a diner in Portland, Oregon's Brooklyn neighborhood, in the United States. In his 2018 overview of late-night, low-budget food in Portland, Michael Russell of The Oregonian wrote, "If you’ve never crashed down in front of a plate of pancakes and fried eggs at the Original Hotcake House after a night out, you might not have lived in Portland long enough." The restaurant offers 24/7 service except on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The Liquor Store was a bar, restaurant, and music venue in Portland, Oregon. Established in 2015, the business operated in a space previously occupied by the Blue Monk, a jazz club and restaurant, in southeast Portland's Sunnyside neighborhood. It was named the city's best new bar in Willamette Week's annual readers' poll in 2015 and 2016. The Liquor Store's upstairs had a bar and the owner's large vinyl record collection on display. The downstairs venue hosted live music and disc jockeys, playing a variety of genres, especially electronic music. The Liquor Store closed temporarily in March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and two former employees filed a lawsuit claiming sexual harassment one month later. Sometimes confused for an actual liquor store, The Liquor Store closed permanently in September 2020.
Meals 4 Heels is a food delivery service and restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Nikeisah Newton founded the food delivery service catering to sex workers and strippers in 2019, and Meals 4 Heels began operating from Redd on Salmon Street in 2021. The company's tagline is "Pro Black, pro Brown, pro trans, pro science, pro hoe." The menu includes vegan noodle bowls. Beth Nakamura of The Oregonian described the food as "health-minded".
Zefiro was a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States. The restaurant was established in 1990 and closed in 2000.
 | This jazz-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This Oregon-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
