A live performance of the The Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble’s (PJCE) “From Maxville to Vanport” featuring poetry by Renee Mitchell, music by Ezra Weiss, and video by Kalimah Abioto.

This piece of community-guided music incorporates the stories of two unique towns in Oregon’s history, Maxville and Vanport, in songs for Marilyn Keller with our 12-member jazz ensemble. Maxville and Vanport both had significant multicultural populations at a time when Oregon was particularly unfriendly to non-white residents, and their histories deserve to be heard and better understood by all Oregonians.

This event is is part of the VANPORT MOSAIC FESTIVAL 2018, MAY 23-28. In these times of collective amnesia, remembering is an act of resistance. Join us for 6 days of memory activism opportunities, commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Vanport Flood and the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act through screenings, live performances, tours, exhibits, and community engagement initiatives.

The Portland Jazz Composers’ Ensemble is a 12-piece jazz chamber orchestra which commissions and performs original works by its members and by other jazz composers in the Portland music community. The PJCE has received support from the OCF’s 2015 Creative Heights and Small Arts programs, the Regional Arts and Culture Council, and the Oregon Arts Commission. Now in its tenth year, the PJCE has commissioned more than 50 composers, and produced more than 30 concerts of original works.