Musical Inspiration: Honoring Jimmy Mak – All-Star Line-up Performs Tribute Concert
Musical Inspiration: Honoring Jimmy Mak will take place on Sunday, April 23 at The Roseland Theater. This tribute concert honors Jimmy Makarounis, the late owner of Portland’s premier jazz club Jimmy Mak’s. The three set program will feature noted musicians who performed at the club during its twenty year run.
“Jimmy Makarounis created much more than a jazz club,” explained event producer Tony Starlight. “Jimmy Mak’s was a cultural institution that put Portland on the map as a true music city.”
The April 23 event, which will be part of the 2017 Soul’d Out Festival, will feature one set each by iconic Portland jazz drummer Mel Brown’s hard-bop septet and his award-winning Hammond B-3 organ quintet, which will back well-known instrumentalists and vocalists who have played at the club over the past two decades, including Bobby Torres, Dan Balmer, LaRhonda Steele, and Andy Stokes. A third set backed by The Yachtsmen will feature funk, R&B and rock performances by saxophonist Patrick Lamb, vocalists Jarrod Lawson, Paul Creighton, and Moose E. Lee, and the Soul Vaccination Horns. Various jazz dignitaries will speak throughout the evening, and an after-party featuring the Chris Brown Quartet will take place in the Roseland’s ground-floor club, Peter’s Room, right after the concert concludes.
A percentage of the event’s proceeds will be used to fund a jazz scholarship at Portland State University in Makarounis’ name. “Jimmy Mak’s was one of the only clubs in Portland music history to open its doors to minors for early shows,” Starlight said. “This provided an opportunity for middle-school and high-school kids to be exposed to world-class players and educators like Mel Brown, Alan Jones, Dan Balmer, and Gordon Lee, providing an educational experience like no school in town.”
The Roseland Theater is located at 8 NW 6th Avenue. Tickets for this extraordinary event are available at etix.com for $25.00 general admission on the floor, $35.00 for balcony seating and $65.00 per person for VIP table seating on the main floor (each table seats 8 people) This is a 21 and over event. Show time is 7:00 pm.
