Oregon Music News

We’re not at the Café at Artichoke Music this time. We’re in Seaside Oregon at the Seaside Jazz and Blues Festival on March 16rh for a very special occasion . We told composer/pianist Gordon Lee that we wanted to talk to him onstage about the set he was about to play and also his new album. In reality we were going to present to him the first annual award in the name of the late beloved drummer and teacher Carlton Jackson for Excellence in Musical Education and Musicianship. Gordon, a friend and long-time musical collaborator with Carlton did not know anything about it. We surprised him. It was quite a moment.

Well this is getting as regular as a rainy February in Oregon. Grammy time rolls around and Cheryl Pawelski gets handed one. She won one for It’s Such a Good Feeling: The Best of Mister Rogers. She’s also won for The Garden Spot Programs, 1950. She was the compilation producer on Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition), which won the Grammy for Best Historical Album. And just a couple of weeks ago she won for the massive collection Written In Their Soul: The Stax Songwriter Demos for Best Historical Album. She also won Best Coffeeshop Conversation episode for 2021. Mostly Cheryl and I like to geek out, talking about music and records. That’s why she’s back at Artichoke again today.

The last time Lisa Lipton sat here in the Artichoke Music Cafe was in August of 2020. I noted at the time what a busy person she was with multiple artistic and executive directorships, plus teaching and a full schedule of her clarinet playing. She still does all that but recently she was brought on as Executive Director of 45th Parallel Universe in addition to retaining the same position with Opera Theater Oregon, as well as Co-founder/Co-owner of Mendelssohn’s, Portland's first classical music-themed bar. We recorded our conversation a few weeks ago on her first full day as the capo di tutti capi at 45th Parallel and to say she was psyched is putting it mildly. They have a concert on Tuesday March 5, Pulse and Pillars: an Evening with Andy Akiho and Gemini Percussion. But now let’s hear what Lisa Lipton has to say about her big day.

Returning for another episode of Coffeeshop Conversations is Lisa Marcicek, known to one and all as Miz Kitty that saucy character who has a major basis in real life as hostess of Miz Kitty’s Parlour, a vaudeville show that has been in our lives for twenty-two years at various locations in Portland. She was back this year at the Mission Theater, a favorite spot for her and the hand-picked troupe of fine performers and misfits, along with the thrift-store prizes she awards to lucky members of the audience. You will remember Lisa as a fiddler with the Flat Mountain Girls. One never knows what she’ll come up with, or as whom. Today, I’m guessing, we’ll be talking to both Miz Kitty and Lisa Marcicek, everything all in one. She’s always fun, no matter who she is at any one time.

Guitarist/composer/teacher Dan Balmer is in the Artichoke Café this time around. He always has a lot to say. I’ve been looking forward to sitting down with him again. Coming up soon on Coffeeshop Conversations, the new executive director of 45th Parallel Universe Lisa Lipton and a visit with Lisa Marcicek also known as Miz Kitty. Dan Balmer has a new album called When the Night. That name. What does it mean. I mean to find out. Listen to the title track at the end of our conversation. Here’s what happened. As soon as Dan got here, we started talking about…well, everything. That’s what happens with Dan. I stopped the conversation and turned on the recorder. The rest Is history.

The Biamp Portland Jazz Festival is rapidly approaching. It runs from February 16 to March 2. As we like to do when our major festivals come around, we ask the folks who are responsible for bringing them to us to fill us in. And as he has been for the past few years, actually since he got the gig, Executive Director Chris Doss is in the Artichoke Café with me to tell us all about every headliner in the festival. It’s an interesting festival this year, with some new faces. So let’s let the boss let us in on the details.

I hope you have been watching the development of OMN’s young Photographer Sydney Lewis. She started shooting for us at seven years of age, under the watchful eye of her father Mike, who also takes photos for us. Her specialty is Metal bands. Seriously. Her first shoot was at the 2019 Waterfront Blues Festival but she has shot almost exclusively Metal since then. After the covid break she continued to shoot with more confidence and authority. She’s eleven now and shows no signs of stopping. As a year-end treat, meet Sydney Lewis and her dad, Mike.

We’re going to wind up 2023 with a couple of Best Of’s but next time, that precocious 11 year old OMN photographer Sydney Lewis will be here with her dad to tell us about shooting Metal bands for the past 4 years. Today I’ve got one person who is in several of the most eclectic bands in Oregon, Galen Clark of Trio Subtonic, Outer Orbit…and others. He’s going to bring Outer Orbit and Greaterkind to McMenamin’s Kennedy School Ballroom on New Year’s Eve. There are at least a dozen or more great shows on New Year’s Eve, but this one would be my pick of where to go. How does he juggle so much talent and creativity in so many projects and do such a fabulous job at it? Welcome back Galen Clark.

Sometimes we have fresh new faces on the scene come to the Artichoke Music Café, and sometimes we welcome musicians who have been around the block a time or two. People who have long-time fans but who have never stopped evolving and discovering new music within them. Steve Wilkinson was in Gravelpit and Mission 5 and his current band Wilkinson Blades, but he’s releasing his first solo album Truth or Consequences, recorded over eight days with producer Rob Stroup in Truth or Consequences New Mexico. Want the truth? When we started rolling I got his name wrong. What a dope. I’m leaving it in.

I think this is the first time we’ve ever run two Coffeeshop Conversations in one week. It’s because of the concerts both Ben Darwish and Jeremy Wilson are doing this week and weekend. Jeremy Wilson is, of course, known for his music. He was a member of the Dharma Bums and others. But he is also known and loved for starting the Jeremy Wilson Foundation which helps fund medical bills for musicians. There are several fund-raising musical events during the course of the year. One happens this weekend at the Alberta Rose Theatre. It’s the Next Waltz during which a whole lot of our finest musicians sing and play all of the tunes from the movie, The Last Waltz which was the final concert by The Band. Let’s catch up on the concert preparations, the work of the foundation and what’s up with one of Oregon’s favorite dudes, Jeremy Wilson.

Nearly ten years ago we got the news that Ben Darwish, composer, producer and keyboardist was moving from his Portland birthplace to Los Angeles. He had been a part of a flowering of young Jazz musicians, coming out of college in the early two thousands. The other part of the news was that he was going to be playing with a Pop band. He is with me now at the Artichoke Café because he’s going to have his first Portland gig in eight years on Tuesday, November 21 at Mississippi Studios for an evening of what he calls “High energy Jazz.” Great news. We’ve got some story to fill in here.

There are various signposts by which we mark the beginning of the holiday season. My favorite is John Waters’ return to Portland for his annual “A John Waters Christmas” show at the Aladdin Theater. It always sells out, and has again this year. Nevertheless, it’s a chance to talk with John about the show and all of the exciting things he’s been up to over the past year. We know each other from my Baltimore days. I was born there and spent far too many decades there before I escaped to Portland. Mine was his final interview of the day about the show. Lucky us. Welcome back John Waters.

Arietta Ward: Looking forward to another 400 episodes of Coffeeshop Conversations @ Artichoke Music by Oregon Music News

This is the four hundredth episode of Coffeeshop Conversations. Next week will be four hundred and one. There are times in our lives that call for courage and inspiration. Our guest today, pianist Dave Fleschner is fresh out of rehab. His story is full of both. Our guest next week is Arietta Ward who is known and loved for bringing the light of inspiration even though deep down she’s a shy person. I just had back surgery which brought me over a hundred good wishes. So it’s a special time around the coffeeshop at the Café in Artichoke. Here’s episode number four hundred with Dave Fleschner.

One of my favorite Coffeeshop Conversations guests is here again. She’s Sarah Tiedemann, Third Angle New Music’s Artistic Director, and also a flutist. Third Angle’s exciting new season is already underway and Sarah will tell us all about it. Our next two episodes are special…this one is too, but we’re marking episodes 400 and 401 with a very personal story from Dave Fleschner about recovery...that’s 400 and an inspiring look to the future from MizEtta, Arietta Ward. But first, let’s welcome back Sarah Tiedemann.

It has been three years since composer/pianist/educator Darrell Grant visited the Café at Artichoke Music. He’s so busy and prolific it seems like we could have him on once a month. Of course he is still a tenured professor of Jazz Studies and Associate Director of the School of Music at Portland State University, but I also like to think of him in the true New Orleans use of the word “professor,” when it comes to pianists, one of great respect. He released a new album this week called Our Mr. Jackson, honoring not only the Modern Jazz Quartet and Milt Jackson but beloved Portland drummer, the late Carlton Jackson who plays on the album along with Marcus Shelby and Mike Horsfall. The album release concert takes place at Hallowed Halls on Thursday October 12. It’s a beautiful album. Let’s find out all about it. Listen to Versailles from the album at the end of our conversation.

We’re not in the Artichoke Café this time because although our guest Doug MacLeod will be performing there on Saturday, October 7, he’s not rolling into town until the day of the gig. Such is life on the road. So instead, when we talked, he was in Memphis and I was right here in Portland. Doug is a legendary Blues singer, guitar picker and storyteller. He’s been out there doing all three for several decades and he just seems to get better every year. He’s got great stories and not only about himself. Doug has seven Blues Music Awards and about a million nominations for others. Listen to “Unmarked Road” at the end of our conversation. You’re gonna like Doug MacLeod.

I was doing a bit of rummaging and in one of those boxes were audio cassettes of a show I used to do on the American Radio Network. In the past I have found one show with Max Roach and one with Leon Redbone. Today the tape that somewhat magically appeared in my hand was the time I spent on the air with composer/pianst Carla Bley. It aired live on March 31st 1990 as part of a series I was doing which I thought of as…”Who Haven’t I interviewed that I’ve always wanted to talk to. I’m pretty tenacious when it come to landing interviews especially with people who have never heard of me. Even in the days before podcasts, and this is really proto-podcast stuff, she had no idea who I was. Yet I persisted. Here it is, complete with station breaks and commercials.

Regular Coffeeshop Conversations followers know that every once in a while we like to bring in one of the folks who help bring you OMN. Today photographer Anthony Pidgeon is in the Artichoke Café with me. Performance photos are a major part of OMN’s coverage of Oregon’s music makers. We have several excellent photographers who brave photo pits to capture unforgettable moments in music. Not long ago, Anthony had EIGHT photo galleries from this month’s Pickathon. That’s a lot! Let’s meet Anthony Pidgeon.

There’s a new addition to Coffeeshop Conversations this time. I asked Saxophonist/Tap Dancer Shoehorn aka Michael Conley to sit in my chair and lead the conversation with someone he wanted to talk to. He’s an entertaining guy and I wanted to hear what he did with one of these things. He chose Blues singer/guitarist Tevis Hodge, Jr. who in the past few years has made quite a name for himself in the Blues World. They have played together many times and it’s interesting to hear them talk musician to musician without being too technical. That’s what I have liked about the stories Shoehorn has written for OMN. Let’s listen to him and Tevis Hodge. Jr.