Black Lives Matter

Montavilla Jazz stands in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives and the fight to end systemic racism in our communities and institutions.

Jazz is America’s indigenous art form born out of the African American experience. We believe that jazz is relevant to the lives of all people as a community-building force for education and social justice. We are proud to dedicate ourselves to the promotion of jazz, its history, its cultural significance, and the local musicians who perform it.

It is time to find the courage to look in the mirror and ask ourselves how we can improve as we work to become a more equitable and diverse organization. We at Montavilla Jazz have to do better. We will do better.

Our Commitments

Montavilla Jazz is committed to growing our organization in a way that brings more voices to the table. We have set our intention to make the following commitments an indelible part of Montavilla Jazz systems, practices and policies as we grow and develop as an organization.

IN ALL AREAS OF OUR WORK MONTAVILLA JAZZ WILL:

Seek to include the people who reflect the community we serve.
Highlight members of our artist community who are less visible because of their race, gender, or other factors.
Provide opportunities for underserved members of our community to participate in the planning and operations of events.
Recruit and hire individuals who come from groups who have been historically marginalized.

We Acknowledge

As a step toward honoring the truth and achieving healing and reconciliation, our organization commits to open all public events and gatherings with a statement acknowledging the traditional Native lands on which we stand.

Credits

Board of Directors

Neil Mattson—Executive Director
Ryan Meagher—Programming Director
Aaron Hayman—Art Director
Nancy Mitchell—Secretary
Steve Mitchell—Treasurer
Kim Harrison—At Large Director

Resource Council

Hobie Bender—Bipartisan Cafe
Stephen E. Blackman—Brownstein Rask
Donna Cruz-Moreno—PROWUS
Lynn Darroch—PJCE
Deborah DeMoss Smith—KMHD
Douglas Detrick—PJCE
Todd Dennis—East Glisan Pizza Lounge
Pete Emerson—Bipartisan Cafe
Darrell Grant—Portland State University
Fritz Hirsch—MJF founder
Marcia Hocker
Don Lucoff—DL Music Media
Pancho Savery—Reed College
George Thorn—RACC

Support Team

Kim Gumble—communications
Jeremy Reynolds—volunteers
Amy Theberge—events
Mary-Sue Tobin—jazz artist-in-residence
Jeffrey Chilton—MTMS Jazz Band

Production

David Biggs—lighting
Rick Gordon—sound engineer
David Kays—main stage manager
George Manley—front of house manager
Ryuu Joy—student stage manager

Emcees

Steven Cantor
Marcia Hocker
S. Renee Mitchell
Deborah DeMoss Smith

Website

Tina Granzo—webmaster
Kristin Thiel—editor

Photography

Kathryn Elsesser
Aaron Hayman
Diane Russell