Nick Fish Jazz Community Award

Montavilla Jazz establishes Nick Fish Jazz Community Award honoring the legacy of “Portland’s Jazz Commissioner” and names Portland drummer Ron Steen its inaugural recipient.

Montavilla Jazz establishes Nick Fish Jazz Community Award

In recognition of the enormous, enthusiastic contribution from Nick Fish to Portland’s jazz community, Montavilla Jazz will presents the second Nick Fish Jazz Community Award to writer, broadcaster, and performer Lynn Darroch on Saturday, August 31st, 2024, at the Alberta Rose Theatre at 8 pm Joe Kye’s The Well Sessions concert featuring special guest poet Shin Yu Pai. This event takes place during the 11th Annual Montavilla Jazz Festival running August 30th–September 1, 2024.

Here We Grow Mural photo by Neil Mattson

Portland’s Jazz Commissioner

Nick Fish, who passed away early in 2020, won many awards during his twelve years on the Portland City Council, including the Angel Award from White Bird, the Community Partner Award from Metropolitan Youth Symphony, and the McClendon Makarounis Award for Jazz Advocacy from PDX Jazz. He raised funds for and attended the Mount Hood Jazz Festival, PDX Jazz Festival, and Montavilla Jazz Festival in addition to Jazz concerts in Portland parks, despite a schedule that limited his ability to attend these events. Recognizing that he was a champion for the Jazz community, he was given the title of “Portland’s Jazz Commissioner” by veteran Jazz Radio Host and current Montavilla Jazz board member and Vice President, Marcia Hocker.

Read Marcia Hocker’s profile of Commissioner Fish here.

Reflections on Portland Jazz

Montavilla Jazz recognizes author, radio host, and artist Lynn Darroch’s reflections of the local jazz ecosystem as critical to the growth and sustenance of the Portland scene.

Marcia Hocker shares:

“Lynn Darroch wears many hats in our community. As an author, Jazz radio host on KMHD, and recording artist, he provides an in-depth perspective on the journey of local musicians who contribute their talents to our community as well as those from out of state. While he is a retired college English professor, he continues to educate us all with a compendium of stories that bring to life the rich history of this genre that is globally embraced. He exemplifies excellence and we are extremely fortunate to have a Jazz historian of this distinction among us.”

Former Executive Director and current board member of Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble Douglas Detrick writes:

“Through his work as a writer, radio host, and a board member with Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble, I have seen Lynn Darroch offer something invaluable to jazz lovers in Portland—the stories that help us see ourselves as a community in cooperation. Jazz is a tough business, and we’re incredibly lucky to have someone that can watch and listen with the sensitivity, enthusiasm and deep knowledge that Lynn offers.”

Darroch was recognized as the 2024 Portland Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association this April. Find a selection of his works here, his book Rhythm in the Rain – Jazz in the Pacific Northwest (Portland State University, Ooligan Press, 2016), and listen to his KMHD broadcast, Bright Moments, on Sundays from 6–8pm PST.

Award Presentation

Award will precede
Joe Kye’s The Well Sessions featuring Shin Yu Pai
Saturday, August 31st, 8PM
Alberta Rose Theatre (3000 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211)
Tickets $5-45 with discounts for advance purchases, students, and Arts for All available.

Concert description:
Joe Kye takes listeners on a transcendent personal journey, recollecting lineage and love through looping violins, vocals, and traditional Korean instruments interwoven with the poetry of Shin Yu Pai.

Artists performing:
Joe Kye, violin, electronics, vocals; Shin Yu Pai, poet; Dario LaPoma, piano; Sam Arnold, bass; Cory Limuaco, drums.

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For the love of jazz: Commissioner Nick Fish's lasting legacy

By Marcia K. Hocker

The late Commissioner Nick Fish said, “I have always believed that government can be society’s greatest force for good and that together we can do amazing things. As a member of the Council, I have insisted that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, and I have focused on partnership, collaboration and shared success.” Read more.

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