Jazz composer, pianist, and educator Darrell Grant is a creative artist who harnesses the power of music to create change. Whether through performing, composing, speaking, educating, or organizing musical initiatives around community, sustainability, or social justice, he seeks to leverage a deeper level of engagement and connection for positive change.

His current projects include his chamber jazz opera examining gentrification Sanctuaries, the sophisticated Modern Jazz Quartet-inspired MJ New Quartet, and a solo piano project, Decades, inspired by jazz piano legends. Grant also speaks on the ecology of Jazz and using art as an act of civic engagement.

Grant also tours an odyssey of Oregon’s terroir in The Territory’s 9-piece suite and a celebration of the civil rights hero in Step by Step: The Ruby Bridges Suite which can be enhanced with a choir local to the presenter.

darrellgrant.com

MJ New Quartet PDF
The Territory PDF
Step by Step: The Ruby Bridges Suite PDF
Darrell Grant Speaks: Artist as Citizen PDF

Three-time ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Awardee Ezra Weiss has performed with Billy Hart, Dayna Stephens, Antonio Hart, Michael Philip Mossman, Mark Gross, Vincent Herring, and Dennis Rowland, among others.

Over the years, Ezra has led bands featuring such luminaries as trumpeters Peter Evans, and Farnell Newton; saxophonist Dayna Stephens; bassists Corcoran Holt, Ameen Saleem, and Curtis Lundy; and drummers Kassa Overall, Steve Williams, Jason Brown, and Billy Hart (for whom he also served as arranger).  

The Portland, OR-based composer/pianist has released six albums as a bandleader: The Five A.M. Strut (2003), Persephone (2005), Get Happy (2007), The Shirley Horn Suite (2010), Our Path To This Moment (2012), and Before You Know It [Live in Portland] (2014). Weiss wrote the music for the Portland Jazz Composer’s Ensemble’s multimedia concert/recording From Maxville To Vanport (2018), and music and lyrics for three children’s musicals designed to introduce young people to jazz: Alice in Wonderland: a Jazz Musical (2009), Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (2010), and Cinderella (2013).  His arrangements for Derek Hines’ recording The Long Journey Home (2017) led to the formation of his own Ezra Weiss Big Band, which he leads along with his Sextet. Weiss has been listed in DownBeat Critics Polls in the Rising Star Arranger category.

His latest big band composition, We Limit Not The Truth of God, will be released by Origin’s OA2 Records in 2019.

"Highly original power quintet."
— WALL STREET JOURNAL

"A force of nature."
— NPR

"A truly unconventional approach to improvised music."
— WNYC

"Rich melodies and dynamic interplay."
— LOS ANGELES TIMES

"Hooky melodies and strong backbeats."
— CHICAGO READER

"Jarringly dissonant... poignant, soulful and reassuring."
— JAZZ TIMES

Since their formation in 2007, Blue Cranes have become a key player in the Portland, Oregon creative music/DIY scene and one of the most exciting groups to keep tabs on in the Northwest. They've developed a singular musical voice grounded in melody and explosive improvisations--marking off their unique territory in post-jazz circles.

The members of the quintet—Reed Wallsmith on alto saxophone, Joe Cunningham on tenor saxophone, Rebecca Sanborn on keyboards, Jon Shaw on bass, and Ji Tanzer on drums—bring a unique array of experiences to their group-centered aesthetic, including work with AU, The Decemberists, Laura Veirs, Golden Retriever, Wayne Horvitz, Like A Villain, Rebecca Gates, Laura Gibson, Ethan Rose, Dirty Revival, Loch Lomond, and Portland Cello Project.

Blue Cranes' latest full-length album, Swim (on the Washington, D.C.-based Cuneiform Records), is a departure from their previous, in some ways simpler, releases. Steered dutifully by producer Nate Query of The Decemberists, it is a window into the sometimes messy emotional space of a group struggling with and celebrating the ephemeralness of life. This work is the culmination of several between-album projects, including a 30-day crowd-sourced Amtrak train tour, and a seven-day group composition retreat, supported in part by a grant from Portland's Regional Arts and Culture Council. However, the heart of Swim lies in indelibly profound life events--the passing away of two dear friends, a serious injury, two weddings, and the birth of a child—events at tragic and uplifting extremes, both cathartic and celebratory.

In 2021, Blue Cranes will release VOICES an album several years in the making of composition collaborations with Portland vocalists, including Edna Vazquez, Holland Andrews, Laura Gibson, Peter Broderick, Laura Veirs, Redray Frazier, Luz Elena Mendoza, Gavin Castleton, and Annalisa Tornfelt. The band will also be recording their sixth full-length album of new instrumental compositions for quintet.