Montavilla Jazz Film Night: Call + Response plus Blue Cranes Film Premiere
- Masks and social distancing are required for this program
- Please arrive on time, as we have limited seating capacity
- We encourage guests to bring their own chairs for the screening
- As the Museum is closed, there is no public restroom access
Please join us for the commencing event of the Montavilla Jazz Festival ‘21, an outdoor program at the Portland Art Museum courtyard featuring a live short concert by the Blue Cranes, the world premiere of a new film presented by Montavilla Jazz, Call + Response, plus a special sneak preview of music videos from Blue Cranes’ Voices, an upcoming album of vocal collaborations, which will be released later in the year.
Montavilla Jazz presents: Call + Response is a collaborative effort pairing three local jazz artists with three local filmmakers. In early 2021, musicians Micah Hummel, Noah Simpson, and Idit Shner, each composed, performed, and recorded seven to ten minutes of original music. Filmmakers Jeff Oliver, Shilpa Sunthakar, and Deejuliano Scott responded with visual “scores” with access to production facilities and the Independent Filmmaker Kit provided by project partner Open Signal. The result: three entirely original short works of art-music-film. The shorts will premiere at an outdoor screening produced by Mobile Projection Unit at Montavilla Jazz Film Night at the Portland Art Museum’s courtyard on Friday, August 20 at 9PM. The event will also include world-premiere screenings of Portland post-jazz quintet Blue Cranes’s music-films from their upcoming VOICES album produced by filmmakers Sarah Whelden, Rachel Blumberg, and Jim Bashfield.
Call + Response will also be available for viewing following the live-streamed Festival performances Saturday and Sunday.
The Call + Response shorts include:
- The Beast of Torpor with music by Micah Hummel and film by Jeff Oliver
- A Day in Color with music by Noah Simpson and film by Shilpa Sunthankar
- Last Signs of June with music by Idit Shner and film by Deejuliano Scott
The event will also include a sneak preview of Portland post-jazz quintet Blue Cranes’ music videos from their upcoming Voices, which will be self-released on October 16, 2021. Voices is a collaboration between Blue Cranes and nine vocalists with connections to Portland: Laura Gibson, Holland Andrews, Laura Veirs, Edna Vazquez, Luz Elena Mendoza, Peter Broderick, Redray Frazier, Gavin Castleton, and Annalisa Tornfelt.
Blue Cranes’ VOICES films include:
- Tatehuari, featuring vocalists Edna Vazquez, film by Sarah Whelden
- Handbook of the Dead, featuring vocalist Rebecca Sanborn, film by Jim Blashfield and Roger Kukes
- The Back Steps, featuring vocalists Peter Broderick, Holland Andrews and Reed Wallsmith, film by Rachel Blumberg
- Brave Little Girl, featuring vocalist Holland Andrews, film by Reed Wallsmith.
Automated real-time captions will be available for the program announcements, and a printed transcript will be available for the film at the welcome table.
Accessibility
The Portland Art Museum is pleased to offer accommodations to ensure that our programs are accessible and inclusive. All spaces for this program are accessible by wheelchair. Assistive listening devices are also available for lectures. All restrooms have accessible stalls but no power doors. There are single-stall all-gender bathrooms available. Please ask staff for directions.
We will do our best to accommodate your needs when you arrive, however, we need 2-3 weeks advance notice for some specific requests. Please email requests to access@pam.org, or call 503-226-2811.
