February 15 2021
International concerts, music films, local shows mark the 18th event, which had to change like everything else.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic began and normal life went away, the Biamp PDX Jazz Festival took place as usual in 2020 with in-person concerts. We wrapped our last day of the 2020 festival 10 days before the COVID shutdown happened, said Nicholas Salas-Harris, the festival s artistic director. We were literally one of the only jazz festivals to go to in 2020.
Well, if anything, they had a lot of time to plan for the 2021 festival, although Salas-Harris, Executive Director Chris Doss and the whole crew entered the summer of 2020 still believing the PDX Jazz Festival would happen live again. Once it appeared live wouldn t be possible and it would have to be virtual, organizers set about trying to make the best festival possible. (Upon last week s announcement that the Portland tri-county area s pandemic status had been upgraded and that some ind