Three-time Grammy Award winner Dee Dee Bridgewater has been a torchbearer for female vocalists in the tradition of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan for the past 40 years. Seemingly getting better with age, including her 2010 Grammy Award winning album Listen Now! Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee. For her second festival appearance (2006), Bridgewater and her rich, charismatic voice return for her second Portland Jazz Festival with some “Holiday” spirit, performing the timeless songs of Billie Holiday.

There are few musicians that have had the decorated and enduring career of drummer Roy Haynes. Haynes, 86, earned the nickname of “Snap Crackle” in the 1950s for his uniquely punctuated rhythms and use of the snare drum. He has worked with generational jazz goliaths like Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Thelonious Monk, Sarah Vaughn, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny and countless others.

The acclaimed and creative career of Seattle based guitarist Bill Frisell has been nurtured over the years by his unique incorporations of musical influences and his persistent album releases. As an electric guitar player, Frisell frequently treads the line between jazz and rock, falling someplace between Robert Fripp and Pat Metheny. However, finding a distinct umbrella category for Frisell doesn’t do the creativity and originality of his music any justice.

The prolific team of Grammy Award winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo dates back to 1998 when Calderazzo replaced the late Kenny Kirkland in the Branford Marsalis Quartet. Their most recent project, Songs of Mirth and Melancholy, demonstrates their tight bond through a collection of pensive compositions with the highest of emotional peaks. Marsalis last appeared at the festival with his long standing Quartet in 2008.

Symphonic Band, Symphony Orchestra, Vivaldi Strings repertoire includes Enesco: "Rumanian Rhapsody" & Dvorak: "The Noon Witch"

One night only, hear the masterful storytelling of Garrison Keillor, creator of the weekly radio show A Prairie Home Companion. Please note: the Oregon Symphony does not perform.

*Please note that tickets for all Oregon Symphony events are being sold exclusively through the Oregon Symphony. Please visit www.orsymphony.org, or call (503)228-1353, for more information.

The concert will open with Carlos Surinach's tribute to Medieval Spain's rituals. Taken from actual Spanish music and scored for winds, brass and percussion, it will be a great display for our musicians. After our annual Concerto Competition winner performs, we'll pay tribute to Gustav Mahler. His Symphony No. 4 is his gentlest, most intimate symphony. Guest Cara Gabrielson will sing the final movement, a setting of the Wunderhorn song "The Heavenly Life" in which a child describes Heaven to those who can only imagine its delights.