Jazz Festival Founder James Taylor Dreams a Little Dream with Vanport on his Mind
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“I was born in Mississippi and my Dad was an Air Force man so we moved to California when I was very young," shared longtime Portland banker (former) and founder of the Vanport Jazz Festival, James Taylor. "My parents had 6 kids in 8 years so it was a very busy family."
Before he became interested in the national and international jazz music scene, Mr. Taylor's focus was on sports, criminal justice and finance. "In my 6th grade year we lived in Turkey and in 7th and 8th grades, we lived in Spain. After that tour ended for my Father, we moved back to California where I finished high school and then I came to Oregon to play football and get a business degree at Linfield College. After college, I worked in banking for 32 years. During a momentary departure, I was a sports agent for 7 years working with players in the NFL and NBA. After I finally retired from banking in 2017, the Governor appointed me to the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision and that is also the same year I started the music festival."
His inspiration for choosing a career in criminal justice was rooted in family history and a passion for helping Black America navigate systemic barriers posed by racist policies and procedures. "My younger brother was a police officer in San Bernardino for 15 years and as I was growing up, I knew about law enforcement from him and other family members in the field and knew what was happening there. As Black men in the U.S., we face a lot of challenges with the criminal justice system and I wanted to be in a position to at least add to the equation of equality. Before I joined the Parole board, I spent 2013-2017 in an advisory capacity on the Oregon Youth Authority on their audit committee. That position was voluntary and I got a chance to visit all the facilities in the State and talk to the superintendents and to the kids and review policies and procedures. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to check out the adult board of parole and was privileged that the Governor appointed me to that position."
While the Black Lives Matter movement forged new pathways and created new avenues for systemic change, Mr. Taylor feels that there is still much work to be done to address the grievances wrought over 400+ years. "From a criminal justice standpoint, I've seen a lot of changes in how we are amending our laws on the local, county, and state level. We are enacting new laws to benefit Black Americans and even have a congressional BIPOC caucus who, even though things tend to move slowly in government, are making great strides. I'm pessimistic, though, on how quickly more sweeping changes will happen across America because there are people on the other side of the table who don't want to see major changes happen."
Throughout the struggle for civil rights and equality, it was musicians, artists and performers who bore the brunt of the cultural insurrections against racist establishments. "Black Americans and Black artists have been on the frontline of the civil rights movement. Black musicians would play the "chittlin' circuit' where they couldn't stay at places, they couldn't eat at places, they faced discrimination and hardship, It was a tough road, so to a great degree, Black artists were every day, every week, every month, every year, facing racist tension across America. So when you have artists today who can travel and express themselves musically, they are very appreciative of the opportunity. Like most Black Americans, they are well aware of the discrimination faced in America and as musicians, we should be tipping our hats to them for what they have had to go through to be where they are."
Despite the serious and often difficult journey forging a more equitable path for Black Americans caught in the various systemic nets of systemic inequality, Mr. Taylor never lost his connection to the music that sustained his Spirit of struggle "I have always been interested in music from a young age. When I was living in Turkey, the OJ's came to the Officers Club to play a concert. I was only about 11 and my Dad knew I was into music so he took me to the club and told me to stay behind the counter so no one saw me," he remembered with a laugh. "From there, we moved to Spain where I joined a band and learned to play the bass guitar. When I moved back to Southern California as a 10th grader, we formed a band in the neighborhood and had really good players who went on to play with Rick James. As a junior and senior, I was director of student activities and had the budget to book artists such as Tower of Power, Pleasure. etc...and also, I formed relationships with radio stations and record labels who would send music to play on campus. I told myself that one day I would have a jazz festival and the idea percolated until 2016 when the dream finally came to fruition."
While he was thrilled at the prospect of establishing the first ever Vanport Jazz Festival, Mr. Taylor was no stranger to the difficulties of creating and sustaining such a recurring, yearly event. "There is a lot more involved in terms of marketing, logistics and enticement and when dealing with national and international artists, there is also the challenge of negotiating prices to fit into your budget. Building momentum, year after year, until you get a critical mass is also an important component to hosting a successful music festival so I surround myself with people in the music business who can help me and give me advice."
This year's festival is now in it's 4th year, however, it would have been the 5th had last year's event not been cancelled due to the CV-18 pandemic and ensuing restrictions. "We postponed the festival in March, 2020 and we weren't sure that this year's festival would happen either until April-May when we made the decision to move forward. While marketing has been a challenge with such a narrow window for promoting it, we didn't want to go 2 years between festivals."
With gates opening at 10:30, the Vanport Jazz Festival will take place this Saturday, August 7th, at the Colwood Golf Course on 73rd and Columbia Blvd. Boasting a star-studded roster of local, national and international artists who plan to regale attendees with world-class music, the festival atmosphere also includes food carts, vendors and spirits from local breweries, wineries and purveyors of fine liquors. "We are opening up at noon with a 90-minute set from a band we put together, a top-notch collection of younger and older artists from Portland. You are going to see older artists like Lauren Bastille, Saida Wright and younger artists like Charlie Brown, Noah Simpson and Sug Matthews. You will be surprised at the caliber of talent these artists have. Afterwards, we will be transitioning to welcome internationally known musician, Tahirah Memory, daughter of Grammy-winning trumpeteer, Thara Memory. Marion Meadows and Gerald Albright will then take to the stage, closing out with our headliner, the world famous percussionist, Sheila E, who will conclude with a 90 minute set."
This year's festival title "Discover the Legacy, Experience the Revival'' has a potent and meaningful connotation for Mr. Taylor.”The 'Legacy' is the City of Vanport and we want people to understand the challenges that Black people faced coming to Portland in the 1940's and how, after the flood, how all of those people had to immigrate into the City of Portland. "Discover the Legacy '' also means understanding that the Black people from Vanport had come in from various locations throughout the South, bringing a rich musical history with them. When they all moved into the city after the flood, they opened up clubs. Jazz musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Ella Fitzgerald and all the jazz heavyweights came through Portland in the 50's and stayed in the homes of Black families because they weren't allowed to stay in hotels. We want people to understand the Legacy Black musicians brought with them and want people to experience the Revival of not just jazz music, but what Black people brought to Portland in particular."
For more information on the Vanport Jazz Festival and to purchase tickets, visit:
