Eugene Jazz (radio interview transcript)

DJ: Hey, we’re live on 106.22 Eugene Bop and today we’ve got a very special guest on today. Everybody put your hands together for Victor Miles, a student at University of Oregon. We keep getting emails asking why the world needs another jazz radio station, so we decided to bring in an expert. Thanks for coming in, Victor.

Miles: Thanks for having me—glad to be here.

DJ: So, you’re studying jazz at University of Oregon?

Miles: That’s right. Eugene actually has one of the best jazz studies programs in the whole U.S. We study the music itself, its history and the music business. It’s really great.

DJ: Sounds like it.

Miles: The goal of the program is… well, I go this excerpt off the university Web site, is it all right if I read it?

DJ: Go ahead.

Miles: It says, “our goal is to create an environment for learning that stimulates, recognizes, and rewards creativity and outstanding achievement in performance, composition, arranging, research, and education.    To this end, we are committed to providing our students with the most thorough education available in jazz and opportunities for personal growth and successes in the field that are second to none.” And that basically sums it up.

DJ: Impressive! I hear you’re from Washington.

Miles: That’s right. I came down here because Oregon has some of the best places to study music. It was a hard choice between University of Oregon and Western Oregon University, because both of them have awesome programs, but in the end I decided I wanted to live in a bigger city.

DJ: (laughing) So Eugene, it was!

Miles: That’s right.

DJ: So back to our listener’s question—why should our station be playing jazz? What’s so great about it?

Miles: Jazz has one of the richest histories of all music genres. It originates from Africa, when slaves were being brought over to America to work in the fields. The music mingled with all of the different European influences that were at work in America, so jazz really is the all-American music.

DJ: Like baseball is the all-American sport.

Miles: Exactly.

DJ: Well, listeners, we’ve got to go to a commercial, but don’t switch off that radio just yet. We’ll be right back.

Eugene Symphony Orchestra (musical crosswords…)

Rachel bit down on her pencil’s eraser, then spat out a few bits. “Okay, this is why I hate crossword puzzles.”

Owen looked up from his newspaper. “I told you that you didn’t have to do that. It’s my homework.”

She glared down at the offending piece of paper. “It was sitting on the table, mocking me. I had to complete it. Now what’s a five letter word that means ‘more than one instrument?’”

Owen thought about it for a moment. “Combo.”

“Perfect,” she muttered, scribbling in the answer. “What kind of professor makes a music-themed crossword puzzle for homework?”

Owen sipped his orange juice serenely. “The kind that doesn’t want to grade 45 papers.”

“Good point.” She frowned at the puzzle. “Okay, instrumental ensemble…?”

“Orchestra.”

“Do we even have one of those around?”

He gave her one of those looks, one that was one part exasperation, two parts good-natured amusement. “Um, yeah.”

“Really?” Rachel chewed on the eraser again. “In Portland?”

“Eugene, actually,” he said mildly. “I went and saw a chamber orchestra concert in Eugene. It was put on by the Oregon Mozart Players. It was really good.”

“An orchestra in Eugene, Oregon?” She stared at him.

“We’re not barbarians,” he laughed. “We have classical music, jazz, orchestras, concertos—the whole shebang.”

“Was it boring?”

He pointed a finger at her. “Orchestras are never boring. Especially when played by really talented and passionate people. The music at this Oregon concert was unbelievable. You would have enjoyed it.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Rachel fell silent, and then looked up again. “Okay, six letter word for stringed instrument?”

Oregon Concerts

When you think about Oregon, the first things to come to mind are usually fir trees, the Oregon Trail, and large areas of rural land. But what you should think is music, music, music. Oregon is home to many musical communities, ranging from jazz to classical. There are countless concerts and musicians performing at all times of the year in many Oregon cities, especially those with universities.

Perhaps the most famous is the Portland Jazz Festival. As its name would suggest, it occurs every year in Portland in February, celebrating both Black History Month as well as the vibrant jazz community in Oregon. Also in Portland are the Portland Baroque Orchestra and the Oregon Symphony.

In mid-summer, the Oregon Bach Festival is held in Eugene; concerts showcase the work of Bach, Purcell, Handel, Haydn, and Mendelssohn. Eugene itself is also home to University of Oregon, which has a superb jazz studies departments.

In Monmouth, Western Oregon University’s musical department is responsible for concerts going on year-round. The concerts themselves vary from soloists to combos and student performances to professional. Tickets are extremely affordable and sometimes even free. There are also concerts nearby in Salem. In the state capitol, there are both the Salem Chamber Orchestra and the Salem Symphony, playing in Salem and other close by venues.

So the next time you’re booking a trip to the Pacific Northwest, take a moment to check out what concerts are playing in Oregon. Because while Oregon does have fir trees, the trail and lots of rural land, there are also concerts, music and festivals.