Jazz at the OXFORD features two full sets of jazz in a very special intimate club setting in the hotel’s lower level.   Sound quality, staging, lighting and atmosphere are on par with other great jazz clubs.  Seating capacity is limited to 105 people and performances are open to all ages. 10below, the hotel’s restaurant and bar, will offer a special food and beverage menu during each show.

Each jazz artist coming to Bend has a significant following on an international level, both via recordings and live performances. 

Christmas Week - December 22-23 Tom Grant Christmas, featuring Shelly Rudolph & Jackie Nicole  

Master pianist, accomplished singer and smooth jazz pioneer, Portland’s Tom Grant returns to Jazz at the Oxford, but this time to celebrate the joys of Christmas (as well as several of his hits).  Grant has had four No. 1 albums on adult contemporary and smooth jazz charts.  He will be accompanied by two amazing vocalists – the sultry Shelly Rudolph, a soulful and accomplished singer/songwriter, and Jackie Nicole, a young singer with a superstar future.  

MLK Weekend - January 13-14 Smokin’ Blues, Jazz & Soul with Mel Brown’s B-3 Organ Group 

The iconic “Gentleman of Jazz,” superstar drummer Mel Brown returns to the Oxford with an all-star band anchored by the Hammond B-3 organ and its master player, Louis Pain, a veteran of the Bay Area music scene, super-hot saxophonist Renato Caranto and versatile master guitarist Dan Balmer.  Brown started his career as a Motown house drummer, where he accompanied the Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Supremes and touring for years with Diana Ross.  

President’s Day Weekend - February 17-18 Piano Adventures with Darrell Grant

Featuring drummer extraordinaire Brian Blade & Special Guests. Portland-based PSU music professor and world renowned Darrell Grant enjoys an international reputation as one of the most gifted pianists and composers in the country.  Although rooted in jazz, Grant explores a range of genres, plays with high energy and is a master soloist.  He has appeared on some of the most important concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, and the Monterey, Telluride and San Francisco Jazz Festivals, and has toured with many jazz legends.

Blade is a multi-talented young “veteran” who is widely respected in the world of jazz as the drummer/composer/leader of Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band.  However, Blade’s talents stretch across genres, as he is also is the drummer for such greats as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Wayne Shorter, Bill Frisell and Emmylou Harris. 

Spring Break Weekend - March 16-17 Legendary Saxophonist Bobby Watson  

Former musical director of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, saxophonist Bobby Watson has achieved legend status over a distinguished career.  While with the Jazz Messengers, Watson shared the bandstand with the great trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.  After 25 years based in New York City, Mr. Watson became the recipient of the first endowed chair at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance in 2000, he continues to serve as the Conservatory’s Director of Jazz Studies.  Watson has issued some 30 recordings as a leader and appeared on over 100 other recordings.    He has recorded over 100 original compositions, including the soundtrack of A Bronx Tale, Robert DeNiro’s 1993 directorial debut.  Numerous Watson compositions have become classics, including Time Will Tell, In Case You Missed It and Wheel Within A Wheel.  In Bend, Watson will be accompanied by a Portland-based rhythm section led by the great Mel Brown, pianist Gordon Lee, bassist Ed Bennett and trumpeter Derek Sims.

April 13-14 - Michael Allen Harrison Superband featuring Julianne Johnson

The 2011-12 season of Jazz at the Oxford culminates with an intimate performance from Portland’s popular Michael Allen Harrison, who will be joined on stage by the talented vocals of Julianne Johnson and the masterful saxophone of Renato Caranto.  Harrison unique brand of music covers a broad range of styles, from jazz, smooth jazz, fusion, new age and adult contemporary.  Harrison is well known for his acclaimed Ten Grands, as the primary platform to raise funds for The Snowman Foundation, which has donated over $2 million for music education throughout Oregon. 

He is also a noted composer and arranger, including an annual presentation of a new composition with the Portland Festival Symphony.  Although Harrison has performed occasionally in Bend, never before has he appeared on an intimate club stage, so this promises to be a very special event showcasing his talents and versatility. 

www.bendtickets.com and www.oxfordhotelbend.com/jazz-at-the-oxford.htm.