Artists curate 2024 Montavilla Jazz Festival

Jazz artists continue to push boundaries of the genre, and Montavilla Jazz Festival will certainly emphasize appealing to more music fans.

Montavilla Jazz Festival has a stellar lineup for its 11th annual festival with more than 30 concerts at 12 venues, including Alberta Rose Theatre, The 1905, Mt. Tabor Park and elsewhere, Friday-Sunday, Aug. 30-Sept. 1. This year’s lineup is the first crafted by an artist-driven curation process.

“We asked the artists to tell us what they would love to present but might not have been able to without support, and they dreamed big,” said Neil Mattson, Montavilla Jazz executive director. “Every year, we are astounded by the way these musicians take risks and innovate. This year, we’re excited to invest in even more artist-centered programming that represents a wide breadth of jazz’s creative spirit. It’s a great way to usher in Montavilla Jazz’s second decade.”

Portland musician Joe Kye performs at Montavilla Jazz Festival, 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 31 at Alberta Rose Theatre. He’s heavily influenced by jazz music, but also “I’m in the margins of several genres, at the intersection, I have some rock in me, Korean traditional folk music … it’s a hodgepodge.”

Kye’s “The Well Sessions” show “takes listeners on a transcendent personal journey, recollecting lineage and love through looping violins, vocals and traditional Korean instruments interwoven with the poetry of Shin Yu Pai.” Kye said therapy and “focusing on myself and my wants and needs instead of being externally focused” has led to another stage of his music. In past years, including during COVID-19 pandemic and BLM protests, he focused on “healing” the community.

Originally from Korea, Kye moved to Portland from Seattle in 2016. He has played shows around Portland, but it’s his first Montavilla Jazz Festival.

“I feel very lucky and fortunate to be invited to the jazz world,” he said.

“It’s challenging, nuanced and complicated (music),” Kye added. “There’s a lot going into making the roots of the art form. ... Me as an improvisational musician, it’s exciting. It’s a personal joy of being that person on stage, making music that is revolutionary and loving to others.”

After “The Well Sessions” segment, Kye said his concert will have a lot more traditional jazz music played.

Montavilla Jazz Festival organizers said the festival has gotten bigger and better, with more than twice the number of performances from last year.

The lineup includes internationally-lauded saxophonist Nicole Glover, from Portland, bringing her trio to her hometown for the first time to perform selections from their latest release, “Plays.” They perform 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 1 at Alberta Rose Theatre.

The Dan Balmer Trio and others are also part of the lineup.

For more/tickets: montavillajazz.org .