Oregon Music News

Regular listeners to Coffeeshop Conversations….and I mean over the years…know that one of the things we like to do is bring on some of the folks responsible for some of Oregon’s great music festivals.

For the past few years, a regular visitor to wherever we happen to be recording these has been Chris Doss, the Executive Director of the Biamp Portland Jazz Festival…usually long before the festival has begun.

This time he’s here as the festival is winding up. It ends this weekend and we’re recording on Thursday March 19.

I wanted to find out how he feels with the finish line in sight, and get some impressions of what he has heard and learned etcetera.

At the controls in his Studio Blue in Northeast Portland is Paul K Ward who seems to be at every keyboard in town these days. Playing music or recording it. I’m at my desk in Northwest Portland.

With Paul is Chris Doss himself.

Chris Doss OMN 2026 by Oregon Music News

This was supposed to have run a couple of weeks ago but that awful flu intervened, both for me and Paul K Ward. We're both back at work. Sorry to keep you waiting.

= = = = = = =

A couple of weeks ago we got the news that Music Millennium owner Terry Currier was, at 70 years of age, looking to the future of Music Millennium and handing off to another owner or owners the home of recorded music in Oregon…after forty-two years at that magnificent museum of music on East Burnside.

I’m at my desk in Northwest Portland, at the controls engineering, producing and editing is Paul K Ward in his Studio Blue in Northeast Portland.

And in his office at Music Millennium is our guest Terry Currier to tell us how all of this happened, how he sees his future and that of the record store.

He’s no stranger to Coffeeshop Conversations. He’s been a guest once a year for …well for EVER.

Hey Tom D’Antoni back with ya. It’s another Oregon Music News Coffeeshop Conversation

I’m at my desk in Northwest Portland.

Engineer, producer/editor Paul K Ward is in his studioblue and at his home? Guitarist/composer Chance Hayden.

It’s been a long time since Chance was on the podcast and I don’t know why. …he is a very busy musician.

Joe Manis - the Point 12_19_2025 by Oregon Music News

It’s another Oregon Music News Coffeeshop Conversation. I’m at my desk in Northwest Portland and in studioblue in Northeast Portland are, at the controls, Paul K Ward and with him is Darka Dusty.

She of the Light and Limn podcast she and her husband Miri do.

She and Miri visited Ukraine for five weeks during the summer. They did an episode of their podcast when they returned. I wondeed, now that Darka has had more time to process, what she thinks of it and how it has effected her.

PDX Jazz Festival Jazz Master. He ran the Portland State University Jazz program for 27 years and produced generations of great musicians. //

Paul Brainard: Playing many instruments including "The Fun Machine: Coffeeshop Conversations #448 by Oregon Music News

Tom D’Antoni back with you for another, as a matter of fact the four hundred and forty sixth Coffeeshop Conversation.

Well, yeah I’m proud of that. Proud also that returning to the bat controls at his own studioblue in Northeast Portland is the very busy pianist/comper/proudcer Paul K Ward.

I’m still at my desk in Northwest Portland. Sitting next to Paul is the fabulous Miz Kitty of Miz Kitty’s Parlour…l o u r…the long running vaudeville show, which returns once again on Saturday, October 18th to the Mission Theater.

We’ll find out who’s playing in a bit.

Miz Kitty, in her other life is Lisa Marsicek, she of many bands, maybe the most well-known of which was the Flat Mountain Girls who many of us still miss.

What we’re going to do this week is talk to Arietta Ward and Terry Robb. The backstory? You remember Sly Stone passed away on June 9th I did a memorial set on KMHD’s I Like It Like That.

But there was one song I wanted to play and I couldn't find the album no matter how hard I looked and I have a lot of CD’s. It was a lengthy search and very frustrating.

I was on the last shelf, the last place it could be and there it was. The song was If You Want Me To Stay and the version I wanted to play was from an album called Sista by Portland’s angels; Janice Scroggins and Linda Hornbuckle.

You know how you get when you hunger for knowledge about something you love? That is precisely why Janice’s daughter Arietta Ward is here.

She was there at the recording sessions. Also with us is Terry Robb who produced those sessions.

And by the way, the day I found it would have been Janice’s birthday.