Here is the story of 2021 Jazz Hero Randy Porter of Portland, Oregon, as told by excerpts of the Jazz Journalist Association virtual town hall celebrating all of the 2021 JJA Jazz Heroes virtual town hall on Friday, April 16. Video were produced by Bret “JazzVideoGuy” Primack.
In mid-March 2020, night clubs in Portland and other Oregon cities and towns closed for what was initially predicted to be just long enough to “flatten the curve.” By June it was obvious that the COVID-19 pandemic was not going away anytime soon, not until a vaccines or vaccines could be developed and made widely available to the public, not until the end of the year at the earliest. This was when pianist Randy Porter launched his Sundays @ 7 Concert Series, which continues to this day.
