In A Summer full of music festivals, one of the loveliest, happiest of them all is the Cathedral Park Jazz Festival.
It happens Friday through Sunday, July 19-21.
This is the 44th annual festival. It has gone through a lot of changes, some good and some not so good. These days it’s run by the Jazz Society of Oregon and one of the directors is Yvonne Lerch who is in Artichoke Music with me.
She’s been on the Oregon music scene, in one form or another for a long time.
The festial is free, so even though it’s this upcoming weekend, there’s no need to plan months in advance. Just come on out and sit under the magnificent St. John’s Bridge and have yourself the perfect summer’s day.

Yvonne Lerch on the 2024 Cathedral Park Jazz Festival / CC#425

I wonder if you know that Lee Dorsey, the great New Orleans Soul and R&B singer, famous for songs like Ya Ya, Workin In a Coal Mine, and many others, was also known as the best body and fender man in New Orleans.
We have an equivalent in Oregon. Kenny Goldstein has been a part of the music scene in Oregon for decades, a bass player in multiple genres and an ace auto mechanic. He has helped keep my last four beaters on the road, to be transparent.
But do they have anything to do with each other?
He’s in the Artichoke café with me right now.

Kenny Goldstein: Ace bass player AND mechanic / CC#426

We’re not back at Artichoke quite yet but we’re back in podcast production again. And happy to be.
A giant thank you to Paul K Ward for recording these things until I am able to get back to Artichoke Music.  
I am at my desk and Paul is at the controls at studio bLue. Joining him is Chris Doss, the Executive Director of PDX Jazz, with us for his annual visit to talk about the 2025 Bi-Amp Portland Jazz Festival which takes place February 20 to March first, all over town.

OMN Chris Doss - GOLDEN CANDIDATE 0108 - 2025 001

Since Coffeeshop Conversations has returned from health-related hiatus (mine), first of all it’s been fun doing them again and second, I love the guests we’ve had. David Vest and Terry Robb last week in particular.
If you missed them, I suggest you listen but not this minute because we’ve got a good one this time.
Before we go any further, let’s give a big round of ammunition (as Doctor John used to say) to Paul K Ward who has kindly lent his talents and his studo blue…all lower case…to record, mix and fix these episodes while I continue to try to recover from what I have to recover from.
The strange thing is that the first time that today’s guest Kyleen King made an appearance on Coffeeshop Conversations, in January 2023, we had to do it this way too. Me at my desk and Kyleen at home. I had covid that time.
One of these days we’ll actually sit across from each other, I hope. 
By the way, Kyleen was also a guest last summer on Darka and Miri’s Light and Limn Podcast which also can be heard on OMN.
So why such a fast return? Because Kyleen’s life has taken a new direction and we’ll find out all about it. That and how it will or will not limit her music.
We had a delightful conversation last time and there’s no good reason to think this one will be any different.
So with that too-long introduction…a big hello to Kyleen King.

Kyleen King's new(ish) career move

Hey now! Back again with Paul K Ward at the controls at studio blue…and that’s supposed to be all lower case. I’m Tom D’Antoni at my desk, not ready to go back to Artichoke Music. 
Wait, I’m not done. With Paul is famed guitar slinger Terry Robb, so good that the Cascade Blues Association stopped giving him best guitarist award and named the damned thing after him.
Plus, at his home in Victoria, British Columbia is former Portlander, winner of a bunch of Blues Maple Awards for best pianist, Paul deLay’s last of the best piano players and boogie woogie master, David Vest.
They have a new album  of duets out called Criss Cross. And we’re here to find out why and wherefore.

Terry Robb and David Vest make an album together / CC#430

Thanks for finding Coffeeshop Conversations again. Today’s logistics include me at my desk in Northwest Portland, and at Paul K Ward’s studio blue…(two words all lower case) …where he is recording and making it sound pretty, Paul himself plus today’s guest, The Boogie Cat, Norman Sylvester who has a major life event coming on Sunday, March 16th at the Alberta Rose Theater…a celebration of his forty years in music.
Let’s find out all about it, and how you get there.
Mr. Sylvester? Congratulations!

Norman Sylvester: The Boogie Cat celebrates his band's 40th / CC#432

Pete Peterson: One Busy Saxophonist -- CC#433

Glad you found us after a couple of weeks off, OMN’s Coffeeshop Conversations is back. Paul K Ward is at the control in his Studio Blue Productions headquarters, I am still at my desk on NW Lovejoy Stret because I’m not quitte ready to return to the world.
With Paul is today’s guest Nichollas Grier,  pianist, a mental health therapist, professor of Practical Theology and counselling at Claremont School of Theology and a councelor at the Bishop Wellness center at Wilamette University.
He has a presentation at the 1905 club, it’s called Juneteenth Emancipation Jazz Concert on Thursday, Jun 19th and Professor Grier is with Paul in the studio to tell us all about it.


OMN - Tom and Nicholas Grier

Glad you found another OMN Coffeeshop Conversation once again not at Artichoke Music…yet.
Paul K Ward is at the controls again in studioblue…all one word, lower case,and  doing a great job of being the real reason why there still are Coffeeshop Conversations Artichoke or not. 
I’m at my desk in Northwest Portland.
With Paul is guitarist, composer and educator Ryan Meagher and we’re going to talk baseball.
He’s a Giants fan and I’m an Orioles fan so there are no bitter rivalries between us.
Ok, we’re not going to talk baseball. That’s for when we’re not rolling.
I could give you a list of what Ryan is up to, but it’s hard to keep up with him. Let’s just say he does a lot of things and we’ll let him tell us what they are in the order he thinks best. 


Ryan Meagher:  Adding to the composer/guitarist/educator/administrator's versatility. Coffeeshop Conversations #441

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.

New tracks tagged #Coffeeshop Conversations