Experience the music and legacy of Portland’s historic Cotton Club at Lewis & Clark College with a live performance by the Norman Sylvester Group, followed by a screening of a short film byJason Hill featuring legendary club owner Paul Knauls and the story of Portland's Cotton Club, where there was “Wall to Wall Soul.”

Following the screening, Paul Knauls, filmmaker Jason Hill, and musician Norman Sylvester will come together for a panel discussion exploring the Cotton Club, Portland’s Black music community, and the people and places that shaped Albina’s musical history. Students and members of the public will have an opportunity to engage directly with the panelists through a live Q&A. The film serves as a preview of a forthcoming feature-length production by Jason Hill documenting Albina’s historic musician community, slated for release in 2027.

Portland City Auditor's Archives & Records Management Division is celebrating American Archives Month with an expanded version of their community archiving event series. The event is free and open to members of the public of all ages.

"Portland in Black: Documenting Our Lives in the City of Roses" is designed to grow community connections, build archival skills, and create a foundation to ensure community stories are accessible for generations to come. This month's event will give attendees the opportunity to work on personal archiving projects, connect with community members, and receive guidance from memory workers at Don't Shoot PDX, Portland City Archives, the Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Public Broadcasting, and Albina Music Trust. It will spotlight audiovisual materials, with archivists on hand to discuss the unique preservation challenges of audio and video recordings.

Free "archival kits" made up of various archival supplies, tools, and enclosures to help start an archiving project will be provided to the first 40 attendees on a first come first served basis.

Attendees will:

• Discover the resources available in the Oregon Historical Society's research library.

• Receive advice on viewing, digitizing, and preserving film and video.

• Learn from professionals how best to manage personal archives of papers, photographs, videotapes, and more.

• Digitize materials at a scanning station. Attendees will not be able to digitize film, video, or audio recordings during the event.

Attendees are encouraged to bring cherished materials documenting their family or community histories to learn how to make them last. Examples of items to bring for personal archiving projects include:

• Family photographs, scrapbooks, albums

• Home movies, audio recordings

• Letters, correspondence, diaries

• Clippings, publications, books

Cotton Club Film Screening

October 29th

Lewis & Clark College

Evans Auditorium

615 S. Palatine Hill Road

1:50pm-3:20pm

We are celebrating 45 years of the Time Sound Big Band at Washington Park. This historic event showcases generations of our musical community on stage together for the first time in many years.

Join us as we ensure that Albina’s musical legacy lives on.

Roman Norfleet & Be Present Art Group Album Release at Low End

Sponsored by 1803 Fund

Friday, June 26th

7-10pm

High & Mighty Album Release

At Mississippi Records

Sunday, June 21st

1-3pm

Free Ticket via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/be-present-art-group-album-release-tickets-1991400578738?aff=oddtdtcreator

Join us for a Screening of Summer of Soul (…Or the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) at the historic Mission Theater. A portion of ticket sales will go to benefit the Albina Music Trust.

Three legends. One night.

After years in the studio, Tony Ozier is out of the lab with new work and a fresh lineup on stage. Tonight we present the enigmatic Dookie Jam progenitor and current musical director for the Pharcyde in collaboration with the legendary first daughter of PDX Funk and R&B, Arietta Ward. A force throughout Portland’s vast musical communities, Mz. Etta carries the tradition of her mother, Janice Marie Scroggins, a foundational pianist, composer, and educator in Albina.

Rose City Rhythms

Thursday, June 4th at Amalfi's 

Ft. Tahirah Memory Live Band

Musician Panel ft. Ken Berry, Paul Knauls, LaRhonda Steele, Norman Sylvester, and Arietta Ward

DJ set by KMHD’s Alex Newman

The Albina Rose Alliance, 1803 Fund, and Albina Music Trust, will host an evening of live music, storytelling, and community dialogue at Amalfi's Italian Restaurant celebrating the cultural legacy of Portland’s historic Lower Albina neighborhood and the Black musicians who helped shape the city’s music scene.
The event will feature a panel discussion with local artists, cultural leaders, and historians alongside live performances honoring Portland’s Black music traditions. Through conversation and artistic expression, the program aims to preserve community stories, elevate historically underrepresented voices, and strengthen cultural connection across generations.

“Out of the Infinite Darkness” is a cosmic sono-drama performed by Roman Norfleet & Be Present Art Group, featuring an 8-piece ensemble with dancers. Interpreted through sound and movement, and drawing on Afro-diasporic imagination and imagery, the work imagines life before the humanoid form—spirit and energy-beings emerging from the infinite darkness of space and descending to Earth. 

Time Sound: Memories in Albina is a reflection on music and place, directed by Tahirah Memory. The concert is grounded in the work of Tahirah's late father, Grammy-winning trumpeter, composer, and educator, Thara Memory. Dating back to the late 1960s, the Memory family’s music reflects life in Portland's historic Albina neighborhoods — centering Black Portland's musical heritage through an evolving family songbook.

Soul Conversation is a panel discussion featuring Albina's music legends. Musicians played a vital role in Albina's historic Black community and their abundance is an important marker of the community's enduring presence.