“Songs for Haiti” -- one night only (Thursday!)

Tomorrow night, while relaxing in the boho comfort of Portland’s Aladdin Theater, you can contribute to Mercy Corps’s Haiti fund while being serenaded by outstanding Oregon musicians and vocalists. As organized by the tireless Stephen Marc Beaudoin,

Some of the marquee Portland performers appearing in “Songs for Haiti” include pianist Thomas Lauderdale (bandleader, Pink Martini), the Portland Cello Project, acclaimed hip-hop artist Cool Nutz, Grammy-nominated pianist Janice Scroggins, the legendary Storm Large, Oregon Symphony concertmaster Jun Iwasaki with pianist Grace Fong-Iwasaki, Broadway veteran baritone Douglas Webster (Les Miserables), singer-songwriter Holcombe Waller, and local choral ensembles Flash Choir, PHAME Academy Choir and the Grant High School Royal Blues. Oregonian columnist Margie Boule and KOIN Portland 6 reporter Tim Joyce are the event co-hosts. (emphasis very much mine)

Sweet! Thirty bucks gets you in the door and contributing to disaster relief, and you get to attend one of the most fun events of the whole season.

As a teaser I’m including this video of Thomas Lauderdale -- an inapposite choice, really, since Thomas will doubtless be far less sedate tomorrow evening. But I plop this footage here anyway because it’s from another event Mr. Lauderdale was instrumental (sorry) in bringing to fruition -- the 24/7 concert of last year acknowledging just how long we’ve been mired in a different catastrophe, the war in Iraq.

I was sitting just a few feet away from Thomas when this video was shot, and I will be again tomorrow night. See you there.

Your weekend awaits you

This is good.

From the WK Radio website:

By mid-March, the United States will have been at war in Afghanistan and Iraq for seven years. To mark this important, if tragic, anniversary, over 150 of the Portland area's best classical, contemporary and world musicians are uniting to make a giant musical gift to the city and beyond. "24/7” is a series of 24 dramatic concerts, each starting upon the hour, from 7:00 p.m. Saturday, March 21, and continuing through to 7:00 p.m., Sunday, March 22, in the W+K Atrium. FREE. WK Radio will broadcast a portion of the event.

As curated by two of Portland’s most fabulous citizens, Bill Crane and Pink Martini’s Thomas Lauderdale, a truly gobsmacking company of musicians have been tapped for this occasion. Consult this schedule for the full roster. Personally I intend to make it to Michelle Mariana’s hour, at 2am Sunday, when the divine Ms. M will sing jazz, accompanied by smooth-as-silk Reece Marshburn. And the finale, at 6pm on Sunday, when the company performs Beethoven’s 9th, is not to be missed. I’ll probably bawl like a baby.

PDX Pipeline reports:

Neither a protest nor a memorial, "24/7" nonetheless is a profound calling by its performers to their fellow citizens to remember that we are a nation at war. The musicians creating 24/7 hope to move their neighbors by their music to "do what must be done" as our city, region, and nation face many challenges. This will be music of encouragement as well as entertainment.

To add to the conviviality of this big occasion, the popular and award-winning restaurant Bluehour, next door to the concert venue, will be open all night and the following day. Restaurateur Bruce Carey and chef de cuisine Kenny Giambalvo are planning a special bar menu just for 24/7 performers and audience members.

So what’s not to love? The event lacks only you. And everybody is waiting. See you there.