Series makes Bend a name in jazz world By Ben Salmon • The Bulletin Published Sep 21, 2014 at 12:11AM Since 2010, the Oxford Hotel in downtown Bend has hosted 43 concerts in one of its basement ballrooms as part of its Jazz at the Oxford series. All 43 have sold out. It sounds impressive, but it didn’t happen without a few nervous moments along the way, said Marshall Glickman, the businessman and jazz fan who founded the series and books the shows. “In year one and year two, there were some Wednesdays where we weren’t sold out and I was worried because I didn’t want to have empty seats,” Glickman said from his home in Lake Oswego, where he recently moved after more than seven years in Bend. “There were some shows that were close calls that we managed to sell out on the last day.” To put it mildly, things have changed. “We’re way past that now,” he said. “(Sell-outs) are just — BOOM — automatic. And what I like about that is that now the audience trusts that even if they don’t know who the musician is, that they’re going to discover some fabulous music.” Last week, Jazz at the Oxford announced the lineup for its upcoming fifth season (see “2014-15 Jazz at the Oxford Lineup”), which features an expanded slate of shows, increasingly diverse offerings and an educational component. Series subscriptions are on sale through Oct. 21 at www.jazzattheoxford.com (www.jazzattheoxford.com), and single-show tickets go on sale Oct. 7. Glickman, former president of the Portland Trail Blazers and CEO of a sports consulting firm called G2 Strategic, started Jazz at the Oxford in 2010, primarily to quench his own thirst for an upscale nightlife experience in Bend and to nurture his son’s growing interest in jazz. (Laz Glickman is now an accomplished jazz pianist.) He structured the series around holiday weekends from October through March, bringing in performers monthly for three shows spread across two days. The idea: To take advantage of large crowds in town for winter recreation. Glickman books the artists and does a fair amount of legwork involved in getting them to and from the gig; he has picked many up at Redmond Airport and shared a Thanksgiving meal with jazz singer Diane Schuur. The Oxford transforms the room — which holds 120 people per show — to approximate a dark, traditional jazz cluband provides the budget for the series, which has doubled since the first season. (Glickman declined to provide a more specific budget number.) Add it all up and you have a successful venture that also has become a vital component of Central Oregon’s music scene.
Transcript
Series makes Bend a name in jazz worldBy Ben Salmon • The Bulletin Published Sep 21, 2014 at 12:11AM Since 2010, the Oxford Hotel in downtown Bend has hosted 43 concerts in one of its basement ballroomsas part of its Jazz at the Oxford series.
All 43 have sold out.
It sounds impressive, but it didn’t happen without a few nervous moments along the way, said MarshallGlickman, the businessman and jazz fan who founded the series and books the shows.
“In year one and year two, there were some Wednesdays where we weren’t sold out and I was worriedbecause I didn’t want to have empty seats,” Glickman said from his home in Lake Oswego, where herecently moved after more than seven years in Bend. “There were some shows that were close calls that wemanaged to sell out on the last day.”
To put it mildly, things have changed.
“We’re way past that now,” he said. “(Sell-outs) are just — BOOM — automatic. And what I like about that isthat now the audience trusts that even if they don’t know who the musician is, that they’re going to discoversome fabulous music.”
Last week, Jazz at the Oxford announced the lineup for its upcoming fifth season (see “2014-15 Jazz at theOxford Lineup”), which features an expanded slate of shows, increasingly diverse offerings and aneducational component. Series subscriptions are on sale through Oct. 21 at www.jazzattheoxford.com(www.jazzattheoxford.com), and single-show tickets go on sale Oct. 7.
Glickman, former president of the Portland Trail Blazers and CEO of a sports consulting firm called G2Strategic, started Jazz at the Oxford in 2010, primarily to quench his own thirst for an upscale nightlifeexperience in Bend and to nurture his son’s growing interest in jazz. (Laz Glickman is now an accomplishedjazz pianist.) He structured the series around holiday weekends from October through March, bringing inperformers monthly for three shows spread across two days. The idea: To take advantage of large crowdsin town for winter recreation.
Glickman books the artists and does a fair amount of legwork involved in getting them to and from the gig;he has picked many up at Redmond Airport and shared a Thanksgiving meal with jazz singer Diane Schuur.The Oxford transforms the room — which holds 120 people per show — to approximate a dark, traditionaljazz cluband provides the budget for the series, which has doubled since the first season. (Glickmandeclined to provide a more specific budget number.)
Add it all up and you have a successful venture that also has become a vital component of Central Oregon’smusic scene.
“Bend has an incredibly vibrant music scene in the summer, but the winter is pretty quiet other than a fewshows at the Tower and the Domino Room or Midtown,” Glickman said. “I go to the Midtown for stuff andI’ve seen some wonderful shows at the Tower, but the fact is, this is, I think, the only situation in Bendwhere you can kind of sit down in a more clublike setting, have something nice to eat and have a cocktail. Ilike the quality of the presentation.”
When Glickman approached the Oxford about a concert series, both sides were unsure of the idea’sfinancial viability. Bend already had one jazz concert series — the long-running monthly Jazz at Joe’s showsat Cascades Theatre — and a full-time jazz club, Be Bop Coffee House, had a good run in the mid-2000s butfailed because it wasn’t able to attract enough patrons.
“I wasn’t sure going into it because our ticket prices are admittedly pretty high. I wish they were lower; it’sliterally a break-even proposition for the hotel, but we have to build a stage, bring in lights and sound anddo marketing, the whole thing. It’s not like a permanent club where you make that investment once,”Glickman said.
“So I wasn’t sure if the market was deep enough to step up and pay this kind of money, but, in fact, theyare,” he continued. “I think it says there is a market of people that want to hear really high-quality stuff in areally nice setting and they’re willing to pay a little bit of a premium for that.”
Officials at the Oxford were unsure as well but signed on to not only raise the profile of the hotel (and thehotel’s 10 Below restaurant), but also to beef up the region’s cultural offerings in the winter, said Ben Perle,the hotel’s general manager.
“We are maxed out in the summer. I think everybody agrees. And it’s a great thing, but there just isn’t asmuch in the winter,” he said. “Certainly it was an experiment. It was a test. We did not know how theaudience in Bend would respond to more of a small, jazz-club feel, and I think we were really able to createthat feeling downstairs, and it’s a very intimate way of seeing quality music, both quality musicians and theinvestment we made in using quality sound.”
Those investments — as well as Central Oregon’s natural beauty — have gotten the attention of theperformers who play the series. Glickman estimated that he received at least 20 unsolicited calls fromartists or their managers looking to make a stop in town.
“We’re on the map and therefore so is Bend and, frankly, the Oxford. Because I work with agents in NewYork City and Los Angeles, as we’ve brought more and more national acts into it … I get notes from thepeople saying, ‘Wow, what a great gig that was,’” Glickman said. “I’ve gotten all kinds of interesting stuff thatI’m already talking about for next year.”
The series is becoming known in Portland, and Glickman hopes that his new ticketing vendor — Portland-based Ticket Tomato, which sells tickets for the Waterfront Blues Festival and the Rose City’s stalwart jazzclub, Jimmy Mak’s — will help spread the word further.
Not that Jazz at the Oxford really needs much help in that department.
“It grew and took on a life of it’s own,” Perle said. “Here we are five years later and (we’re bringing in) thelikes of Diane Schuur and Javon Jackson and Les McCann. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine wewould be attracting people who can play places that are much more renowned.”
With the series humming along, Glickman hopes to combine the Oxford’s growing reputation with hisavailable resources to bring an even higher profile artist or two to Bend. He’d also like to do more showsand add opening acts, and he wishes the room was “a little bigger” because he thinks the demand is there.But he has no plans to move Jazz at the Oxford.
“The (hotel) stepped up, and I’m loyal to them completely,” he said. “They backed this thing, and they’vebeen terrific, so if something’s working, I’m not going to screw it up by trying to change things.”
The feeling is mutual, said Perle, who acknowledged both the work that goes into staging the shows andthe less tangible payoff of the series.
“There are a lot of moving parts. We’re running a business, and this is just one of the events that we (puton),” he said. “But when I see the excitement of people as they’re walking out and saying, ‘Thank you somuch for doing this,’ it makes it all worth it. It really does. This is a good thing, I think, for the communityand for us, too.”
Ryan Brennecke / The Bulletin file photo Bobby Watson was in the 2012 Jazz at the Oxford lineup.
Joe Kline / The Bulletin file photo Jazz pianist Arturo O'Farrill directs two performers to close their eyes andplay softly during a workshop in January at the Oxford Hotel. The Jazz at the Oxford series combines topjazz performances with workshops for young musicians.
Joe Kline / The Bulletin file photo Pianist Arturo O'Farrill plays during a music workshop for students at theOxford Hotel in Bend in January.
Jill Rosell Photography / Submitted photo Bruce Forman & Cow Bop performs at the Oxford Hotel in Marchas part of the 2013-14 Jazz at the Oxford series.
Jill Rosell Photography / Submitted photo Javon Jackson performs last October as part of the Jazz at theOxford series at the Oxford Hotel in Bend.
Jill Rosell Photography / Submitted photo Jazz singer Mary Stallings was part of Jazz at the Oxford's 2013-14lineup.
Thinkstock
Jill Rosell Photography / Submitted photo Marshall Glickman speaks before one of last seasons Jazz at theOxford concerts. Glickman, a sports consultant who now lives in Lake Oswego, founded the series in 2010.
Joe Kline / The Bulletin file photo Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt plays a show at the Oxford Hotel in Bend in 2012.The Jazz at the Oxford season has sold out 43 shows in a row.
