YOUR RECOLLECTIONS OF EUGENE JAZZ… PEOPLE, VENUES & MORE, ARE IMPORTANT!
Amongst locals and others who remain connected to Eugene's jazz community, culture, and society, there are likely musicians, audience members and other jazz enthusiasts who hold memories of venues and personal experiences. We with the Eugene Jazz Jam, and we believe others, will appreciate your sharing of recollections of your home turf: events, concerts, shows, performances, club and lounge shenanigans, fellow players, etc.
Please feel free to forward your memories through our Email Contact page. We will enter them below on this page, arranged by venue and other categories.
It is your history. Live it and share it!
One mission of ours is to help you create a jazz community memory bank. So thank you for donating from yours!
(Note: For an archive that includes Eugene's jazz history, visit: https://lanemusichistory.com.
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Jo Federico's
...in the trenches
Jo Fed's was my college hangout. I played sax and would show up many jam nights and play with the house band - Bruce on drums, Jeff the coke head on Trumpet, John Workman or that sweet older lady on piano, and a few others I've forgotten the name of now. I also played there for money once on a weekend night.
God I loved that place. Some nights I'd see a monster player with their axe coming down those steps and I'd just leave my horn in its case and watch a master carve up the cord progression. Other nights my college jazz buddies and I would take over and try to out play each other.
One of my fondest memories on sax was playing one of my best and most heartfelt solos on the night we paid tribute to John Workman, who died when he was hit by a train as a homeless guy. Posted anonymously on Reddit.
Lots of great times with great friends in Eugene in the 90s. My quartet with Charlie Hanns, Gus Russel, and either Alan Tarpinian, E3 (Ed Coleman III), or Dave Krenz played a ton of gigs at Jo Federigo's. John Workman graciously invited me to sing with his group, which got me interested in performing jazz standards. We had a terrific jam on Monday nights back then at Jo's. Hi to all my dear friends back in Bluegene! Larry Ward.