Jimmy Mak's was a
jazz club
A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music, although some jazz clubs primarily focus on the study and/or promotion of jazz-music. Jazz clubs are usually a type of nightclub or bar, which is license ...
in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
's
Pearl District
The Pearl District is an area of Portland, Oregon, formerly occupied by warehouses, light industry and railroad classification yards and now noted for its art galleries, upscale businesses and residences. The area has been undergoing significan ...
, in the United States. It was established in 1996 and closed on December 31, 2016.
History
Jimmy Mak's opened in 1996. Owners included Jimmy Makarounis, aka Jimmy Mak, his wife and his parents. The
jazz club
A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music, although some jazz clubs primarily focus on the study and/or promotion of jazz-music. Jazz clubs are usually a type of nightclub or bar, which is license ...
hosted many groups, including some led by
Mel Brown and
Dan Balmer.
In February 2016, the building which housed Jimmy Mak's was sold for development. The club's final performance was held Dec. 31, 2016. Makarounis died two days later, at age 53.
He made plans to relocate the club to the intersection of Northwest 10th and Everett, in 2017.
However, in November 2016, Makarounis announced that the venue's last show would be on December 31 (
New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
). He told ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...
'':
It is with a heavy heart I make this announcement... As many of you know, I have been battling larynx cancer for these past four years, and I simply need to step away from the business to focus on healing and beating this disease, once and for all... This is the very last thing I wanted to see happen with the business, and we have explored many options for trying to keep the business open and to try to find another operator or group of investors that could keep the business going. Unfortunately, we have not been able to do so.
Makarounis confirmed Jimmy Mak's availability if someone wanted to re-open the club after a fully funded relocation.
[ The venue's closure marked an end to Portland's most prominent jazz performance space.][
There are plans to reopen Jimmy Mak's in the Pearl District in 2019.]
See also
* List of jazz clubs
This is a list of notable venues where jazz music is played. It includes jazz clubs, clubs, dancehalls and historic venues such as theatres. A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music. Jazz clubs ...
* List of jazz venues in the United States
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
*
{{Pearl District, Portland, Oregon
1996 establishments in Oregon
2016 disestablishments in Oregon
Defunct jazz clubs in the United States
Defunct music venues in Portland, Oregon
Jazz clubs in Oregon
Pearl District, Portland, Oregon