Struggling jazz bar The 1905 folds under financial strain

The club’s financial woes surfaced months before its ultimate closure.

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Drummer Christopher Brown, the acclaimed jazz musician and son of jazz legend Mel Brown, played at The 1905 nearly every week since January 2017.

Photo by Cambrie Juarez, PDXtoday

Much like the early 1900s, North Portland jazz club The 1905 is now no more than a memory.

Management announced on social media that despite public fundraising efforts over the last four months, “financial constraints” brought them up short of keeping the struggling club afloat.

The 1905 opened in 2016 and was named one of the best jazz clubs in the world this year by DownBeat magazine . Guests were treated to top-notch talent — and surprisingly good New York-style pizza — in an intimate atmosphere that catered beautifully to a dolled-up date night or a spontaneous, wander-in-off-the-street experience.

Barnes is working to find local spaces willing to host visiting acts that were on the club’s calendar and the club won’t hold a final hurrah. Portland’s live jazz scene lives on at The Jack London Revue , Wilfs Restaurant & Jazz Bar , and the Biamp Portland Jazz Festival .

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Cambrie is a born-and-raised Oregonian who worked at a Portland TV news station before helping launch PDXtoday in December 2021. She loves horseback riding, burying her nose in a fantasy book, traveling near and far + finding a good chai tea latte.