08.05.2024

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From the streets of the Big Easy to the Rose City

New Orleans-style jazz funeral band offers catharsis, comfort ‘in an honest and truly connected way’

A six-piece brass band holding instruments and wearing white button-down shirts and ties stands before a hedge.

Members of St. Cecilia’s Brass Band, left to right: Lev Liberman, Rick Holzgrafe, Tim Halbur, Beckham Wetherby, and Brandon Ensley. | Photo by Tim Halbur

Tim Halbur is familiar with grief, having lost both of his parents in a wildfire in 2017. In the wake of the initial shock and pain, he started paying attention to how other people reacted when they heard about the tragedy. Realizing that many weren’t equipped to authentically offer empathy made him crave the company of others who had lost people dear to them.

“As the years passed, I looked into being a grief therapist to continue being connected to the truth of it, the wisdom that comes from understanding that death is a part of life,” Halbur said. “And it struck me that the New Orleans jazz funeral tradition is a way of helping people through the pain in an honest and truly connected way.”

Tapping into his long experience playing music, Halbur recently started St. Cecilia’s Brass Band to offer exactly that in the Portland area.

Music for all

“You’ve seen it in movies or TV — a solemn, mournful dirge leads the tearful crowd, then eventually turns that grief into celebration with upbeat tunes as you parade down the street,” Halbur said.

The jazz funeral tradition is rooted in gospel and church music, but Halbur said what they do “is really a non-denominational experience.” Anyone can write it into their funeral instructions, or a family can choose to send their loved one off with a celebration.

Embracing emotions

Jazz funerals encourage grieving people to express what they’re feeling — and thus find a path forward.

“You should weep, and the dirge encourages you to weep. And you should celebrate and move your body with joy and release. Funerals need to be a marker for your brain that says, ‘Yes, that person is gone. The reality where I knew them is over, and this is a new time now, and that is okay,’” he said.

Band members + how it works

Events

Monday, Aug. 5

Boozy Book Fair | Monday, Aug. 5 | 5-7 p.m. | Migration Brewing - Glisan | Free | Indulge in the nostalgia of a school book fair — only this time, it’s for grown-ups and includes beer.

Tuesday, Aug. 6

César Aira: “Shantytown,” “Ghosts,” “Fulgentius” | Tuesday, Aug. 6, Tuesday, Aug. 13, Tuesday, Aug. 20 | 6-8 p.m. | Literary Arts | $125 | This prolific, award-winning writer has published 100+ books since 1975; dive into three of them to hone your own skills.
Portland Pickles vs. Kelowna Falcons | Tuesday, Aug. 6 | 7:05-10:05 p.m. | Walker Stadium | $12-$25 | The Pickles are down to their final three home games of the regular season; cheer them on and rock out with local music icons Sleater-Kinney.

Wednesday, Aug. 7

Music on Main: Too Loose Cajun Band | Wednesday, Aug. 7 | 5 p.m. | Southwest Main Street between Southwest Broadway and Park Avenue | Free | Southwestern Louisiana tunes carried by fiddles, an accordion, electric and acoustic guitars, piano, and a rub-board? Be ready to dance.

Thursday, Aug. 8

NW Natural 2024 Street of Dreams | Thursday, Aug. 8-Sunday, Aug. 18 | Times vary | Locations vary | $27 | Step inside 18 luxury custom homes, remodels, condos, and apartment in the greater Portland area to get inspired by local dream home builders.

Friday, Aug. 9

Elephant Garlic Festival | Friday, Aug. 9-Sunday, Aug. 11 | Times vary | Jessie Mays Community Hall and Park, North Plains | Free | Bring your family to enjoy music, food, drinks, crafts, and activities — pro tip: vampires and first dates may want to avoid this one.

Events calendar here

Click here to have your event featured.

News Notes

Community

Multnomah County has green-lighted a year-long pilot intended to alleviate lagging ambulance response times amid a national shortage of paramedics. Starting this month, AMR will staff some of its ambulances with one paramedic and one EMT (the county has historically required two paramedics per ambulance). (KGW)

Sports

Next year, 925 general admission seats for Portland Timbers games at Providence Park will change to reserved seating. A team spokesperson said the decision was made to help meet higher demand for reserved seating and noted that the venue’s new beer patio added 600 GA ticketed seats this year. (Portland Business Journal)

Biz

The Portland Opera sold its headquarters at the east end of Tilikum Crossing to nonprofit Native American Rehabilitation Association of the Northwest for nearly $11 million. The Hampton Opera Center was home to the Portland Opera since 2003; the performing arts company — and tenant All Classical Radio — will relocate. (The Oregonian/Oregon Live)

Weather

Were you feeling hot, hot, hot last month? That’s because it was Portland’s warmest July on record, with an average high of 87.8 degrees — nearly six degrees hotter than typical July temperatures here. If you’re wondering, Portland’s hottest July day was in 1965 when the thermometer read 107. (KGW)

Real Estate

An LLC controlled by one of the McMenamins brothers bought a vacant building next to the Crystal Ballroom in downtown Portland for $1.5 million. The building, which formerly housed apartments for low-income and disabled seniors, houses Cassidy’s Restaurant and Bar. (Willamette Week)

Olympics

Over the weekend, Sam Barlow High School alum Ryan Crouser won his third consecutive Olympic gold medal and former Duck Sabrina Ionescu helped US women’s basketball stay on top. Karissa Schweizer, a runner for Eugene-based Bowerman Track Club, races in the women’s 5,000 meter final today at 12:15 p.m. PT. (KGW)

Feel Good

Officers reunited a family in Southeast Portland with their pet tortoise, Bowser, after he escaped his yard and disappeared for two days. Bowser saw about a half-mile of the world before being waylaid by officials — but we bet he’d have a shell of a story to tell if he could talk. (KGW)

Listen

City Council approved a bridge agreement to keep the Trail Blazers at the Moda Center through at least the 2029/2030 season. That’s about the only news with the team, so Locked On Blazers is shifting to three times a week until mid-September. (The Oregonian/Oregon Live)

Today Is

🦪 Aw, shucks

Where to eat fresh oysters in Portland

Several oysters on the half shell arranged on a round plate.

Start your oyster journey at Jacqueline by making a reservation. | Photo by @marywarrington

The Pacific Northwest is a wonderland for raw seafood gourmands, particularly those with a penchant for marine mollusks. Oysters are a standout specialty of our cold coastal waters, hailed as being sweeter and often smaller than their East Coast counterparts.

In honor of National Oyster Day on Monday, Aug. 5, we put together a brief list of local spots serving fresh, raw oysters that are off the hook.

Tidal Boar Foods: The Shuck Truck | 5211 NE 148th Ave.

You’ll find sustainably-sourced petite oysters by the dozen and half-dozen here, but what sets this food truck apart are the oysters on the half shell served with roe and the Shuck Truck Flight.

Eat: An Oyster Bar | 3808 N. Williams Ave., Ste. 122

Oysters are prepared in almost every way imaginable at this New Orleans-style spot: baked, fried, shucked and dunked in house-made hot sauces, and raw on the half-shell.

$1 happy hour oysters

The Buy

The Buy 8.05.24 (Affiliate)

Bedsheets you won’t sweat through. We got you a deal on a sheet set that’s crisp, cool, and made with overheated sleepers in mind. Bonus: They’re also wrinkle-resistant and hypo-allergenic. Enjoy cooler nights, sleepers.

More worth The Buy

The Wrap

Today’s edition by:
Cambrie

From the editor

Vine-ripened tomatoes, peaches that drip juice down your chin, and blackberries just begging to be turned into cobbler. These are a few examples of the treasures you’ll find at our local farmers markets right now. Strolling through vendor stalls bursting with colorful, aromatic summer produce will brighten your day, I promise.

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