Entry No. 67 — the Portland file — filed under: jazz
Jack London Revue
Down a staircase off SW 4th, in the basement of the historic Alder Building, the Revue sells itself as a speakeasy-feeling jazz room wired with modern club sound, and both halves of that hold up. Its steadiest booking is Jazz Titan Thursdays, which alternates the Mel Brown B3 Organ Group with the Chuck Israels Jazz Orchestra every other week — doors at 6, downbeat at 7, two sets. Brown cut sessions for Motown before spending decades as Portland's house drummer, and he kept a weekly organ-trio residency at Jimmy Mak's until that club closed in 2016; when it went, the B3 group came here. The rest of the calendar wanders into blues, funk, soul and touring indie acts, but the organ trio is the thing most cities quietly stopped having.
→ Three more underground music & performance in Portland — never the same twice
The story
Street level at SW 4th and Alder is the Rialto Poolroom Bar and Cafe, a billiard hall and off-track betting parlor established in 1920. Its longtime owner, Arthur McFadden, announced in September 2016 that he was retiring and would close on Christmas Day; Frank Faillace and Manish Patel bought it that December and kept the name. The basement underneath had been the Jack London Bar. On May 27, 2017 the new owners reopened it as the Jack London Revue, a 220-seat jazz club reached by a staircase down from the sidewalk.
The timing was not incidental: Jimmy Mak's, the club that had carried Portland jazz for two decades, had just closed. Mel Brown was born in Portland in 1944 and was playing local clubs while at Portland State when Martha Reeves caught a gig of his in Vancouver, BC and hired him in 1967. That led to Motown session work behind Stevie Wonder, the Temptations and Marvin Gaye, uncredited, because the label did not print session players' names. He came home for good in 1973, toured with Diana Ross from 1978 to 1980, and ran a drum shop until 1984. He entered the Jazz Society of Oregon Hall of Fame in 1999 and played Jimmy Mak's until it shut; his B3 Organ Group anchors Jazz Titan Thursdays here now, alternating fortnightly with the Chuck Israels Jazz Orchestra.
The rest of the calendar is booked by Soul'd Out Productions and wanders on purpose: blues bands, funk and soul acts, touring songwriters, a late-night Burly-Q Revue at 10:30 after some Saturday shows. Tickets sell by tier rather than at the door: general admission that may be standing room, up to reserved tables the club flags for limited sightlines. It is 21-and-over, genuinely underground, and the organ-trio residency it inherited is a thing most American cities quietly stopped having.
What it's like
You come in off SW 4th and go down. Doors for Jazz Titan Thursdays are 6 for a 7 o'clock downbeat, and the hour between is the whole game: tables near the Hammond are claimed early, so showing up at 6:50 means the back of a basement. ID at the door, no exceptions. The bar is full service and the sane move is to order your first round before the downbeat rather than mid-solo, because the room runs as a listening room — talk lands between numbers, applause lands after solos. Two sets with a break, and you are back up the stairs onto SW 4th around 9:30 with downtown still going. Other nights push doors to 7 and the show to 8, and the front of the room becomes standing space.
The move: Buy two general-admission seats to a Jazz Titan Thursday — Mel Brown's B3 group has Sept 3 and Sept 17, Chuck Israels' orchestra has Aug 27 and Sept 10 — and show up right at 6 when doors open rather than 6:50, because the tables near the Hammond go first and the back of a basement is the back of a basement. Order the first round before the 7 o'clock downbeat, sit through both sets, and you're back up the stairs onto SW 4th by around 9:30 with the whole downtown evening still ahead of you.
📍 Before you go 21+ with ID, no exceptions. Jazz Titan Thursdays are doors 6 / show 7; most other bookings are doors 7 / show 8. Tickets go through TicketWeb — recent Jazz Titan seats ran about $26–31 general admission, with reserved tables and VIP packages climbing into the hundreds, so read the tier before you click. It is a genuine basement, reached by stairs from street level. Full bar. The block is served by MAX and downtown garages; street parking after 7 is easier than you'd expect midweek. Check the calendar the day of — the lineup rotates weekly and Jazz Titan is every other Thursday, not every Thursday.
- 📍 Portland
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 529 SW 4th Ave, Portland, OR 97204
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Huber's Cafe — Two blocks east and pouring since 1879, it is the obvious pre-show dinner, and a flaming Spanish Coffee under Povey stained glass sets you up nicely for a 7pm downbeat.
- Kelly's Olympian — A few blocks northwest and running since 1902, with vintage motorcycles bolted overhead and a genre-agnostic back room — the right place to keep going after the second set ends around 9:30.
- 2NW5 — Also a basement bar, a few blocks north under the Hoxton, and the deliberate contrast: same underground instinct, cocktails and coastal Mexican seafood instead of a Hammond organ.
More weird in Portland
Good to know
How do I get there, and where do I park?
529 SW 4th Ave, on the Alder corner — the Rialto's sign is above the door and the Revue's entrance is down the stairs. MAX and downtown bus lines run within a block or two, and there are several garages nearby; metered street parking downtown frees up after 7 and is easier midweek than you would guess.
What do tickets cost, and do I need them in advance?
Buy ahead — ticketing runs through TicketWeb and the good seats go first. Recent Jazz Titan Thursdays listed around $26 to $31 for general admission, with reserved tables and VIP packages climbing past $200, so read which tier you are clicking before you check out.
Is Jazz Titan Thursdays every Thursday?
No — every other Thursday, alternating the Mel Brown B3 Organ Group with the Chuck Israels Jazz Orchestra. Mel Brown's group has September 3; Chuck Israels' orchestra had August 27. The rest of the week is unrelated bookings at doors 7 / show 8, so check the calendar the day of.
What's the age policy, and is the room accessible?
21 and over with ID, no exceptions. The club is a true basement reached by a staircase from street level and publishes no step-free route, so if stairs are a problem, contact the venue through its site before buying rather than after.
Can we eat there, or should we eat first?
The draw is a full bar, not a kitchen you would plan an evening around. Eat before the 6pm doors — Huber's is two blocks away — and treat the Revue as the drinks-and-music half of the night.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia
📷 We made a card for this one on Instagram →
last checked: 2026-08-26