Jimmy Mak’s was a jazz club in Portland, Oregon‘s Pearl District, in the United States. It was established in 1996 and closed on December 31, 2016.

History[edit]

Jimmy Mak’s opened in 1996. The jazz club hosted many groups, including some led by Mel Brown and Dan Balmer.^[1]

In February 2016, the building which housed Jimmy Mak’s was sold for development, and owner Jimmy Makarounis made plans to relocate the club to the intersection of Northwest 10th and Everett, in 2017.^[2] However, in November 2016, Makarounis announced that the venue’s last show would be on December 31 (New Year’s Eve). He told The Oregonian:

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.^[1][3]

Makarounis confirmed Jimmy Mak’s availability if someone wanted to re-open the club after a fully funded relocation.^[1][3] The venue’s closure would mark an end to Portland’s most prominent jazz performance space.^[2]

See also[edit]

• Blue Monk (Portland, Oregon), another defunct Portland jazz club and restaurant
• Brasserie Montmartre, another defunct Portland jazz club and restaurant
• List of jazz clubs
• List of jazz venues in the United States

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Media related to Jimmy Mak’s at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website