*Please note this is an in-person, indoor event. Current CDC recommendations state that events such as these are only safe for fully vaccinated people.

World renowned saxophonist Mike Phillips is known as one of the most electrifying instrumentalists today. Mike is the first musician signed by Michael Jordan to the Nike Jordan Brand, home of the Air Jordan, and is the only musician in the world to have recorded and toured with the legendary “Big Three” of American soul and pop music: Michael Jackson, Prince, and Stevie Wonder, not only as a member of the band, but as a featured soloist.

Mike toured for nearly two years as part of the band for ‘Michael Jackson The IMMORTAL Tour’ by Cirque du Soleil. And music superstar Prince knew what audiences around the world know… when Mike Phillips puts his saxophone to his lips, magic is about to happen.

Prince once quoted “I was offstage, listening to Michael Phillips take his solo. I was thinking ‘Wow, listen to those people responding, and all he’s doing is playing a saxophone.’ They can feel that what he’s doing is real. So many shows now…they are so dead. But here’s one man breathing into an instrument, and the whole room feels alive. It made me want to rise up to that level when I came back onstage.” Prince, Rolling Stone, 5/27/04

Phillips is no stranger to the professional sports world, as his version of the National Anthem during the 2016 NFC Championship game sent shockwaves all over the NFL deemed one of the best anthems ever done instrumentally and now is known as the “SAXTHEM”.

Mike has played three (3) halftime NFL shows with various artists and served as Music Director for the Super Bowl Gospel Celebration for two (2) consecutive years. Phillips also served as Musical Director and Host of the popular BET program “Lyric Café”. Mike Phillips’ other television performances have included the Grammys, the Soul Train Awards and as host of his own show “Mike’s World” on BET network channel Centric which thrilled millions of viewers.

Mike's solo albums “You Have Reached Mike Phillips”, “Uncommon Denominator”, “M.P.3”, and his latest “Pulling Off The Covers” all debuted in the Top #5 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums Chart. “Pulling Off The Covers”, is a unique collection of songs that have inspired Mike throughout his career. The album features collaborations with many of Mike’s friends including Stevie Wonder, Brian McKnight, Leela James, PJ Morton, and Trombone Shorty.

DJ Action Slacks, host of Travlin' the Tracks on KMHD, invites you to celebrate a decade of the sweetest dance partyin the country!  

Sugar Town features all vinyl cuts of the best soul, blues andrhythm 'n' grooves dance records of the 50s, 60s and early 70s!

Be sure to wear your "sensible" stylish shoes so youwon't have anything to weigh down your twinkle toes when you tear up the thepatio pavement!

Familiar Favorites and RARE CUTS!

ALSO, since we lost Sugar Town's greatest inspiration during thepandemic, during this event we will definitely take some moments to celebratethe life of Little Richard (who is featured on this event's flyer).

ADDITIONALLY, this event will be sprinkled with EXTRA special fun,AND joining your host DJ Action Slacks on the turntables will be extra specialguest DJs from the Sugar Town Qmunity: DJ Honey Child and DJ Rosnaps!

So assemble your best summer looks (comfort is ok), and join meout on the patio for some sizzlin' summer soul delights!

Sugar Town has always been more than a dance party. From thevery beginning, Sugar Town was designed to be a community - a town within atown. Like any good town, we care about our fellow community members, withinSugar Town and in Portland at large. That's why Sugar Town events regularlyattempt to raise awareness of organizations and causes that need support.

For this edition of Sugar Town I'd like to highlight one aspectof institutional racism that's been very prevalent in Portland -Gentrification. One organization working to address gentrification is Taking Ownership PDX : "Togetherwe renovate and revive Black-owned homes that have requested our help, with anemphasis on enabling Black homeowners to age in place, generate wealth andsimultaneously deter predatory investors and realtors to deflect thegentrification process."

A PORTION OF THE PROFITS WILL BE DONATED TO THIS ORG

* ALL OF THE MOST CURRENT SAFETY GUIDELINES WILL BE ADHERED, SOPLEASE BRING YOUR MASK as it may be required for entry. Since guidelines areever-shifting, I can't predict if there will be capacity limitations at thetime of the event, but I'd recommend showing up earlyto claim a table on the parking lot patio just in case.

Born and reared in New Orleans, the cradle of jazz, Devin Phillips’ intense affair with the saxophone began at the age of eight. At 14, he was accepted into the prestigious New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, whose alumni include Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr. and Nicholas Payton. There, trained in music theory and multi-styles composition, he graduated in 2000 with top honors.
 
Performing, touring and recording with top jazz artists, such as Wynton Marsalis, Eddie Palmieri, The Headhunters, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, musician Lenny Kravitz, and Los Hombres Caliente (with whom he recorded two award-winning albums) soon followed. His reputation as a sax man with intricate and rhythmically innovative sounds made him a popular feature at jazz festivals: France’s Jazz de Vien Festival; Tokyo’s JVC Jazz Festival; Itanbul’s The Ruins; Spain’s Barcelona Jazz Festival; the Netherlands’ North Sea Jazz and the New Orleans Jazz Festival.
 

In 2005, Phillips formed New Orleans Straight Ahead. But in August, Hurricane Katrina muted the music. With all gone, save his sax, and his family scattered throughout the U.S., Phillips evacuated to Portland and reformed New Orleans Straight Ahead with other musician evacuees. Since opening the 2006 Portland Jazz Festival, his signature sound has not only been featured on KMHD-FM jazz radio specials and Northwest festivals, but also in newspaper and magazine articles, as well as online articles. Phillips is one of the headline acts of the 2007 Portland Jazz Festival.
 
Phillips also heads up a second band with strong connections to the New Orleans party sound. Notably a funk ensemble, the Devin Phillips Band is a five-to-six piece jazz funk group that performs music from Professor Longhair to the Headhunters.
 
His debut album with New Orleans Straight Ahead “Devin Phillips: Wade in the Water” features six originals, four standards and two traditional numbers. The CD, also offers a cool video of the title cut. Notes Tim Duroche of the awarding-winning newspaper Willamette Week, the album “showcases his suave dynamics of musicality, showmanship and swagger – as noted in the tradition of jazz’s cradle as it is caged in frenzied, jazz modernity.”