Educator
Oregon Music News. Coffeeshop Conversations @ Artichoke Music #291
Marcia Hocker ...Jazz educator, KBOO radio host, singer and a lot more. Ready for her next major role.
Here’s some good Coffeeshop Conversation news…in June we’ll be shooting two new video episodes of the podcast…first since the pandemic!
Stay tuned for details.
Today one of my favorite people is in the Artichoke Music Cafe. We met when we were both doing shows at KMHD when it was out at Mt. Hood Community College.
I’m still at KMHD and she’s at KBOO. She is Marcia Hocker. She’s also a singer and just wrapped up several years working with PDX Jazz.
A few weeks ago she MC’d and sang as part of Siren Nation’s Billie Holiday tribute show.
And she’s got this great radio voice. Meet Marcia Hocker.
By TOM D'ANTONI - Oregon Music News
The McClendon/Makarounis Award for Excellence in Jazz
The McClendon/Makarounis Award for Excellence in Jazz is given to a member of the Portland community who has made significant contributions to the prosperity, preservation, and advancement of jazz music and culture in Portland. The McClendon-Makarounis Award for Excellence in Jazz is a PDX Jazz board initiative.
Recipients include Wayne Thompson, Bea Eidsness, Jim Pepper, Bob Dietsche, Akbar DePriest, the family of Jimmy Makarounis, Marcia Hocker, and Commissioner Nick Fish. - PDX Jazz
MARCIA J. HOCKER 2018 PORTLAND JAZZ JOURNALIST JAZZ HERO AWARD Oregon
Since she arrived in Portland 20 years ago, Marcia K. Hocker has played significant behind-the-scenes as well as on-stage roles in the city’s jazz spheres. She’d been prepared from the beginning: raised in Harlem, she danced to Tito Puente at the Palladium and was even named New York City’s “Miss Subways 1974.” Over the years, she also sang jazz standards and Broadway hits on stage.
But it wasn’t until she came to Portland that she found opportunities to support an entire music community in a concerted way, from the city’s international festival to local club dates. A gracious and generous person, Ms. Hocker has helped make jazz more visible throughout our city.
For its year-round programming and annual festival the PDX Jazz organization depends on the informed and enthusiastic participation of volunteers, as do our local jazz radio stations. Ms. Hocker has been a tireless master of ceremonies at the PDX Jazz Festival, where she has just completed her eighth year on its board of directors. She also has served as PDXJazz Board education chair, secretary, and community outreach chair.
As a volunteer jazz radio host on Portland stations KMHD and KBOO, she has conducted many artist interviews designed to promote performances. For five years, she also served as liaison to station management for 63 KMHD volunteers.
Coordinator of the annual presentation “The Incredible Journey of Jazz,” an hour-long multi-media show w/live jazz combo designed for middle-school students and presented all over town, Ms. Hocker also has a place in that production as a singer. Besides singing jazz herself she’s a life-long fan, and attends many performances by other area artists, who are always happy to see her.
Marcia J. Hocker represents the best of the passion and dedication - as well as hours of service - that such indispensable volunteers bring to their duties. She embodies the best in the city’s jazz support network, and so we hail her as Portland’s 2018 Jazz Hero. By Lynn Darroch.
Marcia J. Hocker's Award presentation will be on April 18 at 8 pm at the Mission Theater, prior to a performance by the Roberto Fonseca Trio, co-presented by PDX Jazz and Soul'd Out Festival.
PDX Jazz Educational Outreach Programs
