The Jazz Bridge project was a PKSCA-facilitated collaborative musician exchange inspired by the role jazz has played in bringing cultures together. A Khabarovsk ensemble first traveled to Portland to perform followed later in the year by a Portland ensemble to Khabarovsk. Here’s an excerpt from a 2010 informational flier about the project:
Welcome to Portland’s Jazz Bridge Project!!
For almost 100 years jazz music has been building bridges and connecting cultures across the globe. From the Voice of America broadcasts of the 1950’s, to the historic State Department tours of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Dizzy Gillespie, to ground-breaking visits by jazz artists to China and the Soviet Union, jazz has opened the doors of dialogue and reached across borders, languages and cultures to create goodwill.
What is Portland’s “Jazz Bridge Project”?
Our Jazz Bridge Project is a cultural exchange between Portland and its sister city, Khabarovsk (KHV) in the Russian Far East. The Project is a collaboration between Portland-Khabarovsk Sister City Association (PKSCA) and The Leroy Vinnegar Jazz Institute. Portland State University.
In October 2010, seven artists and students from Portland’s sister city of Khabarovsk, Russia visited Oregon. They sat in on classes, performed concerts, jammed in clubs, visited schools and generously shared their culture and their music with us in Portland. Both sides were inspired by our interaction and its future possibilities. Their residency resulted in an invitation from the Mayor of Khabarovsk to Portland to bring a similar delegation to their city to perform, teach, present and meet with local educators and cultural leaders.
More than just a trip
A delegation of five Portland jazz performer/educators and four PSU students will travel to Khabarovsk from December 12 -December 22, 2011. The group will serve as volunteer ambassadors from the Pacific Northwest – presenting public concerts, giving presentations about jazz history, offering workshops and clinics at colleges, and local music schools, and interacting with members of the local and regional arts community. They will also engage the Khabarovsk community, sharing knowledge and resources, gathering information and forging connections that will make a difference in lives of those in both places.
Darrell Grant’s ensemble, including amazing jazz soloist Marilyn Keller, was just back from standing room only performances in Khabarovsk when they entertained PKSCA’s members at the 2011 Bridge to Russia event. 
Khabarovsk’s jazz masters instructed Portland State University students in 2011.
The leader of the delegation was award-winning Khabarovsk saxophonist Vyacheslav (“Vaslov”) 
Jazz Exchange participants Darrell Grant (center left) and Marilyn Keller are pictured here (left to right) Sergei Melnik, Doug Rider, Alan Ellis and (visiting Portland from Khabarovsk) Vladimir Sidorov.
Please feel free to browse the background documentation for that project following the links below:
“Jazz Scene”, Oregon Jazz Magazine, October 2011