Brian Libby
@brianlibby.bsky.social
Portland, Oregon architecture & arts journalist (Metropolis, Dwell, Oregon ArtsWatch, NY Times) • keen photographer and experimental filmmaker • fond of film noir, college football, cats, British panel shows, tennis, jazz, espresso, Columbo, democracy
Rock: Fugazi (perhaps my favorite), Chuck Berry (first concert), McCartney, Simon & Garfunkel, American Music Club (3 times), Sonic Youth. Honorable mention: Tom Waits, Rush.
Jazz: Branford Marsalis (3 times), Ron Carter, Vijay Iyer, Sonny Sharrock, Lionel Hampton, Art Farmer.
Jazz: Branford Marsalis (3 times), Ron Carter, Vijay Iyer, Sonny Sharrock, Lionel Hampton, Art Farmer.
Introduce yourself with 6 concerts you've been to :
Thin Lizzy (my first, 1982. My ears rang for days. In fact they haven't stopped)
BB King
John Lee Hooker
Tom Waits
Throwing Muses
Patti Smith
Thin Lizzy (my first, 1982. My ears rang for days. In fact they haven't stopped)
BB King
John Lee Hooker
Tom Waits
Throwing Muses
Patti Smith
Introduce yourself with 6 concerts you've been to :
Thin Lizzy
Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
10cc
Roger Waters
B. B. King
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
Thin Lizzy
Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
10cc
Roger Waters
B. B. King
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
November 28, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Rock: Fugazi (perhaps my favorite), Chuck Berry (first concert), McCartney, Simon & Garfunkel, American Music Club (3 times), Sonic Youth. Honorable mention: Tom Waits, Rush.
Jazz: Branford Marsalis (3 times), Ron Carter, Vijay Iyer, Sonny Sharrock, Lionel Hampton, Art Farmer.
Jazz: Branford Marsalis (3 times), Ron Carter, Vijay Iyer, Sonny Sharrock, Lionel Hampton, Art Farmer.
“I will never forget (or forgive) the havoc these wealthy, self-centered ‘leaders’ manufactured and then unleashed on our city. I mean, c’mon… where do you think Trump got the idea to label Portland a ‘burning hell hole’?” www.portlandmercury.com/opinion/2025...
Wm. Steven Humphrey's Adventures in Newspapering
[What follows is one of the many merry articles in the Mercury's Winter Guide 2025. Find a print copy here, subscribe to get a copy mailed to you here, and if you're feeling generous this holiday seas...
www.portlandmercury.com
November 27, 2025 at 4:06 AM
“I will never forget (or forgive) the havoc these wealthy, self-centered ‘leaders’ manufactured and then unleashed on our city. I mean, c’mon… where do you think Trump got the idea to label Portland a ‘burning hell hole’?” www.portlandmercury.com/opinion/2025...
I adore this Philip Glass composition for solo baritone saxophone. I heard it performed live here in Portland a few years ago at a Third Angle New Music show, and have revisited it ever since. It could almost be a cartoon score, yet ultimately it's deeper. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhvh...
Philip Glass - Melody for Saxophone No. 12
YouTube video by Crescendo Waves
www.youtube.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:23 PM
I adore this Philip Glass composition for solo baritone saxophone. I heard it performed live here in Portland a few years ago at a Third Angle New Music show, and have revisited it ever since. It could almost be a cartoon score, yet ultimately it's deeper. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhvh...
I've often thought that Charlie Brown TV specials are why I became a jazz fan. (Obviously I'm only one of millions.) It's so fun diving into the more instrumentally rich Thanksgiving special's soundtrack. Vince Guaraldi on electronic piano, and sharing personnel with Herbie Hancock? Yes please.
If you’re watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and happen to notice how funky Guaraldi got with the music, this post is for you
After 50 years, the hip soundtrack for 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' is available as a full musical feast
Featuring young jazz aces like Tom Harrell and Mike Clark, the soundtrack for 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving' finds Vince Guaraldi at his funkiest. It's finally available in full, half a century after ...
www.wrti.org
November 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I've often thought that Charlie Brown TV specials are why I became a jazz fan. (Obviously I'm only one of millions.) It's so fun diving into the more instrumentally rich Thanksgiving special's soundtrack. Vince Guaraldi on electronic piano, and sharing personnel with Herbie Hancock? Yes please.
Oregon Public Broadcasting has a new YouTube series called Slow TV, and if you need me this morning, I’ll be on a Columbia River barge. youtu.be/3oeub6lgDmo?...
Journey through the Columbia River Gorge on a barge in 4K 60fps — OPB’s Slow TV
YouTube video by Oregon Public Broadcasting
youtu.be
November 26, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Oregon Public Broadcasting has a new YouTube series called Slow TV, and if you need me this morning, I’ll be on a Columbia River barge. youtu.be/3oeub6lgDmo?...
Reposted by Brian Libby
To recap:
•Universal healthcare would save 68,000 lives & $450B annually
•Every $1 spent on SNAP results in $1.80 boost to local economies & small businesses
•The child tax credit decreased child poverty to a historic low of 5.2%, abolishing it increased it by 45%
1/2
•Universal healthcare would save 68,000 lives & $450B annually
•Every $1 spent on SNAP results in $1.80 boost to local economies & small businesses
•The child tax credit decreased child poverty to a historic low of 5.2%, abolishing it increased it by 45%
1/2
November 25, 2025 at 3:16 AM
To recap:
•Universal healthcare would save 68,000 lives & $450B annually
•Every $1 spent on SNAP results in $1.80 boost to local economies & small businesses
•The child tax credit decreased child poverty to a historic low of 5.2%, abolishing it increased it by 45%
1/2
•Universal healthcare would save 68,000 lives & $450B annually
•Every $1 spent on SNAP results in $1.80 boost to local economies & small businesses
•The child tax credit decreased child poverty to a historic low of 5.2%, abolishing it increased it by 45%
1/2
I keep thinking about a Cezanne painting I saw for the first time last night: "The Robbers and the Donkey." There is some kind of violent scuffle happening in one corner, and one or two people are active in other parts of the picture. But this motionless animal in the middle is the focal point.
November 21, 2025 at 7:33 PM
I keep thinking about a Cezanne painting I saw for the first time last night: "The Robbers and the Donkey." There is some kind of violent scuffle happening in one corner, and one or two people are active in other parts of the picture. But this motionless animal in the middle is the focal point.
Huge news. It's so great how Albina Vision and the 1803 Fund are transforming and re-birthing what was once and may again be the hear of Portland's Black community. www.oregonlive.com/realestate/2...
1803 Fund acquires Portland grain silos in $70 million investment for Black community
The Phil Knight-backed organization expects to generate hundreds of jobs and nearly $700 million in economic impact through redevelopment of historic Albina properties.
www.oregonlive.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Huge news. It's so great how Albina Vision and the 1803 Fund are transforming and re-birthing what was once and may again be the hear of Portland's Black community. www.oregonlive.com/realestate/2...
I'm still thinking about the fantastic 1946 film Deadline at Dawn. Though based on a novel by noir icon Cornell Woolrich centered around a murder and unfolding in one NYC night, in some ways it's unlike a noir. Written by playwright Clifford Odets, it's a film about empathy and integrity.
November 20, 2025 at 5:11 PM
I'm still thinking about the fantastic 1946 film Deadline at Dawn. Though based on a novel by noir icon Cornell Woolrich centered around a murder and unfolding in one NYC night, in some ways it's unlike a noir. Written by playwright Clifford Odets, it's a film about empathy and integrity.
Gresham's new East County Library is incredible! It's no branch library, but a flagship like Central Library downtown. It's credited to Portland's Holst Architecture, but the design came equally (or more) from Ghanaian-Brit starchitect David Adjaye (who was dropped before construction). WOW.
November 19, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Gresham's new East County Library is incredible! It's no branch library, but a flagship like Central Library downtown. It's credited to Portland's Holst Architecture, but the design came equally (or more) from Ghanaian-Brit starchitect David Adjaye (who was dropped before construction). WOW.
Holy shit, this film is incredible! It's just trains in the snow, and yet there is such a wonderfully propulsive soundtrack and such dynamic, even experimental editing that I'm actually in awe. Never even heard of Geoffrey Jones, but this is virtuoso stuff. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4p...
Snow (1963) - Geoffrey Jones | BFI National Archive
YouTube video by BFI
www.youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:21 AM
Holy shit, this film is incredible! It's just trains in the snow, and yet there is such a wonderfully propulsive soundtrack and such dynamic, even experimental editing that I'm actually in awe. Never even heard of Geoffrey Jones, but this is virtuoso stuff. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4p...
Great to see a brilliant Pietro Belluschi modernist design take on new post-ecclesiastical life as an arts venue. www.oregonlive.com/realestate/2...
Nation’s oldest youth orchestra buys landmark Portland church
Central Lutheran Church members found a new steward for their architecturally significant building.
www.oregonlive.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:34 PM
Great to see a brilliant Pietro Belluschi modernist design take on new post-ecclesiastical life as an arts venue. www.oregonlive.com/realestate/2...
Four more shots from this past weekend's trip to coastal Waldport, Oregon.
November 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Four more shots from this past weekend's trip to coastal Waldport, Oregon.
Whenever I spend a weekend at the coast with my group of old pals (in this case at Waldport, Oregon), I seem to collect pictures of them walking ahead, while I fall behind taking photos and videos.
November 18, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Whenever I spend a weekend at the coast with my group of old pals (in this case at Waldport, Oregon), I seem to collect pictures of them walking ahead, while I fall behind taking photos and videos.
Even though I haven't read that much Ursula Le Guin (which hopefully will soon change), I'm looking forward to checking out this exhibit at Oregon Contemporary. www.orartswatch.org/a-larger-rea...
‘A Larger Reality: Ursula K. Le Guin’ honors the work and the life of the iconic novelist • Oregon ArtsWatch
An expansive exhibit at Oregon Contemporary, curated by the late, great Portland writer's son, opens up the speculative worlds she created and how she shaped them in words.
www.orartswatch.org
November 14, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Even though I haven't read that much Ursula Le Guin (which hopefully will soon change), I'm looking forward to checking out this exhibit at Oregon Contemporary. www.orartswatch.org/a-larger-rea...
What a treat today getting to see four Rothko paintings, and in a room my myself no less, after today’s press preview of the expanded Portland Art Museum and its newly opened Rothko Pavilion.
November 13, 2025 at 10:18 PM
What a treat today getting to see four Rothko paintings, and in a room my myself no less, after today’s press preview of the expanded Portland Art Museum and its newly opened Rothko Pavilion.
Excited to finally have my own copy of this long out-of-print 1974 album by former Monk saxophonist Charles Rouse, courtesy of iconic jazz label Strata-East. And it’s SO good!
November 11, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Excited to finally have my own copy of this long out-of-print 1974 album by former Monk saxophonist Charles Rouse, courtesy of iconic jazz label Strata-East. And it’s SO good!
I’m not even done watching the 1946 noir Deadline at Dawn yet, and I’m already kind of mesmerized, especially by Nicholas Musuraca’s cinematography and by Susan Hayward’s performance as a world-weary heroine coming to the aid of an innocent, would-be-wrongly-convicted seaman.
November 10, 2025 at 4:19 AM
I’m not even done watching the 1946 noir Deadline at Dawn yet, and I’m already kind of mesmerized, especially by Nicholas Musuraca’s cinematography and by Susan Hayward’s performance as a world-weary heroine coming to the aid of an innocent, would-be-wrongly-convicted seaman.
Why yes, the best part of my Sunday was reading a 20-year-old interview with Peter Falk about Columbo and Cassavetes. www.avclub.com/peter-falk-1...
Peter Falk
Peter Falk
www.avclub.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Why yes, the best part of my Sunday was reading a 20-year-old interview with Peter Falk about Columbo and Cassavetes. www.avclub.com/peter-falk-1...
Slightly mesmerized by a tow truck’s lights outside my house.
November 8, 2025 at 5:39 AM
Slightly mesmerized by a tow truck’s lights outside my house.
Saw the 1991 experimental film Papers by Yoshinao Satoh for the first time this evening and was blown away. It’s a montage made from thousands of Japanese newspaper pages, and the Steve Reich music is an ideal match. youtu.be/1cmlaTIvd7I?...
PAPERS 制作：Yoshinao Satoh
YouTube video by よしながき
youtu.be
November 3, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Saw the 1991 experimental film Papers by Yoshinao Satoh for the first time this evening and was blown away. It’s a montage made from thousands of Japanese newspaper pages, and the Steve Reich music is an ideal match. youtu.be/1cmlaTIvd7I?...
Such a brilliant film.
I Walked with a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur, 1943)
DoP: J. Roy Hunt
DoP: J. Roy Hunt
October 31, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Such a brilliant film.