Ace Hotel

We're polishing our beat poetry reading skills in advance of this year's Portland Jazz Festival, our own local celebration of the homegrown American art form that sparked a revolution in popular culture worldwide and we want to share our love of jazz with the world.

So our friends at the Fest are knocking 10% off the price of tickets to three amazing shows — the Afro-Cuban All Stars with Alfredo Rodriguez on February 15 and Sex Mob or Galactic with Latryx (first 100 tickets) on February 23. Just remember to enter code ACEJAZZ10 when you get yours. Maybe we'll run into each other and trade Ferlinghetti-isms while the trombone player sends plaintive wails in the messenger bags of stowaway winds en route to beatnik Mt. Hood wolverines.

The Afro-Cuban All Stars, founded by Juan de Marcos — bandleader of Sierra Maestra and the man behind the legendary Buena Vista Social Club recordings — lead to the explosion of global interest in traditional Cuban music and reintroduced a whole new generation to Cuban Son, Rumba, Bolero, and Canción. They are joined for one night by internationally-renowned Cuban jazz composer and pianist Alfredo Rodriguez at the Aladdin Theater on Friday, February 15. Tickets.

Sex Mob takes on the music of the great Italian film composer Nino Rota, frequent collaborator of director Federico Fellini. Led by trumpeter and bandleader Steven Bernstein since 1995, Sex Mob is a rare group that has created its own sound, a completely unique language combined with the telepathy that musicians cultivate over years of playing together. Grounded in jazz but marked by a dazzling versatility, their repertoire can range from Nirvana to Prince, Bond to Basie, and everything in between. Sex Mob play live at The Dolores Winningstad Theatre Saturday, February 23. Tickets.

Galactic, a New Orleans funk and jazz band that incorporates younger Crescent City sounds like bounce performs with special guests — Bay Area hip hop duo Latryx — February 23 at McMenamin's Crystal Ballroom. Tickets.