Finding the funk with Mz. Etta and The Dookie Jam

When you see Portland-based musician Arietta Ward and the band Doo Doo Funk All Stars & Friends, you see a community of artists that aren’t afraid to indulge and experiment with some leg-tapping, hip-swaying funk.

It’s a community that performs and lets you perform, allowing experts and novice musicians to join them on stage and add their own twist to the ensemble’s jam session — also known as The Dookie Jam.

The Dookie Jam is where Ward, who is lovingly nicknamed Mz. Etta by her mother and famed jazz pianist Janice Scroggins, found her voice. It takes place once a month at the Alberta Street Pub, which is located in a historically black neighborhood in Portland.