Grammy Award nominee Nancy King, Downbeat readers’ poll winner Nancy Kelly and world-renowned Rebecca Parris are among several jazz vocalists who will perform at Issaquah’s Bake’s Place as part of the club’s Visiting Songbirds series that launches in January and runs through summer.
Portland’s King will perform Jan. 19 and May 24, New York’s Kelly will perform May 9-10 and Boston-based Parris will have a return engagement Feb. 14-16.
Other singers in the series include pianist/vocalist Jennifer Scott and saxophonist Kirsten Strom (Crossing Borders) from Canada/San Francisco (Jan. 25); “Singers’ singer” Madeline Eastman (Jan. 26), Latin songbird Kat Parra (March 28), and rising star Jackie Ryan (April 11-12), all from San Francisco; versatile Linda Ciofalo from New York, (April 18-19); Karin Plato from Vancouver, Canada; (March 29, June 14), Bassist/vocalist Belinda Underwood and Master Pianist Benny Green from Portland/New York (May 3); Jeni Fleming from Montana (July 5); and Amandah Jantzen (August 23) and Denise Perrier, both from San Francisco (TBD).
“We’re thrilled to be able to bring in these wonderful singers.” says Craig Baker, who owns and operates Bake’s Place. “For some of them, it will be their first time performing in the Seattle area.”
Baker and his wife Laura recently completed extensive remodeling of the club — located near to Interstate 90 in Issaquah – by expanding the stage and increasing seating capacity to 74. New leather chairs and upgraded lighting and sound systems have transformed Bake’s into the Seattle area’s premier spot for an intimate evening of dining and some of the best jazz in the nation.
Longtime Seattle Times jazz critic Paul de Barros has called Bake’s “a sweet little Issaquah supper club” and Bake’s was included in DownBeat’s list of 100 Best Jazz Clubs.
“We wanted to live up to our listing in DownBeat,” explains Baker with a smile, “and now we can accommodate out of town artists who need this size audience to make it financially worthwhile to play here.”
Thanks to an 180-degree view of the mountains and Lake Sammamish, gourmet food and excellent wines, a living-room atmosphere and thrilling music like the Visiting Songbird series, Bake’s will soon lose its reputation as the “best kept secret” of music venues.
“I’ve performed all over the world,” says esteemed pianist Benny Green, “and Bake’s Place is by far one of my favorite places.” This sentiment is echoed by other international artists who’ve played at Bake’s, such as pianist/singer Freddy Cole and Parris, among others.