Bassist, thinker, architect, and inaugural Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Metcalf succumbed to cancer in January. He was 81. The Legacy Quartet with Clarence Acox celebrates the bassist in a tribute performance, on the stage that Metcalf designed and put in place, at the New Orleans Creole Restaurant on Wednesday evening, March 14.

The young, gigging Metcalf mingled and played with many on the growing Seattle scene, as chronicled in Jackson Street After Hours – The Roots of Jazz in Washington by Paul de Barros. By the 1960s, Metcalf was an active jazz bassist and scene builder, holding memorable sessions at his home, mentoring young players on the scene, and organizing events with the Seattle Jazz Society. Living for stretches in San Fransisco, Seattle and New York, his outstanding musicianship and enthusiasm were welcome in jazz communities across the nation. Tours in the 1980s with Dexter Gordon and Ernestine Anderson are late-career highlights. His two 1990’s recordings Elsie Street and Help Is Coming are landmarks in Seattle jazz history. Metcalf moved to Santa Fe in 2010, and, in 2011, retired from public performance.

– Earshot Jazz

Category:
Seattle Jazz