Come down to Tula’s this Wednesday, December for a rare appearance of Wayne Horvitz’ Sweeter Than the Day. This band, born of the ashes of Zony Mash, goes back over a decade now and they rarely play in Seattle more than once of year….so get in on this while you can!!!
featuring:
Wayne Horvitz – Piano
Timothy Young – Guitar
Keith Lowe – Bass
Erice Eagle – Drums
Tula’s Jazz Club
2214 2nd Ave
Seattle, WA
206-443-4221
8:00pm
$10
By Cynthia Mullis
Mike Stern Band
with Dave Weckl, Anthony Jackson & Bob Franceschini
December 6-9, 2007
$24.50
My day job in New York City in 1996 was working as a digital musical engraver. It was a strange esoteric niche of the publishing world that pushed the desktop publishing programs of the day into treacherous territory. I worked in a small two-person “sweatshop” called Chelsea Music Engraving which served clients such as Hal Leonard, Music Sales and Manhattan Music Publications. We used Finale on the Mac, plus a music typography program called SCORE on PC to create the musical notation, and merged the two into QuarkXpress to create the book layout. There was always a fire to be put out in that tiny little office but the fun part (in addition to the after-work martinis at the publishing hang) was seeing our finished music books in print on the shelves in the stores.
One book I worked on was the “Ultimate Play-Along for Guitar by Mike Stern.” This was a method book that consisted of transcriptions and analysis of his guitar solos on tunes that were written and recorded for this book. I entered the penciled out transcriptions (including TAB) into the programs to create the music manuscript for the final published form. During this particular project, my boss took a much needed vacation and left me in charge of the office for the week. The editors of the book were chomping at the bit for the finished manuscript and I was working fast and furious to meet their deadline. I literally had one hand on the Mac, one hand on the PC, a stream of sweat on my forehead and a serious headache by the time I finished turning Mike Stern solos into print-worthy notation.
Then, happy to meet the Thursday afternoon deadline, I called the editor to say that the manuscript was finished. The secretary answered the phone and said, “Oh, they all left for the Hamptons. Why don’t you just take it over to Mike’s place yourself?”
The Hamptons?!?! The freakin’ Hamptons?!?!
So I packed up the stack of paper and walked the half mile down 23rd Street in Manhattan to Mike Stern’s loft apartment. I sat there kind of dazed, kind of in awe, checking out Mike Stern’s pad as he looked over the manuscript of his solo transcriptions for his book. He liked it, expressed his appreciation, and said he’d call the editor when he got back from Japan. I left and went out for a martini.
So that’s my Mike Stern story. I still occasionally see that book on people’s bookshelves.
I’ve heard Mike Stern work out on standards at the 55 Bar in Greenwich Village, blaze with the Brecker Brothers at Yoshi’s in 1992, and groove with David Sanborn. I dug his playing with early ‘80s Miles, mid-80s Steps Ahead, and his CD Standards (And Other Songs). I also heard him a couple of years ago at Jazz Alley playing from his excellent These Times CD and was not disappointed. He plays intricate, notey lines that draw the listener into their fractal-like details, while still alternately swinging his butt off and completely rocking out. This week’s show with Dave Weckl, Anthony Jackson, and Bob Franceschini will be a muscular, entertaining display of chops, grooves and tunes. So go enjoy a martini at Jazz Alley this week and check him out for yourself.
For tickets and/or more information, visit the Jazz Alley website.
Here are some events happening tonight:
TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Jay Thomas Big Band
JAZZ ALLEY: Beatlejazz
TRIPLE DOOR MUSICQUARIUM: Tor Dietrichson Blues Machine
DEXTER AND HAYES: Tim Kennedy Trio
OWL ‘N THISTLE: Bebop and Destruction Jam Session
NEW ORLEANS: Holotradband
EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE: Chuck Ogmund Trio
Seattle jazz pianist John Hansen will be performing with the Seattle Symphony’s Holiday Pops concert this weekend for a 5 concert run Thursday – Sunday, December 6 – 9.
The Seattle Symphony Holiday Pops series
with Jeff Tyzik, conductor and arranger and Doug LaBrecque, baritone
The shows are almost sold out, so if you want to go buy your tickets today!
www.seattlesymphony.org
The Jim Knapp Orchestra will be performing this Monday, December 3, at the Seattle Drum School. It is all ages and the music starts at 8:00pm
MONDAY, DECEMBER 3 – JIM KNAPP ORCHESTRA
Seattle Drum School
12510 15th Ave, NE
Seattle, WA 98125
Tel: (206) 364-8815
8:00PM, All Ages
$10.00. Students $5.00
Paul Taub – C flute, alto flute, piccolo
Mark Taylor – soprano, alto and tenor saxophones. flute
Steve Treseler – alto and tenor saxophones
Stuart MacDonald – tenor saxophone
Rich Cole – baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet and flute
Brad Allison – trumpet and flugelhorn
Jay Thomas – trumpet and flugelhorn
Chad McCullough – trumpet and flugelhorn
Tom Varner – French horn
Jeff Hay – tenor trombone
Chris Stover – bass trombone
John Hansen – piano
Jon Hamar – bass
Matt Jorgensen – drums
Some Nordstrom department stores are discontinuing their live piano notes in favor of commercially recorded music piped in over speakers.
Nordstrom’s store at Bellevue Square recently did away with its pianist, and the Alderwood mall store in Lynnwood will soon follow suit, said company spokeswoman Brooke White.
Apparently, some shoppers prefer popular tunes by the likes of Bob Dylan, Alicia Keys and Frank Sinatra to the jazz and Broadway standards that pianists have been performing in Nordstrom stores for 20 years.
“We know there’s a nostalgic value to the piano, and some customers love it. But some don’t. They just feel the piano is outdated,” White said. “It’s a difficult line to walk. We know we’re going to disappoint some people.”
Click here to read the entire article.
We are back on the Scene after being caught up in the whirlwind of the Ballard Jazz Walk. A few of the artists who warmed the hearts of hundreds of jazz fans walking through Ballard on a cold November night are playing tonight as well, the first night of December.
TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Hadley Caliman Quartet
BAKE’S PLACE: Ben Thomas Quartet
THIRD PLACE COMMONS: Chicago guitarist John McLean and Idaho-based saxophonist Brent Jensen join Seattle musicians Jeff Johnson and John Bishop for a free show in this family-friendly venue.
Third Place Commons, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA, 7:30pm, Free
And here are some other events happening tonight:
JAZZ ALLEY: Chick Corea (first show sold out. call for details)
EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Lee Pence Trio
9pm – Nikki DeCaires
GRAZIE: Poindexter Jazz Quartet
by Cynthia Mullis
There are two remaining nights of Chick Corea at Jazz Alley. The shows are practically sold out, but it’s worth a phone call or even standing in the non-reservation line to see if you can still get in. The show on Thursday was excellent and it was thrilling to just to be in the same room as these legends, regardless of hearing them play. Corea joked that the band is called The Freedom Band but he suggested it be named “The My Generation Band” instead. The mood was light-hearted and playful and the feeling of the night was that of four musical buddies hanging out and playing tunes.
There were Return to Forever favorites (Captain Marvel, La Fiesta), some Monk tunes, some Jobim. Bass virtuoso Eddie Gomez is a force of nature and it was hard not be fixated on him alone. Hubert Laws, the legendary jazz flautist, was mesmerizing in his impecable sound, technique and musicality. Airto of course, is Airto, but this concert had the added benefit of hearing him speak and sing in Portuguese. And then there’s Chick Corea himself: watching his fingers move on the keyboard over La Fiesta was one of those concert moments that makes one feel as if they have truly lived. What more is there to say?