from The Seattle Times:
There’s an argument raging in jazz.
Spurred largely by the controversial 2005 book, “Is Jazz Dead?” by British writer Stuart Nicholson, the argument suggests that jazz is being advanced to a greater degree outside America — the country of its birth.
However you come down on that issue, most everyone can agree that audiences are created by the debate itself. Some of that music will cross the shores to America this month in a series of four April concerts presented by Earshot Jazz.
Its Spring Series 2009, which puts together prominent, avant-garde, European and American musicians, begins tonight with a performance at the Seattle Asian Art Museum by the Dutch saxophonist Ab Baars and his trio. Joining him will be Chicago saxophonist Ken Vandermark, known for his intricate compositions and multilayered improvisation.