Seattle Jazz Scene

from Eyeshot Jazz:

Drummer Byron Vannoy’s Meridian opened for Miguel Zenón at the Triple Door during the Earshot Jazz Festival.

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Greta Matassa Quartet

BAKE’S PLACE: Rebecca Kilgore

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE: Tony Grasso Saxophone? Quartet!, with Tony Grasso (trumpet), Dan Blunck (soprano/alto sax), Brian Kent (tenor sax) and David Johnson (bari sax) (9PM)

BOXLEY’S: Jay Roberts Trio

CYPRESS LOUNGE: Geoffrey Castle

LOMBARDI’S: Karen Shivers

EL GAUCHO BELLEVUE: Trish Hatley

NORTH CITY BISTRO: Scott Lindenmuth Trio

PAMPAS ROOM: Brian Nova

SERAFINA: Tim Kennedy Trio

HIROSHI’S: Jay Thomas Trio

from Eyeshot Jazz:

Celebrating the historic musical kinship of Quincy Jones and Ray Charles, this SRJO project focused on the body of work that yielded the pivotal recording Genius + Soul = Jazz.

Ably handled by the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra – including Bill Ramsay (baritone sax), Mark Taylor (alto sax), Jay Thomas (trumpet), Thomas Marriott (trumpet), Clarence Acox (drums) – with special guest vocalist Dean Bowman, above, the performances featured guest organist Joe Doria, below, commemorating Charles’s debut recording on Hammond B3

TULA’S: Kelley Ash / Diana Page

JAZZ ALLEY: Sachal Vasandani (no cover)

NEW ORLEANS: Legacy Quartet w/Clarence Acox

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – New Trixx and Jazz Against the Machine – Kenny Mandell jazz workshop student groups
9pm – Vocal Showcase, hosted by Barbara Molloy, featuring vocalists Jim Wulff, Rosemary Sweeney and John LoPresti. Accompanied by Beth Wulff (piano), Joe Casalini (bass) and Robert Rushing (drums)

BOXLEY’S: Pony Stablemates & Guests

LUCID: Michael Owcharuk Trio

THAIKU: Ron Weinstein Trio

DULCES LATIN BISTRO: Eric Verlinde

from Eyeshot Jazz:

Evan Flory-Barnes conducts his ensemble in the premiere performance of his large chamber composition ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF A CELEBRATION at Town Hall in the final presentation of the 2009 Earshot Jazz Festival.

from Eyeshot Jazz:

Soloist Carla Kihlstedt (violin) and the Odeonquartet, a world-renowned chamber group featuring Seattle Symphony musicians, perform Wayne Horvitz’s new chamber-music work, These Hills of Glory

Pianist Cristina Valdes performs the world premier of Wayne Horvitz’s For Piano Alone in Four Parts

The Odeon Quartet consisting of Gennady Fillmonov, violin, Artur Girsky,violin, Heather Bentley, viola, and Helene Ferret, cello, perform the world premier of Robin Holcomb’s Carry Over

Wayne Horvitz joins the Odeon Quartet and Carla Kihistedt on stage at the end of the performance of These Hills of Glory

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Emerald City Jazz Orchestra

TRIPLE DOOR MAINSTAGE: Eastside Jazz Night

NEW ORLEANS: Holotradband

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Michele Khazak
9pm – Matt McClosky Jazz Quintet

DEXTER AND HAYES: Tim Kennedy Trio

MARTIN’S ON MADISON: Karin Kajita

MIX: Don Mock

from Jim Wilke:

A few things to share with you about upcoming shows on KPLU…..

This weekend is the 25th anniversary of Jazz After Hours which began the first weekend of November, 1984 on what was then American Public Radio. At that time it was a live uplink from KUOW and continued from their studios on campus and later University Way until it moved to my Hatchcover studio in 2001. Over 80 stations and several state networks, mostly East Coast and Central, currently carry the show. Many of the original stations (including KPLU) are still with us today. I’m personally grateful for their support as well as the support of Public Radio International and the jazz community world-wide.

To mark the occasion, this Friday night’s show will be mostly jazz hits from the 80s and 90s, Saturday night will bring it more up to date but will also include some more “oldies”. Here are some of the artists who were making new records when the show started: Dexter Gordon, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Chet Baker, Miles Davis, J.J.Johnson, Joe Henderson, Ray Brown, Jimmy Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae and Sarah Vaughan! CDs were just beginning to appear and I had one or two per hour – the rest were LPs.

Locally, I’m dedicating this Sunday’s Jazz Northwest to the memory of Joe Wheeler who died Monday at the age of 77, only ten days after being diagnosed with cancer. For those who didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Joe, he was the founder and first executive director of Centrum which oversaw the evolution of Fort Worden from a WW I era military base to a world class hands-on arts facility most of us know best as home of Jazz Port Townsend. Not exactly “spears into plowshares”, but close! Would that more energy was put into making art instead of war – Joe certainly was an outstanding example in that respect! He was a great human being I’m proud to have called a friend.

I’m recording five Earshot festival concerts in five locations for broadcast on Jazz NW. The Jazz Legends Tribute to Hadley Caliman aired last Sunday and is now available as a podcast. I’ve also recorded the Jim Knapp Orchestra at Cornish and Jay Thomas’ East-West (Japan/ USA) Double Trio at Tula’s and Greg Williamson’s A-Y-P large ensemble last night at the TD. That was a fun program! Still to record is the SRJO Ray Charles/ Quincy Jones show in Kirkland on Sunday. Photos are online at www.eyeshotjazz.com

from The Seattle Times:

Ray Charles and Quincy Jones were teenagers when they met in a Seattle nightclub, one of dozens clustered around Jackson Street in the 1940s. They were both aspiring jazz musicians, Charles a pianist, Jones a trumpeter.

They were among many now- familiar names who got their start in Seattle: Buddy Catlett, Ernestine Anderson, Gerald Wiggins, Floyd Standifer. Jones and Charles eventually achieved the most fame, moving beyond their original genre, becoming stars of pop and R&B.

The pair collaborated on the seminal 1961 album “Genius + Soul = Jazz,” which featured Charles on the Hammond B3 organ, with members of the Count Basie band, performing big-band arrangements by Jones. The scores that came out of that collaboration will be performed by Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra in two shows this weekend as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival, which ends Sunday.

Continue reading at The Seattle Times.

from Eyeshot Jazz

Greg Williamson’s 16-piece group re-imagined the music of the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific (A-Y-P) Exhibition – Seattle’s first World’s Fair.

In an wonderful and fanciful presentation with photos projected behind them, the ensemble presented pieces performed at and written especially for the exhibition (re-interpreted for a modern jazz orchestra), complete with period instruments and costumes and large-screen projections of photographs from the exhibition. Directed by Greg Williamson, the ensemble featured terrific ensembles and solos from the Pony Boy All-Star Big Band. The performance consisted of works by such 1909 hitmakers as John Philip Sousa, Rossini, D.N. Innes, and E.E. Bagley, in addition to original pieces and morphings of works by more recent composers such as Duke Ellington and Quincy Jones.

EARSHOT JAZZ FESTIVAL
Triple Door: John Abercrombie Quartet
Tula’s Jazz Club: Kris Davis’s Stone Trio
Cornish College: Trio 3

and the rest …

BAKE’S PLACE: Greta Matassa’s Johnny Mercer Celebration

BOXLEY’S: Jay Roberts Trio

CYPRESS LOUNGE: Gail Pettis Trio

LOMBARDI’S: Chris Clark/Bob Hammer Trio

LATONA PUB: Phil Sparks Trio

EL GAUCHO BELLEVUE: Trish Hatley Trio

LOCAL COLOR: Jacqueline Davis & Black Lab Trio

SERAFINA: Kelly Ash Trio

GRAZIE: Andre Thomas and Quiet Fire

Make a reservation this weekend for dinner and show and we will waive the cover charge. Like all of you, we have felt an impact from the current economic hardships that the nation has been facing. We’ve noticed a drop in attendance to the shows; times are indeed tough for everyone-musicians, music fans and business owners a like. However, these challenges only strengthen our resolve and sharpen our focus. We are committed to keeping the music going at Bake’s Place.

Friday, November 6
Greta Matassa-A Johnny Mercer Celebration

Saturday, November 7, 2009
Stephanie Porter Quartet

http://www.bakesplace.org
Reservations: 425-391-3335

Sunday, November 8
Evan Flory-Barnes: Acknowledgment of a Celebration
A Meet the Composer Commissioning Music/USA commission
World Premiere
Town Hall, 8, $18-24 BUY ONLINE

The Seattle bassist and composer presents his large-ensemble fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and classical music, complete with modern dancers and freestyle break dancers. Flory-Barnes is excited to premiere the large chamber work, a snapshot of the abundance of inspiration that can thread artistic mediums together, right here in Seattle. The premiere of Acknowledgement of a Celebration features 35 musicians and ten dancers set to Flory-Barnes’s new compositions.

Flory-Barnes credits his University of Washington instructor Barry Lieberman and contemporary double bass player Francois Rabbath for his own technical bass skills and expressive and inspired playing.

Flory-Barnes performs with an inclusive passion and expressive intensity, as though he were completely immersed in music. He regularly brings his trio, The Teaching, to the Lucid jazz club in the University District for an open community jam and hang. The Teaching appeared in the 2008 Earshot Jazz Festival at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.

Continue reading at the Earshot Jazz Festival website.

EARSHOT JAZZ FESTIVAL
City Hall: Jay Thomas East/West Double Trio (noon – free)
Cornish (Poncho): Jay Thomas East/West Double Trio (8:00pm)
Tula’s Jazz Club: Kris Davis’s Stone Trio

and the rest …

LOMBARDI’S: Chris Clark/Bob Hammer Trio

BOXLEY’S: Leah Stillwell & D. Clendenin

THAIKU: Jon Alberts, Jeff Johnson & Tad Britton

NEW ORLEANS: Ray Skelbred/Bob Jackson Quintet

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Christopher Blacker and Katy Webber
9pm – Andrew Oliver and Kane Mathis

from Eyeshot Jazz:

Jovino Santos Neto at Tula’s performing in the Earshot Jazz Festival lineup on Monday night with his quintet. Lots of fun watching him play with Harvey Wainapel on saxophone and Chuck Deardorff on bass.

from Eyeshot Jazz:

Earshot Jazz Festival continued with the Jay Thomas Double Trio consisting of Atsushi Ikeda (alto sax), Yasuhiro Kohama (tenor sax), Daisuke Kurata (drums), Jay Thomas (trumpet), John Hansen (piano), and Phil Sparks (bass). playing at Tula’s Sunday night.

EARSHOT JAZZ FESTIVAL
Nordstrom Recital Hall: Wayne Horvitz: These Hills of Glory
Wayne Horvitz’s new chamber-music work, These Hills of Glory, performed by soloist Carla Kihlstedt (violin) and the Odeonquartet, a world-renowned chamber group featuring Seattle Symphony musicians. Also featured are pianist Cristina Valdes, flutist Paul Taub, and Seattle Symphony clarinetist, Laura DeLuca. Presented by Seattle Symphony.
Triple Door: Greg Williamson’s A-Y-P Large Ensemble (7:00pm)
Triple Door: Claudia Acuna Quintet (9:30pm)
Tula’s Jazz Club: Joe Doria, Eric Barber, & Byron Vannoy

and the rest …

NEW ORLEANS: Legacy Quartet w/Clarence Acox

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Tori Sparks with Alicia Dara and Josh Dean
9pm – Vocal Jam hosted by Dina Blade, with Nelda Swiggett (piano), Dan O’Brien (bass) and Ed Littlefield (drums)

BOXLEY’S: Pony Stablemates & Guests

THAIKU: Ron Weinstein Trio

EARSHOT JAZZ FESTIVAL
Triple Door: Don Byron
Tula’s Jazz Club: Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto w/ Harvey Wainapel

and the rest …

DEXTER AND HAYES: Tim Kennedy Trio

NEW ORLEANS: Holotradband

MARTIN’S ON MADISON: Karin Kajita

MIX: Don Mock

from The Pennisula Daily News:

PORT TOWNSEND — The founding Centrum executive director, Joseph F. Wheeler, died today at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle from complications relating to recently diagnosed cancer.

Dr. Wheeler, who was 77, was surrounded by family members when he died, according to the nonprofit foundation that runs music and arts programs at Fort Worden State Park for more than 25,000 participants each year.

Dr. Wheeler was a Wenatchee native who went on to play clarinet in swing bands in the Seattle area as he studied music at then-Washington State College. He taught in Tacoma schools and later developed cultural programs there after receiving a doctorate in music education.

In 1972, he was hired as a consultant to research a proposal to create an arts center at the decommissioned Army base Fort Worden, which had become a Washington state park. As a result of this role, he became the founder and first executive director of Centrum, the multidisciplinary nonprofit arts organization based at Fort Worden. He served as Centrum executive director for 23 years as it developed programs for writers, jazz musicians, fiddlers and other artists.

In addition to his work as the founder of Centrum, Wheeler held offices in many organizations, including serving as a commissioner for Jefferson General Hospital (now Jefferson Healthcare), including board chair.

The Joseph F. Wheeler Theater at Fort Worden — where the largest of Centrum events are staged — was named in his honor by the Washington State Parks Commission.