Seattle Jazz Scene

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Hadley Caliman Quintet – Straight Ahead CD Release party
w/ Hadley Caliman (saxophone), Thomas Marriott (trumpet), Eric Verlinde (piano), Phil Sparks (bass), Matt Jorgensen (drums)

BAKE’S PLACE: Greta Matassa and Susan Pascal

JAZZ ALLEY: Ledisi

TRIPLE DOOR MUSICQUARIUM: Motel 5

BOXLEY’S: Carolyn Graye Quartet

LOMBARDI’S: Christopher Woitach and Larry Holloway

SOUTHPORT CAFE:  Clarence Acox

EL GAUCHO BELLEVUE:  Trish Hatley Trio

NORTH CITY BISTRO:  Stephanie Porter and Friends

SERAFINA: Voodoo Trio

GRAZIE: Michael Powers Group

LUCID JAZZ: Paradigm Quartet

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Confluence w/ Casey Garland (guitar/vocals), Elaine Skeffington [Website] (vocals), Scott Becker (guitar/vocals) and Jerry Fleet (bass/vocals)
9pm – Brendan O’Donnell Quartet, w/ Brendan O’Donnell (guitar), Joe Doria (organ), Zubin Hensler (trumpet) and D’Vonne Lewis (drums)
11pm – Far Corner, w/ Fraser Havens (flute), Ken Strong (bass), Brad Papineau (drums) and Dick Valentine (saxophones)

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19

Reservations: 206-443-4221

featuring:
Hadley Caliman – saxophone
Thomas Marriott – trumpet
Eric Verlinde – piano
Phil Sparks – bass
Matt Jorgensen – drums

Saxophonist Hadley Caliman celebrates the release of his new CD Straight Ahead (Origin Records) this Saturday, December 19, at Tula’s Jazz Club.

Call and reserve your spot: 206-443-4221

Concert of Sacred Music by Duke Ellington

Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra
+ NW Chamber Chorus
+ vocalist Everett Greene

Saturday, December 26, 2009
Town Hall Seattle, 7:30 pm
1119 Eight Avenue (at Seneca), Seattle

Tickets now on sale through brownpapertickets.com.

Preferred Section Seating: $28 (this section is sold out)
General Seating Section: $24(tickets still available)
Discounts available for Earshot Jazz members, senior citizens and full-time students.

On December 26th, the beloved Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra returns with its annual concert of Sacred Music by Duke Ellington. For the first time, vocalist Everett Greene, a renowned Emmy Award winning vocalist currently recording and touring with the Count Basie Orchestra, joins the SRJO and its co-directors alto saxophonist Michael Brockman, an Ellington scholar and professor of music at the University of Washington, and drummer Clarence Acox, the award-winning director of Garfield High School’s nationally-ranked jazz program. Returning for this year’s concert is vocalist Nichol Venee Eskridge (who is also featured on the SRJO’s Sacred Music of Duke Ellington CD), tap-dancer Alex Dugdale, and the Northwest Chamber Chorus under Director Mark Kloepper.

As always, the SRJO aims to recapture the spirit of Ellington’s original Sacred Music that debuted on September 16, 1965 at the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. It was at the conclusion of this landmark concert that Ellington proclaimed, “I’m sure this is the most important statement we’ve ever made.” Ellington considered the Sacred Concert to be amongst his most significant accomplishments and devoted the last years of his life to performing the programs hundreds of times throughout the world.
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TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Sonando

NEW ORLEANS: Ray Skelbred / Bob Jackson Quintet

JAZZ ALLEY: Ledisi

THAIKU: Jon Alberts, Jeff Johnson and Tad Britton

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Sasson, w/Keith Judelman (bass), Benjamin Gown (accordion), Adam Kessler (percussion), Craig Judelman (violin) and Samantha Boshnack (trumpet)
9pm – Clave Nagila, w/ Jason Parker (trumpet/arrangements), Nate Omdal (bass/arrangements), Tobi Stone (clarinet), Adrian Witherspoon (trombone), Brian Bermudez (bari sax), Adam Kessler (drums) and Lalo Bello (percussion)

LUCID: The Hang w/ Teaching

The Susan Pascal Quartet in concert at The Seattle Art Museum (photo by Harlan Chinn)

A recent concert by the Susan Pascal Quartet at the Seattle Art Museum will air on Jazz Northwest Sunday, December 20 at 1 PM Pacific Time on 88.5, KPLU. This month, the Susan Pascal Quartet is revisiting the music of The Modern Jazz Quartet, one of the most long-lived jazz groups which played concerts all over the world for more than 40 years with the same personnel.

Susan Pascal transcribed a selection of music recorded by the MJQ for her quartet and the instrumentation is identical: vibraharp (Susan Pascal), piano (Bill Anschell), string bass (Chuck Deardorf) and drums (Matt Jorgensen). The music includes several seasonal pieces including one original arrangement by Bill Anschell.

Originally the rhythm section of the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band in the 40s, the Modern Jazz Quartet recorded and toured extensively and was one of the most successful and popular groups in the history of jazz. The delicate, crystalline music they played had overtones of classical music and their audiences listened with the same rapt attention given to a classical string quartet. However, there was a strong rhythmic pulse and a blues-based core in addition to contrapuntal interplay. Pianist John Lewis and vibist Milt Jackson composed most of the music played by the quartet whose other members were Percy Heath, bass and Connie Kay, drums.

The Art of Jazz Series at the Seattle Art Museum is produced by Earshot Jazz, John Gilbreath Executive Director, and presented on the second Thursday of each month. The next concert on January 14 will feature the Hadley Caliman Quintet.

Jazz Northwest is recorded and produced by Jim Wilke exclusively for 88.5 KPLU and kplu.org. A podcast of the program will be available at kplu.org after the airdate.

Listen to an audio sample below.

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: SCCC Jazz Orchestra with Lonnie Mardis

THAIKU: Ron Weinstein Trio

BOXLEY’S: Jim Cutler Quartet

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Chip Parker with Randy Halberstadt (piano) and Geoff Cooke (bass)
9pm – Vocal Showcase featuring Deborah Shelton, Meg Roberts and Eleanor Fye – Hosted by Robert Parks, with Randy Halberstadt (piano), Dan O’Brien (bass) and Robert Rushing (drums)

NEW ORLEANS: Legacy Quartet w/Clarence Acox

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Bellevue CC Jazz Orchestra w/ Hal Sherman

TOST: Michael Shrieve’s Spellbinder

NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans Quintet

POGGIE TAVERN: Falingo Machaz w/ Marc Smason & Pavel Shepp

photos by Jim Levitt

Reuel Lubag – piano; Michael Marcus – bass; Clarence Acox – bass

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB:
3pm – Jazz Police Big Band
8pm – Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra

TRIPLE DOOR MUSICQUARIUM: Sunday Night Salsa: Rumbeggae
TRIPLE DOOR MAINSTAGE: Cocoa Martini

BOXLEY’S: Danny Kolke Trio
101 W North Bend Way, North Bend

JAZZ ALLEY:Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra with Special Guests Ernestine Anderson and Red Holloway

BAKE’S PLACE: Tingstad and Rumbel

CONCERT: Jackie Ryan w/ Randy Halberstadt
More info: jazzvox.com, Camano Island, 2pm

Make sure the volume is up to get the full effect …

Sketchy Santa from Coty Gonzales on Vimeo.

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Hadley Caliman Quintet

BAKE’S PLACE: Jackie Ryan

JAZZ ALLEY: Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White

BOXLEY’S: Carolyn Graye Quartet

CONCERT: Travis Shook Trio w/ Travis Shook (piano), Matt Jorgensen (drums), Phil Sparks (bass)
The United Churches, 110 11th Ave. S.E., Olympia, 7:30pm, $15

LOMBARDI’S: Travis Ranney Trio

SOUTHPORT CAFE: Lance Buller

EL GAUCHO BELLEVUE: Trish Hatley Trio

NORTH CITY BISTRO: Greta Matassa and Darin Clendenin

SERAFINA: Jose Gonzales Trio

GRAZIE: Michael Matthews Trio

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Tamara Lewis w/ Alice Boytz (fiddle) and Nancy K Dillon (backing vocals)
9pm – The Dave Dolengewicz Trio, w/ Dave Dolengewicz (saxophones), Lauren Hendrix (upright and electric basses) and Ben Morrow (drums)
11pm – Late Nite Comedy

from The Guardian:

Jazzman Larry Ochs has seen many things during 40 years playing his saxophone around the world but, until this week, nobody had ever called the police on him.

That changed on Monday night however, when’s Spain’s pistol-carrying Civil Guard police force descended on the Sigüenza Jazz festival to investigate allegations that Ochs’s music was not, well, jazz.

Police decided to investigate after an angry jazz buff complained that the Larry Ochs Sax and Drumming Core group was on the wrong side of a line dividing jazz from contemporary music.

The jazz purist claimed his doctor had warned it was “psychologically inadvisable” for him to listen to anything that could be mistaken for mere contemporary music.

According to a report in El País newspaper yesterday, the khaki-clad police officers listened to the saxophone-playing and drumming coming from the festival stage before agreeing that the purist might, indeed, have a case.

Continue reading at The Guardian.

from The Olympian:

TRAVIS SHOOK TRIO – SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12
The United Churches
110 11th Ave. S.E.
Olympia, 7:30pm, $15

After being signed to a major-label record deal at age 23, jazz pianist Travis Shook took some career detours.

But the winding road is leading uphill these days. This weekend, it’s brings the award-winning musician back to his boyhood home in Olympia.

His concert Saturday – with drummer Matt Jorgensen and bassist Phil Sparks, both of Seattle – is his first time playing here in seven years.

A California native who moved to Olympia at age 10, Shook played piano from the time he was 5, but it was at Olympia High School that he was first exposed to jazz.

“I joined the jazz band at the age of 16,” said Shook, whose mother, Belva Shook, still lives in Olympia. “I’d always taken classical lessons but did not really want to become a classical musician.

“When I started playing jazz, I said, ‘Oh, well, this is actually perfect.’ I pulled out a Duke Ellington album we had at home. I’d never heard it; it was still in the plastic.

“There was no question about what I wanted to do after that.”

What captured his attention was the energy of jazz.

“Jazz is composing on the spur of the moment,” Shook said. “There’s something magical that happens. Say there are four of us playing at once; we’re all listening to what the others are playing but we’re all saying what we want to say at the same time.

Continue reading at The Olympian.

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Susan Pascal’s Modern Jazz Quartet Revisited

BAKE’S PLACE: Jackie Ryan

BOXLEY’S: Milo Petersen Trio

LATONA PUB: Phil Sparks Trio

LOMBARDI’S: Travis Ranney Trio

SOUTHPORT CAFE: Karen Shivers

CHAPEL PERFORMANCE SPACE: Seattle Phonographers Union CD Release

EL GAUCHO BELLEVUE: Trish Hatley Trio

HIROSHI’S: Tracy Knoop w/Greg Williamson Quartet

LOCAL COLOR: Oghale

NORTH CITY BISTRO: Gail Pettis & Friends

SERAFINA: Tim Kennedy Trio

PAMPAS ROOM: Brian Nova Quartet

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Perry Robinson
9pm – Joey the Saint and the A-men
11pm – Spekulation, with Nate Omdal, Absolutemadman and Spekulation

from The Seattle Times:

The concept behind the vocal jazz group Cocoa Martini seems both familiar and novel, three women who sing songs that most of us know well, backed by a quartet.

When performing, the three singers, who straddle age 50, dress in elegant, evening dresses and take turns singing most of the songs, harmonizing on about a third of them, taking care in between to joke, address the audience and talk about their experience with the music.

Familiar, because the formula is tried and true and the songs easy to connect with. Novel, because it seems jazz is seldom presented this way anymore.

The members of Cocoa Martini, who will perform Sunday night at 7 at the Triple Door for the third time in three years, admit to tapping into a nostalgia for the kind of songs they sing and the way they sing them.

Continue reading at The Seattle Times.

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Bert Gulhaugen / John Hansen Showcase

NEW ORLEANS: Ray Skelbred / Bob Jackson Quintet

JAZZ ALLEY: Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White

THAIKU: Jon Alberts, Jeff Johnson and Tad Britton

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Wonderland Trio, w/ Gary Barnes (bass), Sheldon White (drums) and Steve Tanimoto (piano)
9pm – Fasten With Pins acappella harmony trio w/ Nova Devonie, Robin Holcomb, and Arni Adler. Sharing the set with Cyd Smith and Ruthie Dornfield.

LUCID: The Hang w/ Teaching

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM: Susan Pascal “MJQ Revisited,” 5:30pm
From Earshot Jazz: Susan’s Modern Jazz Quartet Revisited project revitalizes hits by the MJQ and legendary vibist Milt Jackson. At the Seattle Art Museum’s Brotman Forum, the band features Susan on vibes, Bill Anschell on piano, Chuck Deardorf on bass, and Matt Jorgensen on drums.

photos by Jim Levitt

Thomas Marriott – trumpet; Mark Taylor – saxophone; John McLean – guitar; Devin Lowe – bass; Matt Jorgensen – drums

JAZZ ALLEY: Charlie Hunter w/ Eric Kalb, Alan Ferber, Thomas Marriott & Chris Stover

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Smith/Staelens Big Band

BOXLEY’S: Jay Thomas Trio

MEANEY THEATER: UW Music: Studio Jazz Ensemble

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Deluge, with Garfield High jazz musicians Riley Mulherkar (trumpet), Charlie Phillips (saxophones), James Squires (drums), Julian Garvue (piano), and Carmen Rothwell (bass)
9pm – Vocal Jam hosted by Fathia Atallah, with Beth Wulff (piano), Clipper Anderson (bass) and Ed Littlefield (drums)

NEW ORLEANS: Legacy Band w/ Clarence Acox

THAIKU: Ron Weinstein Trio

TRACTOR TAVERN: Garage a Trois
(also performing at Easy Street Records [20 Mercer St.] at 6:00pm)

SHERMAN CLAY PIANO (Bellevue): Susan Pascal Quartet

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Emerald City Jazz Orchestra

NEW ORLEANS: Holotradband

MIX: Don Mock

JAZZ ALLEY: Charlie Hunter w/ Eric Kalb, Alan Ferber, Thomas Marriott & Chris Stover

MARTIN’S ON MADISON: Karin Kajita

DEXTER & HAYES: Tim Kennedy Trio

TOST: Michael Shrieve’s Spellbinder

SEATTLE DRUM SCHOOL: Jim Knapp Orchestra

MEANEY THEATER: UW Percussion Ensemble

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Greta Matassa Vocal Jam

NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans Quintet