Today is Independent Record Store Day

from The Seattle Times:

When Matt Vaughan heard that a Saturday in April had been set aside two years ago to honor indie-music stores, the owner of Seattle’s Easy Street Records thought it was “a waving of the white flag.” Still, he went along and opened his doors with modest expectations.

“To my surprise, it turned out to be the busiest day of the year,” said Vaughan, who has a store in West Seattle and another on Queen Anne. “I wasn’t even staffed for it.”

Now in its third year, Record Store Day has become bigger than Christmas for many mom-and-pop music shops, making it an important weapon in their fierce battle against digital downloads and big-box discount chains.

On April 17, die-hard music fans are expected to head to more than 1,400 record stores worldwide, including nearly three dozen in the Puget Sound region. The Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys and Soundgarden all plan to mark the occasion with exclusive releases. Some stores will host musical performances.

Continue reading at The Seattle Times

Friday Jazz

NEW ORLEANS: Thomas Marriott’s Flexicon

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Susan Pascal Quartet with Dave Peterson

BAKE’S PLACE: Fridays in the Living Room with Greta: Special Guest-Pearl Django

THE CHAPEL: IMP Fest: Cuong Vu’s Vu Tet w/ Greg Sinibaldi & GOAT

EL GAUCHO BELLEVUE: Trish Hatley Trio

LATONA PUB: Phil Sparks Trio feat. Hadley Caliman

HIROSHI’S: Chuck Kistler Group

NORTH CITY BISTRO: David George & Friends

LUCID JAZZ LOUNGE: Dave Dolengewicz Trio

JAZZ ALLEY: Madeleine Peyroux

Bill Anschell-Brent Jensen Duo featured on KPLU’s Jazz Northwest April 18

A surprisingly inventive duo plays spontaneous improvisations on Jazz Northwest on Sunday April 18 at 1 PM PDT on 88.5, KPLU. Pianist Bill Anschell and soprano saxophonist Brent Jensen have found each other molto simpatico when freely improvising on standards. Astute listeners as well as players, the two musicians often sound as if one mind is guiding ten fingers as they dissect familiar music in the course of playing it, examining and comparing fragments before reassembling a song. On this concert recorded at an Art of Jazz Concert at The Seattle Art Museum, the duo plays music ranging from Fats Waller to Thelonious Monk and several familiar standards.

Bill Anschell and Brent Jensen have recorded a critically praised duo CD “We Couldn’t Agree More” on Origin Records and are also heard in quartets on other releases on the label.

The Art of Jazz Series at the Seattle Art Museum is presented on the second Thursday of each month by Earshot Jazz, John Gilbreath, Executive Director with the support of 88.5 KPLU and The Seattle Weekly. Jazz Northwest is recorded and produced by Jim Wilke, exclusively for KPLU. The program airs each Sunday at 1 PM PDT, and streams to the internet at kplu.org. A podcast of the program is available each Monday after the airdate.

Thursday Jazz

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB:
5 – 6:30 pm: Earshot Jazz Board Meeting and Forum for Community Input
6:30 – 7:30: Birthday Celebration
8:00: Clarence Acox Group

THAIKU: Jon Alberts, Jeff Johnson and Tad Britton

NEW ORLEANS: Ham Carson Quintet

CROCODILE CAFE: Zubatto Syndicate, Owcharuk 5, Water Babies

JAZZ ALLEY: Madeleine Peyroux

THE CHAPEL: Cuong Vu’s Vu-Tet with Operation ID and Bad Luck

BARCA: Clark Gibson Trio

LUCID: The Hang with The Teaching

Thursday: Zubatto Syndicate plans to jazz up Seattle’s Crocodile nightclub

from The Seattle Times:

There are no chairs to sit in when you listen to music at the Crocodile. An open floor has always worked best for the kind of music and audiences the famous rock club is known for.

Since opening in 1991 — the Belltown club closed late in 2007 and reopened under new owners in early 2009 — the Crocodile, an integral part of Seattle’s music history, has hosted the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Cheap Trick, R.E.M., Mudhoney, Yoko Ono and, last week, Brandi Carlile.

On Thursday, the club will host a rare show of jazz music. Although in its early days, jazz was dance music and bands played in large dance halls, it has lately been the kind of music usually associated with chairs and tables and sitting.

“We’re not opposed to jazz in the club,” said Eli Anderson, who books music for the Crocodile. “It’s important to broaden the music we offer. It’s a part of getting people into the room. There’s no reason the Crocodile has to be just rock music.”

Continue reading at The Seattle Times.

JazzTimes Review: Hadley Caliman, Straight Ahead

from JazzTimes:

Veteran tenor saxophonist Hadley Caliman—he was on the Central Avenue scene in Los Angeles during the ’50s—teams with golden-toned trumpeter Thomas Marriott on the frontline for this inspired outing. Flaunting a beautiful, burnished tone and remarkable fluidity on his horn, Caliman sails through his “Cigar Eddie,” Harold Land’s “Rapture” and Lee Morgan’s Latin-flavored “Totem Pole” with confidence and old-school swagger. And he acquits himself with rare elegance and taste on Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” and the poignant ballad “You Leave Me Breathless.” Marriott, who produced the session, also contributes the driving “Cathlamet,” and the two horns engage in some facile, energized exchanges with pianist Eric Verlinde on Joe Locke’s uptempo swinger “Blues for PT.”

Wednesday Jazz

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON IMP FEST: Cuong Vu’s Vu Tet & Heatwarmer

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

JAZZ ALLEY: An Evening with Chick Corea and Gary Burton Duets

NEW ORLEANS: Legacy Quartet w/Clarence Acox

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Vocal Jam hosted by Fathia Atallah, with Darin Clendenin (piano), Joe Casalini (bass) and Robert Rushing (drums)
9pm – Vocal Showcase featuring Barbara Molloy, Valerie Farber and Kim Rushing – Hosted by Cara Francis, with Darin Clendenin (piano), Joe Casalini (bass) and Robert Rushing (drums)

THAIKU: Ron Weinstein Trio

LUCID JAZZ LOUNGE: Michel Navedo Quartet

NORTH CITY BISTRO: Diane Fast – Neale

Jazz Musicians Throw Concert To Pay For Their Health Coverage

from The Huffington Post:

Thirteen years ago, 68-year-old jazz guitarist Calvin Keys underwent a life-saving quadruple bypass surgery. Keys, a notable Bay Area musician who recorded and toured with Ray Charles in the ’70s, says he would not have been able to afford that surgery if he hadn’t been covered under his wife’s health insurance.

“I don’t know what would have happened if I wasn’t married,” said Keys, who never had health coverage until he married his wife of 35 years. “There are quite a few musicians out here who don’t have any health insurance. Most of us are from the ghetto, anyway. We don’t know nothing about health care, and that’s a big problem.”

Keys said that as soon as he recovered from his surgery, he was so grateful to the hospital and rehabilitation center that treated him that he decided to throw a benefit concert to show his appreciation and raise money for other musicians who couldn’t afford their health care.

“We raised about four or five thousand dollars, and donated it on the condition that 40 percent went to a musician that needed health care,” Keys said. “That was my way of giving something back to the community. We musicians need all the help we can get.”

Now Keys has joined forces with trumpeter Eddie Gale to throw the second annual San Francisco Jazz Fest, a health care fundraiser for musicians that will take place on Friday, April 23rd. Gale, who rose to fame in the 60’s and recorded on Blue Note Records, says he came up with the idea for the festival after losing a number of his musician friends to health issues that could have been treated or prevented.

Continue reading at The Huffington Post

Click here for Event Details.

Monday Jazz

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Steve Messick’s Endemic Ensemble

TOST: Michael Shrieve’s Spellbinder

NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans Quintet

AMORE: Ronnie Pierce Jazz Ensemble

BRECHEMIN AUDITORIUM: Tom Collier & Dan Dean

Sunday Jazz

TULAS JAZZ CLUB:
3pm – Jazz Police Big Band
8pm – Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra

SEATTLE JAZZ VESPERS: Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra
Seattle First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard at Seneca, 6pm

JAZZ ALLEY: Peter White

SERAFINA: Alex Guilbert / Jerry Frank

BOXLEY’S: Danny Kolke Trio

TRIPLE DOOR MUSICQUARIUM: Sunday Night Salsa: Rumbeggae

CAFE RACER: Racer Sessions
5828 Roosevelt Way NE, 8pm

CONCERT: SRJO presents Birth of the Cool
Kirkland Performance Center, 350 Kirkland Ave, Kirkland, 3pm

CONCERT: John Proulx w/ Chuck Kistler
Camano Island, 6pm more info: jazzvox.com

Saturday Jazz

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Stephanie Porter Quartet

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – The Wiretappers, w/Jake Weber (guitar/vocals), Scott Spadafora (guitar/vocals), David Smith (mandolin/fiddle/vocals), Mark Snyder (upright bass/vocals)
9pm – Annie Reed, w/Jerry Garcia (drums), Larry Holloway (bass),Reuel Lubag (piano)

BAKE’S PLACE: David Lanz & Liverpool Trio: Tribute to Beatles

JAZZ ALLEY: Peter White

BOXLEY’S: Karen Shivers Quartet

LUCID JAZZ LOUNGE: Manghis Khan

SERAFINA: Alex Guilbert Trio

GRAZIE: James Bernhard Blues Fusion

CROSSROADS MARKET STAGE: Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra
15600 NE 8th, Bellevue, 7pm

Brass and sass at Honk! Fest West

from The Seattle Times:

Bring out your brass — and your marching drums.

The 2010 version of Honk! Fest West is here.

Honk! Fest West is, in its own words, “a street fair dedicated to bringing marching bands, samba lines, horn players, drum corps and every manner of rhythmic and melodic noisemaker we could find right to the Seattle streets.”

This year the festivities will be happening at the Fremont Neighborhood Block Party (“Listen for the horns and drums, and let them be your guides to the right spot”), Washington Hall (On the Boards’ old Central Area home, now being restored by Historic Seattle), Georgetown and West Seattle.

Local bands include Orkestar Zirkonium, Titanium Sporkestra, the Anti-Fascist Marching Band and VamoLá. There also will be a local school/sports-team presence in the form of the Garfield High School Bulldog Drumline, Seattle Seahawks Blue Thunder Drumline and Seattle Sounders FC Soundwave Band.

Continue reading at The Seattle Times:

Tierney Sutton. Hubert Laws & Larry Koonse at The Seasons tonight

TONIGHT, APRIL 9
TIERNEY SUTTON / HUBERT LAWS / LARRY KOONSE

The Seasons Yakima
101 North Naches Avenue, Yakima, WA
Tickets: 888-723-7660
theseasonsyakima.com

Tonight at The Seasons in Yakima three legends of jazz come together to present a one-of-a-kind evening of music.

Hubert Laws: The powerhouse flute player with a straight decade of “Best Flutist” awards from Downbeat magazine (as well as this year’s), bedazzled the jazz and classical world in the 1970’s and since by issuing a series of albums in both disciplines with one masterful performance after another. He continues to be regarded as the best flute player in the world, spanning both classical & jazz.

Larry Koonse: One of the best known guitarists on the West Coast is on everyone’s “must-play-with” list. A current recording artist and member of the LA Jazz Quartet, he boasts stints with many of the great jazz musicians and ensembles of the last two decades, and as a soloist with orchestras around the world. He one of the most sought-after studio musicians, building a discography in the 100’s while recording with everyone from Mel Tormé to Linda Ronstadt to Al Hirt.

Tierney Sutton is a legend in the making: perennial Grammy nominee (including her latest CD “Desire”), chart-topper, and, as Seasons-goers know, amazing jazz vocalist. She has appeared here several times in spell-binding performances. Here she is performing with her usual band. Though she will be performing with different musicians during her performance at The Seasons, you can get a feel for what a talented vocalist she is.

Friday Jazz

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Bill Anschell / Brent Jensen Quartet

NEW ORLEANS: Hadley Caliman Quartet (filling in for Thomas Marriott who is performing in New Zealand)

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE: Penelope Donado, with Ed Webber (piano), Robert Rushing (drums) and Clipper Anderson (bass)

BAKE’S PLACE: David Lanz & Liverpool Trio: Tribute to Beatles

JAZZ VOX: John Proulx w/ Chuck Kistler
visit www.jazzvox.com for more info.

THE CHAPEL: Gebhard Ullman Clarinet Trio & JA Deane

LUCID JAZZ LOUNGE: Soul Kata

LATONA PUB: Phil Sparks Trio

Thursday Jazz

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Michael Owcharuk Quintet

NEW ORLEANS: Ray Skelbred/Bob Jackson Quintet

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Tuckoo Trio, with Ronan Delisle (guitar), Mat Muntz (bass), Max Holmberg (drums) and special guest Xavier Del Castillo (tenor sax)
9pm – Tim Kennedy (piano), Tarik Abouzied (drums), Ian Sheridan (bass), David Marriott (trombone)

BARCA: Clark Gibson Trio

LUCID JAZZ LOUNGE: The Hang w/ The Teaching

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM: Art of Jazz: Bill Anschell & Brent Jensen (5:30pm)

SORRENTO HOTEL: Karin Kajita

THAIKU: Jon Alberts, Jeff Johnson & Tad Britton

Bill Anschell and Brent Jensen on tour

Pianist Bill Anschell and saxophonist Brent Jensen perform in a duo setting at the Seattle Art Museum on Thursday, April 8, in support of their recent release on Origin Records entitled, We Couldn’t Agree More. Their stop at Earshot’s Art of Jazz Series is part of a larger tour which includes performances throughout the Northwest.

Thursday, April 8
Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Avenue, Seattle, 5:30 pm, free

Friday, April 9
Tula’s, www.tulas.com, 7:30 – 11:30 pm, $15 cover
Brent Jensen/Bill Anschell Quartet, featuring Brent on sax, Doug Miller on bass, and Jose Martinez on drums.

Monday, April 12 – Tuesday, April 13
Residency at Eastern Washington Univerity, Cheney

Wednesday, April 21
College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, 7:30 pm

Thursday, April 22
Downtown Idaho Falls, ID, evening

Friday, April 23 – Saturday, April 24
Gene Harris Festival, 1910 University Drive, Boise, ID, 4:00 – 7:00 pm

Sunday, April 25
The Jazz Project, Amadeus Project, 1209 Cornwall Ave., Bellingham, WA, 6:00 pm

Wednesday Jazz

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Smith/Staelens Big Band

JAZZ ALLEY: Habib Koite and Bamada

NEW ORLEANS: Legacy Quartet w/Clarence Acox

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE: Cornish Jazz Composers Ensemble, with Ken Strong (bass), Jacob Brady (drums), Gregg Belisle Chi (guitar), Darian Asplund (saxophone) and Steve O’Brien (trumpet)

LUCID JAZZ LOUNGE: Eileen Neff

THAIKU: Ron Weinstein Trio

Tuesday Jazz

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Jay Thomas Big Band

NEW ORLEANS: Holotradband

THE MIX: Don Mock

OWL ‘N THISTLE: Jam w/ Eric Verlinde & Jose Martinez

MARTIN’S ON MADISON: Karin Kajita

Sunday Jazz

TULAS JAZZ CLUB:
3pm – Reggie Goings/Hadley Caliman
8pm – Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra

JAZZ ALLEY: Preservation Hall Jazz Band

SERAFINA: Ann Reynolds / Tobi Stone

BOXLEY’S: Danny Kolke Trio

TRIPLE DOOR MAINSTAGE: Flow: An Evening of Dance, Music and Art w/The Teaching
TRIPLE DOOR MUSICQUARIUM: Sunday Night Salsa: Tor Dietrichson and Mambo Cadillac

CAFE RACER: Racer Sessions
5828 Roosevelt Way NE, 8pm