from The Seattle Times:

The Earshot Jazz Festival, which gets under way Friday in three Seattle venues, has earned a well-deserved reputation as a carefully curated event friendly to new and challenging music.

That’s often meant modest crowds, but with headliners like Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau, The Bad Plus and the husband-and-wife team Bill Charlap and Renee Rosnes — all, as it happens, pianocentric acts — the festival should pack them in this year. Overall, more than 50 acts will appear in 15 different venues.

Beyond ivory ticklers, Earshot’s 23rd edition showcases a rich variety of constituencies — women, very young players, locally connected musicians, world musicians and, as always, the Dutch avant-garde.

Jarrett, 66, whose trio is one of the premiere acts in jazz, has played Earshot before, but a return visit is always cause for celebration. Though widely known for stunning solo improvisations, the pianist enjoys near-telepathic communication with bassist Gary Peacock — who taught at Seattle’s Cornish College for years — and drummer Jack DeJohnette.

Continue reading at The Seattle Times.

Category:
Seattle Jazz