Seattle Jazz Scene

Dr. Julian Priester Quintet

Sat Feb 21, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Iconic trombonist Julian Priester has been a major force in jazz music since he joined Sun Ra’s band in the late 1950s. His playing style is a departure from the JJ Johnson school of playing, an innovative approach that has been applied to his own historic recordings and those of the likes of Muddy Waters, Dinah Washington, Max Roach, Booker Little, Abbey Lincoln, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and a host of others. In 1973, the Chicago born Priester left New York City for San Francisco to join Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi Band. He began recording his own music for the ECM label and eventually settled into a second stint with Sun Ra’s Arkestra. Seattle was fortunate to receive him as a resident when he came here to teach at Cornish College of the Arts in 1979. Seattle students benefited from his tutelage until his retirement in 2011. Now at ninety years of age, Priester is experiencing a bit of a revival, having just performed in NYC with George Coleman, Reggie Workman, Billy Hart and others.

Priester will be joined by fellow trombonist Steve Moore, and an ace rhythm section featuring pianist John Hansen, bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer Evan Woodle. Don’t miss this opportunity to see a true jazz legend! seattlejazzfellowship.org

Monday Night Jam at Seattle Jazz Fellowship

Monday Nights, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

The Monday night jam in Pioneer Square has been quite the thing since the third Monday in January 2025. The session has been a gathering spot for some of the best musicians in town, from seasoned professionals to ascending high school and college players. It has also become a focal point for gen z to gather socially outside of the shadow of technology and screen life. Each week the club is full, and a line ascends up the stairs, around the corner and down First Avenue. These young people arrived via a Tic Tok video with the idea of an all ages, cover free experience with new music performed honestly, in the moment. They became a jazz audience with much more reverence for the music than most sessions. They listen, applaud solos, cheer on their favorites and deeply enjoy the idea of musicians creating on the spot jam style. We long-time patrons of the art are right there alongside them and it is a true joy. The musicians, both in house band led by Thomas Marriott, and the jammers feel the vibe as well. The early start and end allows for those who have school and work the next day. If you are looking for a ray of hope in our city, this may be your gig. Show up by 7 PM and you should have a seat. Musicians enter at will as long as they sign up to play. https://seattlejazzfellowship.org/

Jazz Night In Pioneer Square

Tue Feb 24, 5:30 PM / Pioneer Square venues

Seattle Jazz Felllowship and the Alliance for Pioneer Square once again put on this free event that fills Seattle’s original neighborhood with 2000 plus jazz enthusiasts in fifteen venues. The bill includes a wide variety of jazz styles in music venues, galleries, museums and the Seattle Jazz Fellowship itself. Several of the venues are all ages, with the event culminating in the traditional weekly jam session at the Owl ‘n Thistle. This event is one of the great social outings of the season as well, with a great cross-generational hang that is second to none. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Tuesday Night Jam at the Owl

Tuesdays at 9:30 PM / Owl & Thistle

The Tuesday night jam at the Owl is a Seattle tradition dating back to 1997, and a band known as Bebop and Destruction. It’s interesting, and often zany history includes wild antics, colorful characters and many a drop in from national touring musicians including Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Branford Marsalis, Emmett Cohen and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. Pianist Eric Verlinde guided the jam into more tranquil waters over his eighteen years directing the session, a tenure that recently ended. Pianist Matt Williams has now taken the reins, injecting a new found enthusiasm and freeing up Verlinde to come and hang and play! The 9:30 start enables musicians with gigs that evening to show up and play after the opening set that lasts forty five minutes or so.

The session is very important within the musical and social fabric of the Seattle jazz scene. The very interesting and often humorous history of the session is well documented in an article I wrote for All About Jazz a few years back. Link provided below.https://www.allaboutjazz.com/tuesday-night-jams-at-the-owl-a-25-year-legacy-in-seattle

Jonti Siman Trio with special guest Ben Thomas

Thu Feb 26, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Bassist Jonti Siman hits SJF with his regular trio, adding the exceptional Dr. Ben Thomas on vibraphone for good measure! Guitarist Owen Thayer and drummer William Sage have been gigging with Siman as a trio, performing originals and eclectic interpretations of American roots and popular music. Siman’s roots are diverse on both double and electric bass. Thomas’ energetic brilliance is often witnessed as a major cog in the Jovino Santos Neto Quinteto and other groups in the city, with roots in Brazilian and Argentine forms. He is also a master of the bandoneon. You have to love the possibilities here and the openness it suggests. Siman and Thayer’s original tunes add to the intrigue of interpretation. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

säje

Thu Feb 25 – Sun Mar 1, 7:30 & 9:30 PM / Jazz Alley

Multi-Grammy winning vocal quartet säje returns home to Seattle for a six show run at Jazz Alley. Johnaye Kendrick, Sara Gazarek, Amanda Taylor and Erin Bentlage blend four part harmonies with masterful arrangements for a rich harmonic blend rooted in the jazz tradition while broadening musical horizons with touches from a variety of genres. This homecoming should sell quickly, so act fast on this one. Pianist Miro Sprague, bassist Michael Glynn and drummer Jimmy McBride provide top shelf support for the foursome whose annual accomplishments have included a virtual stronghold on the jazz vocal arrangement category at the Grammys. https://www.jazzalley.com/www-home/artist.jsp?shownum=8748

Elnah Jordan

Fri Feb 27, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Soulful vocalist Elnah Jordan was literally discovered on the street busking by the legendary jazz singer and lyricist Jon Hendricks in San Francisco. Every one of her performances are like a new chapter in an unlikely tale, with Jordan leading the way with a unique sense of connectivity with her audience. Bassist Jonti Siman, guitarist Owen Thayer, drummer Adam Kessler and veteran pianist Paul Richardson are on the gig with Elnah, an crew with a wealth of experience. They better have their roots deeply entrenched in the blues, because that’s where Jordan will be all night! This will be a fun one. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Beserat Tafesse Quartet

Sat Feb 28, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Trombonist Beserat Tafesse returns to the Fellowship with a top flight quartet, featuring pianist Matt Williams, drummer Chris Icasiano and bassist Evan Flory-Barnes. Tafesse has been performing quite a bit on bass trumpet to go along with his work on trombone. Williams is currently heading up the weekly session at the Owl ‘n Thistle. He has led his own trio at the Fellowship, and is one of the finest players in town. Icasiano is a versatile, sensitive player who has been a part of Tafesse’s working quartet over the past year. His approach to kit playing is highly original. EFB is a dynamic, experienced player who has played with a number of siginificant artists, including Chico Freeman. His work with the late, great fusion band, Industrial Revelation is stuff of Seattle legend. seattlejazzfellowship.org

RL Heyer & Al Hemiola)

Fri Mar 6, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Guitarist RL Heyer has always lived on the edge of differing styles that merge into a single voice that expresses clearly what guitar music has meant to now generations of music lovers. He can bask in the refinement of jazz guitar and in a flash be shredding hard rock riffs more reminiscent of Jeff Beck than a straight up jazz player. His playing bears the liberation of rock, the chops of jazz fusion and the cerebral aspects of post-bop jazz. Here, he hits The Seattle Jazz Fellowship with his trio featuring bassist David Dawda and drummer Brad Boal, themselves titans of instrumental versatility. For this gig, they add keyboardist / percussionist Bob Rees to the mix, with the possibility of more special guests hanging in the night air in Pioneer Square.

Heyer states that this band was formed with Khruangbin in mind, giving us another idea of what is to take place. Heyer is a musician that needs to be heard more on the jazz scene, making this booking a welcome change to what we might have seen in the dinner club reality of the past on the Seattle jazz scene. Many Seattle jazz fans may remember him from Tarik Abouzied’s Happy Orchestra pre-pandemic. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Ian Hughes Quartet

Sat Mar 7, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Completing an all-guitar weekend at SJF, guitarist Ian Hughes makes his sophomore visit to the non-profit’s stage, leading a quartet featuring bassist Marina Christopher, saxophonist Michael Jedynak. and drummer Chris Patin. For this performance, they are joined by pianist Joey Walbaum. The evening will be an album release celebration of Hughes’ latest release, Dreamscapes, a work featuring his originals and skillful arrangements. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Trevor Ford & Pico Trio

with Martin Budde & Dylan Hayes

Sat Mar 14, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Bassist Trevor Ford, guitarist Martin Budde and pianist Dylan Hayes have been playing a restaurant gig under the name, Pico Trio, an effort that does not include a drummer. When you consider the top shelf quality of the players involved, it becomes a chamber-like jazz ensemble of three equal parts. The threesome plays originals and interpretations of jazz standards and selected pop tunes. All three are very versatile players, giving the trio the ability to move in a wide variety of directions. Budde is a jazz guitarist with roots in bluegrass and Americana, Hayes an excellect composer and arranger to add to his formidable chops as a pianist. Ford is well known to area jazz fans as the bassist in Thomas Marriott’s Seattle quartet, but has been performing as a leader- this being his third hit at SJF. He swings with great ease and definitive post-bop roots. This should be a fun night, led my musicians that have integrated themselves into the Seattle jazz community on a steady basis. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Steve Guasch & ONE Album Release Concert

Fri Mar 20, 7:30 PM / The Triple Door Mainstage

Steve Guasch and ONE (Orquesta Nueva Era) celebrate their new Salsaneo Records release, Buscando La Verdad with a performance at the Triple Door featuring internationbal salsa stars and the best of Seattle’s vibrant Latin Jazz scene. International stars include Cuban drummer Calixto Oviedo, trumpeters Luis “Papo” Marquez and Haile Uriarte and bassist Maximo Rodriguez. Vocalists Francis Rosa Velez, Miguel Angel Baez, Josean Rivera and Carlos Cascante complete this all-star cast.

The Seattle based contingent within the orchestra includes pianist /arranger Julio Jauregui, Grammy nominated Cuban cuatro master, Kiki Valera, trumpeter Mike Mines, trombonists Nathan Vetter and Audrey Stangland and saxophonist Ted Dortch. The performance is financed by a 4Culture grant written by Seattle percussionist Tor Dietrichson. This should be a superb show for area Latin jazz fans, as well as those who wish to be introduced to the music. https://tickets.thetripledoor.net/eventperformances.asp?evt=2216

Kandace Springs Trio

Mar 26-Mar 29, 7:30 & 9:30 PM / Jazz Alley

Kandace Springs returns to Jazz Alley for a six show run. Springs is an excellent jazz vocalist and pianist, leading a long-tenured trio that is well worth the effort to get down to Belltown and have a nice evening at the Alley. Bassist Caylen Bryant and drummer Camille Gainer join Springs in a format that features Springs originals and a healthy portion of standards interpreted in soulful ways. One of the better jazz vocal artists on the scene, she is known specifically as a great live performer with a great rapport with her audience. https://www.jazzalley.com/www-home/artist.jsp?shownum=8754

Will Lone Quartet

Thu Mar 26, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Drummer Will Lone makes his debut as a leader at SJF, leading a quartet of eclectic Seattle players. Pianist Josh Rawlings and bassist Abbey Blackwell are formidable additions to the rhythm section, while tenor saxophonist Joel Steinke completes the foursome. Steinke is a bit underappreciated- a vibrant player with a classic tenor sound, he seems the perfect fit for this band. Blackwell hasn’t been around the Fellowship much, so a great opportunity to see her perform with a prime selection of bandmates. Rawlings is a versatile player with deft touch and great ideas behind the piano. This performance is a culmination of an interesting journey for Lone, who frequents the jam at SJF as well as supporting other artist’s gigs. He is a formidable talent- the hope here is that the gig is well supported. seattlejazzfellowship.org