Seattle Jazz Scene

Seattle Jazz Beat: A Weekly Look at the Seattle Jazz Scene

Seattle Jazz Beat is a weekly Substack column from Jazz Journalist Association writer, Paul Rauch. It is a narrative covering news and events, providing musician profiles, reviews and gathering community resources in support of jazz music in Seattle. To read and subscribe, follow this link-https://substack.com/@seattlejazzbeat

Kerry Politzer

Sat Oct 31, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Pianist Kerry Politzer returns to Seattle Jazz Fellowship, arriving from Portland with something a little different. In her past appearances, she has featured a jazz quartet performing original compositions, including those on her excellent 2025 release, Alternate Route. This time she teams up with Seattle stalwarts Milo Petersen (guitar) and Michael Glynn (bass) to present a selection of Brazilian and Bossa Nova tunes. George Colligan joins on drums.

Politzer has a Brazilian ensemble in Portland, Bossa PDX, and brings those tunes to share with her Seattle friends. A brilliant pianist with beautiful touch and feel, the interest here is applying her high end jazz skills to the music of Bossa masters. Petersen and Glynn are jazz cats as well, and like Politzer, have been first call musicians long enough to have delved into the whole spectrum of the jazz lexicon. Drummer Colligan is an iconic jazz pianist, and unknown to many, a great percussionist as well. Make you way through the ghosts and goblins on Halloween to Pioneer Square for this one. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Monday Night Jam at the 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/

Kenny Garrett and Sounds From the Ancestors

Tue & Wed Nov 3-4, 7:30 PM / Jazz Alley

Another musician in the long line of great players to emerge from Detroit, alto saxophone master Kenny Garrett is a once in a generation talent that has roots not only in his hometown, but in the 1980s band of Miles Davis. He cites the sounds he heard growing up in the Motor City as his prime influence in forming this band, remembering Detroiters Donald Byrd, Aretha Franklin, and Marvin Gaye in his recitations. John Coltrane has always had a musical and spiritual hold on his playing as well. Simply put, Garrett is one of the true living masters of jazz and a must – see artist for every jazz fan at least once. https://www.jazzalley.com/www-home/artist.jsp?shownum=8831

Tuesday Night Jam at the Owl

Tuesday Nights 9:30 PM / Owl ‘n Thistle

The Tuesday night jam at the Owl has a colorful 30 year legacy, and is one of the few late-night gatherings left in town. The result is that musicians show up, and often, touring artists drop in as well. The jam has welcomed in Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Emmet Cohen and a host of others. The jam began in the late 90s, hosted by the neo-bop ensemble, Bebop & Destruction. After a long-run by pianist Eric Verlinde, pianist /mallet artist Matt Williams has taken the reins of this important community event. For many years, it has been a gathering spot for the Seattle jazz community, and a space where musical ties are formed. I interviewed the founders in 2021 for an article outlining the jam’s wild and interesting history for All About Jazz. To read, follow this link https://www.allaboutjazz.com/tuesday-night-jams-at-the-owl-a-25-year-legacy-in-seattle

Nicole Yvette

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

Seattle vocalist Nicole Yvette performs tunes from her new album, Say Yes, and more, teaming with an all-star gathering of Seattle talent to do so. She is accompanied by pianist Shawn Schlogel, along with first call musicians in bassist Michael Glynn and drummer D’Vonne Lewis. Tenor giant Cliff Colon joins as the second voice on the front line. Yvette’s calling in jazz life came later than most, and she is determined to make the most of it with her ambitious recording project and front line band. This one will draw a party-ready crowd (speaking in mature terms, of course). Come ready for a fun evening and a bit of a homecoming for Nicole. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Chris Icasiano

Fri Nov 6, 7:30 PM / Kenyon Hall

Drummer and composer Chris Icasiano hits Kenyon Hall, a unique grange hall type setting in West Seattle operated by the non-profit, Seattle Artists. Icasiano is joined by pianist Matt Williams, bassist Abbey Blackwell and songwriter Tomo Nakayama. He plays drums in a very melodic fashion, resulting in a highly original sound. As a bandleader, Icasiano has an open-minded approach, often landing in new and exciting places. Blackwell is a unique player as well, and a proper fit with Icasiano, creating a rhythm section that is open-ended and capable of melodic contributions at any point in time. Williams is one of the finest players in town- a first-rate jazz pianist with an adventurous soul on both keyboards and mallet instruments. Nakayama is a multi-genre musicians and artist who has featured both Icasiano and Blackwell on his live performances and recording projects that have resulted in four albums. https://www.kenyonhall.org/events

Ray Larsen

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

Trumpeter Ray Larsen has always resided musically somewhere in that vacuitous space stylistically that surrounds jazz and embraces it. He has a clear, highly original trumpet sound. I’ve told the story here where I heard a trumpet sound floating through Pioneer Square one day, and followed it to a private gig on Occidental. I knew the sound as Ray’s, and sure enough, it was indeed him! Here he is joined by drummer Mike Gebhart– a former Seattleite who moved to NYC and is now in LA. Mike is a textural player who fits into this trio format with Geoff Harper on bass, like a glove. Geoff is an explansive and intrepid player himself, giving Larsen the melodic freedom to really dig into his vast vocabulary and create spontaneous magic. Update: Eclectic saxophonist has been added to the lineup. This makes this the perfect quartet for Larsen’s music. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Thomas Marriott Quartet

Thu Nov 12, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Trumpeter Thomas Marriott has been so busy curating SJF, that aside from the Monday night house band, performances featuring his music have been all-too-rare in recent times. For this performance he brings in mates Tim Kennedy (piano) and Trevor Ford (bass), along with swingin’ Philadelphia based drummer Maria Marmarou. Of course, there are a few years of playing creating a group mind between the trumpeter and half of this quartet- but the fresh energy provided by Marmarou should elevate this evening into something really special. The trumpeter has fifteen albums as a leader or co-leader, with another soon to come, enabling the band to choose a variety of directions to explore. Marriott has worked tirelessly on this vision that has materialized near the corner of First and Main in Pioneer Square. I’m hoping we as a community show our appreciation by treating ourselves to a performance of this caliber, and creating some ruckus in the room to embrace this assemblage of fine musicians. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Ben Black

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

Vocalist Ben Black offers an intimate evening of music accompanied by pianist Josh Rawlings and percussionist Anil Prasad. The trio will craft sonic landscapes. Black describes it in part as “an exploration of vocal improvisation, energy, vibration, and the deeper mysticism of the ‘Coltrane Code.” They will use jazz standards, original material and inspiration from artists such as John and Alice Coltrane. One thing to add is that Black never just plays a gig- he has shown a propensity for deeply immersing himself in the process and the actual moment of performance. He has a special chemistry with Rawlings that should add to the ease in which magic moments appear. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org