Seattle Jazz Scene

WHAT:
Two rehearsals with Jimmy Heath
and the SRJO open to the public

WHERE & WHEN:

Thursday, December 6
4:00pm-6:30pm
Kirkland Teen Union Building
(348 Kirkland Ave., directly behind the
Kirkland Performance Center)

Friday, December 7
4:00pm-6:30pm
Lincoln High School Band Room
(4400 Interlake Ave N, Seattle,
Located one block east of Stone Way &
one block south of N. 45th Street)

WHY:
Leading to a studio recording of “The Endless Search” composed by Jimmy Heath and commissioned by the SRJO.

COST:
Free to the general public

The award-winning Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra SRJO brings jazz legend and NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Heath from New York to the Seattl area during the first week of December for two special rehearsals that will be open to the public. Mr. Heath’s residence in Seattle will culminate in a studio recording session with the SRJO. Heath, a world-renowned tenor saxophonist and composer, is joining the SRJO to make a studio recording of “The Endless Search,” a three movement suite commissioned from Heath by the SRJO, and premiered at the orchestra’s November 2006 concerts. Heath led the SRJO and played saxophone for the 2006 premieres.

Prior to 2006, Mr. Heath had last come to Seattle in 2001 as a guest performer for two sold-out concerts with the SRJO. He is among the most widely revered and recognized musicians in the world of jazz. Born in Philadelphia, he began his career in the 1940s as a sideman with many famous band leaders, including Dizzy Gillespie, J.J. Johnson, and Miles Davis. He went on to lead his own groups, and in 1975 joined with his brothers Tootie and Percy in forming a highly regarded band, The Heath Brothers, which recorded many critically acclaimed albums for the Riverside and Concord record labels. In 2003 he was honored by the National Endowment for the Arts and awarded the title of an NEA Jazz Master. He maintains an active career world-wide as a performer, composer and band leader. His recent work as a composer includes a piece commissioned by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (directed by Wynton Marsalis) and premiered by that group in 2005.

“The Endless Search” for jazz big band was commissioned by the SRJO through a grant from Meet the Composer, Inc. This is the third commission of a new, multi-movement work for the SRJO. Previous works have been commissioned by Seattle composers William O. Smith (in 2002) and Jovino Santos Neto (in 2005). The Heath commission is the first work written for the SRJO by a composer with a major national and international following, and the resulting recording will likely receive broad attention throughout the U.S.