Seattle Jazz Fellowship | Seattle Jazz Scene

Seattle Jazz Scene: Live Jazz Previews for Seattle

March 19, 2024 / Paul Rauch / No Comments

Milo Petersen Quintet

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

Guitarist Milo Petersen is a veteran presence on the Seattle jazz scene. A longtime first-call guitarist, Petersen’s influence on Seattle jazz is personified by the legion of local and national players he has mentored. For this performance, he turns to SRJO mates in veteran bassist Phil Sparks and trombonist Connor Eisenmenger, along with drummer Greg Campbell and saxophonist Steve Griggs, to form a quintet of Seattle vintage. The band will present original tunes and standards. There is a ton of common ground with these players, over decades of time, so it’s bound to be swinging. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Jun Iida Quartet

Sat Jun 13, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St

Trumpeter Jun Iida left Seattle for New York a short time ago. His return to perform at the Seattle Jazz Fellowship has Seattle written all over it however, with a new album, Bellflower set for a June 19 release on Seattle based OA2 / Origin Records label. Iida will celebrate with a Seattle based quartet featuring bassist Michael Glynn and drummer Sutton Marley. Bellevue’s Roman Goron joins on piano, a young, local sensation currently studying at Juilliard in NYC. Iida’s highly melodic and visual original tunes will be featured, including new selections from the upcoming album. A good opportunity to welcome a couple of good friends home as well. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Monday Night Jam Session

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/

Tuesday Night Jam at the Owl

Tuesdays at 9:30 PM / Owl ‘n 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, Emmet 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

Miles Electric Band

Thu Jun 18, 8 PM / Town Hall

Earshot jazz joins the Miles 100 celebration by presenting the Miles Electric Band at Town Hall. Organized by Davis nephew Vince Wilburn, the band convenes veterans of Miles Davis’ electric era. Bassist Daryl Jones, guitarist Jean Paul Bourelly, keyboardist Robert Irving III and Wilburn all collaborated directly with Davis. Trumpeter Keyon Harrold and saxophonist Antoine Roney are among the notable new generation players on the gig. This is essentially the same crew that played the Moore, in what now seems like a century ago in 2018, the notable exception being Harrold replacing Jeremy Pelt on trumpet. Harrold is undoubtedly up to the task. This should be a fun night, and an interesting test for the venerable Great Hall to handle a little volume! https://www.earshot.org/event/celebrating-the-miles-davis-centennial-with-meb-miles-electric-band/

Julian Priester Quartet

Sat Jun 20, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Over the span of a career that now amounts to seventy five years, there is little that trombone legend Julian Priester hasdn’t seen or heard in jazz. He has played a prominent role in the music’s history, as a leader, and through formidable contributions to the efforts of Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Dave Holland and so on. He’ll be 91 by the time of this performance! Priester has played with different iterations of Seattle musicians this year on a monthly basis at SJF, this time around with piano virtuoso Eric Verlinde, electric bassist Dean Schmidt and the multi-talented percussionist, Jeff Busch on drums. What better way to spend a Saturday evening, than in beautiful Pioneer Square with a true jazz icon? http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Louis Hayes

Tue Jun 23 – Wed Jun 24, 7:30 PM / Jazz Alley

Hailing from Detroit, eighty-nine year old drummer , Louis Hayes, is jazz history in person. He began in the mid-1950s with fellow Detroiters Yusef Lateef and Curtis Fuller, and went on to play with a plethora of jazz icons. Hayes is noted for his time with Cannonball Adderly, Horace Silver and Oscar Peterson, but his dance card is full of names like Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Kenny Barron, Woody Shaw and Dexter Gordon…….phew!!! The legendary drummer will arrive at Jazz Alley with the great Steve Nelson on vibes, David Hazeltine on piano, Abraham Burton on saxophone and dynamic bassist, Dezron Douglas. https://www.jazzalley.com/www-home/artist.jsp?shownum=8788

Murl Allen Sanders Lucky Love Band

Thu Jun 25, 7:30 PM / Seattlle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

Murl Allen Sanders is a veteran presence on the Seattle music scene, known as the area’s virtuoso of the acordion- but there is more to the story, as the versatile artist also is featured on piano, harmonica, organ and vocals. He makes his unique sound happen by way of a stellar band on this occasion, bringing in uber-talented guitarist Brian Monroney, tenor saxophonist Alexey Nikolaev, vibraphonist Susan Pascal, bassist Chris Symer and drummer Mark Ivester. All of these musicians have led bands and played prominent roles as side musicians at SJF and around the city and region. Sanders will present an eclectic mix of originals and standards in a variety of styles. Essentially, he lives in the world of music based in the blues, with jazz and Brazilian leanings. Considering the musical personalities involved, this evening can be nothing but fun! http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

World Cup Wonders: Thomas Marriott, Tim Kennedy, Michael Glynn, Matt Jorgensen & Rick Mandyck

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

No matter how you feel about soccer, the World Cup’s presence in Seattle or the new traffic plan for Pioneer Square during the event, we can all agree on one thing- music is an essential human need. How better to culturally nourish ourselves during all this international attention than to attend this gig? After all, these are five of the finest musicians in town currently, and for that matter, historically. If you know, you know- but if you don’t? This would be a good time to discover the Seattle Jazz Fellowship and the vibrancy of the local scene. SJF has been assisting Pioneer Square in coming back to life since 2021, long before the current excitement, and will be here when the WC of Football is a distant memory. This amounts to a wondrous collision of culture where America’s most original art form meets the world’s biggest sporting event on common ground! http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Brian Monroney Quartet

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

Guitarist Brian Monroney is one of the most talented musicians on the Seattle jazz scene- if you have not seen him as a leader, or in a variety of prominent ensembles around town, now is the time to do so. A veteran of the road, Monroney has settled here and demonstrated a talent for virtually any musical environment he may find himself in. For this date, he convenes a quartet featuring drummer Tarik Abouzied, tenor saxophonist Alexey Nikolaev and electric bassist Dean Schmidt– all stalwarts of the PNW jazz and fusion scene. It is from that fusion realm that Monroney arrives, mixing in a few standards along the way. A master of gathering an orchestral palette of guitar sounds, this is one of those nights at First and Main that you do not want to miss. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Manazma Sheen

Thu July 9, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St.

The trio, Manazma Sheen, has a new album out titled, Strictly Everything, which may be the best way to describe this improvisation based threesome. They describe their approach on the band’s website like this: “We are an instrumental group of musicians based in Seattle, Washington seeking to groove and swing and rock and everything in between. We focus on playing original compositions and arrangements of music by people we admire. Sometimes surreal, sometimes focused, the trio explores the full depth of consciousness within our repertoire which spans ‘strictly everything.”

The band consists of drummer Davy Nefos, vibraphonist Alfred Marra and bassist Trevor Pelletier. This is the second appearance by the band at SJF, the first in the newer basement space. There is a lot of space in the music, meaning the results vary in accordance with the vibe. There is a fearless component to what they do. Good bunch of guys, which should attract a good bunch of folks to see them. After all, the hang is the thing! http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Greta Matassa

Fri July 10, 7:30 PM / Seattle Jazz Fellowship- 103 S. Main St

Master jazz vocal artist Greta Matassa is one of the true greats in the history of jazz music in our city. Her performances around town are remarkably excellent, not to mention consistent- I can’t recall ever being disappointed with one of her shows, and I have attended dozens. In terms of range, dynamics, improvisational chops and all around jazz sensibility, she is without peer in Seattle. Her impact on the jazz vocal community as a mentor is immeasurable. Witness this for yourself, as the SJF space is the hottest place in town to see any of the luminaries on the Seattle scene. Band TBA, but I am assuming she will be with her long-time band featuring bassist Clipper Anderson, pianist David Lee Joyner, drummer Mark Ivester and saxophonist Alexey Nikolaev. Guitarist Brian Monroney is frequently with the band. Updates soon. http://seattlejazzfellowship.org

Opinion/Editorial: The Time to Act is Now to Support Local Seattle Jazz

November 24, 2023 / Paul Rauch / No Comments

“Our mission is to build community, provide access to the mentorship cycle, incentivize excellence and to lower the barriers to access jazz for both performers and listeners.”

This quote from the original mission statement of the Seattle Jazz Fellowship states in no uncertain terms, the focus of the Seattle 401(c) 3 non-profit that has guided its journey from its point of inception in October 2021. This was when the fellowship initiated its “Fellowship Wednesdays” weekly affair at Vermillion Art Bar on Capitol Hill. While the non-profit has engaged in a variety of special events, the Wednesday series has presented live jazz featuring Seattle resident musicians with occasional out of town guests now for more than two years. It has provided a stage for Seattle jazz musicians to perform original music for an appreciative listening audience and be paid respectfully. While only one night a week, it has been a beacon of hope for the Seattle jazz scene that has lost its collective mainstages largely due to gentrification. The business model that guided jazz dinner clubs like the New Orleans Creole Restaurant in Pioneer Square and the iconic Tula’s Jazz Club in Belltown became obsolete. The price tag for the consumer became sky high, while the numbers needed to manage a successful business became impossible. An alternative was needed if the resident jazz scene in Seattle was to survive.

On Tuesday November 21, SJF founder Thomas Marriott announced that the December 6 edition of Fellowship Wednesdays would be the last staged at Vermillion, as the fellowship would be moving into its own space in Pioneer Square beginning in late January of 2024. The venue will be a pop-up affair in the historic Globe building near the intersection of First Avenue and Main St., smack dab in the middle of the neighborhood that not long ago was the heartbeat of Seattle nightlife. Programming will increase to “several” nights a week according to Marriott, increasing employment opportunities for musicians, and live jazz access for listeners. The non-profit’s logical next step is a large one, and will require a significant increase in support from the Seattle music community at large. Most importantly, it will require an “all in” support network from Seattle jazz musicians themselves. In an interview I conducted with Marriott that culminated in an All About Jazz article in February 2022, he stated, “It takes everybody showing up. It takes people getting off the bench and off the sidelines and saying,’I’m going to show up to this person’s gig because it’s good for all of us.’”

In essence, this is a calling to step up to the plate and hit it out of the park. The time is NOW. What is required is not a burden, but an act of love and respect for jazz music in Seattle, and the artists that provide the sounds. It is a call to the jazz audience to not only support the music with your dollars, but to show up and join in the fellowship and broad sense of community this music provides.

You can purchase a membership using the link below. If your personal income allows you to make a donation beyond standard membership, now is the time to do so. If your working life puts you in contact with personal and/or corporate entities that are possibly willing to support this venture, now is the time to begin that conversation. We can create something beautiful and long-lasting if we so wish–it’s up to us as a community. Do we want local, fair paying gigs in an inclusive environment that welcomes the public without typical financial barriers to access? The answer is definitely yes. It is now officially in our hands.

Buy a membership, volunteer your time, make a donation, show up–this is what is required of you. The exploding moment we have all been waiting for is here. Nobody is going to show up and be the savior of the local Seattle jazz scene–we are collectively just that. Marriott has set the foundation. It’s “go time” to take it from there and build our community. https://seattlejazzfellowship.org/membership

Seattle Jazz Fellowship Presents: Orrin Evans & The Captain Black Big Band

June 30, 2022 / Paul Rauch / No Comments

“While the nonprofit has been acknowledged for providing a place for the resident Seattle jazz to thrive, it is equally important to note the Fellowship’s work in caring for the music itself.”

The Seattle Jazz Fellowship, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by trumpeter Thomas Marriott, was created in response to the loss of viable jazz stages showcasing the vibrant resident jazz scene in Seattle. While local jazz musicians and fans alike mourned the downfall of longtime resident haunts such as the New Orleans club and Tula’s Jazz Club, Marriott and a supportive group of like-minded community members sought an alternative to the traditional jazz supper club personified by the aforementioned institutions. Gentrification of the downtown core of the city had driven rents to such a level that sustaining a club that could also serve as a community hub had become difficult at best. Food and liquor sales became the life blood of these attempts, driving up the price of access to jazz fans, while wages for musicians hung at early 1980’s levels. Worse yet, musicians had to rely on the door or ticket receipts to be paid at all. Like many jazz scenes around the country not based in New York City, the best musicians had to leave town to have any hope of earning a living as a professional jazz musician. The story of the Seattle Jazz Fellowship (SJF) and its guiding principles first appeared in All About Jazz in February, 2022, in the article Seattle Jazz Fellowship: A New Beginning For Live Resident Jazz . To continue reading, click here https://www.allaboutjazz.com/seattle-jazz-fellowship-presents-orrin-evans-and-the-captain-black-big-band-captain-black-big-band

Seattle Jazz Fellowship Photo Gallery: Alex Claffy Quintet and The Fellowship ‘Ceptet at the Royal Room

February 9, 2022 / Paul Rauch / No Comments

The Seattle Jazz Fellowship, the city’s 501 (c) (3) jazz non-profit, has taken a hiatus from their weekly dates at Vermillion until April 20, when the Wednesday night program will re-ignite for another six week run. In the meantime, the organization founded by Thomas Marriott has turned its focus to presenting performances featuring the Fellowship ‘Ceptet, a rotating gathering of the best of the Seattle jazz scene. The seven piece ensemble opened for New York based bassist Alex Claffy and his quintet on Tuesday, February 8 at the Royal Room in Columbia City.

The ‘Ceptet performed compositions by trumpeter Marriott, along with a Thelonious Monk classic. Marriott was joined by a front line of altoist Alex Dugdale, tenorist Jackson Cotugno and trombonist David Marriott, Jr.. Pianist Marina Albero, bassist Trevor Ford and drummer D’Vonne Lewis held down the rhythm section.

Claffy’s quintet featured Portland born and raised tenorist Nicole Glover, and trumpeter Benny Benack III. The New York based band was all in on the hang in Seattle as well, attending both the Monday night jam at the Royal Room, and the Tuesday night jam at the Owl ‘n Thistle.

Photographers Jim Levitt and Lisa Hagen Glynn were there to document the event with their stellar photographic skill sets. Enjoy the results! To further explore the goings on with the Seattle Jazz Fellowship, visit their website at https://seattlejazzfellowship.org/