Seattle Jazz Scene

North City Jazz Walk: Multiple venues in Shoreline’s North City neighborhood. Performers include: Greta Matassa with Critical Mass Big Band, Stephanie Porter with Brian Nova, Susan Pascal Quartet, Blazing Altos, Dan Sales Jazz Group and more!
For more information, visit http://northcityjazzwalk.org

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Emerald City Jazz Orchestra

JAZZ ALLEY: Bela Fleck and Toumani Diabate

NEW ORLEANS: Holotradband

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Steve Smith and Chris Sanders
9pm – Mark Zaleski Band, with special guest Isabella Du Graf – Mark Zaleski (alto/sop sax), Jon Bean (tenor sax), Glenn Zaleski (piano), Alex Brown (piano), Will Graefe (guitar), Will Slater (bass) and Tyson Stubelek (drums)

DEXTER AND HAYES: Tim Kennedy Trio

MARTIN’S ON MADISON: Karin Kajita

MIX: Don Mock

CHOP SUEY: Acknowledgement of a Celebration
9:00pm-9:50pm: Threat of Beauty
10:00pm-10:50pm: Industrial Revelation
11:00pm-11:45pm: New Seattle Percussion Ensemble
11:45am-12:30am: The Teaching

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Chad McCullough & Banff Nocturnes
from Earshot Jazz: A veteran of the Seattle scene, trumpeter and composer Chad McCullough has been an integral voice in countless regional ensembles and projects. Having received his Masters of Music from the University of Washington in 2005, McCullough has more recently been a member of the Origin team, working alongside John Bishop and Matt Jorgensen. McCullough’s terrific debut Origin release, “Dark Wood, Dark Water” – which features Bill Anschell, Jeff Johnson, John Bishop, Mark Taylor, and Geof Bradfield – has begun to introduce him to a larger audience, and it is high time he become appreciated on a level in accordance with his skills as an improviser and composer. McCullough will be performing with the Banff Nocturnes at Tula’s on August 10 at 7:30 PM.

TOST: Michael Shrieve’s Spellbinder

JAZZ ALLEY Fleck and Toumani Diabate

NEW ORLEANS: New Orleans Quintet

JAZZ ALLEY:  Bill Evans Soulgrass featuring Dennis Chambers with special guest Robben Ford

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB:
3pm – Jazz Police Big Band
8pm – Jim Cutler Orchestra

MARTINS OFF MADISON: Tim Kennedy

SERAFINA: Alex Guilbert Duo, 11am

TRIPLE DOOR MUSICQUARIUM: Sunday Night Salsa: Tor Dietrichson and Mambo Cadillac

CONCERT: Greta Matassa Trio w/Susan Pascal
Teahouse Concerts Series, 939 25th Ave S, 5pm

CONCERT: Lloyd Jones Struggle, KPLU Jazz Cruise
More info: KPLU Jazz Cruise, 10:30am

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Greta Matassa Quartet

JAZZ ALLEY: Bill Evans Soulgrass featuring Dennis Chambers with special guest Robben Ford

LUCID JAZZ LOUNGE: Matt Hopper Quartet

BAKE’S PLACE: Kelley Johnson Quartet

LOCAL COLOR: Elnah Jordan and Katie King

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Overton Berry Trio w/Grace Holden
9pm – Ann Vriend
11pm – Ethan Thomas Quartet, w/ Ethan Thomas (saxophone), Mike Owcharuk (piano), Mike Catts (bass), Lynn Roberson (drums)

SERAFINA: Kelly Ash

Greta Matassa is a long time fixture on the local music scene and possesses an enduring adoration from jazz fans throughout the Northwest. This admiration is well-deserved. She approaches the music with a musician’s sensibility and a joyful fervor and energy that exhilarate her audiences again and again. Greta is the proverbial “whole package”: Her improvisational chops are spot-on, and she jumps into her solos with a take-no-prisoners style that is nothing short of thrilling. She has an authentic sensitivity to the lyric, and her repertoire of songs is vast, encompassing all the standards as well as multitudes of unique and lesser- known compositions. Throughout the evolution of her craft, Matassa has left no stone unturned. Through painstaking listening, study and hard-worked Greta culled her inspiration and knowledge from the masters of the jazz genre. Now it can easily be said that she is among them.

Greta’s new CD I Wanna Be Loved is her first release on the Resonance record label. I Wanna Be Loved features arrangements by the esteemed pianist Tamir Hendelman, who also plays on the recording. The CD includes songs written by a who’s who list of composers the likes of Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Cy Coleman, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Al Jarreau and Henry Mancini. The CD features string arrangements by Kuno Schmidt and also performances by many prominent Los Angeles musicians as well as two of Greta’s longtime bandmates, Darin Clendenin on piano and Clipper Anderson on bass. I Wanna Be Loved debuted at #19 on national jazz charts for radio airplay. The release of this exciting new CD is yet another pinnacle on Greta’s long and distinguished career

The eastside release party for I Wanna Be Loved will be held at Bake’s Place at Providence Point, where Matassa has been a featured artist for many years. Reservations can be made by calling 425-391-3335 or by sending an email to [email protected]. For more information, please visit www.bakesplace.org.

From the SaveKBCS Blog:

The “Save KBCS” working group requested a meeting with Bellevue College President Jean Floten. The meeting was held on July 15th. Present at the meeting from “Save KBCS” were representatives Jean Geiger, Dave Long, and Al Barnes. Representing KBCS management was Mike Talbott, Dean of Information Services (General Manager Steve Ramsey’s immediate supervisor), and President Jean Floten. We presented President Floten with 350 printed emails that had been sent to [email protected] in the week prior to the meeting. Since then the number of emails we received is well above 500. We requested that President Floten:

1) Postpone the Phase 1 August 24th changes,
2) Appoint a mediator to facilitate the completion of the Strategic Plan. (This has been in the works for over 3 years),
3) Direct KBCS management to open a dialog with the volunteer and listener community for all future programming changes.

On Monday, July 27th, President Floten sent an email to SaveKBCS stating her support for Phase 1 changes to be implemented as planned and stated she believes a more inclusive process should be incorporated for Phase 2 and 3 changes.

Shortly after the July 15th meeting with President Floten, KBCS management held 3 meetings for all active volunteers for questions and the presentation of statistics to support their decision to drop 20 hours of distinct Jazz/Folk/World music and close to 20 non-paid DJ volunteers Monday-Friday. The replacement for this dropped programming will be syndicated, purchased public affairs and news programs and a paid DJ for a blended Jazz/World/Americana show in the 9am-12noon slot. Originally management wanted a paid DJ for the 12noon-3pm slot. Due to a lack of funds the afternoon paid DJ has been put on hold. However, the existing afternoon DJs are summarily dismissed and will be replaced by other volunteers of the Program Director’s choosing based on new applications.
Read More

from The Seattle Times:

The business district along 15th Avenue Northeast in Shoreline, called North City, got its new sidewalks three years ago when the city spent millions to put utility lines underground, widen the walkways and install new light standards.

Inspired by the neighborhood facelift, three local businessmen, one of them a jazz musician, came up with the idea to host a one-day jazz festival in the style of the three-day festival in Port Townsend. The budget and lead time were small three years ago. But from that notion came the first North City Jazz Walk. The festival drew 400 people, who saw shows in four restaurants.

“It even rained that night,” said Steve Cook, chairman of the neighborhood business association, and one of the event organizers. “The next year we got 700 people [at the height of the Beijing Olympic Games]. This year we’re expecting 1,400.”

Continue reading at The Seattle Times.

EVENT DETAILS: North City Jazz Walk
7 p.m. Tuesday, in nine venues along 15th Avenue Northeast, Shoreline; $12 for all-inclusive tickets (in advance at www.northcityjazzwalk.org) or $10 in person (at Peking House restaurant, Laughing Ladies Café, North City Bistro & Wine Shop, the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce and the Shoreline-LFP Arts Council; more information, 206-364-4566 or www.northcityjazzwalk.org)

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: David Frisen Trio w/ John Gross and David Goebel

JAZZ ALLEY: Bill Evans Soulgrass featuring Dennis Chambers with special guest Robben Ford

LUCID JAZZ LOUNGE: Ambience

BAKE’S PLACE: Greta Matassa
CD Release Party for I Wanna Be Loved

LOCAL COLOR: Marc Smason

LATONA PUB: Phil Sparks Trio

SOUTHPORT CAFE: Brooks Giles Band
1083 Lake Washington Blvd N, Renton, 7:00pm

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Momentum Jazz Quartet, with Mikel Rollins (sax/flute/percussion), Gregg Robinson (keyboards), Sylvia Rollins (electric bass) and Mark Jelsing (drums)
9pm – Shoemaker Brothers, with Samuel Shoemaker (violin/vocals), Nathanael Shoemaker (cello/vocals), Daniel Shoemaker (viola/vocals) and Gabriel Shoemaker (violin/vocals)
11pm – Paul Rucker and Hans Teuber

NORTH CITY BISTRO: Bassic Saxx

13 COINS: Lance Buller w/ Phil Sparks, Chris Spencer, & Mike Slivka

PAMPAS ROOM: Brian Nova

Northwest jazz artists from Portland to Vancouver continue to pour out new CDs, and this Sunday afternoon we’ll sample recent releases by McTuff, Tony Grasso’s Saxophone? Quartet!, Cory Weeds, Eric Verlinde, Chad McCullough and Darin Clendenin, and talk about live jazz around the region this coming week.

Jazz Northwest airs Sundays at 1 PM on 88-5, KPLU, Jim Wilke is host and producer.

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Beth Winter Quartet with Randy Halberstadt

JAZZ ALLEY: Bill Evans Soulgrass featuring Dennis Chambers with special guest Robben Ford

NEW ORLEANS: Bob Jackson Quintet

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Damon Zick and Friends, with Damon Zick (saxophone), Chris Stover (trombone), Chris Symer (bass), Dawn Clement (piano) and Eric Eagle (drums)
9pm – Crown Hill Invention, with Tom Watson (vocals/guitar), Mike Sievers (vocals/piano/guitar) and John Isenhart (bass)

THAIKU: Jon Alberts, Jeff Johnson and Tad Britton

LO-FI: Gravity w/ Tim Kennedy, Ian Sheridan, & Claudio Rochat Felix

LUCID JAZZ LOUNGE: The Hang

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Smith Staelens Big Band

JAZZ ALLEY: Winard Harper

NEW ORLEANS: Legacy Quartet w/Clarence Acox

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Clave Gringa with Ann-ita Reynolds(piano/vocals), Daniel Barry (cornet/bone/etc), Dan O’Brien (bass), Pedro Vargas (drums), Edsson Otero (percussion)
9pm – Vocal Showcase hosted by Lindsay Nichols, featuring Lisa Petion, Mercedes Nicole and Shiri Zorn

LUCID JAZZ LOUNGE: Afro Cop w/ Michel Navedo

THAIKU: Ron Weinstein Trio

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Jay Thomas Big Band

JAZZ ALLEY: Winard Harper

TRIPLE DOOR MAINSTAGE: Soul Kata

NEW ORLEANS: Holotradband

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Captain Swow with Brennan Carter (trumpet/effects), Elliot Gray (piano/keyboard/effects) and Ehssan Karimi (drums)
9pm – Round Two, with Tyler Kion (saxes), Raymond Larsen (trumpet), Richard Pellegrin (keys), Jessica Kion (bass), Dana Hench (trombone), Daniel O’Neil (drums/percussion)

DEXTER AND HAYES: Tim Kennedy Trio

MARTIN’S ON MADISON: Karin Kajita

MIX: Don Mock

JAZZ ALLEY:  Monty Alexander Trio

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB:
3pm – Reggie Goings/Hadley Caliman
8pm – Jim Cutler Orchestra

MARTINS OFF MADISON: Tim Kennedy

SERAFINA: Ann Reynolds

TRIPLE DOOR MUSICQUARIUM: Sunday Night Salsa: Orchestra Caribe

On Saturday, August 1st, Bake’s Place welcomes San Francisco vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jennifer Lee to the stage. Lee’s musical roots are in straight-ahead jazz and she got her start as an accompanist for vocalists in her college jazz band. It wasn’t long before Lee discovered her own singing chops and she soon began performing as a vocalist as well. Her years as an pianist and guitarist afforded her with a musician’s sensibility for the harmonic armature of the music, and she was able to successfully put her own signature on interpretations of the standards. Lee has a particular passion for the music of Brazil. She accompanies herself on guitar and songs in near perfect Portuguese. In addition, she is a member of Doce Brazil, which has played at the San Francisco Jazz Summerfest as well as multiple venues and festivals throughout the Bay area. Lee has recorded two solo CD’s: Jaywalkin’ and Quiet Joy, the latter of which was just released in spring of this year. On both of these recordings, Lee collaborated with San Diego guitarist Peter Sprague who served as co-arranger and co-producer. Sprague is the founder of SBE Records, the label for both of Lee’s recordings.

Jennifer’s appearance at Bake’s is part of the ongoing Visiting Songbird series, which features top-tier vocal jazz talent culled from across the United States. For this performances, Lee will be joined by esteemed Northwest musicians John Stowell on guitar, Jeff Johnson on bass and Mark Ivester on drums.

For reservations to this show, call 425-391-3335 or email [email protected]. For more information, you can check out the Bake’s website: www.bakesplace.org

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Stephanie Porter Quartet

JAZZ ALLEY: Monty Alexander Trio

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Jazz Connection, Jyl Leininger (vocals), Katie Renee (piano), Jerry Simon (tenor sax), Edgar Steinitz (alto sax/clarinet), Chris Leininger (bass/guitar), Sandy Walker (drums)
9pm – Strange Jerome, Room for Roots Series, hosted by Nancy K Dillon.
Sherri Jerome (vocals/guitar/mandolin), Michael Beckworth (vocals/guitar), Andrew Hare (bass) and Moses Gershbein (drums)
11pm – Bryan Smith Quartet, Bryan Smith (saxophone), Chris Icasiano (drums), Jared Brokowski (guitar), Rich Pellegrin (keyboard)

GRAZIE: Andre Thomas

BAKE’S PLACE: Jennifer Lee Quartet

EL GAUCHO BELLEVUE: Trish Hatley Trio

LOCAL COLOR: Sue Bell

LUCID: Maya Jenkins

SERAFINA: Leo Raymundo w/Sue Nixon

CONCERT: David Grisman Quintet
More info: Edmonds Center for the Arts, 8pm
From Earshot Jazz: Benefiting Parkview Services, a non-profit organization working to provide affordable housing options for people with disabilities in Snohomish and King Counties, the David Grisman Quintet will perform a rollicking evening of idiosyncratic and spirited acoustic music. Encompassing elements of bluegrass, jazz, Americana, classical, latin, and klezmer music, Grisman’s music represents the plurality of the American experience.

from The Seattle Times:

As a young lion in the mid-1980s, drummer Winard Harper came of age in the midst of a jazz boom. Resurgent legends mentored budding players, providing them with invaluable experience and exposure. Record labels sought out young artists, and clubs rushed to book their bands.

Harper first gained attention as a supple timekeeper in 1982 with tenor sax titans Dexter Gordon and Johnny Griffin. But it was his four-year run with vocalist Betty Carter that catapulted the Baltimore native into prominence. He made his Seattle debut with Carter, a savvy talent scout who ran her band like a boot camp for improvisers, and he’s returned many times as the leader of his own combo.

He arrives in town on Tuesday for a two-night run at Jazz Alley looking at a jazz landscape transformed by technology and recession. After more than a decade leading a sextet constantly refreshed by a stream of top young talent, Harper is talking about downsizing. With sadness in his voice, he indicated that his longest-serving band member, Senegalese percussionist Alioune Faye, may not make the West Coast trip.

Continue reading at The Seattle Times.

Byron Vannoy’s Meridian performs today at the South Lake Union Summer Concert Series
(2200 Westlake Ave, upper plaza), 11:45am

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Bill Anschell Trio with Doug Miller and Byron Vannoy

JAZZ ALLEY: Monty Alexander Trio

SERAFINA: Kelly Ash Trio

LATONA PUB: Phil Sparks Trio

EL GAUCHO BELLEVUE: Trish Hatley Trio

HIROSHI’S: Jay Thomas & Gene Argel Quartet

NORTH CITY BISTRO: Fred Hoadley Trio

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Molly Venter
9pm – The Starlings with special guest Sarah Burgess
11pm – FLEX 4 with Dan Blunck (woodwinds), David Haney (piano), Dan O’Brien (bass) and Ken Paine (drums) – Stretching the limits of composed and improvised music

Pony Boy Records Presents
JAZZ and SUSHI
Friday, July 31 – Jay Thomas & Gene Argel Quartet
Jay Thomas – sax & trumpet
Gene Argel – Hammond B-3
Chuck Kistler – bass
Greg Williamson – drums

Hiroshi’s Restaurant
2501 Eastlake Avenue East, Seattle, WA
ph: (206)726-4966
no cover
7:30 – 10:00

Jazz & Sushi web page with photos, schedules, map and more:

Gene Argel is a native of the Pacific Northwest, and was a much loved fixture and “monster player” on the Seattle Jazz scene until his move to Hawaii in 1980. He dazzles his audiences with his jazz, blues, and Latin rhythms. Jay Thomas, Seattle’s ever-present mutil-instrumentalist post-bopper, especially remembers his funky earthy B3 inflections. Gene has played with a number of talented artists such as Gabe Balthazar, Joe Henderson, Henry Allen, Emil Richards, Branford Marsalis, Michael Brecker, Bill Evans and George Benson. Add to the mix some new friends with “funky drummer” Greg Williamson and the bassal support of re-bopper Chuck Kistler. Might there be a recording in process?

Sushi master Hiroshi and his gang prepare a full menu of Japanese cuisine that is fresh, tasty, and full of flavor – all matched with some very special sake and beverages (try the plumb wine) Favored by local Japanese and music lovers, Hiroshi’s has been featuring live jazz on Friday nights for over three years – presented by the Pony Boy Records stable of artists. Come by for some fine food, and see who will be sitting in with the band – Fridays have become a ‘happening’ on Eastlake!

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Gus Carns Trio (Last gig before moving to Boston); Andy Clausen Group

1st Set – Gus Carns Trio
Gus Carns- Piano
Mark Hunter – Bass
Evan Woodle – Drums

2nd Set – Andy Clausen Group
Andy Clausen – Trombone
Corey Dansereau – Trumpet
Xavier Del Castillo – Tenor Sax
Gus Carns – Piano
Nolan Woodle – Bass
Evan Woodle – Drums

JAZZ ALLEY: Monty Alexander Trio

NEW ORLEANS: Ham Carson Quintet

LO-FI: Gravity w/ Tim Kennedy, Ian Sheridan, & Claudio Rochat Felix

LUCID JAZZ LOUNGE: “The Hang” Jam w/ Josh Rawlings, Evan Flory-Barnes, Jeremy Jones

THAIKU: Jon Alberts, Jeff Johnson, & Tad Britton