Michael Jackson’s Afrobeat birthday, at the Tractor in Ballard
The Seattle Times ran a piece in advance of a show Sunday led by Portland pianist Ben Darwish performing the music of Michael Jackson which also features Seattle trumpeter Chad McCullough. We are reprinting the excerpt below but do take exception to the line, “from PDX’s mostly nonexistent jazz scene.”
from The Seattle Times:
Happy birthday to the King of Pop! Here’s a why?/why not? way to celebrate the life and death of Michael Jackson, who would have turned 52 on Sunday: the Tractor hosts “an Afrobeat Tribute to Michael Jackson” featuring a 10-piece Portland band, the Works (pictured), interpreting Jackson’s hits in hard-hitting, floor-filling style. It’s a brilliant idea — cover bands are cheesy, a DJ night is rote. Instead, pianist Ben Darwish, a young luminary from PDX’s mostly nonexistent jazz scene, will lead a small army of vocalists, horns and percussion through Jackson’s over-familiar, if beloved, hits and emerge on the other end in dance-mad new territory. Though it’s been only a year since Jackson’s death, his memory lives on in creative form. Michael would be proud. 8 p.m. Sunday, Tractor Tavern, 5213 Ballard Ave., Seattle; $8 (206-789-3599 or www.tractortavern.com).
– Jonathan Zwickel, Seattle Times staff writer
This Saturday Foundry Dynamic Productions presents an evening of new music at the Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall. Featured will be original compositions by composers Zeines & Trader and the music of the Thomas Marriott Quartet.
Having built a reputation as an exceptional reedman in Seattle, Dave Anderson presents a sparkling debut on the melodically rich Clarity, alternating between alto and soprano saxophones on eight original compositions and two covers. Having performed extensively throughout North America with luminaries like Jim McNeely, Clark Terry and the late great Mel Tormé, Anderson moved to Seattle in 2005 from his native Minnesota, forming Dave Anderson Quartet after a one-nighter at Egan’s Ballard Jamhouse. The group consists of pianist John Hansen; bassist Chuck Kistler; and drummer Adam Kessler, with Thomas Marriott taking to the flugelghorn in a guest appearance on “Wabi-Sabi.”
Abbey Lincoln, a singer whose dramatic vocal command and tersely poetic songs made her a singular figure in jazz, died on Saturday in Manhattan. She was 80 and lived on the Upper West Side.
