Seattle Noise: Kelly Harland

May 16, 2008 / / No Comments

Vocalist Kelly Harland is featured this week in Seattle PI Music Critic Gene Stout’s column, Seattle Noise.

SOUND: Harland, a master of many vocal styles, has a warm yet sensuous sound. She is a seasoned interpreter of standards who has performed with a number of jazz artists, among them Don Lanphere and James Williams.

RELEASES: Past albums include “Twelve Times Romance” and “American Songs.” Her latest is “Long Ago and Far Away: Kelly Harland Sings Jerome Kern,” produced by Deardorf and featuring pianist and arranger Bill Mays.

WHERE TO LISTEN: kellyharland.com

NEXT SHOW: Harland celebrates the release of “Long Ago and Far Away” with a show Monday night at 7:30 (doors open at 6) at Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave. Accompanying her are Mays on piano and Deardorf on bass. Tickets: $20.50. Reservations: 206-441-9729 or Jazzalley.com.

Read the entire article at The Seattle PI.com

Region’s jazz legacy in spotlight again at Essentially Ellington

May 16, 2008 / / No Comments

From Paul de Barros in today’s Seattle Times:

Chris Harshman and his brother, Paul, have always been “friendly competitors,” says Chris.

When they were in high school in the late 1970s, they both played in jazz band, both ran track and marched side by side in an out-of-school marching band. In college, they flourished in the jazz band, roomed together and ran on the same cross-country team.

Just one year apart — Paul is 47; Chris, 46 — they had some sibling rivalry, but were careful not to get in each other’s way, playing different instruments (Paul, trumpet; Chris, reeds) and rarely competing in the same sporting events.

“It has never been me versus him,” insists Paul Harshman.

Not until this week, that is.

Continue reading at The Seattle Times

Doug Miller CD Release Party this Friday

May 15, 2008 / / No Comments

Bassist Doug Miller will celebrate the release of his new CD, Regeneration (Origin), with a performance at Tula’s Jazz Club on Friday, May 16 at 8:30pm

THE DOUG MILLER QUARTET
FRIDAY, MAY 16 – TULA’S JAZZ CLUB
2214 2nd Ave
Seattle
8:30pm
Reservations: 206-443-4221

featuring:
Doug Miller – bass
Jay Thomas – trumpet/saxophone
Dave Peterson – guitar
Phil Parisot – drums

For more information about Doug’s new CD, visit Origin Records.

Thursday Jazz

May 15, 2008 / / No Comments

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Sonando

JAZZ ALLEY: Bobby Hutcherson Quartet with Special Guest Nicholas Payton

NEW ORLEANS: The Ham Carson Quintet

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Penelope Donado, with Victor Noriega (piano) and Chuck Kistler (bass)
9pm – Lilly, with Mark Lilly, Nelda Swigget and Denny Stern. A combination of jazz standards mixed with Afro-Cuban Folkloric music adapted to jazz.

THAIKU: Jon Alberts, Jeff Johnson, Tad Britton

LO-FI: The Hang with Evan Flory-Barnes

VERTIGO LOUNGE: Greta Matassa
989 112th SE, Bellevue, 425-467-6767

MAY: Hans Teuber, Geoff Harper, Byron Vannoy
1612 N 45th St, Seattle, 10:30, no cover

ASTEROID CAFE: Tim Kennedy Jam Session
601 Fremont Ave N, 547-9000

Review: Hadley Caliman at Ballard Jazz Festival

May 15, 2008 / / No Comments

Review by Bill Barton

Ballard Jazz Festival, Nordic Heritage Museum, Friday, April 25, 2008

Hadley Caliman Quintet:
Hadley Caliman – tenor saxophone
Thomas Marriott – trumpet & flügelhorn
Dawn Clement – piano
Phil Sparks – bass
D’Vonne Lewis – drums

The quintet’s set began with Caliman’s composition “Kickin’ on the Inside” from the recent Origin CD Gratitude. His intro mentioned that pianist Clement could probably relate to the title, as she is pregnant. “Kickin’…” is a jaunty, mid-tempo tune and served as an excellent warm-up for things to come. At times Caliman’s beautiful tenor timbre was reminiscent of middle-period Coltrane, but he plumbs the depths of the horn’s range more than Trane did. Marriott’s bright-toned trumpet solo was an energetic post-bop romp; he had Hubcaps on his wheels here. Clement’s piano solo was subtle and imaginative. She has a distinctive style and sound all her own. Both as a soloist and as an accompanist she’s a spare, concise player. What she doesn’t play is fully as important as what she does play. Although there aren’t really that many direct connections in terms of sound or touch, she is closer to Red Garland or Mal Waldron (and perhaps Bill Evans) than to the more loquacious pianists who have taken the approaches of McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and/or Keith Jarrett as their guideposts. She is in the sunlight whereas Waldron was in the shade, but there is a similar sense of elegant yet earthy economy in her playing. Phil Sparks also took a very smooth, rhythmically charged bass solo. Read More

Audio from Jay Thomas Sextet

May 15, 2008 / / No Comments

The Jay Thomas Sextet performed at The Eastside Jazz Club last Tuesday night to a great crowd. The group featured Jay Thomas on tenor saxophone, Mark Taylor on alto saxophone, John Hansen on piano, Phil Sparks on bass and Matt Jorgensen on drums. To round out the sextet Jay brought in trumpet whiz kid, Zubin Hensler.

Click below to download/listen to a couple of tracks.

Wednesday Jazz

May 14, 2008 / / No Comments

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Hal Sherman & the BCC Jazz Orchestra

THAIKU: Ron Weinstein Trio

JAZZ ALLEY: Bucky Pizzarelli Trio

NECTAR: Earshot Jazz Presents: Ben Allison and Man Size Safe
412 N 36th St, Seattle, WA, 8:30pm

NEW ORLEANS: Legend Band with Clarence Acox

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
6pm – Oghale and Marti MacEwan
8pm – Vocal jazz jam session with Carrie Wicks and the Bruce Barnard Trio

BELLEVUE DOWNTOWN SERIES: Greta Matassa
Civica Office Commons, 205 108th Ave NE, Bellevue, 5:00pm

WHISKEY BAR: Ronnie Pierce

GALLERY 1412: Jim DeJoie Group, More Zero featuring Chris Stover

TRIPLE DOOR MUSICQUARIUM: PGM Trio

Monday: Kelly Harland at Jazz Alley **corrected

May 13, 2008 / / No Comments

Jazz Alley Presents:
Kelly Harland featuring Bill Mays and Chuck Deardorf

May 19, 2008
$20.50

JAZZ ALLEY
2033 6th Avenue
Seattle WA 98121
Reservations: 206.441.9729

The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents vocalist Kelly Harland for one night only, celebrating the release of her latest CD Long Ago and Far Away: Kelly Harland Sings Jerome Kern. Band members are Bill Mays (piano) and Chuck Deardorf (bass). Set time on Monday is 7:30pm, doors open at 6:00pm.

With the release of her new CD Long Ago and Far Away: Kelly Harland Sings Jerome Kern, Origin recording artist Kelly Harland teams up with renowned pianist Bill Mays and bassist Chuck Deardorf to celebrate one of the great composers of the American Songbook. From “All the Things You Are” to “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”, Kelly and her stellar band bring a gorgeous new sound to the great vintage melodies of Kern.

As one of the top studio and background vocalists in Seattle for many years, Kelly made a name for herself in the Northwest playing behind such acts as Ray Charles and Etta James. She toured with various bands and became a seasoned studio singer, contributing to many national albums and singing on hundreds of commercials, as well as recording her own material for major labels Epic and A&M. Kelly then embarked on a solo career of interpreting standards, performing live and in the studio with jazz luminaries James Williams, Don Lanphere, and others. Her two previous CDs, produced by Chuck Deardorf, have garnered airplay and glowing reviews around the world.

Tuesday Jazz

May 13, 2008 / / No Comments

EASTSIDE JAZZ CLUB: Jay Thomas Sextet
Sherman and Clay, 1000 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue, Wa. 98004
7:30pm, (425) 454-0633

JAZZ ALLEY: Bucky Pizzarelli Trio

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Emerald City Jazz Orchestra

NEW ORLEANS: Holotradband

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Nate Omdal Nonet, with Jacob Stickney (alto sax), Mike Dodge (tenor sax), Andrew Morrill (bari sax), Corey Dansereau (trumpet), Jason Parker (flugelhorn), Andy Clausen (trombone), Mike Owcharuk (piano), Jim Parsons (drums), and Nate Omdal (arranger/bass)
9pm – Free Jazz Jam Session hosted by the Trio Concept, with Chris Icasiano (drums), Luke Bergman (bass), and Neil Welch (saxophones)

DEXTER AND HAYES: Tim Kennedy Trio

OWL ‘N THISTLE: Jam Session

Earshot Presents: Ben Allison at Nectar

May 12, 2008 / / No Comments

Wednesday, May 14
Ben Allison and Man Size Safe

Ben Allison, bass
Steve Cardenas, guitar
Ron Horton, trumpet
Michael Blake, saxophones
Michael Sarin, drums

NECTAR LOUNGE
412 N 36th St, Seattle, WA
Doors at 8:00; Show at 8:30.
http://www.earshot.org

Man Size Safe, Ben’s latest group, pushes the boundaries once again — this time with a cinematic, rock-meets-Americana sound. The band mixes joyous exuberance and good-humored irreverence with textured grooves and an occasional political jab.

Monday Jazz

May 11, 2008 / / No Comments

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Jazz Jam with the Darin Clendenin Trio

THE NEW ORLEANS: The New Orleans Quintet

LA SPIGA: Ray Baldwin

Pianist Charlie Peacock visits Seattle

May 11, 2008 / / No Comments

Grammy Award-winning record producer and artist Charlie Peacock will perform in Seattle on May 17th to benefit the Artist Life Guild. Appearing with Peacock is 19 year-old mandolin virtuoso Eva Scow. Seattle uber- drummer Matt Jorgensen will also be featured.

Peacock will perform music from his two jazz albums as well as vocal songs selected from his significant pop and singer-songwriter catalog. Peacock’s newest jazz album ARC OF THE CIRCLE, a collaboration with Flecktone’s saxophonist Jeff Coffin, is charting at #3 on the CMJ Jazz chart.

May 17th at 8:00PM, doors at 7:30
All Ages Show — Tickets $12
Fremont Abbey Arts Center
4272 Fremont Ave. North
Seattle, WA 98103

allaboutjazz.com/charliepeacock
fremontabbey.org

Saturday Jazz

May 9, 2008 / / No Comments

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Jovino Santos Neto
CD RELEASE: “Alma do Nordeste” (Soul of the Northeast)

JAZZ ALLEY: The Rippingtons

TRIPLE DOOR MUSICQUARIUM: Das Vibenbass

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Manghis Khan, with Yaw Amponsah (West African Ashanti drums and djembe), Tony Grasso (trumpet), Viren Kamdar (cajon, congas) and Marc Miller (bass) – African and Carribean percussion, Trumpet and Bass
9pm – Tom Boros – singer/songwriter
11pm – Decateur Buff – Indie/folk/rock originals with John Wies (guitar), Gary Seigel (bass) and Mike Young (drums)

BAKE’S PLACE: Nancy Kelly

HENDRIX LOUNGE: Chris Fagan Group

SERAFINA: Jazzukha

GRAZIE: Andre Thomas Quiet Fire

EL DIABLO COFFEE: Rik Wright Trio
1811 Queen Anne Ave N, 8pm

Review: Jeremy Jones at The Triple Door

May 9, 2008 / / No Comments

by Jason Parker

JEREMY JONES XTET
THE TRIPLE DOOR
MAY 1, 2008

It was an evening of passion, energy and beautiful music last night at The Triple Door in Seattle. More than 200 music lovers gathered to celebrate the release of Awakening to Life, the new CD by The Jeremy Jones Xtet on Broken Time Records. J&J Music, Broken Time and Jeremy have been planning this show for months now, and when the night finally arrived everyone was ready to celebrate and lay down the positive vibes.

The night began with an opening set by another group with a forthcoming CD on Broken Time, The Josh Rawlings Trio. (In the interest of full discloser, it should be noted that Josh Rawlings is one of the “J’s” in J&J Music.) Josh on piano, bassist Nate Omdal and drummer D’Vonne Lewis played masterfully on four of Josh’s original compositions, including the Abdullah Ibrahim-inspired title track “Climbing Stairs.” The song’s performance included rainforest sounds courtesy of Josh and the audience. The chemistry between Rawlings and longtime bassist Nate Omdal was clear throughout the night, as the two young masters weaved their lines in and around each other in creative and exciting ways, all the while never stepping on each others’ toes. D’vonne Lewis (subbing for regular drummer Adam Kessler) brought the house down with his powerful solos and superb comping, all-the-while pushing and propelling the trio to thrilling heights. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing the CD from start to finish and I know you’re going to dig the record and Josh’s compositions. Stay tuned for news of the release date.

After a short break came the Jeremy Jones Xtet, starting with Jeremy alone on stage, laying down the beat to his composition “Flowin’.” Jeremy was joined one at a time by his killin’ band: Phil Sparks on bass, John Hansen on piano, Steve Treseler on tenor and Thomas Marriott on trumpet and flugelhorn. By the time the whole band was finally assembled and blowing, the energy flowin’ from the stage was palpable, and while the horns were out front and each member of the band was playing at an extremely high level, it was clear that this band belonged to the drummer.

Jeremy led the group through eight of his original tunes from the new CD with smiles, swing and some well placed bombs, switching all the while from sticks to brushes to mallets to bells and back again. He played every part of his kit; rims, heads, cymbals and stands. He marked the sections of his tunes with press-rolls, tom hits and stop-time. As the night wore on, Jeremy’s shining spirit emanated from the stage, filling the room with joy and washing over everyone in attendance with a contagious warmth. Read More

Friday Jazz

May 9, 2008 / / No Comments

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Tim Armacost / Chris Fagan Quintet

JAZZ ALLEY: The Rippingtons

TRIPLE DOOR MAINSTAGE: Cherry Poppin’ Daddies

TRIPLE DOOR MUSICQUARIUM:
5:30pm: Tor Dietrichson/Leif Totusek Happy Hour Duo
9:00pm: Tor Dietrichson Blues Machine

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Kathleen Donnelly (vocals) with Darin Clendenin (piano), Jon Hamar (bass) and Steve Korn (drums) Note: reserved seating is full for this show.
9pm – Andrew McKnight and Sean Kelly – Acoustic/folk/indie from Virginia-based environmental engineer-turned-songwriter

SERAFINA: The Djangomatics

HIROSHI’S: Jazz and Sushi

This Weekend at Bake’s Place

May 9, 2008 / / No Comments

Bake’s Place Visiting Songbird Series continues this weekend with vocalist Nancy Kelly.

FRI-SAT, MAY 8-9
BAKE’S PLACE
4135 Providence Point Dr. SE
Issaquah, WA 98029
phone: 425-391-3335
http://bakesplace.org

Nancy Kelly’s refined vocal style is a study in phrasing, style and the ability to swing. Kelly’s powerful singing has captured many awards and the ears of many jazz fans around the globe. Kelly’s refined stage presence, style, and the ability to quickly capture the emotions of her audience isn’t the only thing that places Nancy in a league of her own–the lady was “Born to Swing”, and she means business Starting at age four in her hometown of Rochester, New York, Nancy studied piano, clarinet, drama and dance with private instructors, and voice at the Eastman School of Music.

Nancy’s live performances are legendary. During her thirty-plus year career she has honed her trademark swing/bop take no prisoners style in front of audiences across the U.S. and abroad–from Singapore to Switzerland, France, Turkey to her 3 tours of Japan.

Nancy appears regularly in New York City including performances at The Blue Note, Birdland and The Rainbow Room and Dizzy’s Jazz club, Lincoln Center. She works frequently in Los Angeles and Miami, as well as countless jazz clubs, festivals, and symphony orchestra engagements across the country.

Thursday Jazz

May 8, 2008 / / No Comments

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM: Kendra Shank Quartet
Seattle Art Museum Downtown
1300 First Avenue, Seattle
Free with museum admission.
Click here to read our preview of this show.

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
7pm – Patty Padden and Chang-ka-dank, with Dan O’Brien (bass) and Eric Verlinde (piano)
9pm – Eleanor Fye, solo piano/vocalist

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Trombonasaurus Wrecks

NEW ORLEANS: The Ham Carson Quintet

JAZZ ALLEY: The Rippingtons

THAIKU: Jon Alberts, Jeff Johnson, Tad Britton

Wednesday Jazz

May 7, 2008 / / No Comments

JAZZ ALLEY: Rachael Price

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB: Rochelle House Quartet

THAIKU: Ron Weinstein Trio

TRIPLE DOOR MAINSTAGE: MARCO BENEVENTO, MATT CHAMBERLAIN, REED MATHIS: “Invisible Baby” CD Release Show w/opener SKERIK

TRIPLE DOOR MUSICQUARIUM: Tarik Abouzied Quartet

NEW ORLEANS: The Legend Band w/ Clarence Acox

EGAN’S BALLARD JAM HOUSE:
6pm – MJ Bishop, “Folk-a-Licious Music ala k.d. lang” – MJ Bishop performs her folk/country/Americana music in an acoustic set with Paula Walters (bass), Bob Knetzger (dobro, pedal steel, banjo), Paul Elliot (fiddle) and Nancy K. Dillon (vocals)
8pm – Vocal jazz jam session with Carrie Wicks and the Dan Sales Trio

BELLEVUE DOWNTOWN SERIES: Ben Thomas
KeyCenter, 601 108th Ave NE, Bellevue, 5:00pm, Free