Bill Horvitz at Gallery 1412

October 27, 2007 / / No Comments

Gallery 1412 presents guitarist Bill Horvitz on Sunday, October 28th at 8:00pm. Bill Horvitz will be peforming with his group featuring Steve Adams on saxophones and flutes and drummer Paul Kikuchi. For the opening set, Bill will be joined by brother Wayne Horvitz on piano, keyboards, and electronics.

GALLERY 1412
1412 18th Ave (18th Ave and Union St)
Seattle, WA 98122

“An intriguing composer and a pliant melodicist. While his music might be free jazz, it’s not free form; it’s exceptionally well organized… each tune has a personality and life of its own.” – Chris Kelsey, Jazz Now, Oakland, CA

Bill Horvitz has collaborated with many of new music’s most recognized innovators, including Elliott Sharp, John Zorn, Bobby Previte, Butch Morris, Myra Melford, George Lewis, Bill Laswell and Frank London.

The Bill Horvitz Band moves with fluid grace between tight compositions and improvised solo and ensemble work, communicating with a telepathic rapport.

Wayne Horvitz is a seattle-based composer, pianist and electronic musician. He is the leader of Zony Mash, Pigpen, The Four plus One Ensemble and co-founder of the New York Composers Orchestra. He has performed and collaborated with Bill Frisell, Butch Morris, John Zorn, Robin Holcomb, Fred Frith, Julian Priester, Philip Wilson, Michael Shrieve and Carla Bley among others. He has been commissioned by the NEA, Meet The Composer, Kronos Quartet, Seattle Chamber Players, Mary Flagler, BAM, Earshot Jazz and others.

Saturday at The Earshot Jazz Festival

October 27, 2007 / / No Comments

For a complete schedule of events, click here.

Tula’s Restaurant, 8:30pm
Jean-Michel Pilc Trio featuring Ari Hoenig
Pilc, a former French rocket scientist, constructs dazzling piano work of dense harmonics, speed-of-sound technical facility, and otherworldly propulsion. On afterburners: bassist Thomas Bramerie and stunning drummer Ari Hoenig.

Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm
Garfield High School Jazz Band w/ Houston Person
The Garfield band, local-favorite past Essentially Ellington winner, renews its summer Centrum-workshop collaboration with revered tenor saxophonist Houston Person, once an Etta Jones mainstay and long treasured in his own right.

Town Hall, 8pm
Musafir
Musafir (Hindi and Urdu for “traveler”) plays the music of the Rajasthan desert of North India, the “gypsy homeland” of the Roma. They create a transcendent blend of music, dance, and performance art.
Advance $22 ($19 discount), door $25 ($22 discount).
Discount available for Earshot and Town Hall Members, Seniors and Students

Saturday, October 27 Harvest Moon Jazz Cruise aboard the Steamship Virginia V, 4 -7pm
Sunday, October 28 Ballard Elks, 12:30pm
Sunday, October 28 Tula’s Restaurant, 8:30pm
Butch Thompson Trio
Jazz-historian pianist Thompson has enjoyed four decades of renown in a panoply of settings, including as a regular on A Prairie Home Companion. He joins the Puget Sound Traditional Jazz Society and Seattle trad specialists Holo Trad Jazz in varied combos at Ballard Elks, and brings his trio to Tula’s.
>> Note correction to brochure: Ballard Elks show is on Sunday Oct 28.
BALLARD ELKS: TICKETS AVAILABLE AT DOOR MORNING OF EVENT $13 general / $11 discount
TULA’S: CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS & $15 general / $13 discount
S.S. VIRGINIA V: CALL 206-624-9119 FOR RESERVATIONS, $50 per person / $90 per couple

Review: Dawn Clement Trio & Anat Cohen Quartet

October 26, 2007 / / No Comments

Dawn Clement Trio
Dawn Clement – piano, voice
Geoff Harper – bass
D’Vonne Lewis – drums

Anat Cohen Quartet
Anat Cohen – clarinet, tenor saxophone
Gilad Hekselman – guitar
Joe Martin – bass
Marcello Pellitteri – drums

Thursday, October 25, 2007
PONCHO Concert Hall
Cornish College of the Arts
Earshot Jazz Festival

The PONCHO Concert Hall was very close to sold-out for this concert. As part of his introduction, Earshot Jazz Executive Director John Gilbreath mentioned the unusual and appreciated pre-concert publicity in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Dawn Clement opened her segment of the program solo with a uniquely structured piano-vocal interpretation of the standard “All of Me.” A traditional hymn served as the piece’s intro in a pensive, fragile and seamless blend. She sings with excellent enunciation and distinctive phrasing although she really doesn’t have a lot of strength in her voice. There’s certainly plenty of emotion though. Billie Holiday – for one – didn’t have a great natural instrument either. It’s about communication and feeling not about chops. This low-key performance was marred a little by the snare on the drum-kit rattling a bit, but that was only a minor annoyance.


photo by Daniel Sheehan, eyeshotphotos.com

She spoke briefly about her recent busy schedule in the recording studio. New CDs with soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom, a trio (Matt Wilson and Martin Wind) and another – her second – with Seattle area jazz icon Julian Priester are ready to be released soon.

Read More

Seattle PI Review: Radding and Rigler / Harris and Watts

October 26, 2007 / / No Comments

Kudos to the Seattle PI for their coverage of the Earshot Jazz Festival … a Seattle daily newspaper actually publishes a jazz review! Let’s hope there is more coming soon.

Radding and Rigler hit the right note; Harris and Watts fall short

By BILL WHITE
SPECIAL TO THE P-I

Two duos brought different listening experiences to the Chapel on Monday night. Reuben Radding (bass) and Jane Rigler (flute) were like funambulists who created their own falls and recoveries. Radding, the more dangerous player, was balanced by Rigler’s classical poise. Trevor Watts (saxophone) and Jamie Harris (percussion) blended free jazz with traditional African rhythms, a combination that wasn’t entirely successful in the duo format.

One could imagine a martial-arts duel choreographed to the musical exchanges between Radding and Rigler. The opening piece was a short round of sparring jabs, with Rigler thrusting syncopated blasts of wind into Radding’s off-kilter balancing act. She switched to piccolo for the next piece, playing flurries of notes without giving any of them a conventional tone, while Radding scraped his bow against the face of his instrument before the resolution of a low, bowed note that sounded like a distant foghorn.

{read the entire review}

Friday Night Jazz Lineup

October 26, 2007 / / No Comments

EARSHOT JAZZ FESTIVAL

Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm
Jacky Terrasson, solo
Sachal Vasandani
French pianist Jacky Terrasson has charmed audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. His new album, a musical self-portrait called Mirror, furthers the growing legend. Appearing with his group, Chicago native Vasandani is an emerging jazz vocalist whose remarkable presence and extreme elasticity of phrasing hold great promise.
$22 general / $20 discount

PONCHO Concert Hall, 8pm
John Hollenbeck’s Refuge
Solo or in large-ensemble soundscapes, Hollenbeck wields percussion like a shrewd lyrical poet. Ace organist Gary Versace and vocalist Theo Bleckman join the can’t-miss, boundary-bashing Guggenheim Fellow.
$18 general / $16 discount

Tula’s Restaurant, 8:30pm
Jean-Michel Pilc Trio featuring Ari Hoenig
Pilc, a former French rocket scientist, constructs dazzling piano work of dense harmonics, speed-of-sound technical facility, and otherworldly propulsion. On afterburners: bassist Thomas Bramerie and stunning drummer Ari Hoenig.
$18 general / $16 discount CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS

OTHER HAPPENINGS:

Bake’s Place: Belinda Underwood and Benny Green
Ballard Jam House: Kiera Clarke and the New Blue Quartet; Free World Jazz
Serafina: Fred Hoadley Latin Jazz
Jazz Alley: Arturo Sandoval Quintet

Anat Cohen preview in the Seattle PI

October 25, 2007 / / No Comments

The Israeli clarinetist and tenor saxophonist recently finished her first residency at the Village Vanguard, where she was the first female horn player to headline the famous club.

Cohen, one of the most visible members of a growing community of Israeli jazz musicians working in New York, has won a number of recent honors, among them “rising star” in the clarinet category in Downbeat’s annual critics poll (August issue).

Read the complete article at Seattle PI.com

Bill Anschell Trio performs at Noon

October 25, 2007 / / No Comments

Be sure and catch local pianist Bill Anschell and his trio performing live at noon in downtown Seattle. Joining Anschell will be Doug Miller on bass and Jose Martinez on drums.

Thursday, October 25th – Noon
Seattle City Hall
600 Fourth Avenue (between Cherry and James)
Free

Thursday Jazz

October 24, 2007 / / No Comments


SEATTLE JAZZ SHOWCASE

8:00pm: Richard Cole Group
9:00pm: Greg Sinibaldi’s “Goat”

Music begins at 8:00pm
Admission: $10

The LAB at Seattle Drum School
12510 15th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98125 {map it}
Tel: (206)364-8815

EARSHOT JAZZ FESTIVAL

Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm
David Sanchez Quartet
With palpable charisma, Sánchez’s huge tenor-sax tone flares with the musical passion of his native Puerto Rico, often in jazz interpretations of mountainous works by Latin American composers. $24 general / $22 discount

Tula’s Restaurant, 8:30pm
Roberta Piket/Billy Mintz Trio
Hailed as a revelation at last year’s festival, pianist Piket and drummer Mintz return with acclaimed bassist Ratzo Harris.
$15 general / $13 discount CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS

PONCHO Concert Hall, 8pm
Anat Cohen Quartet
Dawn Clement Trio
With two discs this year, this New York-based Israeli saxophonist/clarinetist is winning high praise for explorations of South American, Afro-Cuban, classical, and jazz music. Opening, Cornish-based pianist Dawn Clement packs huge imaginative punch with her trio.
$18 general / $16 discount

OTHER EVENTS:

Jazz Alley: Arturo Sandoval Quintet
Egan’s Ballard Jam House: Reptet (7pm); Tobi Stone Quartet (9pm)
Asteroid Cafe: Jam Session (9:30pm)
Thaiku: Jon Alberts, Jeff Johnson, Tad Britton
Lo-Fi: “The Hang” with Evan Flory-Barnes

Wednesday Jazz

October 24, 2007 / / No Comments

Lots of things happening today … go out and hear live music!

SEATTLE JAZZ SHOWCASE

The Seattle Jazz Showcase continues tonight with performances by vibraphonist Susan Pascal and her quartet and vocalist Greta Matassa with her longtime bandmates.

Music begins at 8:00pm
Admission: $10

The LAB at Seattle Drum School
12510 15th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98125 {map it}
Tel: (206)364-8815

THE EARSHOT JAZZ FESTIVAL

Tula’s Restaurant, 8:30pm
Marc Cary Trio
This energizing pianist’s star is hotly on the rise. He leads a snarky trio through a flurry of elastic jazz by way of a studied love of hip-hop and deep digressions into adventurous territory. $15 general / $13 discount CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS

Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm
Scott Amendola Band
Nels Cline Singers
Fresh from the Bonnaroo Festival, drummer Amendola and scorching Wilco guitarist Cline deliver a double hit. The singerless Nels Cline Singers is a critically acclaimed rock/jazz must-hear. Amendola’s band, as on his recent, electro-acoustic Believe, includes Cline, guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise), and violinist Jenny Scheinman (Bill Frisell’s groups).
$22 general / $20 discount

EVERYTHING ELSE:
(use the links to the right under “Seattle Jazz Clubs” for more info)

The New Orleans: The Legacy Band w/ Clarence Acox
Jazz Alley: Taylor Eigsti Quartet (with Phil Sparks on bass)
Hendrix Lounge: Ben Thomas Trio (w/ Brian Kent & Jeff Norwood)
Tutta Bella (Columbia City): Gail Pettis and Darin Clendenin
Egan’s Ballard Jam House: Rochelle House (10:00pm); Country Joe McDonald, performing his tribute to Woody Guthrie (7:00pm)

Gail Pettis CD Review

October 23, 2007 / / No Comments

Jazz Times writer and Yakima resident Doug Ramsey recently reviewed vocalist Gail Pettis’ new CD on his blog, Rifftides:

Gail Pettis, May I Come In? (OA2). In her recording debut, the Seattle singer chooses a mixture of familiar standards and less-well-known songs, delivering them with warmth and intelligent interpretation. Pettis concentrates on serving songwriters’ intentions, but her delighted treatment of Jimmy McHugh’s “I Just Found Out About Love” includes one of two scatting episodes in the collection. She scats with musicianly understanding of harmony. There is not a lot of that going around among singers. Pettis gives “Black Coffee” its bluesy due but avoids the affected emotion with which many singers are tempted to smother the song.

In “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Your Face,” bassist Jeff Johnson, with his customary strength and sensitivity, is the singer’s sole accompanist. “We’ve Met Before” is a duet between Pettis and pianist Randy Halberstadt. With this lovely song, Halberstadt may have composed a new standard. He and Johnson are on half of the tracks. On the other half, Darin Clendenin is the pianist, Clipper Anderson the bassist, Pacific Northwest stalwarts in good form, as is Mark Ivester, who plays drums throughout. Pettis keeps her considerable vocal power in reserve, using it with restraint and taste. In the burgeoning population of new singers, she is a standout.

Tuesday Festival Lineup

October 23, 2007 / / No Comments

THE SEATTLE JAZZ SHOWCASE

8:00pm: Greg Williamson’s Double Sax Quintet
9:30pm: Scenes with John Stowell (guitar), Jon Hamar (bass), John Bishop (drums)

The LAB at Seattle Drum School
12510 15th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98125 {map it}
Tel: (206)364-8815

EARSHOT JAZZ FESTIVAL

Earshot Festival Films / Northwest Film Forum present:
Tuesday, October 23–Thursday, October 25 (7pm & 9:15pm)
Anita O’Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
Imagine the Sound (Cecil Taylor, Paul Bley, Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon…)
Complete details at www.nwfilmforum.org.
$8.50 General / $6 Senior/Child / $5 Member {more info}

Tuesday, October 23 Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm
Oliver Mtukudzi
With his driving ensemble, Zimbabwe’s great cultural export, “Tuku” Mtukudzi, blends traditional Korekore drumming with mbira and jit styles to create an inimitable form respectfully dubbed “Tuku music.”
$25 advance / $28 day of

Tuesday, October 23 Chapel Performance Space, 7:30pm
Gust Burns/Greg Campbell/ Reuben Radding/Wally Shoup
Gust Burns Trio
Shoup has long paced the sax vanguard, lately with Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, as well as vaunted improvisors from all over. He finds ideal partners in bass virtuoso Reuben Radding, blistering drummer Greg Campbell, and piano tearaway Gust Burns (whose trio with Campbell and lyrical bassist Jeff Johnson opens).
$15 general / $13 discount

Tuesday, October 23 & Wednesday, October 24 Tula’s Restaurant, 8:30pm
Marc Cary Trio
This energizing pianist’s star is hotly on the rise. He leads a snarky trio through a flurry of elastic jazz by way of a studied love of hip-hop and deep digressions into adventurous territory. $15 general / $13 discount CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS

Jeff Johson & John Bishop to NYC with Hal Galper

October 22, 2007 / / No Comments

Bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop will be heading to New York City later this week to perform with pianist Hal Galper at the Jazz Improv Convention on Saturday, October 27th, at 9:00pm at the Herald Square Suite at the New Yorker Hotel.

Johnson and Bishop recorded a CD with Galper this past summer entitled Furious Rubato which was released on Origin Records.

Click here for tickets and information about the Jazz Improv Convention.

Up-Coming Alerts

October 22, 2007 / / No Comments

Lots of great events are coming up so make sure and mark your calendars for these events:

Saturday, October 27 – Harvest Moon Jazz Cruise Aboard the Steamship Virginia V featuring Butch Thompson Trio
In celebration of October’s Harvest Moon, the Virginia V Foundation in association with the Earshot Jazz Festival is presenting a Jazz Cruise aboard the 125ft Steamship Virginia V. The historic ship will cruise the waters of Lake Union and Lake Washington, Saturday, October 27th, with music by the Butch Thompson Trio. Passengers board at 3:30 pm at the South Lake Union Heritage Wharf. The music begins at 4 pm and the Virginia V departs promptly at 4:30 pm and returns at 7 pm. {more info}

Friday, November 2 – Kirkland Performance Center, 8:00pm
Gene Bertoncini
Gene Bertoncini is one of the most eloquent and versatile masters of the unaccompanied acoustic jazz guitar. His command of the instrument is intimate and powerful. He weaves soft, seductive jazz arrangements that cherish the melodies and harmonies of great songs.
$29 adult, $15 youth {more info}

November 14 – The Jewel Box Theater
Jake Bergevin CD Release Party
Singer/Trumpeter/Bandleader Jake Bergevin celebrates the release of his new CD, Holding Back The Dawn, with some of the finest players in Seattle. {more info}

Friday, November 30 – The Ballard Jazz Walk
The fall edition of the popular Jazz Walk will take over historic downtown Ballard on Friday, November 30th, with 16 groups performing in 12 venues and will celebrate 10 years of Origin Records. Scheduled to perform is Chicago guitarist John McLean, saxophonist Hadley Caliman, Portland’s Upper Left Trio, Thomas Marriott, Brent Jensen, John Stowell and many more. Tickets will go on sale at the beginning of November so check back for more information.

December 6 – 9 – Jazz Alley
Mike Stern Band
Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents four-time Grammy nominated guitarist Mike Stern for four nights. Supporting Stern is Anthony Jackson (bass), Bob Franceschini (saxophone) and Dave Weckl (drums). {more info}

December 11 – 12 – Jazz Alley
The Moutin Reunion Quartet
Returning to Seattle after their memorable appearance at April’s Ballard Jazz Festival, the Moutin brothers are supporting their new release, Sharp Turns, a CD/DVD release recorded live at Chicago’s Skokie Theater. {more info}

Monday Jazz in Seattle

October 22, 2007 / / No Comments

A sampling of what is happening tonight in Seattle:

THE SEATTLE JAZZ SHOWCASE

Pianist Ryan Burns is recording live at the Seattle Jazz Showcase with Tad Britton on drums and Jeff Johnson on bass.

The LAB at Seattle Drum School
12510 15th Ave NE
Seattle, WA 98125 {map it}
Tel: (206)364-8815

EARSHOT JAZZ FESTIVAL

Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm
Dafnis Prieto Absolute Quintet
This brilliant Cuban drummer has evolved a musical style that is energized sophistication. Prieto’s Absolute Quintet lives up to its name, with piano, cello, violin, and the fiery alto saxophone of Yosvany Terry.
$20 general / $18 discount

Chapel Performance Space, 7:30pm
Trevor Watts & Jamie Harris
Reuben Radding & Jane Rigler
Watts, an originator of the 1970s English free-improv scene, also pioneered the pairing of African drums and jazz saxophone. Percussionist Jamie Harris joins him in free-jazz improvisations. Bassist Reuben Radding couples lithe improvising with technical adroitness in a New York duo with flutist Jane Rigler.
$20 general/$18 discount

Tula’s Restaurant, 8:30pm
Luis Perdomo Trio
Upon moving to New York, the Venezuelan pianist quickly earned a chair in Ravi Coltrane’s quartet, and has impressed mightily with his “exploratory urgency” and “energetically limber” playing (NYT). $15 general / $13 discount CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS

Sun, Oct 21: Earshot Jazz Festival

October 21, 2007 / / No Comments

Normally you would think Sunday would be a slower day for music … not so with this year’s Earshot Jazz Festival.

Here is what is on tap for today:

Sunday, October 21 Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm
Dee Dee Bridgewater’s Red Earth
The Grammy and Tony Award winning jazz vocalist brings ten of Mali’s most exciting musicians to Seattle to present the music of her stunning album, Red Earth, A Malian Journey.
$35 general / $33 discount

Sunday, October 21 Seattle Art Museum, 8pm
Rudresh Mahanthappa: Codebook
On his own albums and those of pianist Vijay Iyer, this alto saxophonist forges his own voice from Ornette’s ambiguity and Bird’s exuberance. Codebook, its pieces informed by cryptography and number theory, includes Iyer, bassist François Moutin, and drum titan Damion Reid.
$20 general / $18 discount

Sunday, October 21 Tractor Tavern, 8pm
The Tiptons
Now Seattle and New York-based, the all-female sax quartet (Jessica Lurie, Amy Denio, Tina Richerson, Sue Orfield, plus drummer Faith Stankevich) employs searing, on-stage chemistry to create an international stew of Eastern European melody and American experimentation. $15 general / $13 discount

The T.S. Monk Sextet performs a fundraiser for the
Central Area Senior Center on Sunday October 21,
4pm–6pm, open to the public: call 206-726-4926.

Sunday, October 21 & Monday, October 22 Tula’s Restaurant, 8:30pm
Luis Perdomo Trio
Upon moving to New York, the Venezuelan pianist quickly earned a chair in Ravi Coltrane’s quartet, and has impressed mightily with his “exploratory urgency” and “energetically limber” playing (NYT). $15 general / $13 discount CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS

Sat, Oct 20: Earshot Jazz Festival

October 20, 2007 / / No Comments

Saturday, October 20 Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
This crowd-pleasing National Medal of Arts-winner, a New Orleans treasure, has archived the city’s musical history for over a quarter century.
$40 advance; $45 day of show

Saturday, October 20 Edmonds Center for the Arts, 7:30pm
Toots Thielemans & Kenny Werner
Thielemans brings peerless range to his signature sound on the harmonica. His seasoned collaborator on piano is the stunningly gifted Kenny Werner. Photo by Jos Knaepen
$28-38 general

Saturday, October 20 Chapel Performance Space, 8pm
Gino Robair: I, Norton — An opera in real-time
“At the request of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton declare myself Emperor.” So began the proclamation by which Joshua Norton, on September 17, 1859, became Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico. Dramatically, the work takes place as the Emperor lay dying on a rain-soaked street. At that precise moment, time is suspended and his life’s events pass before his eyes. The result is an opera that is rich in symbolism and metaphor, carrying a political subtext that resonates with current geo-political situations. Presented by Earshot Jazz and Nonsequitur
$15 general; $13 discount

Details at the Earshot Festival Website