Kobe Jazz Queen Miwa Wakabayashi Comes To Seattle

October 12, 2007 / / No Comments

Miwa Wakabayashi, winner of the 2007 Kobe Jazz Vocal Competition, comes to Seattle this weekend for two performances.

Born in Yamanashi prefecture in 1977, Miwa grew up with great influences from American movies such as West Side Story, Sound of Music and Walt Disney films. Inspired by Whitney Huston and Janis Joplin, she started singing when she was a junior high student. She joined various kind of music groups and sang rock, pops, and gospel. In 2003, Miwa was deeply impressed by the magic of jazz. She studied jazz vocal with Takako Ueno and started performing at KOLN jazz club in her hometown, Fuji-city, Shizuoka. Currently she is showcased at venues in Shizuoka and Tokyo enchanting more audiences with her deep and soulful renditions.

Friday, October 12 – Hiroshi’s Sushi Restaurant
2501 Eastlake Ave E.
Seattle, WA 98102
6:30 – 9:00pm

Miwa Wakabayashi – vocals
Bill Anschell – piano
Chris Symer – bass
Greg Williamson – drums
Jay Thomas – trumpet, sax

Monday, October 15 – Jazz Alley
2033 6th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98121
Phone: 206.441.9729

with: Bill Anschell – piano
Jeff Johnson – bass
Mark Ivester – drums

Bill Frisell Joins The Caravan On Friday

October 12, 2007 / / No Comments

Tune in Friday, October 12, from 9:00am – Noon, as guitarist Bill Frisell and poet Paul Harding join host John Gilbreath on the special pledge-drive edition of the Caravan on KBCS 91.3fm.

As Gilbreath said in an email:

It should be interesting. Bill doesn’t talk all that much, and Paul doesn’t keep still.

Call in and Pledge Your Support to KBCS if you can. KBCS plays a tremendous amount of regional artists on their jazz shows.

KBCS
425-564-5000
http://kbcs.fm

Daniel Barry CD Review

October 11, 2007 / / No Comments

Daniel Barry’s new CD, Walk All Ways (OA2 Records), was recently reviewed at AllAboutJazz.com

“The music this globally borderless chamber-like group makes can sound old world, folk song European one moment—with its sweet, expansive accordion washes dancing with the more succinct violin notes on “Nini’s Dream”—or darkly South American the next, on “La Folia Lando,” that opens with a despondent bass clarinet cry in front of an accordion drone, later joined by the rich cello tone and the low resonance, knock-on-the door sound of the Peruvian cajon behind Barry’s tangy-yet melancholic cornet rumination.”

Read the complete review at:
AllAboutJazz.com

Tom Varner Quartet at Tula’s

October 11, 2007 / / No Comments

French hornist Tom Varner will be leading a quartet at Tula’s on Thursday, October 11th. The music begins at 8:00pm.

Don’t miss this rare appearance by Varner as a leader in Seattle.

October 11th – The Tom Varner Quartet

Tom Varner – french horn
Bill Anschell – piano
Phil Sparks – bass
Byron Vannoy – drums

TULA’S JAZZ CLUB
2214 2nd Ave
Seattle, WA 98121

Call for reservations: 206-443-4221

Wednesday Night In Columbia City

October 10, 2007 / / No Comments

Tonight the Hendrix Lounge is featuring the guitar stylings of David White and his trio featuring Doug Miller on bass and Steve Korn on drums. If you haven’t made it down to the Hendrix Lounge yet you are in for a treat. It is an intimate room located in the lobby of the Columbia City Theater and features jazz every wednesday from Origin Records.

THE HENDRIX LOUNGE AT THE COLUMBIA CITY THEATER
4916 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle, WA {map it}
(206) 723-0088
Music starts at 8:00pm
Admission: $5.00

Located next door is Tutta Bella, which doesn’t list tonights group on their website, but they usually have jazz during dinner … so grab a bite at Tutta Bella and then head over to the Hendrix Lounge.

If it is Tuesday, there must be a jam session

October 9, 2007 / / No Comments

Tuesday nights is when Seattle’s jazz musicians gather at the Owl ‘n Thistle for the weekly jam session with Bebop and Destruction. Here is a quote from the Seattle Weekly a few years ago:

But in the beer-stained, faintly scuzzy setting of the Owl ‘N Thistle pub, off Post Alley near Pioneer Square, Bebop & Destruction have been keeping blue-collar bop alive with a free Tuesday night jam session that has run, with occasional interruptions and breakdowns, for over six years now. (The band’s most recent CD, recorded last year for Freetone Records, is Live at the Owl ‘N Thistle, Volume 1.)

The Owl ‘n Thistle
808 Post Ave
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 621-7777

Also, if you are in the mood for big band, check out the Emerald City Jazz Orchestra at Tula’s Jazz Club.

Great Day In Seattle Photos Go On Sale

October 9, 2007 / / No Comments

GreatDay.jpgOn May 6th, 2007 nearly 300 local jazz musicians met on the steps of Seattle’s City Hall for a photograph in the spirit of Art Kane’s 1958 “A Great Day in Harlem.”

Pulitzer-Prize winning photographer Daniel Sheehan captured the event as the musicians who cross jazz music’s many generational and stylistic boundaries were photographed together for the first time in Seattle’s legendary jazz music history.

A very limited number of signed prints (by all involved in the photo) can be purchased through special arrangement.

All proceeds of sales will be donated to The MusicCares Foundation, which provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need. The MusiCares Foundation is an affiliated charitable entity of The Recording Academy.

To purchase a poster, please visit the Great Day In Seattle Website.

KBCS Pledge Drive

October 9, 2007 / / No Comments

It is Fall Pledge Drive time at KBCS 91.3fm. Show your support for one of Seattle’s jazz radio station and call today with a pledge at any amount.

KBCS’ Drive Time Jazz schedule is heavy on Northwest jazz artists and their new CDs so make sure to tune in every weekday from 7-9am.

For more information, visit http://kbcs.fm