A Mirror and Focus for the Jazz Community June 2007 Vol

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A Mirror and Focus for the Jazz Community June 2007 Vol. 23, No. 6 Seattle, Washington

Scott Brown and the Roosevelt High School Jazz Band Photo by Daniel Sheehan Distribute This Magazine? Notes Do you have an hour per month, and EARSHOT J A Z Z the energy, to volunteer for Earshot? We A Mirror and Focus for the Jazz Community Art of Jazz, Other Earshot Events need help distributing this publication? Th is month’s presentation in the Art We’re looking for folks who can take Executive Director: John Gilbreath of Jazz series, which the Seattle Art Mu- Earshot Jazz to venues, cafés, record Earshot Jazz Editor: Peter Monaghan seum and Earshot Jazz sponsor, is the and book stores, and other locations Assistant Editor: Schraepfer Harvey outstanding guitarist Mimi Fox and her in their neighborhood. Th ank you to trio. Th ey appear on Th ursday, June 14 all of you who have already responded Contributing Writers: Andrew Bartlett, at 5pm at the newly reopened Seattle Art to this request. And for those of you Paul Harding, Elaine M. Hayes, Josie Museum downtown. Admission to events who haven’t, there are many neighbor- Holtzman, Kevin Kniestedt, Peter in the series is free in main lobby. In com- hoods still in need of a delivery chief Monaghan, Lloyd Peterson, Kimberly M. Reason, Harvey Siders, Randy Smith ing months, the series presents Kelley -- Ravenna, Magnolia, First Hill, Beacon Johnson, on July 12; Dave Peck’s refi ned Hill, Columbia, Mount Baker, just to Photography: Steve Korn, Daniel piano trio on August 9; and another fi ne name a few. It doesn’t have to be the Sheehan keyboardists Marc Seales, and group, on neighborhood you live in, it could be the Layout: Katherine Lambrecht September 13. area you work in -- Pike Place Market, Mailing: Lola Pedrini Among other events that Earshot is Pioneer Square and Seattle Center. Not Program Manager: Karen Caropepe Program Assistant: Josie Holtzman sponsoring this month is the first of all neighborhoods needing distribution three concerts in the Sounds Outside are listed here so please contact Karen at Calendar Information: 3429 Fremont series at Cal Anderson Park, on Capitol [email protected] or (206) 547-6763 if Place #309, Seattle WA 98103; fax (206) Hill, Saturday, June 2, 2-8pm, free: De- you are interested. 547-6286; [email protected] generate Art Ensemble, Sunship, Seattle Events Listings Board of Directors: Genesee Adkins Harmonic Voices, fi geater. Please send gig listings to (president), Paul Harding (vice- Th is month’s Earshot Eastside Show- president), Fred Gilbert (treasurer), case features the outstanding quartet [email protected]. Also send Hideo Makihara (secretary), Big Neighborhood and takes place at links to your own websites, so we can Clarence Acox, George Heidorn, Th omas Crossroads Center, Bellevue, Friday June update our links page. Please format Marriott, Lola Pedrini 29, at 7:30pm, free of charge. your gig listings in keeping with the Earshot Jazz is published monthly by See Calendar pages or www.earshot.org way they appear in the calendar in this issue. And if you have news of your jazz Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle and is for more details. available online at www.earshot.org. And don’t miss the Jazz Cruise aboard projects, or of anything at all relating to Subscription (with membership): $35 S.S. Virginia V, on Lake Union, June your carrer, please feel free to email them 3429 Fremont Place #309 10. Clarence Acox’s quartet provides the to [email protected], as we are always Seattle, WA 98103 music. Th ere’s much more. For details, looking for items to use in In One Ear T: (206) 547-6763 see page 18. and as fodder for feature articles in this F: (206) 547-6286 publication. Earshot Jazz ISSN 1077-0984 Printed by Pacifi c Publishing Company. ©2007 Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle

Earshot Jazz Mission Statement Earshot Jazz is a non-proﬁ t arts and service organization formed in 1986 to cultivate a support system for jazz in the community and to increase awareness of jazz. Earshot Jazz pursues its mission through publishing a monthly newsletter, presenting creative music, providing educational programs, identifying and ﬁ lling career needs for jazz artists, increasing listenership, augmenting and complementing existing services and programs, and networking with the national and international jazz community.

2 • Earshot Jazz • June 2007 In One Ear a one-time collaborator with Christian Vander in the singular Magma. Here’s a heads-up about a concert not Saxophonist Greg Sinibaldi just re- to be missed. Th e great French guitarist A Celebration of Adventurous turned from a three-week residency at the Music and Community Richard Pinhas, pioneer with his epochal Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida. band Heldon of a fusion of guitar rock, He worked on an electro/acoustic CD Cal Anderson Park 1632 11th Ave noise, and electronics that showed the that he’ll fi nish by fall. Read all about it (between Denny/Pine) way for much that came later in industrial at gregsinibaldi.blogspot.com. FREE! and techno, will appear here in Seattle Also available, at tfj hp.blogspot.com, is all shows 2-8 PM (zounds!) early in July. Th e show is slated a podcast of a radio interview he did with July 14 for July 3 at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard, Tarans Free Jazz Hour in Paris, France. Paul Rucker with local openers: Bill Horist, solo, and “We had a great conversation about Gust Burns Dennis Rea’s quintet Moraine. Frieze of Life and the Seattle scene,” Sini- Pinhas is a curious and essential fi g- Orkestar Zirkonium baldi says. “It was broadcast throughout Non Grata ure in modern music. Heldon evolved Europe too!” It’s a really great show and from scorching guitar conflagration ...he plays great music, too.” August 4 that sounded like it was driven by huge Trio KVH (Feat. Wayne Horvitz, industrial turbines to ambient electronic You can learn all sorts of fascinating Briggan Krauss, Dylan van der Schyff) (Feat. Skerik, Joe Doria, soundscape. Th e band comprised Pinhas’s things on MySpaces. Vocalist Nikki De- McTufAndyf Coe and Dvonne Lewis) commentary on technology, industrial- Caires, who performs at Egan’s on June Reptet ism, and art, as if he had read a lot of Hei- 8, grew up in Hawaii hearing local and Deal's Number degger as he traveled in the tour bus. reggae music as well as pop and Broadway In fact, Pinhas earned a PhD in phi- tunes that her DJ dad played and her losophy at the Sorbonne under Gilles aunt sang. She performed as a child in Deleuze, who may yet go down as the talent shows, then sang and danced in most infl uential of 20th-century French high-school musicals. At 17, she went poststructuralists, or at least the most to France as an exchange student, and sensible. Deleuze even recorded with played weddings and church gigs. Back Pinhas, as did Philip K. Dick. Pinhas in the US, in SFO, she studied classi- took the name Heldon from science-fi c- cal voice and sang lots more casuals. tion writer Normal Spinrad, refl ecting Early 2000, she had the opportunity to another of his obsessions. perform with bluegrass legend Ralph Looking for a place to start in his work? Stanley in Berkeley. Moved to Nash- Try Un rêve sans conséquence spéciale from ville and worked honky tonks and with 1976. Makes the heaviest metal seem like Stanley some more. While in Tennessee, wind-up toys you’d fi nd in cereal boxes. discovered jazz (!) and went off to study From there, there’s much more to ex- it at U of North Texas. Fronted an all- plore, including his latest, Metraton, a 2- female jazz/funk band around Dallas CD set with video track, on Cuneiform, while studying languages and vocal jazz, which has been championing Pinhas’s and took part in numerous jazz and big work with reissues of, among other band projects. Got to Seattle in 2003, things, the glorious Heldon catalog. and spent two years with a popular cover For his North American tour, Pinhas, band. Now freelances with jazz, R&B, wielding guitar and electronics, brings and bossa nova bands while working as along two pals from Metraton, laptoppiste a vocal instructor. Th ere you have it. She Jérôme Schmidt and, on batterie (which sings a pleasant repertoire of jazz and would be: drums) Antoine Paganotti, Brazilian standards.

In this issue... Notes ______2 Summer Jazz Festivals ______14 In One Ear ______3 Great Day in Seattle Jazz ______16 Roosevelt Jazz Band ______4 Preview: Denis Colin Trio ______17 Essentially Ellington ______7 Practice This! w/ Dawn Clement _____ 19 Dennis Rea profile ______9 Jazz Cruise ______18 Preview: Vancouver Jazz Festival ______11 Jazz Calendar ______20 Graphics Design Joseph P Gray Grauwald.com

June 2007 • Earshot Jazz • 3 Roosevelt’s Band Strikes It Up, Big

Left to right: Spencer Leroux, Evan Woodle (w/ cymbal), Sam Sidoine, Scotty Bemis, Tom Ferensen (back), Xavier McHugh (front w/ cymbal), Ross Eustis, Colin Pulkrabek (front w/ trombone), Peter Freeman (back), Logan Strosahl (w/ sax), Scott Brown, director (front), Nicholas Freedman (back) , Ken Christofferson (front), Charlie Fisher (back), Steven Mann (middle), Reed Ferris (w/ banjo), Andrew Morrill (back), Nolan Woodle (w/ bass), Michael Davis, Wyatt Palmer, Alex Dugdale (w/ clarinet); absent: Gus Carns; photo: Daniel Sheeehan; illustrations: Jakob Zoepﬂ, Roosevelt HS freshman.

BY PETER MONAGHAN Duke Ellington’s “The Shepherd,” which For Scott Brown, this is a year of tri- Right now, Roosevelt High School has the band performed in New York. umph to equal 2002, when he won his the best school jazz band in the country. Then comes a blat from Michael Davis’s first Essentially Ellington award; and his And that makes them, essentially, the best muted trumpet, from deep in some swap band kids know it. “It’s really amazing to in the world. outside N’Orle’ns. Serious swing. be one of the only two bands to have won That rings true when you hear Scott Brown, 23 years into his this,” says guitarist/banjoist Reed Ferris. the mighty outfit perform. It Roosevelt tenure, almost pops “It feels like we’ve been immortalized,” boasts a swag of ace soloists, from his skin with the thrill says Logan Strosahl, lead alto sax player. sections of the highest caliber, of it all as he signals a shift of “The 2002 band was the standard, in a and ensemble playing so tight emphasis. His charges instantly way. Now we’ve cemented our own place you could use it for shock ab- and effortlessly respond to his in Roosevelt history, really.” sorbers on a pickup. directions – a hand gesture Heightening that effect was that many Last month, those qualities here, a “sit on it” there. members have played together since at took Roosevelt to first place in Scotty Bemis And the young cats act like middle schools in the area. this year’s Essentially Ellington old pros on the bandstand. And, adds Charlie Fisher, lead trumpet, competition at the Lincoln Center in The horns chat; the whole crew looks as “It was even better, because we got to play New York, the undisputed heavyweight relaxed as if on the band bus; and they’re with Wynton Marsalis. While we were crown of school jazz. right there when time comes playing with him, the whole Under the enthusiastic direction of Scott to work modulate between competition part of it just went Brown, Roosevelt beat out 14 fellow fi- scouring blats and swoop- away, because we were making nalists, as well as 74 other bands that had ing vrooms. When Brown the greatest music of our lives aspired to make it to New York. works the rhythm section to with the greatest musician.” It was the Roughriders’ second win from a sashaying plod, you can feel Alex Dugdale, a alto and clari- eight finals appearances during nine years the steam rise up right off the net player who also won the of eligibility for the meet. That record is Mississippi. Wyatt Palmer competition’s annual essay com- matched only by crosstown friendly rival On all its Ellington renditions, the ponent, says: “What also made it really Garfield High, which again was a finalist, Roosevelt squad displays a savvy sense nice is that all the other bands were really, but not, this time, a place-getter (see El- of the urbane character and color of the really supportive, and that made winning lington competition details, page 7). Duke’s charts – no mean feat, for 14 to 17 worthwhile; it made it feel extra good.” When Roosevelt plays, its sterling quali- year olds. And they swing ya socks off. The moment of realizing that they had ties quickly emerge. There’s Scotty Bemis If this is not the most enjoyable ways to won came slowly for bandmembers. picking out a sly, slouching opening to go to high school ever invented... Says Reed Ferris, who won an individual

4 • Earshot Jazz • June 2007 honor in New York for his banjo playing: “Just seeing Mr. Brown so excited about it really got me excited about it.” “Then you guys pig-piled me,” responds Brown, and the band bursts out a belly laugh of fondness and pride. A local who gave back Brown came up as a local boy, in a musical family, on Bainbridge Island. His father played a plectrum banjo, “so we always had musicians over to the house,” says Brown, who took piano lessons and then trombone before middle school. At home he heard his father’s trad- jazz favorites, “old warhorses” like “Bill Bailey” and “Sweet Georgia Brown” (no relation); at school he learned a more modern repertoire – Count Basie, May- nard Ferguson, and Stan Kenton charts. From that start, Brown says, “I pretty much followed that path.” He went to the UW, and studied under trombone great Stuart Dempster and the late trumpeter, Roy Cummings. The UW band was a studio jazz band that placed less emphasis on performance than on mastering reading and a wide range of jazz styles. With that grounding, Brown was ideally suited to take over at Roosevelt, which he did right out of the UW. At the time, the band program, jazz and other, was far smaller than it is today. Then, it had 40 students, total, while today he is in charge of over 200 musicians, including over 70 in two jazz bands and a vocal- jazz ensemble; the second, “Jazz Lab” band also has registered many Northwest festival wins this year. In addition, Roosevelt has a concert band and marching bands that many of the jazz players take part in, and an orchestra, too. Many jazzers also take part in musicals – Thoroughly Modern Millie has been this semester’s production. When Brown took over in 1984, Waldo King had been in charge of jazz for many years, and had emphasized swing. That suited Brown fine, he says. “There were three or four students from his band when I started, and they were a big in- fluence on me,” he says. “It was a great fit. I arrived here and musically I felt completely at home.” But the band directorship wasn’t full- time, so Brown directed musical theater in the evenings, for MusicComedy

June 2007 • Earshot Jazz • 5 Northwest. “That was a great experience, The band’s repertoire is relatively hip, but the company folded,” he says. too. Despite their success at the all-El- So he also started working at South lington meet, they tend more towards Shore Middle School, part-time. He the Basie style than the Ellington, Brown came to Roosevelt after school, when the says; but they also perform modern works, jazz and marching bands practiced. such as those of Maria Schneider, Bob That, of course, has long since changed. Mintzer, George Stone, and longtime Pat Now, the top band meets every day at Metheny collaborator Lyle Mays. “I like 12:25pm to rehearse, while the second to lay a foundation of blues and swing band meets after and make sure the bands understand that school, so its players and feel it, then as we go through the year, have an incentive to we expand out from that, for example to step up. latin and funk tunes. For the growth, “But it’s based on swing, first.” B r o w n p r a i s e s The frequency with which Roosevelt Roosevelt parents. and Garfield have “The parent support been to Essentially El- Scott Brown is just incredible,” lington is all the more he says. “From organizational logistics, remarkable when one to promotions, to arranging hotels and takes into account travel, and selling merchandise – CDs that if a school has and hats. It’s almost a business. There’s a been to the finals in tremendous amount of money raised for either of the previ- scholarships to help kids go to summer Reed Ferris ous two years, it must camps.” compete for one of The support has made the band a much- only 5 of the 15 finals spots. That keeps envied opportunity for students. It takes the event open to new schools, but also them not just around the Northwest, and ensures fierce competition. Still, the Se- the U.S., but to places far afield. attle area has often had between two and Last summer, in Pori, Finland, Roosevelt four schools in the final 15. opened a Sting concert. “That’s been one One aspect of Brown’s directorship of of the most amazing experiences, for me,” the band that deserves particular praise Brown says. “And the band was totally up – and this also goes for Clarence Acox for it. There was no hesitation, no nerves. at Garfield, and many of the other band It was in front of 15,000 people. directors in this rich region – is his style “That set things up for this year. The as an educator. What most hearteningly setting, and how free they were. It es- recommends the Roosevelt band is that tablished an attitude for this year: ‘Let’s Scott Brown achieves with it that magical always do our best and not worry so educational accomplishment of both pro- much about the other bands.’” viding students with a tight ship of learn- Keeping a high-performance band on ing and (self-)discipline, and a venue for task and on top is no mean feat, when personal expression. As a whole, the band each yeear several members move on. This has achieved this year – as it always does year, for instance, the turnover resulted whether in the top prize-winning ranks or in the loss of all four girls in the band, so not – a sense of shared achievement and that for the first time ever since Brown thrill in music and fellowship, as well as arrived, the band is all-male. a stage for each individual player to stand The success of the program is, of course, up and play, whether for a couple of bars a great recruiting tool. Every person at or an extended blow, himself. Roosevelt is aware of the accomplish- Roosevelt Jazz Band on stage ments – soon after their return last month from New York, for example, the band Sunday, June 10: Triple Door played at an all-school assembly – and Friday, June 15: Jazz bands, Roosevelt only the most diehard too-cool-for- High School school types could dismiss as band nerds Monday, June 18: Vocal jazz ensemble, musicians like Brown’s who can play the Roosevelt High School brass off their horns’ bells. Info: www.rooseveltjazz.org 6 • Earshot Jazz • June 2007 Going to Lincoln Center for Wins, Places, and the Thrill of It All

Here’s how the Essentially Ellington and Canada, and to American schools the JLC Orchestra, an all-star outfit of competition works. in several countries. devotees to Marsalis’s jazz vision, joined The nonprofit Jazz at Lincoln Center JLC’s judges selected 15 finalists from each band in unjudged performance. in New York, with director Wynton the 88 entrants. During the first two days Marsalis then announced outstanding Marsalis, invites high schools to submit of competition, May 4 and 5, Marsalis, soloist and section awardees, and finally tapes of three compositions by Duke David Baker, a Pulitzer Prize nominee let the three finalists know how they Ellington, from among six choices. This and band leader, fellow bandleader David placed – third, second, or first. year, JLC sent scores of the six tunes Berger, and composer and jazz writer Four Washington State high schools – “C Jam Blues,” “The Flaming Sword,” Gunther Schuller chose the top three were among the 15 finalists this year: “Jumpin’ Punkins,” “Old Man Blues,” entrants from among those 15. Roosevelt, Garfield, Edmonds-Wood- “Second Line,” and “Sophisticated Lady,” On the meet’s final day, May 6, the way, and Mead (Spokane). to more than 900 schools in the U.S. finalists performed in competition; then Roosevelt High School won the competition, as it did in 2002. It came second in 2005 and 2001, and third in 2000. It was a finalist in 2006, 2004, and 1999. It has, then, been a finalist for eight of the nine years that the competition has admitted Western schools. So has Garfield High School, which was again among the finalists this year. It won the event in 2003 and 2004, came second in 2002, and third in 2006; it won an honorable mention in 2000 and 1999, and was a finalist in 2005. Edmonds-Woodway High School was making its second appearance as a finalist; the first was in 2003. Mead High School, from Spokane, also made its second showing, after getting to the Lincoln Center in 2004. Several Washington State students won best-soloist awards. Clarinet: Hannah Jones (Edmonds-Woodway) & Carl Majeau (Garfield); alto saxophone: John Cheadle (Garfield) & Logan Strosahl (Roosevelt); tenor sax: Joel Gombiner & Devin Mooers (both Garfield); piano: Devon Yesberger (Edmonds-Woodway), Benjamin Hamaji (Garfield), Scotty Bemis (Roosevelt); banjo: Reed Ferris (Roosevelt). Outstanding-section awards went to Roosevelt for its reed, trombone, trumpet, and rhythm sections, and to Mead for its trombone section. This year’s other two top-three finalists were Agoura High School, from Cali- fornia, and Foxboro High School, from Massachusetts.

June 2007 • Earshot Jazz • 7 Several other Washington schools have made the finals during the last nine years. Battle Ground (near Van- couver, WA) finished second last year. Newport was a finalist in 2005 and 2001. Mountlake Terrace finished third in 2005, won an honorable mention in 2002, and was a finalist in 2000. Shorewood was an honorable mention in 2005, and was a finalist in 2001 and 2000. Kentlake was a finalist in 2001, as Kentridge was in 1999. Of 140 finalists since 1999, 31 have been from Washington State. Other components of the Essen- tially Ellington program are regional festivals, curriculum materials, and a summer band-director academy. The program also includes an annual essay competition: students are asked to describe the place of jazz in their lives. This year’s winner was from Roosevelt, too: It was Alex Dugdale. In “Taking the ‘A’ Train,” he described how an experience in a subway as he traveled to the annual New York tap- dancing festival exerted a powerful force on him. He wrote: “I heard a sound. Not the sound of the subway, but a train of a different sort. I heard a man playing Duke Ellington’s “Take the “A” Train” on the steel drums. ... I heard ... the quiet yet unmistakable �� sound of a train rolling in at medium swing. I put on my tap shoes, and �� took the “A” train with the steel drum player and we started jamming to it. �� The people in the station started to �� hear our conversation and watched and listened as we spoke through the �� music. As we conducted this train, the crowd got with the beat, and followed �� us on board.” That experience alerted to him to �� characteristics of jazz that he had earlier missed, Dugdale wrote: “It was �� not just music, but a language spoken by all those who listen and play. Up � until that moment, I knew only the rhythmic dialect of that language, �� but I came away from jamming in the �� subway with a thirst to be fluent in all �� of its aspects.” The upshot: He went this year to �� Essentially Ellington with Roosevelt’s �� band.

8 • Earshot Jazz • June 2007

SJSEarShotAd (4-Units).indd 1 5/22/07 6:44:42 PM On Guitar, Dennis Rea

BY PETER MONAGHAN own Axolotl, “went belly up,” much to his disappointment. Several of Dennis Rea’s proj- Still, he says, “that presented ects (and there are many) are as an opportunity to conduct a good as anything you’ll hear in thorough reassessment of my progressive and avant jazz. musical goals.” He let go sev- That’s about the size of it. eral of his many, varied activi- Rea is, simply put, a jewel in ties in presenting, publicizing, Seattle’s music crown, albeit one and organizing creative music, that glitters less than it should, particularly in the free-improv due to his eclecticism (is he scene. He had, for instance, put jazzer, or rocker – why mince in a stint as co-organizer of the categories?) and also to the incu- longrunning Seattle Improvised riousness of too many ears. Music Festival. It is also due, though, to Rea’s That left him time to complete complete lack of bluster and his book about the emergence swagger, at sharp odds with of a rock scene in China, which guitarists with a fraction of his he witnessed and took part in. talent who play to stadiums to “After having worked on it in fits gobsmacked fans. His skills and and starts for 10 years, I decided imagination are as large as the to ge serious about it,” he says. venues he plays tend to be small. Photo by Daniel Sheehan With his book out, he can con- So it goes. Listening to the electric-string-quartet- centrate on “what’s important Rea, who is in full musical bloom as he plus-drums, you may find yourself swept to me, in music,” without distraction approaches 50, has honed his enormous over ice fields or other little-considered by “whatever the passing musical trends skills over many years of ever-shifting terrain. The project is the latest of many happen to be. I’ve honed in on what it is playing, whether here in Seattle or on assured, convincing Rea projects. With that speaks to me in music, and am un- unlikely but fertile ground for jazz and his mastery of styles and mood, and his apologetically dishing it out for people.” rock extensions: China and Taiwan. ability to shred in glorious guitar-rock In Moraine, “I don’t feel bound by genre His key current project, Moraine, is a style as readily as to slip into lyrical in any way. We move from jazz to art tock towering quintet that harks back to the streams, he has amassed credits all over to monkeyed-up Chinese music.” three years he profitably spent in the two the map. He spent time in the band of In addition to adapting Chinese pieces, Chinas. He has arranged for it a small Chinese rock megastar Cui Jian (for that Rea has written several new pieces or re- number of choice Chinese tunes, old fascinating story, read Rea’s book; see vived earlier works. Just as the repertoire and recent, traditional and not, which below); he has also taken part in a long crosses eras of Rea’s writing, the band become gorgeous jazz- and rock-inflected list of innovative Seattle jazz-ish bands; combines generations of players. Bassist pieces in his and his colleagues’ hands. and rockers from big-name bands – King Mike Davidson, long a fixture of Seattle But the group covers a lot of terrain, Crimson, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Sound- rock and punk, has known Rea since their drawing on “fractured bebop,” as Rea garden, Ministry – have been happy to groundbreaking 1991 concert tour of puts it, as well as math-rock – cranked- collaborate with him. China with Rea’s band, the Vagaries. up, rhythmically complex rock – and Among local honors, he won a Golden Alicia Allen, Moraine’s violinist, has for much more. Rea writes most of the Ear Award for Best Northwest Outside several years been Rea’s colleague in the material, or arranges it, in the case of the Jazz Group in 2000 with the juggernaut band of the seriously undersung local Chinese tunes, and plays guitar. free-jazz quartet Stackpole, a furious, songster of the bleak, Eric Apoe. Moraines, as just about everyone in this riveting improvising affair with Gregg Drummer Jay Jaskot is an old Rea outdoors-obsessed town should know, are Keplinger on drums, Wally Shoup on alto friend, master of many styles, and ulti- those masses of rocks and sediment that sax, and Geoff Harper on bass. mately a proficient in his own. glaciers deposit along their borders. Mo- Despite such acclaim, “after a lot of Bassist Ruth Davidson is the band’s raine, the band, creates formidable edi- visibility and activity in the 1990s, I X-factor. “Ferociously talented,” as Rea fices of sound constructed from styles and slipped largely out of sight for a time,” puts it, she comes with an impressive elements that coursing musical culture Rea says. classical pedigree and a voracious appetite has scour up and heaped at the margins Stackpole, and his other two major for instruments – cello, guitar, bass... for the curious to deploy or enjoy. bands, Jeff Greinke’s LAND and his – and musical styles. She makes, as she

June 2007 • Earshot Jazz • 9 puts it, “free improv, speed metal, noise Play with Dennis Rea? Hear Dennis Rea rock, pretty melodies, and combinations thereof” with complicated, loud, and fast Dennis Rea and Stuart Dempster are Online: www.dennisrea.com and www. upstarts Scary Bear and Malak. looking for musicians born on July 7 myspace.com/dennisrea (links to sites with Rea also has a jazz-rock improv outfit, or August 7 to take part in a concert on sound clips, e.g. www.myspace.com/mo- Iron Kim Style, that he calls “more of 07/07/07, their shared birthday (Rea’s raineseattle) a social musical arrangement than a 50th) and a date celebrated in Japan and Friday, June 1: Moraine, Floating Leaves Tea House (2213 NW Market St, Ballard, goal-driven project,” inspired by Olivier China in connection with the ‘Tanabata’ 7:30 pm, by donation). Messiaen, electric-period Miles Davis, legend. Tanabata-born musicians will Saturday, June 2: Moraine, w/ Diminished and North Korean martial music... Well, improvise, perform tanabata-related Men, SS Marie Antoinette artists’ co-op you get the picture. music, and ‘channel’ the spirits of July (1235 Westlake Ave N), 9:30pm. Among Rea’s other projects, his most 7 musicians including Gustav Mahler July 3, Sunset Tavern: (5433 Ballard Ave): Moraine opens for French prog-rock unusual is Tempered Steel, an amplified, and Pinetop Perkins. To take part, write legend Richard Pinhas who headed the electronically processed thumb-piano trio [email protected]. (Concert takes epochal band Heldon, a stunning fusion place July 7 at the Performance Space of guitar rock, noise, and electronics with Ffej and Frank Junk. that showed the way for much that Another, which Rea clearly cherishes, at the Good Shepherd Center; 649 came later in industrial and techno. With is a duo with fellow guitarist Ed Petry Sunnyside Ave N, Wallingford, 8 pm, drummer Antoine Paganotti (of Magma) and laptoppiste Jérôme Schmidt. – “the most unique guitarist in Seattle,” $5-15.) says Rea. “But he’s such an extreme wall- flower that very few people get exposed to his idiosyncratic genius.” A recording that the two are working on may change that, but probably not much. By his own reckoning, Rea has “a pen- chant for assembling international casts of musical characters in unusual places.” In China in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with an evolving cast of foreign residents, “against all odds, we managed to generate some fairly respectable music, but the experience of making music in that context was at least as important.” He still collaborates with old friends from those days – some in Seattle, some in Germany, where he spent some time in 2005. With bassist and programmer Andreas Vath, and keyboardist Volker Wiedersheim, he recorded some tracks for “the fusion record I always wanted to make. I was very deeply influenced by early jazz-rock fusion stuff. Seattle hasn’t been the right context to listen to that kind of music in the last 10 years or so, but with Andreas it seemed a natural.” Rea says he will continue to pursue such “legacy projects,” in Seattle if possible, of friends from his China days. They were on hand for tumultuous days (the days of Tiananmen Square) that Rea describes in his book, Live at the Forbid- den City: Musical Encounters in China and Taiwan. Read all about it at Rea’s web site. Suffice it to say, here, that Rea demonstrates in its pages that his musical talents are easily matched by his powers of observation, description, and cultural commentary. 10 • Earshot Jazz • June 2007 Vancouver: Passport to Great Jazz

Th eVancouver International Jazz Fes- Osaka-born, Berlin-based pianist Aki Tony Malaby, bassist Eivind Opsvik, and tival (June 22-July 1) continues to be Takase performs her tribute to the drummer Jeff Davis join her. the most ambitious jazz event in North uproarious vocalist/pianist of yore and Bellevue-born trumpeter Cuong Vu, a America. Also indisputable is that, de- for all time, Fats Waller. Th e project is spite tightening borders, it’s still an easy impressive not just because Takase has jaunt up there. And there’s something recorded work by all manner of jazz for everyone. So, here are a few tips on pioneers, from the trad to the avant, what might catch your fancy, regardless but because in her Waller work, for of genre prejudices. which she won the prestigious German Record Critics Award, she collaborates June 12 with – wow! – Nils Wogram trombone, Festival warm-up: Th e incomparable, Eugene Chadbourne guitar/vocals, drum Cape Verdean Cesaria Evora sings her legend Paul Lovens, and German bass version of the islands’ mournful morna clarinet monster Rudi Mahall. highly evolved, idiosyncratic player now ballad form, a relative of Portuguese fado Chadbourne and Lovens also team up back in Seattle after establishing his re- with more African infl ections. for improvisations of a high order. Chad- nown in New York with his own bands June 22 bourne has experimented to acclaim in and with Pat Metheny, appears with his many genres, while Lovens, whether with sterling trio, with Stomu Takeishi electric Globe Unity Orchestra, the Schlippen- bass and Ted Poor drums. bach Trio, or in duo with Paul Lytton, has Today, and the 25th, leading Swedish been a celebrated experimentalist. piano experimentalist Sten Sandell brings Talking about complete idiosyncrat- a stellar quartet with incomparable Eng- ics, the electronic sound sculptor Amon lish saxophonist John Butcher and Scan- Tobin makes transcendent, visceral art dinavian drum titan Paal Nilssen-Love. If where many computer-wielding DJs are you haven’t heard Butcher play, do. mere arrivistes. He sculpts raw material June 24 from jazz, hip hop, ambient elements, dub, electronica, breaks, and strings. If you miss Butcher on the 23rd, you Legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins can always see him today, in a trio with retains stunning, unfathomable inven- June 23 Vancouver aces Torsten Müller (bass) tiveness. Yeah, the band’s just there as Vancouver pianist Kris Davis, now well and Dylan van der Schyff (drums). platform for his inexhaustible exploration set in New York, always presents distinc- Th e Vancouver meet features several of of jazz history and its geographic reach; tive, intricate compositions. Saxophonist the greatest big bands in jazz that don’t don’t complain, just soar along. resemble Ellington and Basie’s, other than

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June 2007 • Earshot Jazz • 11 in reach and quality. Here’s one, from music and post-Paul Bley-&-Cecil Taylor Near-neighboring Swedes Sten Sandell Denmark: Pierre Dørge’s New Jungle jazz. John Corbett in Down Beat praised and trio are on the bill, too. Orchestra, 27 years into its startling his “absolute polyrhythmic directness June 27 cocktail of jazz, cabaret, highlife, and (threes and two overlaid like an absolute Asian and European styles. metronome!), startling vocal interjec- You inevitably labor in the shadows Also: the duo of I’m-out-of-superlatives tions and a sensational manipulation of when you’re, say, the younger brother of guitarist Bill Frisell and pedal-steel guitar energy.” (See also June 26.) Nat King Cole. Such is Freddy Cole, who wiz Greg Leisz, whom Joni Mitchell, Wil- Quebec sax ace François Carrier and his with any other brother would surely be lie Nelson, and Lucinda Williams have all trio will overdrive your brain, with hugely far more widely noted for his huge vocal employed because he’s the best. talented bassist Jean-Jacques Avenel, a Highly renowned in Canada, but less so Steve Lacy group vet. down here, is “Canada’s greatest gift to June 26 the piano since Oscar Peterson,” Oliver Jones. With finesse, fleetness, grace, mas- Another big-band, this time UMO Jazz terful technique, and range, he sketches Orchestra, from Helsinki.Thirty-two lightly or hammers with force. years and 23 albums into it, they’ve su- Catch Vancouver guitarist Gordon perbly recorded Muhal Richard Abrams Grdina’s two bands, Box Cutter and and Miles Davis projects and arresting Sketches, on the same bill (or, on June renditions of tunes by fellow Finns. 26). The first is a fresh chamber quartet with clarinet wiz François Houle, while Sketches is a fine guitar/sax/drums trio. Vienna-based Tunisian singer and oud player Dhafer Youssef’s Sufi-inspired and jazz/rock/electronica-inflected music, with tabla player, three violinists, and a cellist, is “hypnotically sublime” (Jazz- wise); today and tomorrow. June 25 Brazilian diva of cool, singer-songwriter Bebel Gilberto (daugher of demi-god Joao Gilberto, creator of the bossa nova, and vocalist Miucha, a collaborator with Jobim and Sinatra) presents her seduc- tively pop-electronica take on bossa. Opening is a Cape Verdean revelation,

Tcheka, who adapts percussion beats to guitar in the batuque style. Also today, another chance to hear John Butcher’s riveting sax extensions, with bassist Torsten Müller, cellist Peggy Lee, and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. Nilssen-Love also appears with pianist Sten Sandell’s trio. Among Stendall’s distinctions is his extension of modern art

12 • Earshot Jazz • June 2007 talent. Catch the quartet of “overall the of the gospel/blues techniques that were label beat-ups occasionally lives up to her most maturely expressive male jazz singer transforming popular singing.” Byron’s billing, and huge sales. of his generation” (New York Times). sextet includes vocalist Dean Bowman, June 29 Or, go to another stylistic spectrum and guitarist David Gilmore, and George catch the saxophonist and clarinetist of Colligan on Hammond B-3 organ. Speaking of physically attractive female the powerful Nordic quartet Atomic, Speaking of wizzes, been wondering jazz artists whom we middle-aged male Fredrik Ljungkvist, with his Yun Kan 5, a what’s become of Seattle piano wiz Aaron jazz scribes fall all over, the over-lauded free-wheeling quintet for sax, piano, bass, Parks? In Vancouver, he appears in guitar- French-American one, Madeleine Pey- drums, and tuba. (Also, June 28.) ist Kurt Rosenwinkel’s New York group. roux, appears tonight. I don’t really get They’re on the same bill as Byron. what the fuss is about, with Peyroux, but June 28 Also on this day: champion SFO turn- there’s something to be said for jazz inter- You love him or you hate him, and you table and film-manipulator MIKE Relm; pretations of songs by Leonard Cohen, get the feeling love doesn’t tempt him, in Montreal’s Maxime Morin, aka Cham- Joni Mitchell, and the iconic dolphin your case: Don Byron. The clarinet vir- pion, purveyor of “minimal techno beats, enthusiast Fred Neil. tuoso has presented projects of klezmer, piercing blues-based song and layers of Misha Mengelberg, gnomic Dutch Igor Stravinsky, Sly Stone, and Herb Alp- twinkling, groaning, howling, crunching ert, and now turns to Junior Walker. The guitars piled one on top of the other”; and soul legend, Byron says, perfected “an the quite popular pianist/singer/song- instrumental improvisational style out writer, Norah Jones, who unlike many �� Misha Mengelberg, photo by Francesco Martinelli �� piano re-creator, co-leader for eons of the ICP Orchestra, concocts the darnedest music, all art, no crap. He’ll do that here with a Dutch/Canadian trio. For that matter, no one plays French horn jazz better than now-Seattleite Tom Varner, who leads a trio, here, and also appears in quartet with clarinet virtuoso Francois Houle. Making this a day of winds too-little- heard in jazz, Chicago’s fine flutist, Ni- cole Mitchell, fronts up with two other Windy City titans, drummer Hamid �� Drake and bassist Harrison Bankhead in the Indigo Trio. (Also July 1.) �� Potentially transporting are the Jazzland �� Community presentations tonight and tomorrow. The Norwegian label/stable �� led by pianist/composer/producer Bugge �� Wesseltoft includes incomparable vocal- �� ist Sidsel Endresen who has recorded �� with Wesseltoft, often, and earlier, on startling ECM discs. Jazzland also boasts sax monster Hakon Kornstad’s electro- �� acoustic Wibutee and “nujazz” guitarist �� Eivind Aarset whose debut Electronique �� Noir was “one of the best post-Miles electric jazz albums,” per the NYT.

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June 2007 • Earshot Jazz • 13 Jazz Festivals – Summer & Fall

Gas may be three-ﬁfty but don’t let your Cathedral Park Jazz Festival Pony Boy Records Jazz Picnic jazz elasticity of demand tumble before a July TBA September 9 Beneath St. John’s Bridge Magnuson Park Amphitheatre, Seattle WA development such as that. You know it’s Roster: TBA Roster: TBA all a plot by some cartel, somewhere... http://www.cpjazz.com/ (206) 522 2210; www.ponyboyrecords.com Don’t give them the satisfaction. Jazz Port Townsend Pender Harbour Jazz Festival Rather, indulge in jazz in the sun, or the July 27-29 September 14-16; Pender Habour BC sunshowers. Much of that will be on tap Various stages and venues, Port Townsend WA Roster: Marc Atkinson Trio, Jane Bunnett, Allan this summe, and into the fall. Roster: Houston Person Trio, Vanda Brothers Latin Matheson Big Band, others Within a day or two’s drive from Seattle, Jazz All Stars, Joe Locke/Roberta Gambarini, Festival [email protected]; www.phjazz.ca All Star Big Band, Roy Hargrove Quintet, others (Jazz a variety of jazz gatherings will take place, in the Clubs includes: Lynne Arriale, Nancy King, Dee Anacortes Jazz Festival as below. They’re in urban hotspots, high- Daniels, Ignrid Jensen, Benny Green, Gary Smulyan, September 1-2 sky mountain spots, sun-bleached seaside Joe Locke, Birth of the Cool Nonet, Dave Peck, Dawn Curtis Wharf & clubs, Anacortes WA spots, loaﬁng-about valley spots. Or they’re Clement Trio, many others) Roster: Jessica Williams Trio, others TBA (360) 385-3102 x106, bill@centrum,org (360) 293-7911 right in the environs of Seattle itself. www.centrum.org/jazz/ Details are accurate at time of printing Vancouver DixieFest – you might want to check websites for Jazz in the Valley September 28-30 July 27-29 Sheraton Guildford, Surry BC breaking news, ticket availability, last- Various stages and venues, Ellensburg WA Roster: trad bands minute cancellations, and so forth. Roster: Darrell Grant Trio, Eddie Daniels, Greta (604) 987-6544; http://www.vcn.bc.ca/vdjs/ Matassa, Michael Powers, Mel Brown, others And please do let us know (at DjangoFest [email protected]) about any other Ellensburg Chamber of Commerce, (509) 925-2002, (888) 925-2204 September 19-23 area jazz festivals we’ve missed. www.jazzinthevalley.com/ Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, Langley WA Roster: TBA Britt Festivals Mt. Hood Jazz Festival (360) 221-8268, (800) 638-7631 June 18-July 27 August 3-4 http://www.djangofest.com/nw/ Britt Pavilion, Jacksonville OR Various venues, Gresham OR Roster: Herbie Hancock Quartet (June 18); Madeleine Roster: Django Reinhardt Festival All-Stars, Christian Glacier Jazz Stampede Peyroux (June 23); Ahmad Jamal/Regina Carter Quintet McBride Band, Lionel Loueke, Nicholas Payton Quintet, October 5-8; Kalispell MT (July 8); David Sanborn/Tower of Power (July 27) others Roster: trad bands (800) 882-7488, (541) 773-6077; www.brittfest.org (503) 661-2700; www.mthoodjazz.org/ (888) 888-2308; www.kalispellchamber.com/jazz/ Helena Jazz Jubilee 98.9 Smooth Jazz Festival Medford Jazz Jubilee June 14-16; Helena MT August 4-5 October 12-14; Medford OR Roster: trad bands Chateu Ste. Michelle Winery, Woodinville, WA Roster: trad bands (406) 495-1205; www.helenajazzjubilee.com Roster: Dave Koz, Mindi Abair, Al Jarreau, others (800) 599-0039, (541) 770-6972; www.medfordjazz.org JazzFest International (425) 653-9455; www.kwjz.com Swing ’n Dixie Jazz Jamboree June 22-30 Jazz & Oysters in Oysterville October 17-21; Sun Valley ID Various venues, Victoria BC August 19; Long Beach Peninsula WA Roster: trad bands Roster: Holly Cole, Sonny Rollins, Chris Botti, Freddy Roster: Ron Steen Group (877) 478-5277; www.sunvalleyjazz.com Cole, Oliver Jones, Madeleine Peyroux, others (360) 665-4466; www.watermusicfestival.com Victoria Jazz Society, Earshot Jazz Festival (250) 388-4423; www.vicjazz.bc.ca/jazzfest/ Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival October 19 - November 4 August 24-26; Vancouver WA Various venues, Seattle WA Vancouver International Jazz Roster: TBA Roster: Ahmad Jamal, John Zorn, Toots Thielemans, Festival (360) 906-0441; www.vancouverwinejazz.com Musafir, Fred Hersch Trio, Cyrus Chestnut w/ Kevin Mahogany, Vieux Farka Touré, John Abercrombie, June 22 - July 1 many others Various venues, Vancouver BC Bumbershoot Arts Festival (206) 547-9787; www.earshot.org Roster: (see this issue for details) September 1-3 (Labor Day Weekend) (604) 872-5200; www.coastaljazz.ca Seattle Center Roster: TBA Diggin’ Dixie at the Beach (206) 281-7788; www.bumbershoot.org November 2-4 Banff Summer Arts Festival Ocean Shores WA June 2-23 Pentastic Hot Jazz Festival Roster: trad bands Banff Centre, Banff AB September 7-9; Penticton BC (360) 289-4094; users.techline.com/diggindixie/ Roster:began in May; remaining jazz acts include Dave Roster: trad bands Douglas Septet (June 2), ICP Orchestra w/ Dave (250) 770-3494; www.pentasticjazz.com/ Think Swing! New Orleans Jazz Douglas (June 9); Banff Jazz Orchestra (June 18), Festival Banff Jazz Orchestra w/ Maria Schneider (June 23), Sisters Jazz Festival November 7-11; Spokane WA and jazz in the clubs September 14-16; Sisters OR Roster: Trad bands Information: (800) 413-8368, (403) 762-6301 Roster: trad bands (509) 74-STAGE www.banffcentre.ca/events/jazz/2007/ (800) 549-1332; www.sistersjazzfestival.com www.myspace.com/thinkswing

14 • Earshot Jazz • June 2007 Let’s just come right out and say it: �� –Seattle Times June 22 - July 1, 2007 � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

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TICKETMASTER NORTHWEST 206.628.0888 � JAZZ HOTLINE 1.888.438.5200

June 2007 • Earshot Jazz • 15 A Great Day for Jazz in Seattle

Some 300 Seattle jazz musicians lined the steps of Seattle’s City Hall on May 6 for a photo shoot marking Seattle’s long history of cherishing and fostering the art form. Several generations of jazz players came out to the shoot, where Pulitzer Prize- winning photographer Daniel Sheehan was behind the shutter. Trumpeter Thomas Marriott organized the event. The event was billed as “A Great Day in Seattle,” echoing the much-celebrated 1958 photograph by Art Kane, “A Great Day in Harlem,” which captured 57 of the icons of American jazz of the day in one astonishing image (see www.artkane. com). were especially invited, the word went Posters of a photograph from the event Rick Kitaeff Reports: out in the Seattle Times from Thomas will go on sale next year, with proceeds to Sunday, May 6 was a special day for Marriott, the organizer, that every jazz benefit MusiCares Foundation, a chari- the Seattle jazz community. Dubbed musician in the area was welcome to be table arm of The Recording Academy that Great Day in Seattle, the gathering on a part of the historic event. Hundreds the steps of the Federal Court House on provides financial, medical, and personal began to appear over an hour before the 4th Avenue was an attempt to re-enact assistance to needy musicians. shoot and lined up in the Court House for Seattle the 1958 group photo in The poster will be labeled, permitting lobby to register and sign about thirty Harlem that included many of the jazz fans to see who the city can boast of photo frames. The photos would later be greats of that period, including Count – our counterparts of the figures in the auctioned for charity. 1958 portrait. Basie, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, The gathering on the steps was an oc- There’ll be more news as the project Coleman Hawkins, Thelonius Monk, casion for ample back-slapping reunions advances. The projected poster sale date Art Blakey, Marian McPartland, Maxine and conversations with friends and is July 2008. Sullivan, and Milt Hinton. A Great Day strangers who quickly became musical Among those in attendance was Rick in Harlem was also the subject of an comrades. Kitaeff, a longtime jazz pianist in Seattle, Academy Award-nominated documen- continued on page 18 who describes his response to the event. tary. While some of the local musicians �� On KBCS hear the `B’ sides and genres found nowhere else on the dial, programmed by volunteers driven by their passion for the music. From jazz to reggae, folk to modern global, hip-hop to blues to electronica, you’ll hear it on KBCS. �� We air social justice-focused programs like Democracy Now!, along with locally produced public affairs shows Voices of Diversity and One World Report. KBCS covers issues, places, and people who don’t always make it to the front page of the mainstream media. It’s radio that’s handcrafted here at home, by hundreds of volunteers tuned into what’s local and what’s relevant.

Listener-supported, Non-commercial �� Community Radio Our purpose is to entertain, educate, and involve. KBCS is the only station in the greater Seattle area offering ongoing training �� opportunities. Become the media at KBCS.

16 • Earshot Jazz • June 2007 Preview Denis Colin Trio w/ Gwen Matthews June 27, 8pm In his trio, which until recently per- GRETA MATASSA Langston Hughes Cultural Arts formed only Colin originals, the bass Vocal/Rhythm Section Center clarinetist is accompanied by classi- cally trained cellist Didier Petit, famed Workshops Four weeks of 1/2-hour sessions with in France for his long history of jazz one of Seattle’s top rhythm sections and experimentation, and percussionist Pablo vocalists. Final concert at Tula’s, Seattle’s Cueco, who plays the zarb (a Persian premier jazz club, w/ optional recording. equivalent of the dumbek frame drum). Workshops every month. Cost: $250 One critic compared the combo to the Limited to 8 vocalists. 206-937-1262 gretamatassa.com (see Teaching page) legendary group Oregon, “if they’d origi- nated from Tehran.” For their fi rst appearance in Seattle, the trio appears, as it now often does, with Minneapolis gospel and blues singer Gwen Matthews. Her own project is Songs for Swans, which has recently toured Europe and major North Ameri- can jazz festivals. As the trio demonstrated on Something in Common (Sunnyside, 2004), it is “one of the most poetic groups in contempo-Earshot Jazz Magazine, 1-unit vertical ad rary jazz [with] a magnifi cent sound,”height, as 3-1/4 Denis Colin leads his trio, for over a de- Télérama said. In his review in AllAbout- cade one of France’s most-accomplished Jazz, Matthew Werthrich wrote: “Thwidth, e 2-3/8 jazz combos. His album, Etude de Terrain, group’s repertoire fuses diverse streams was chosen by a panel of leading French of the African-American musical tradi-Client: Greta Matassa, 206-937-1262 critics from as Jazz Record of the Year tion,” whether performing Wyclef Jean’s in 2000. “Diallo,” in which they blend reggae Colin is a bass clarinetist of great origi- and hip-hop “with a folk sensibility,”Designer: or Susan Pascal, 206-932-5336 nality and improvisational skill, as Archie Hendrix’s “If 6 Was 9,” which they render Shepp recognized a few years ago when as “a hip-hop/free-jazz chant.” he invited Colin into his quartet for a “For three French players to interpretRevised 1-18-06 stint as guest soloist. Th eir duo album this material with the intent of examin- will appear later this year. ing black culture takes a big risk,” said Also within the last few years, Colin Werthrich. “Yet they keep the music from had an ongoing project with Minnesota becoming derivative.” bassist Anthony Cox. He also has a cur- For French jazz critic, Jean Rochard, rent project, Colorphone, with ex-Soft “Colin stands apart on the French scene.” Machine bassist Hugh Hopper. He has, says Rochard, found a way into Th e Denis Colin Trio performs a heady jazz’s future without needing “to take mix of originals saturated with musical refuge in a supposedly radical pose. forms of the world, as well as distinctive Colin’s evolution, refi ned and sure, lies covers of such perhaps unlikely vehicles in his constant desire for a real exchange for exciting jazz as Jimi Hendrix’s “Cross- between himself and the public.” town Traffic,” Crosby Stills & Nash’s Admission $14/12, Langston Hughes “Ohio,” Stevie Wonder’s “Th ey Won’t Center, 104 17th Ave S, Seattle, (206) Go When I Go,” and John Coltrane’s 684-4757 “Amen.”

June 2007 • Earshot Jazz • 17 host of the nationally syndicated radio Jazz Cruise program Jazz After Hours. Jim will emcee the event, and dispatch anyone caught June 10, 3-6pm not having fun for a good keelhauling. Lakes Union & Washington With so hardy a seaman at the helm, you In celebration of the 85th anniversary should sail as safely as you do swingingly. of the Steamboat Virginia V, and to recall In the 1990s a $6.5 million restoration the infamous Seattle Jazz Society cruises brought the Virginia V improved wood, of the 1960s, a one-time, summer-after- a new certifi ed boiler, and a U.S. Coast noon jazz cruise will leave from the South Guard Passenger Boat License. Th e ship Lake Union Heritage Wharf. Passengers retains the Heff ernan Iron Works engine may board from 2:30pm; music starts at built in 1898 in Pioneer Square. Th e ship 3pm; the boat departs at 3:30pm. is a National Historic Landmark Vessel In addition to hearty light hors d’oeuvres under the care of the non-profi t Virginia and hearty cocktails, there’ll be plenty of V Foundation. live jazz from Boatswain Clarence Acox $45 adults, $80 couple, $20 under 12. and his fi ne, swashbuckling Quintet. Cash bar. Reservations (required): (206) This event is a collaboration of the 624-9119; [email protected]; www. Virginia V Foundation, Earshot Jazz, virginiav.org/ride.html. Info: Earshot Jazz, and nautical jazz fan, Jim Wilke, the 206-547-6763.

Photo, from page 18 Pluggd Many long-time jazz icons of the Se- dispersed. I’m sure that others were left attle scene were recognizable, and a few with the impression I had – that this was genuine jazz legends, like Ernestine An- a rare affi rmation of the survival of the www.pluggd.com/tag/jazz derson and Buddy Catlett, also appeared. Seattle jazz community. Standards of dress varied widely, ranging Rick Kitaeff is a pianist and composer who from formal wear and fl amboyant hats performs with Jazz Quintessence. to “good enough for jazz.” Perhaps some were mindful of Thelonious Monk’s Th eorganizers of Great Day in Seattle, Find Th omas Marriott, Chad McCullough, Jane Peck, and Greg Williamson, write: Jazz “What a Great Day! We wanted to thank you for your participation and patience during the day’s activities. Podcasts We are all very excited to see how the photograph turned out. Check in to the www.pluggd.com/tag/jazz website (www.agreatdayinseattle.com) for details on the release of the photograph and how to claim your poster. If you have any candid shots from the day that Daniel Sheehan you would like to share send them along through the website and we will post as Pluggd, Inc. choice of an all-white suit, making him many as we can. We would especially 122 S. Washington Street stand out in the 1958 Harlem photo. I like to thank Daniel Sheehan, City Year, found myself standing on the steps beside Th e Mayor’s Offi ce of Film and Music, Seattle, WA 98104 Gerry Hammond, a veteran of jazz scenes Althea Cudaback, Innervisions Posters & www.pluggd.com in other American cities, who was making Framing, Ron and Chris Hudson, Matt the point strongly that this is what Seattle Jorgensen, Tim Tyler, Curt Weiss and Th e needs - to assert its jazz identity like the Seattle Channel, Gogerty Stark Marriott great jazz scenes of cities like New York, Inc., Pacifi c Northwest Chapter of the Boston, and Detroit. Recording Academy, and most of all our Finally, the super-wide lens took in the great jazz family.” sprawling group and everyone reluctantly

18 • Earshot Jazz • June 2007 Pharaoh Sanders, Edmonia Jarrett, Nancy Major Sixth – C to A Practice This! King, Ingrid Jensen, Louis Moutin, Hadley Minor Seventh – C to Bb Caliman, Buddy Catlett, John Clayton, Major Seventh – C to B Ron Steen, Chuck Deardorf, Reade Whit- Octave – C to C Dawn well, Mercer Ellington, Jane Ira Bloom, and When improvising, I like to use the in- Bobby Previte. tervals in the melody of a tune to play off Intervals of. If the last two notes of a tune’s melody Clement In music, an interval is the distance be- are an interesting interval, rather than just tween two notes. All music is composed using the last two notes as a starting place of intervals. Each interval has its own, to improvise, I can think of the interval familiar sound. For instance, what we call between those two notes as a starting a perfect fourth (an example of a perfect point. Th en I can play that interval over fourth is C to F) is the fi rst two notes of the chord changes to the tune. “Here Comes the Bride,” a song that most So, if I start with a sixth at the begin- people know. Th ink of the part of the tune ning of a solo, I can keep playing sixths that is “Here comes” – that is the sound and move them around to fi t the chords, of a perfect fourth. Another example of rather than just playing any notes in the a common interval is a major sixth (C to chord and hoping to form them into a A), which is the fi rst interval in the song melodic solo. Pianist Dawn Clement is one of the busi- “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.” If I use the same interval a few times est performers and educators in the Pacifi c Each interval has its own, specific in a row, it can hook the listener better Northwest. In 2003, she released her fi rst sound and its own name; some of them because even if the notes are diff erent, the album, Hush, on Conduit Records. Other have multiple names. Here are all of the space between them stays the same, giv- highlights include a performance at the intervals and examples of each interval. ing the improvisation a more organized Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.) as one Each example will use C as the fi rst note, sound and feel. of fi ve fi nalists in the Mary Lou Williams but an interval is the space between any Some tunes are composed of only one Jazz Piano Competition, in 2006; an invi- two notes, so they don’t have to start on type of interval. Thelonious Monk’s tation to compete at the 3rd International the note C. composition “Mysterioso” is all major Martial Solal Jazz Piano Competition in Minor Second – C to C# sixths moving up and down. Th e idea Paris, in 2002; Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Major Second – C to D or concept of moving one type interval awards for Best Emerging Artist of 2000, Minor Th ird – C to Eb can be used when improvising as well as Best Jazz Quartet and Best Album of 2003 Major Th ird – C to E composing. Intervals can also be used to for her performance with the legendary Perfect Fourth – C to F shape the sound of a chord. trombonist Julian Priester (In Deep End Augmented Fourth – C to F# (also Examples of this can be heard by visiting Dance), and a nomination for Earshot Jazz called a Diminished Fifth or a Tri-tone) the Earshot Jazz website and download- Record of the Year in 2004 for Hush. She Perfect Fifth – C to G ing the audio version of this article at has performed with such notable artists as Minor Sixth – C to G# www.earshot.org.

Practice This! is an educa- Seattle Drum School tional project organized by www.thelabatsds.com Thomas Marriott for Earshot Summer Workshops include: Jazz with sponsorship from Saturday Jazz Buffett The Seattle Drum School. Each Jazz Combo Classes month in Earshot Jazz a new Performance Ear Training Come visit our new Intro to Piano Georgetown lesson by a different local jazz Reading Band Branch artist will appear for students Rock Band Camps to learn from and for non-mu- Drum Camps at 1010 S. Bailey sician readers to gain insight (camps taught at both locations) into the craft of improvising. Seattle: 12510 15th Ave NE - 206.364.8815 An expanded online version Georgetown: 1010 S. Bailey - 206.763.9700 of the lesson can be down- drum, guitar, bass, piano, trumpet, trombone, woodwind & DJ lessons available loaded at www.earshot.org.

June 2007 • Earshot Jazz • 19 1 FRIDAY NO Jay Thomas Big Band EB Jennifer Hoyt, 6 C* Duo Juum, Chapel Performance Space, TU Reggie Goings/Hadley Caliman Quintet, $7, 3 EB Vocal jam w/ Carrie Wicks; $5; 8 gschapel.blogspot.com/, 8 TU Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, $5, 8 JA Avishai Cohen Trio, 7:30 C* Marc Smason, Columbia City Beatwalk HL John Bishop, 8 (Bookworm Exchange, 4860 Rainier Ave S), 7 3 SEED CONCERT TB Katy Bourne, 6:30 SouthEast Effective Development (SEED) and & 10 TR Native Blue, 7:30 the Seward Park Environmental & Audubon EB Jason Parker Quartet CD release, w/ Josh Center launch SEED’s 30th annual Concerts TU SCCC Jazz Orchestra/Lonnie Mardis, $7:30, 8 Rawlings (piano), Evan Flory-Barnes (bass), & in the Park series. Featuring guitarist Michael D’Vonne Lewis (drums), $10, 7 Powers’ group, area school jazz bands, student- 6 JENNIFER HOYT EB And How! Quintet, $7, 10 led nature tours, food, eagles’ nests, old growth The winner of this year’s Seattle-Kobe Sister FL Moraine, 7:30 forest, and a pottery art studio, this community City jazz vocalist competition performs at Egan’s Ballard Jam House. HS Jon Hamar Trio, Jazz & Sushi series, 7:30 celebration is at Seward Park from 1-5pm. On the bill are the award-winning Garfield High band, JA Kevin Eubanks, 7:30 & 9:30 Washington Middle School Senior Jazz Band, and JB Michael Powers CD release 6/13/20/27 HENDRIX LOUNGE the New School Ensemble. Michael Powers, with The jazz series Hendrix Electric Lounge, held TU Susan Pascal Quartet, $12. 8:30 Doug Barnett on bass and Dave Austin on drums each week adjacent to the Columbia City Theater celebrate the release of Cinco de Michael. Power (4916 Rainier Ave S, 723-0088), features artists 2 SATURDAY will also perform with the Garfield Jazz Band. C* Moraine, Diminished Men, Sugar Skulls, SS on the sterling Origin Records label. It’s all good, Hayrides and park tours, too. Info: 760-4286. in an intimate room in which five people feels Marie Antoinette (1235 Westlake Ave N) like a crowd – ah, nice! – and admission is dead C* Dean Moore, Chapel Performance Space, 4 MONDAY inexpensive at $5 (free w/ theater stub). gschapel.blogspot.com/, 8 C* Jim Knapp Orchestra, Seattle Drum School C* Degenerate Art Ensemble, Sunship, Seattle (12510 15th Ave NE; 364-8815; $10/$5), 8 7 THURSDAY Harmonic Voices, figeater; Sounds Outside TU Greta Matassa jam, $7, 8 C* Chris Pugh/Jack Gold Molina CD release w/ series, Cal Anderson Park, 2-8pm, free. Sidewalk Frequencies, Blue Moon (712 NE C* Marc Smason & the Katatonics, McCormick 4 JIM KNAPP ORCHESTRA 45th St), 9 Park, Duvall, 4:45 & 5:30 The Jim Knapp Orchestra is well known for C* Ziggurat Quartet, NW Piano Showcase Series, C* UW Women’s Vocal Jazz ensembles, w/ Daniel its original style, superior writing, and virtuoso Sherman Clay/Steinway Pianos (1624 4th Ave, Rossi, trombonist; Brechemin Auditorium, performers, including saxophonists Mark 6220-7580), $5-15 sliding scale, 7:30 Taylor, Steve Treseler, and Stuart MacDonald, UW School of Music, $5, 206-685-8384, www. EB Students, Ed Hartman Percussion Studio, $5, 7 music.washington.edu/events; 7:30 trumpeters Jay Thomas and Vern Sielert, French EB Ed Hartman & Northwest Passage, $7, 9 C* Far Corner, Wayward Coffeehouse (8570 hornist virtuoso Tom Varner, and trombonists Jeff Hay and Chris Stover. The rhythm section JA Joshua Redman Trio, 7:30 Greenwood Ave N, 706-3240), 8 is John Hansen on piano, Phil Sparks on bass, TU Tony Bonjorno showcase, $8, 8 BP Karen Plato Trio, 8 and drummer Matt Jorgensen. The brass is EB Tom Baker Quartet, 7 driven by the lead trumpet of Brad Allison, and 7 PIANO SHOWCASE EB Momentum Jazz Quartet, 10 anchored by the baritone sax of Jim Dejoie. Paul The Ziggurat Quartet is pianist Bill Anschell, JA Kevin Eubanks, 7:30 & 9:30 Taub on flutes secures the top end. The L.A.B. saxophonist Eric Barber, bassist Doug Miller, performance space at the Seattle Drum School TU Kelley Johnson Quartet, $12, 8:30 and drummer Byron Vannoy, four leaders of is a small theatre with perfect sound and an UW Vocal Jazz Night III, 7:30 the Seattle scene. They promise passion for excellent piano. It is all ages, no alcohol, and rhythmic experimentation that drives their 3 SUNDAY has easy parking. The Orchestra has recorded complex original compositions. Many of the On Going Home (Seabreeze), Things For Now (A- C* Pearl Django, Seattle Jazz Vespers, Seattle pieces are deeply influenced by the rhythms Records) and Secular Breathing (Origin). of East Indian music, as well as jazz and First Baptist Church, Seneca & Harvard, 325- contemporary chamber music. Coupled with 6051, www.SeattleFirstBaptist.org/SJV, 6 5 TUESDAY stellar improvising, the result is a virtuoso mix of C* Ernestine Anderson, Greenwood Senior Center EB Chuck Ogmund Trio, 7 engaging, spontaneous, and compelling music. benefit, Taproot Theater (312 N 85th St, 297- JA Avishai Cohen Trio, 7:30 Members of the quartet bring a personal voice 6370; www.greenwoodseniorcenter.org/). and broad aesthetic horizons to the ensemble, TU Jay Thomas Big Band, $5, 8 C* Washington Middle School, New School, each charting new directions for jazz quartet. Garfield High jazz bands w/ Michael Powers 6 WEDNESDAY Group, Concerts in the Park series, Seward C* John Bishop, Hendrix Electric Lounge, 8 FRIDAY Park Amphitheater, free, 1 Columbia City Theater (4916 Rainier Ave. S., C* DXArts group show, Chapel Performance JA Kevin Eubanks, 7:30 206-723-0088), 8 Space, gschapel.blogspot.com/, 8

Get your gigs listed! To submit your gig information go to www.earshot.org/data/gigsubmit.asp or e-mail us at [email protected] with details of the venue, start-time, and date. As always, the deadline for getting your listing in print is the 15th of the previous month. The online calendar is maintained throughout the month, so if you are playing in the Seattle metro area, let us know! CALENDAR KEY NO New Orleans Restaurant, 114 First Ave S, 622-2563 AY Asteroid Cafe, 3601 Fremont Ave N, 547-9000 OW Owl ’n’ Thistle, 808 Post Ave, 621-7777 BP Bake’s Place, 4135 Providence Point Dr SE, Issaquah, 425-391-3335 PC Plymouth Congregational Church, 1217 6th Ave C* Concert and Special Events SB Seamonster Lounge, 2202 N 45th St, 633-1824 CP C&P Coffee, 5612 California Ave SW, 933-3125 SF Serafina, 2043 Eastlake Ave E, 323-0807 DC Dulces Latin Bistro, 1430 34th Ave, 322-5453 SY Salty’s on Alki, 1936 Harbor Ave SW, 526-1188 DH Dexter & Hayes Public House, 1628 Dexter Ave N, 283-7786 TB Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria, 4918 Rainier Ave S, 721-3501 EB Egan’s Ballard Jam House, 1707 NW Market St, 789-1621 TC Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria, 4411 Stone Way N., 633-3800 FL Floating Leaves Teahouse, TD Triple Door, 216 Union St, 838-4333 GT Gallery 1412, 1412 18th Ave, 2213 NW Market St TI Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, 366-3333 HL Hendrix Electric Lounge, Columbia City Theater, 4916 Rainier Ave S, 723-0088 TR Trospers Bar and Grill, 707 Trospers Road S.W., Tumwater, (360) 753-6626 JA Jazz Alley, 2033 6th Ave, 441-9729 TU Tula’s, 2214 2nd Ave, 443-4221 JB Jazzbones, 2803 6th Ave, Tacoma, 253-396-9169 WB Wasabi Bistro, 2311 2nd Ave, 441-6044 NI Nijo Sushi, 83 Spring St, 340-8880 WI Whiskey Bar, 2000 2nd Ave, 443-4490

20 • Earshot Jazz • June 2007 EB Nikki DeCaires, $7, 10 TU Vern Sielert Dektet CD release, $7, 8 HS Buddy Catlett Quartet, Jazz & Sushi, 7:30 14 THURSDAY JA Joshua Redman Trio, 7:30 & 9:30 Recurring Weekly Performances C* Beacon Hill Orchestra w/ Marc Smason, TU Bill Anschell Trio, $12, 8:30 Nana’s Soup House (3418 NE 55th St), 7 9 SATURDAY C* Mimi Fox Trio, Art of Jazz series, Seattle Art MONDAYS C* Native Blue, Olympia Farmer’s Market, 11 Museum, 5, free w/ museum admission BP Kelley Johnson Trio, 8 EB David White Trio w/ David White (guitar), NO New Orleans Quintet Doug Miller (bass), & Phil Parisot (drums), 9 EB Julie Cascioppo Experience, $10, 7 WB City Jazz, 9:30 EB Passarim, $7, 10 EB Gayle Cloud, $15, 7 JA Joshua Redman Trio, 7:30 & 9:30 TU SCCC Jazz Ensemble w/ Brian Kirk, 7:30, $6 SF Karin Kajita, Kay Bailey & Mark Bullis, 9 15 FRIDAY TUESDAYS TU Greta Matassa Quartet, $12, 8:30 BP Mimi Fox featuring Greta Matassa, 8 DC Eric Verlinde, 6:30 10 SUNDAY EB Katy Bourne w/ Randy Halberstadt, $10, 7 C* Jazz Cruise aboard Virginia V, Lake EB How Now Brown Cow, $5, 10 DH Tim Kennedy Trio HS Chuck Kistler Bebop Trio, Jazz & Sushi, 7:30 Union and Lake Washington, 3-6pm; NO HoloTrad Jazz reservations required; $45 adults, $80 NO Two Scoops Moore couple, $20 children under 12. Cash bar TI Chicago 7, 7:30 OW Bebop & Destruction jam on board. Reservations: (206) 624-9119; TU Hadley Caliman Quartet, $12, 8:30 [email protected]; www.virginav.org/ride. WB Louisiana Jazz, 9:30 html. Info: Earshot Jazz, 206-547-6763. 16 SATURDAY C* Chicago 7, Sculpture Garden (790 N. 34th St., C* Native Blue, Evergreen State College KAOS 675-8875), 2 Stage, 2:40 WEDNESDAYS JA Joshua Redman Trio, 7:30 C* Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, We NO John Holte Radio Rhythm Orchestra Love Pops: A Tribute to Louis Armstrong, DC Eric Verlinde, 6:30 TU Jazz Police Big Band, $5, 3 Nordstrom Recital Hall (Benaroya Hall), 7:30 NI Buckshot Jazz, 6:30 TU Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, $5, 8 BP Greta Matassa, 8 EB Lee Pence Trio, $5, 7 NO Floyd Standifer Tribute 12 TUESDAY EB Sunship w/ Stuart Dempster, $7, 10 Group, 8 C* Deardorf/Peterson Group, Eastside Jazz Club, TU Richard Cole Quartet, $12, 8:30 Sherman Clay Pianos (1000 Bellevue Way PC Susan Pascal/Murl Allen NE, Bellevue; 425-274-0633; $12/6 includes 16-17 SATCHMO refreshments) Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra presents Sanders/Phil Sparks, Noon C* The Deardorf/Peterson Group, Sherman Clay “We Love Pops: A Tribute to Louis Armstrong,” WB Jazz & R&B, 9:30 Piano Store (1000 Bellevue Way, Bellevue, 425- with special guest trumpeters Jon Pugh, Vern 454-0633), 7:30 Sielert, Tatum Greenblatt, and other leading WI Ronnie Pierce Ensemble, 10 Seattle jazz trumpeters, including the SRJO’s EB Victor Noriega & Ariel Lapidus, 7 own Jay Thomas and Thomas Marriott. But TU Emerald City Big Band, $5, 8 wait, there’s more. Bernie Jacobs, some jazz observers’ favorite vocalist in the region, who THURSDAYS 12 DEARDORF/PETERSON GROUP (as vocalist and multihornman) has recently Drawing from their many years of touring taken over from Floyd Standifer at the late AY Space Girlz jam, 9:30 and recording with artists like Kenny Barron, great’s Wednesday night gig at the New Orleans NO Ham Carson Quintet, 7 Art Lande, Bob Moses, Paul Motian, and dozens Restaurant, will appear, as will bassist Buddy of others, bassist Chuck Deardorf & guitarist/ Catlett, one of the greatest jazzmen this city SB Drunken Masters, 10:30 composer Dave Peterson, educators at Cornish has ever produced, and one who graced the College for 25 years, man this alternately bandstand and recording studios with Satchmo WB Brazilian Jazz, 9:30 reflective and fiery quartet with drummer John for five years. Selections include “Wild Man Bishop. Their new disc, Portal, showcases the Blues,” “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New compositions of Dave Peterson as well as new Orleans,” “Basin Street Blues,” and much more. takes on Wayne Shorter’s “Ana Maria” and the At Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, on SATURDAYS classic “Invitation.” For this show features, their Saturday, June 16, at 7:30pm, and Sunday June guest is pianist Bill Anschell. All-ages; 7:30pm, 17, at Kirkland Performance Centre, at 3pm. SY Victor Janusz, 10am Sherman Clay Pianos (1000 Bellevue Way NE, Tickets: $16-34, from SRJO (206-523-6159), Bellevue; 425-274-0633). www.srjo.org, Kirkland Performance Center, Benaroya Hall (walkup only). SUNDAYS 13 WEDNESDAY EB Vocal jam w/ Carrie Wicks, $5, 8 17 SUNDAY SY Victor Janusz, 10am HL David White Trio, 8 C* Katy Bourne, Edmonds Arts Festival, 3 �� SUNDAY, June 10, 3-6 pm Clarence Acox Quintet Come aboard the S.S. Virginia V and celebrate the 85th anniversary of the historic steamboat. Reservations required. Tickets $45/person or $80/couple. Call (206) 624-9119 or email [email protected]. The S.S. Virginia V 860 Terry St. N, Seattle, WA 98109 www.virginiav.org/ride.html#rides Sponsored by the Virginia V Foundation, Earshot Jazz and Jazz After Hours

June 2007 • Earshot Jazz • 21 C* Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, We Love TU Hal Sherman’s Monday Night Jazz Orch., $7, 8 Pops: A Tribute to Louis Armstrong, Kirkland Performance Center, 3 26, 28-JULY 1 FRIENDS OF FRISELL NO South Sound Youth Jazz, 3 Idiosyncratic guitar master Bill Frisell NO Reggie Goings Band, 8 performs with an all-star cast of some longtime collaborators and one or two newer ones, too. TU Jay Thomas Big Band, $5, 4 With bassist Tony Scherr (Sex Mob, Joey Baron’s TU Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, $5, 8 Killer Joey, Maria Schneider Orchestra, Lounge 18 MONDAY Lizards...) and drummer Rudy Royston (JD Allen Trio, Ron Miles’ Blossom...), with special guests TU Kelley Johnson jam, $7, 8 Ron Miles (trumpet) and Chris Cheek (sax). Frisell is just back from Ireland, where he performed 19 TUESDAY with Celtic violin wiz Martin Hayes and guitarist EB Bill Anschell Quartet, 7 Dennis Cahill, erstwhile residents of our fair JA Melvin Sparks B3 Trio, 7:30 city. He arrives back in the Northwest, first for a TC Katy Bourne, 6:30 one-night stand with Scherr and Royston at the TU Roadside Attraction big band, $5, 8 Lincoln Theater in Mt. Vernon, and then these four nights at Jazz Alley. 20 WEDNESDAY EB Douglas Acosta’s South of the Border: Songs 27 WEDNESDAY from Sinatra & Jobim, w/ Paul Sawyer & C* Dennis Colin Trio w/ Gwen Matthews, Clipper Anderson, $8, 6 Langston Hughes Center (104 17th Ave S. EB Vocal jam w/ Carrie Wicks, $5, 8 684-4757), admission $14/12, 8 HL Big Neighborhood, 8 EB Billy Brandt, 6 JA Melvin Sparks B3 Trio, 7:30 EB Vocal jam w/ Carrie Wicks, $5, 8 TR Native Blue, 7:30 HL Matt Jorgensen, 8 21 THURSDAY TU Greta Matassa jazz workshop, $8, 8 EB Karin Kajita Quintet, Tom Baker Quartet, Jack 28 THURSDAY Straw Artist Showcase, 7 EB EMS - Ethan Cudaback (drums), Seth JA Robert Glasper Trio, 7:30 Alexander (sax), Matt Norman (keys), 10 TU Sonando, $10, 8 EB Martine Bron, $8, 7 JA Bill Frisell & Friends, 7:30 & 9:30 21 JACK STRAW SHOWCASE TU Andrienne Wilson vocal showcase, $8, 8 Pianist Karin Kajita’s quintet and guitarist Tom Baker’s quartet appear in the Jack Straw series, 28 MARTINE BRON, DE LA SUISSE a bi-annual concert presenting artists in the Martine Bron was in these parts early this Jack Straw Artist Support and Artist Assistance century, and recorded some very tasty tracks with Program. The Tom Baker Quartet will perform Dawn Clement and other Cornish luminaries. She songs from Gospel of the Red Hot All-Stars, an has an affecting voice in rendering standards, all “operatorio” based on texts by Margaret Atwood, the more so for her accented vocal delivery, which JUNE MUSIC and original jazz compositions. At Egan’s Ballard makes songs like “Misty” and “The Thrill Is Gone” Jamhouse, 1707 NW Market St, 7pm; admission sound all the more painful, which – let’s face it $10; reservations recommended: reservations@ – a good proportion of standards are, if carefully 1-2 The Mark Whitman ballardjamhouse.com. observed. The Swiss scene is extraordinarily Band fertile, although more for its avant-garde 22 FRIDAY explorations than for fine, mainstream vocals 3 Jay Thomas Big Band C* Doug Haire, Chapel Performance Space, like these. At Egan’s, the perfect intimate setting gschapel.blogspot.com/, 8 to catch every inflection. 8-9 Becki Sue & Her Big C* Native Blue, HG Bistro (1618 E. Main Ave., 29 FRIDAY Rockin’ Daddies Puyallup, 253-845-5747), 8:30 EB Jump Ensemble, $5, 7 C* Big Neighborhood, Earshot Eastside Showcase, 10 John Holte Radio EB Deal’s Number, 10 Crossroads Center, Bellevue, free, 7:30 HS Greg Williamson Quartet, Jazz & Sushi, 7:30 C* Byron Au Young, Christopher Yohmei Rhythm Orchestra Blasdel, Chapel Performance Space, gschapel. JA Terence Blanchard, 7:30 & 9:30 blogspot.com/, 8 directed by Pete TU Marriott Brothers Jazz Quintet, $12, 8:30 Leinnonen C* Greg Sinibaldi Band, Christoff Gallery (6004 23 SATURDAY 12th Ave S, Georgetown), 9:30 15 Two Scoops Moore C* However, Chapel Performance Space, C* Native Blue, Taste of Tacoma, Pt. Defiance gschapel.blogspot.com/, 8 Park, 98.9-FM Smooth Jazz Stage, 2:30 16 Mark Fresne Band C* Seattle Jazz Singers “Jazz in June,” Edmonds EB Rochelle House, 7 Ctr for the Arts (410 Fourth Ave N, Edmonds, EB Khazak, 10 17 South Sound Youth 425-771-0824), $12, 7:30 GT Bill Smith Trio, 8 Jazz (3-6pm) BP Dina Blade’s “Let’s Fall in Love,” romantic HS Hans Brehmer Trio, Jazz & Sushi series, 7:30 songs of 1930/40s), dinner & show 7, show 8 JA Bill Frisell & Friends, 7:30 & 9:30 Reggie Goings Band BP Butch Harrison Quartet, 8 TU Greta Matassa Quintet, $12, 8:30 (8-11pm) EB Buckshot Jazz w/ Karen Shivers, $10, 10 JA Terence Blanchard, 7:30 & 9:30 29 BILL SMITH TRIO TU Milo Petersen & Jazz Disciples, $12, 8:30 Clarinet legend Bill Smith takes on tunes he 22- 23 The Rent Collectors might be unlikely to play with longtime associate 24 Reuel Lubag Trio 24 SUNDAY Dave Brubeck. With Brian Cobb on bass and C* Karin Kajita Jazz Quintet, Shoreline Arts Greg Campbell playing drums and French horn Festival, 10 (sometimes simultaneously), the trio will play 29-30 Kim Fields Band compositions by Smith, Eric Dolphy, Ornette C* Dennis Rea & Friends, Le Pichet (1931 First Coleman, Sun Ra, and Henry Threadgill. At Ave), free Gallery 1412 (1412 18th Ave, at 18th & Union), Regular Weekday Shows are Free! CP Marc Smason, 3 at 8pm; cover $5-15 sliding scale. JA Terence Blanchard, 7:30 MON: New Orleans Quintet NO Reuel Lubag Trio 30 SATURDAY TUES: Holotrad Jazz TU Fairly Honest Big Band, $5, 4 C* HJeffrey Allport/Tim Olive, Jason Anderson/ TU Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, $5, 8 Haime Fennelly, Chapel Performance Space, WED: Tribute to Floyd gschapel.blogspot.com/, 8 26 TUESDAY Standifer Group EB Greg Sinibaldi Band, 7 C* Bill Frisell & Friends, Lincoln Theater, EB Michael Stegner Trio, 10 THU: Ham Carson & Friends Mt. Vernon, 7:30; tickets $18-29, www. lincolntheatre.org JA Bill Frisell & Friends, 7:30 & 9:30 EB Julie Olson (vocals) w/ Josh Rawlings (piano), TU Jay Thomas Quartet, $12, 8:30 FOR DINNER RESERVATIONS Evan Florey-Barnes (bass), Jamael Nance CALL 622-2563 (drums), $7, 7

22 • Earshot Jazz • June 2007 A $35 basic membership in Earshot brings the J A Z Z newsletter to your door and entitles you to E A R S H O T JAZZ MEMBERSHIP discounts at Bud’s Jazz Records and all Earshot ______events. Your membership helps support our NAME educational programs and concert series. ______Check type of donation: ADDRESS ❏ New ❏ Renewal ______Type of membership: CITY/STATE/ZIP

❏ $25 Newsletter only ❏ $35 Individual ______PHONE # EMAIL ❏ $60 Household ❏ $100 Patron ______❏ $200 Sustaining ❏ $300 Lifetime EMPLOYER, IF IT PROVIDES MATCHING GRANTS Other: ______❏ Sr. Citizen – 30% discount at all levels WHERE DID YOU PICK UP EARSHOT?

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❏ Contact me about volunteering. Earshot Jazz is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization.

On Music, from page 13 then learned jazz singing in Shanghai of mambo, French song, cabaret, R&B, June 30 bars. He bewitchingly interprets tunes and free jazz. It’s a truly heady mix. As from the city’s jazz and cabaret heyday Pitchforkmedia.com said, they’re “an un- Jazzland is today, too. Other offerings of the mid-20th century. ruly confluence of Carl Stalling’s ‘Merrie include LA multi-winds player Vinny For an idiosyncratic laptop and drums Melodies,’ Henry Mancini’s cosmopoli- Golia and his quartet featuring trumpet duo, the festival goes to Londonian Ki- tan swank, and Sun Ra’s cosmic slop – all legend Bobby Bradford, an early Ornette eran Hebden (Four Tet) and drummer performed with the whiplash attention collaborator who went on to bolster clari- Steve Reid (Vandellas, Fela Kuti, Miles span of John Zorn’s Naked City.” netist John Carter’s innovative, history- Davis, James Brown, Sun Ra...). Hebden Also in from Belgium is the trio of laden music. (Also on July 1.) stitches sampled hip hop, electronica, piano prodigy Jef Neve, who deserves Each year, the Vancouver festival reaches techno, jazz, and folk to arrive at an the epithet. He plays a ton of stuff, with across oceans for great talent. From amalgam that, like Amon Tobin’s (see, incredible chops and touch. China comes haunting, soulful vocalist above), makes exciting art. Another pianist today is Vancouverite Every night of the Vancouver festival, Lisa Miller, much heralded for her fiery you need to be prepared to zip about to grace, in performance with an all-star BC catch even half of what’s worth hearing. quartet atuned to Miller’s amalgam of Today boasts the magnificent, 40-years- cutting-edge jazz, contemporary classical running but timeless ICP (Instant Com- composition, and free improv. posers Pool) Orchestra, the uproarious Finally, on this night, Swiss pianist Nik and thrilling Dutch outfit of pianist Bartsch’s RONIN performs, inspired by Misha Mengelberg and drummer Han the spirit of the samurai – step back or Bennink. They travel the history of jazz, they’ll lop your noggin off. But subtly. with wacked improv thrown in. As Bartsch, Kaspar Rast (drums), Björn Meyer (bass), Andi Pupato (percussion), July 1 and Sha (bass- and contrabass clarinet), A short nap later, Mengelberg will be demonstrate on their ECM disc Stoa and back to perform solo, a great treat. its predecessor, this is truly new music ICP bandmate Tobias Delius, a fine sax that intricately shifts and slices with a player who blows a distillation of sax-jazz sense of great assuredness and purpose. history, appears with his quartet of equal- But don’t take my word for all this. Go ly awe-inspiring performers, inimitable up and explore. drummer Han Bennink, cellist Tristan Coco Zhao , who performs his originals in Honsinger, and bassist Joe Williamson. For more information, including many Chinese, which proves well-suited to jazz. If you thought the ICP was hot, you’ll sound files of scheduled performers, and The son of small-town traditional opera love Belgian counterparts, Flat Earth for tickets, visit http://www.coastaljazz. musicians, Zhao studied oboe and com- Society, a rollicking, 14-man affair that ca/index.cfm position at the Shanghai conservatory, combines big-band belt with flourishes

June 2007 • Earshot Jazz • 23 Earshot Jazz NON-PROFIT ORG 3429 Fremont Pl., #309 U.S. POSTAGE Seattle, WA 98103 PAID PERMIT No. 14010 Change Service Requested SEATTLE, WA

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