JJA Journalism Awards, June 19
Recipients of Jazz Journalist Association Awards, in media categories, were announced at a JJA awards party on June 19 at the Blue Note Jazz Club, NYC. Nominees from our region: Rifftides (Doug Ramsey), Blog of the Year; Shall We Play That One Together? The Life and Art of Jazz Piano Legend Marian McPartland (St. Martin’s Press), by Paul de Barros, Best Book About Jazz of the Year; Jim Wilke (Jazz After Hours), Willis Conover-Marian McPartland Award for Broadcasting. Paul de Barros and Jim Wilke received awards. Area JJA Jazz Heroes, trombonist Julian Priester and retired artistic director of PDX Jazz Bill Royston, were celebrated in April. 

Educator Awards
The Recording Academy and the Grammy Foundation have announced the quarter finalists for their first ever Music Educator Award. Cuauhtemoc “Moc” Escobedo, of Eckstein Middle School, is among the quarter finalists, chosen out of more than 30,000 nominations, from all 50 states. Semifinalists will be announced in August, with 10 finalists chosen in recognition of significant and lasting contributions to music education. For more information visit, www.grammymusicteacher.com.

Langston Hughes Awards Grace Holden
The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute (LHPAI) presented its inaugural Harlem Renaissance Award to Grace Holden (b. 1930), pianist and voice of jazz and African American music, and daughter of Leala and Oscar Holden, pioneering Seattle jazz pianist. The award was presented at the LHPAI Meet Me at the Savoy gala, Saturday, June 29. Proceeds from the gala support the LHPAI Youth Performing Arts Academy and summer musical. More information at www.langstoninstitute.org.

4Culture Arts Projects Recipient
4Culture Arts Projects awards fund groups and individual artists residing in King County, for the creation and presentation of projects in all arts disciplines. In 2013, among the 4Culture Arts Projects recipients: Tarik Abouzied, for jazz recording and school presentations; Tom Baker, for “Deeply Lodged: A Night of Three Premieres”; Daniel Barry, for the Celestial Rhythm Orchestra in concert; Samantha Boshnack, for “Nellie Bly: Expositions of a Lasting Legacy”; Paul Kikuchi, for “Autonomic Series”; and Greg Ruby, for the Rhythm Runners, Prohibition-era dance music.

Seattle Office of Arts & Culture Youth Arts Funding Recipients
Jazz Night School received funding for five musicians to offer summer instruction in improvisation and ensemble jazz to 25 teen girls, with a Jazz Big Sisters ensemble to present a public concert. Seattle JazzED received funding for jazz techniques, composition and ensemble performance programs for 150 youth, directed by six local music educators, with public performances to close the series.

Bill Frisell & Carole d’Inverno, Arts Advocates
Guitarist Bill Frisell and abstract oil painter Carole d’Inverno lent their voices to a recent individual donor campaign for Artist Trust, the state-wide arts support organization. Bill Frisell says, “Along the way, whenever I’ve gotten discouraged, or scared, or lost, there’s always been someone there, right when I need them.” The couple’s letter about individual support for the arts in Washington State is at www.artisttrust.org.

Evan Flory-Barnes Cover, City Arts Magazine
In the June issue of City Arts, Senior Editor Jonathan Zwickel wrote about jazz and improvisation in Seattle, “Mad Explosive Spontaneity.” Bassist Evan Flory-Barnes, Frank Agency founder and clarinetist Beth Fleenor, UW jazz chair and trumpeter Cuong Vu, recent UW jazz grad and tenor saxophonist Levi Gillis and many of the city’s weekly sessions feature in the article. Find it online: www.cityartsonline.com.

Clarence Acox on KING5
The June 1 Northwest Newsmakers special, on KING 5, with Jean Enersen, included an interview with Clarence Acox, jazz band director for Garfield High School. Acox came to Seattle from New Orleans 40 years ago and continues to direct one of the nation’s top high-school jazz programs. Find it online: www.king5.com.

Andy Clausen’s Wishbone Tour
New York-based Seattleite trombonist and composer at Juilliard Andy Clausen takes his Wishbone Project on the road in the West this July. They’ll tour ten days in Oregon and California. More at www.andyclausen.com.

Jovino Santos Neto Travels, Summer Classes
In the spring, pianist and Cornish instructor Jovino Santos Neto was artist-in-residence at the Musik Hochschule, Nuremberg, Germany. He then went to Paris to work on musical concepts related to harmony and improvisation with a research team from the University for Social Studies. Back in Seattle this summer, Santos Neto coordinates the jazz workshops offered by Cornish College of the Arts. The July 15-19 session, focusing on jazz composition and arrangements with drummer and composer John Hollenbeck, has space left. Instructors Jay Thomas, Chris Stover, Chuck Deardorf and Santos Neto teach Latin jazz and hard bop that week, too. Workshops are primarily for high school students, but are open to all. Scholarships are available. More at www.cornish.edu/summer/programs/music. 

Ev Stern’s Jazz Workshop Adds Faculty, New Home
Since 1994, Ev Stern’s Jazz Workshop has helped over a thousand aspiring musicians of all ages, levels and instruments learn, achieve their goals and play jazz. The workshop recently moved to the Maple Leaf neighborhood, with a spacious, light-filled room for ensembles, classes and concerts. The workshop has also expanded to include faculty pianists Eric Verlinde, Darrius Willrich and Kaaren Moitoza and drummers D’vonne Lewis and Jeff Busch. Summer session runs July 4-August 31, plus a week-long jazz camp August 12-17; registration on-going. Contact at www.evstern.com.

Savoy Swing Moves
Savoy Swing Club has moved their weekly swing sessions and dances from Sonny Newman’s Dance Hall to a new venue, the Great Hall in Greenlake, 7220 Woodlawn Ave NE. The Careless Lovers performed at their closing celebration at Sonny’s, May 20. More about the Savoy Swing Club at www.savoyswing.org.

Guitarist Glenn Crytzer Benefit
The swing community rallied on June 6 to aid Glenn Crytzer’s recovery from a car accident in April. The guitarist required surgery to close a head wound and put a plate in his arm. Now in physical therapy, Crytzer will be able to play the guitar. Proceeds from a benefit concert at the Russian Hall, including big band and dance performances, social dancing and a raffle, went to Crytzer’s medical bills. More at www.getwellglenn.info.

Seattle Office of Arts & Culture Intern
Willem de Koch joins the city’s Arts & Culture Communications and Outreach team as events and marketing intern. He’ll assist with summer events, including the Seattle Presents summer concert series and the Mayor’s Arts Awards. De Koch is a Seattleite currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in trombone performance from the Manhattan School of Music.

Listening Party
Composer and pianist Steve Scribner is piloting a listening session called the Seattle Record Club. Attendees should bring a song or two to share, on CD or flash drive. “Any style is okay, from hugely popular to absolutely obscure; just as long as you like it well enough to share it with others,” Scribner emails. Capacity for the first listening session is set at twenty, at the Shoreline King County Library, Wednesday, July 10, 7pm.

Jazz Radio

88.5 KPLU hosts Saturday Jazz Matinee, Jazz Sunday Side Up, Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz, Ken Wiley’s the Art of Jazz and Jim Wilke’s Jazz After Hours and Jazz Northwest, in addition to its weekday NPR and late-night and prime-time jazz programs. For KPLU’s full jazz schedule, see kplu.org/schedule.

Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest, Sundays, 2pm, features the artists and events of the regional jazz scene. For full JazzNW program information, see jazznw.org.

90.3 KEXP, late-night Sundays, features Jazz Theater with John Gilbreath and Sonarchy, a live-performance broadcast from the Jack Straw Productions studio, produced by Doug Haire. Full schedule information is available at kexp.org and jackstraw.org.

Sonarchy’s July lineup: July 7, GRID, new music by percussionist Jen Gilleran, with Neil Welch, sax; Bill Kautz, trumpet, euphonium; Simon Henneman, guitar; Erica Carlson, piano, percussion. July 14, Jim Haynes, electro-acoustic drones, field recordings, tactile objects. July 21, Scriptures, with Blaine Craft, drums; Levi Fuller, bass; Casey Alexander, David Totten and Jeff Forrest, guitars. July 28, Analog Honking Device, tenor saxophonist Cynthia Mullis leads Chris Symer, acoustic bass; Steve Kim, electric bass; Chris Icasiano, drums; Chad McCullough, trumpet. 

91.3 KBCS, on late Sundays and prime-time Mondays, features Floatation Device with John Seman and Jonathan Lawson; Straight, No Chaser with David Utevsky; Giant Steps with John Pai. More about jazz on KBCS at kbcs.fm.

94.9 KUOW, Saturdays at 7pm, features Amanda Wilde’s the Swing Years and Beyond, popular music from the 1920s to the 1950s. More at kuow.org/swing_years.php.

In One Ear News
Email your news about Seattle-area jazz artists for In One Ear to editor@earshot.org.