Seattle High Schools, Clark College Jazz Festival
In February, Garfield High’s Ensemble I took first place in the AAAA division of the 2014 Clark College Jazz Festival and also won the Sweepstakes Award as the outstanding ensemble for the 3 day festival. Three members of the band received Outstanding Musician Awards – Alice Mar-Abe, Isaac Washburn-Gaines and Jack Swiggett. This is the seventh time Garfield has won the Sweepstakes Award since 1995. In addition, last year’s sweepstakes winner Roosevelt performed as a guest artist.
A Good Experience
The maiden voyage of the Seattle Jazz Experience, which brought 400 jazz students to the Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center, March 14 and 15, was, by all reports, a complete success. Guest artists and clinicians included Rudresh Mahanthappa, Matt Wilson, Alan Ferber, Cuong Vu, and the legendary arranger and composer Bill Holman. Most of the 16 high school and college ensembles were from this region, though a few traveled from as far as California and Texas. Organized primarily by Cornish College music chair Kent Devereaux, Seattle Jazz Experience looks to establish itself one of the premiere educational jazz festivals in the western U.S.
10th Annual Seattle-Kobe Female Jazz Vocalists
On February 24, at Jazz Alley, twelve vocalists auditioned for a spot to be guest singers at the Kobe Jazz Vocal Queen Contest on May 10, 2014, in Kobe, Japan. Jennifer Kienzle won the adult division and Laura Rosok won the high school division.
Jazz Radio
88.5 KPLU hosts Saturday Jazz Matinee, Jazz Sunday Side Up, 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 JazzNW podcasts of archived programs, see jazznw.org.
90.3 KEXP, late-night Sundays, features Jazz Theater with John Gilbreath, 1am, and Sonarchy, midnight, 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 April lineup: April 6, Marisa Anderson, super fine solo guitar and lap steel performance of originals and public domain music in the folk, country and blues traditions; April 13, Lara Candland and Christian Asplund layer text, drones and live sampling; April 20, Rainbow Wolves, analog synthesizer explorations by Randall Skrasek; April 27, Rich Pellegrin Quintet, new jazz music by Pelligrin (piano), with R. Scott Morning (trumpet), Neil Welch (tenor sax), Mark Hunter (bass) and Chris Icasiano (drums).
Seattle Jazz Offering, Final Show at Tula’s
On Sunday, March 2, the Seattle Jazz Offering, with vocalist Reggie Goings, ended after a 15-year run of once-a-month Sunday jam sessions. With well over 100 musicians sitting in, back to 1998, this series of performances on the Tula’s stage was created to feature Hadley Caliman. Once established, the familial vibe nurtured many young talents over the years, alongside Caliman, Floyd Standifer, Darrius Willrich, Eric Verlinde, Phil Sparks, Jamael Nance, D’Vonne Lewis, and many others. Perhaps unique to this session was a partnership between musicians and audience, often with emotional call and response. “The power of music to heal and bring people together is unequaled. It is our humanity, our legacy, when all is said and done,” writes Goings.
Congratulations on fifteen years at Tula’s.
