If jazz is dead, April didn’t get the memo. Seattle rolls into Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) with three adventurous jazz festivals on the calendar – one of them a brand new event celebrating Seattle Women in Jazz.
These vibrant festivals are in addition to the ongoing calendar of jazz events around Puget Sound, and the home stretch now in view for our many jazz students. By the time International Jazz Day rolls around on April 30, this city will have seen a couple of hundred live jazz concerts by some of the most dedicated players on the planet. Not the result of a special once-a-year promotion, this is business as usual for Seattle jazz!
As you read your April issue of Earshot Jazz, I challenge you to consider any other city, outside of maybe New York, that is putting up this variety of events celebrating the diversity of approaches to jazz music. Bear in mind, that as this month unfolds, three distinguished high-school jazz bands are preparing to represent us at next month’s Essentially Ellington competition in New York, and, odds are, bring home the hardware.
In this issue, we extend our congratulations to the winners and nominees of the 2012 Golden Ear Awards, and we thank everyone who made the awards party such a success. For me, though, the great news about this year’s awards is that the considerable talent and energy in the Emerging Artist category virtually guarantees a robust future for us all.
I hope you’ll join us for two world-class Earshot Jazz concerts starting off the month on April 2 and 3, at Seattle Art Museum, and mark your calendars for future Earshot events. Moreover, let’s all make a commitment (I will, if you will) to get out more this month, in celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month and the tremendous richness of Seattle jazz.
See you out there!
John Gilbreath, Executive Director
