EyeShotJazz | Jazz Photography

In this third presentation of the Earshot Jazz Spring Series, Sierra Maestra put on a spell binding performance on Saturday March 31st at Town Hall, that had a large portion of the audience up on the floor dancing the entire concert with some so moved they came up on the stage for brief cameos.

Revered in Cuba for decades, Sierra Maestra was originally formed by Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, who subsequently served as guiding spirit and musical director for the Buena Vista Social Club. As the first of the modern-era groups to play in the old-style son lineup – tres, guitar, trumpet, bongo, guiro and vocals – Sierra Maestra recalls the style’s golden age of the 1920s and 30s.

Five of the original nine members remain: Alejandro Suarez Galarraga, band director and claves; Carlos Puisseaux Mansfarroll, guiro; Eduardo Himely Pino, bass; Luis Barzaga Sosa, vocals; Alberto Virgilio Valdes Decalo, vocals and maracas. They are pioneers in reviving this style for new generations and reintroducing it into the Cuban – and global – mainstream.

Joining the five originals are Yelfris Valdes Espinosa, trumpet; Eduardo “Niquito” Rico Menendez, bongos, congas and cowbell; Jesus Bello Diaz, vocals and acoustic guitar; Emilio Ramos Batista, vocals and tres.
The group was nominated for a Latin Grammy in 2010 and now celebrates 35 years since their formation. World Music Central says, “If son is indeed the soul of Cuba, then Sierra Maestra are the heartbeat at the center of that soul.”

Though son is a traditional, rural music with roots that stretch back almost a century, this simply isn’t a golden oldies kind of a band. Yes, four-part harmonies and acoustic instruments, but Sierra Maestra is as formidable and powerful a band as the mountain range in eastern Cuba for which they are named – their tribute to the birthplace of son.

Check out Rumbero Soy (2002), on which the group invites guest guitarist Marc Ribot for a couple of tracks and guests Ibrahim Ferrer and Omara Portuondo of the Buena Vista Social Club for additional vocals. It’s a great recording that ventures beyond traditional son. Also seek out Tibiri Tabara (2005), a challenge in the age of embargo.

In the second presentation of the Earshot Jazz Spring Series, Ben Williams put on a tremendously pleasing show last Saturday night. Rising-star bassist Ben Williams performed with his group at the Seattle Art Museum, downtown. The Washington DC-born, Harlem-based bandleader, musical educator, composer, electric and acoustic bassist was the winner of the 2009 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition, an award that helped the young artist produce his debut CD release State of Art. That record has galvanized Williams as an emerging and prominent voice in the jazz today.

State of Art is a mature statement stamped with his voice: “I wanted to make an album that regular nine-to-five people could enjoy,” Williams says, “and to make a deep artistic statement as well. I like music that grooves, and I make sure that my music feels good.” Even before the release of State of Art, Williams was one of the most sought after young bassists in the world; his resume is a who’s who of jazz wisdom: Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Terence Blanchard, Christian McBride Big Band, Nicholas Payton, Paquito D’Rivera, Cyrus Chestnut, Benny Golson, Roy Hargrove, and Mulgrew Miller, to name a few. Williams’ warm, woody tone, flowing groove, melodic phrasing and storytelling approach has found favor among musicians, but also a larger audience.

On the bassist’s appeal, Nate Chinen of the New York Times writes, “Williams took several long solos in his first set at The Jazz Gallery … and each one felt more like an entitlement than an indulgence.” He’s a natural who shares through his music what he sees happening in the world right now. From the liner notes of State of Art, by Williams: “This album is my honest and humble attempt at expressing (musically) what it feels like to be alive in 2011.” In this February’s issue of JazzTimes magazine, writer Giovanni Russonello reports on Williams and contemporaries in Harlem doing just that – Christian Scott, Gerald Clayton, Justin Brown, Jamire Williams. “It’s almost like a second coming of the Harlem Renaissance,” trumpeter Christian Scott says.

The outstanding pianist/vocalist Robin Holcomb with the lineup from her entrancing recent CD Presenting the Point of It All: Ron Samworth (guitar), Wayne Horvitz (keyboards), Dylan van der Schyff (drums), Peggy Lee (cello), and Bill Clark (trumpet).

The work of outstanding pianist, composer and vocalist Robin Holcomb has been called “remarkable” (CMJ), “entrancing” (Billboard), “sensitive, descriptive, adventuresome and full of soul” (Washington Post). Her work evokes thoughts and moods of many facets – country, rock, Baptist hymns and Appalachian folk tunes, and according to the New York Times, “the music that results is as elegantly simple as a Shaker quilt, and no less beautiful.”

Share on Facebook Tweet

Cornish College and the Seattle jazz community came together on November 2 at the Triple Door to celebrate Jim Knapp, the trumpeter, composer, and band leader who founded the college’s jazz program 40 years ago. Earshot Jazz Festival 20011 presented  the Jim Knapp Orchestra, the Cornish big band, and surprise musical guests.

Jim Knapp makes music, mentors musicians and likes laughter. For the past forty years, Knapp fed the Seattle jazz scene with his compositions, improvisations, ensembles and students. And he shows no signs of slowing down. This concert is an opportunity for the community to give back for all of Knapp’s selfless gifts to the Seattle music environment.

All of Knapp’s music expresses his dry wit, experimental outlook, and meticulous craft. As a composition student, one of his early works for the University of Illinois jazz band was titled Summertime. After quoting the first three notes of the Gershwin opera tune, the melody is abandoned for a lush exploration of harmonies and textures hinted at from just that fragment.

Share on Facebook Tweet

Earshot Jazz Festival 2011 presented Daniel Barry conducting the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra, SWOJO, in performance of compositions by Seattle-based composer, pianist, and vocalist Robin Holcomb, and of other remarkable women of jazz.

The Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra (SWOJO) features many of the finest female jazz artists in the region. Showcasing high-intensity jazz, tight harmonies and lush dynamic sounds, the band performs with a fresh energy, stemming from over ten years of thrilling audiences on two continents. Since the first rehearsal in January of 2000, the band has performed at clubs, jazz festivals and concert halls on two continents and performed with many distinguished artists, including Don Lanphere, Ingrid Jensen, Susan Pascal, and many others. SWOJO proudly features the original music of many regional composers and arrangers, including Vern Sielert, Jill Townsend, Hazel Leach, Nelda Swiggett, Roberta Piket, Leigh Pilzer, and their musical director, Dr. Daniel Barry. For this concert, Barry shares conduction of SWOJO with Robin Holcomb in a performance of compositions by the Seattle-based composer, pianist and vocalist, and other remarkable women of jazz

Share on Facebook Tweet

Grace Kelly Quintet at Tula’s in the last week of the Earshot Jazz Festival.

Earshot Jazz Festival 2011 presented the 19-year-old jazz wonder, saxophonist/vocalist Grace Kelly  who “plays with intelligence, wit, and feeling,” says one of her many fans, Wynton Marsalis.

Just five years ago at the age of 14, Grace Kelly garnered the first of her ASCAP Foundation awards and landed an invitation to perform with the Boston Pops. Kelly met this challenge by writing her first full orchestral arrangement and performing it in Boston’s iconic Symphony Hall. Since then, she has garnered accolades for many of the artists she has grown up revering. She has already performed and recorded with the likes of Dave Brubeck, Phil Woods, Harry Connick Jr., Jamie Cullum, Frank Morgan, Esperanza Spalding, Chris Potter, Cedar Walton, James Cotton and Terri Lynn Carrington, among many others. Perhaps her most intensive connection has been with Lee Konitz, whom Kelly has studied with since age 13.

Lately acclaimed for her recordings of “gospel jazz,” she was joined by Jason Palmer (trumpet), Doug Johnson (piano), Evan Gregor (bass), and Jordan Perlson (drums).

Share on Facebook Tweet

Kate Olson/Gary Prince Duo at SEATTLE ASIAN ART MUSEUM Kate Olson, a recent arrival to Seattle and instantly one of its most outstanding saxophonists opened for Robin Holcomb with  a set that was both nuanced and highly expressive with Washington DC-based guitarist Gary Prince.

Earshot Jazz Festival 2011 presented Malcolm Goldstein at CHAPEL PERFORMANCE SPACE last Saturday night. Composer and violinist Malcolm Goldstein has been active in the presentation of new music and dance in New York since the early 1960s, as co-founder of the Tone Roads Ensemble and as participant in the Judson Dance Theater, the New York Festival of the Avant Garde and the Experimental Intermedia Foundation. For nearly five decades, he has toured extensively throughout North America and Europe, presenting solo violin concerts and appearing as soloist with new music and dance ensembles. His “soundings” improvisations have received international acclaim for “reinventing violin playing,” extending the range of tonal and sound-texture possibilities of the instrument and revealing new dimensions of expressivity. Goldstein played solo and with a Seattle ensemble.

Jerry Granelli Trio at Tula’s

Earshot Jazz Festival 2011 presented the Jerry Granelli Trio at Tula’s last Sunday night. Drummer Jerry Granelli, whom Jazz Times called “one of those uncategorizable veteran percussionists who’s done it all,” appeared with his longtime trio of Danny Oore (sax) and Simon Fisk (bass/cello). Partway through the second set, Jerry invited  vocalist Jay Clayton up to join them. Check out the Earshot Jazz Festival Schedule to see what’s coming up next in this last week of the 2011 Festival lineup.

Share on Facebook Tweet

In Jerry Granelli’s expansive 45-year-career, he’s been at peak commercial success with Mose Allison and Vince Guaraldi – the pianist behind the classic Peanuts music – and deep in the world of improvisation and musical exploration. JazzTimes calls Granelli “one of those uncategorizable veteran percussionists who’s done it all.”

Born in 1940 San Francisco, Granelli recognized his passion in 1948 when he spent a day with Gene Krupa. Hanging out during the 50s in San Francisco nightclubs, like the Blackhawk, The Jazz Workshop and Jimbo’s Bop City, connected him to the hard bop sounds of Miles, Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones and Monk. After two years as a pupil of Joe Morello’s, Granelli became a highly sought-after session player, eventually matching up with the Vince Guaraldi Band. From the mid 70s through the 90s, Granelli focused on teaching, bringing his insider knowledge to hundreds of students at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, then the Cornish College of the Arts, the Conservatory in Halifax, and the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin.

A Canadian citizen since 1999, Granelli spent years in Halifax as a keystone in the jazz community there. Along with Halifax’s Jazz East organization, he founded the Creative Music Workshop, a two-week intensive music program that takes place every summer in conjunction with the Atlantic Jazz Festival.

Internationally acclaimed vocalist, composer and educator Jay Clayton creates work boldly spanning the terrain between jazz and new music. In 1963, she began her career performing standards in New York. Since then, she has performed and recorded throughout the United States, Canada and Europe with leading jazz and new music artists, including Steve Reich, Muhal Richard Abrams, John Cage, Julian Priester, Jane Ira Bloom, Nana Vasconcelos, Stanley Cowell and Bobby McFerrin. She has appeared at major U.S. venues, including Lincoln Center, The Kitchen, Sweet Basil and Jazz Alley, and at European festivals, including North Sea and Montmartre. Her work in the realms of standard and free music led to her development of a highly personal, wordless vocabulary, often enhanced now by her use of electronics.

Clayton has gained worldwide attention not only as a performer but also as a teacher. Her educational book, Sing Your Story: A Practical Guide for Learning and Teaching the Art of Jazz Singing, was published by Advance Music in 2001. She has taught vocal jazz at New York City College, the Banff Center in Canada, the Bud Shank Workshop in Port Townsend, the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and in music schools in Cologne, Berlin and Munich, Germany. She was on the jazz faculty at Cornish College of the Arts for twenty years, through 2001.

Share on Facebook Tweet

Travis Shook Trio at Tula’s

Earshot Jazz Festival 2011 presented the Travis Shook Trio at Tula’s last Friday and Saturday nights. this was one of my favorite performances of the festival so far. Travis with Matt Jorgensen (drums) and Essiet Essiet (bass) played some really cool sounding jazz from some standards, to Beetles tunes to his own compositions. Travis – a former Seattleite who was Earshot Golden Ear Award winner for best emerging jazz artist in 1992 and 1993 – gained early notoriety with drum legend Tony Williams, vocalist Betty Carter, and his own brilliant trio releases. Check out the Earshot Jazz Festival Schedule to see what’s next in the last week of the 2011 Festival lineup.

Share on Facebook Tweet

A former Sony/Columbia recording artist, Travis Shook has been called a “man of mystery” by JazzTimes, “pianist-in-exile” by Time Out New York, and he has been highly praised by the likes of Tony Williams and Ahmad Jamal. Shook’s playing demonstrates an unusually wide scope of feeling from the simple to the complex, the conventional to the unconventional, and from the softest, most lush ballads, to the fiercest, hard-driving jazz.

Born in Orville, California, on March 10, 1969, Shook (who began studying the piano at the age of 7) moved to Olympia, Washington, with his parents when he was 10 and spent his adolescent years in the Pacific Northwest. At 18, Shook moved to New Jersey to attend William Paterson College, graduating in 1990 with a BA in jazz performance. He then returned to Washington State and spent three years in the band of veteran bassist Buddy Catlett (famous for his work with Count Basie and Louis Armstrong, among others). In 1993 – the year Shook moved to New York City – Columbia released his self-titled debut album, which boasted the late Tony Williams on drums, Bunky Green on alto sax and Ira Coleman on bass. (But Shook’s association with Columbia turned out to be short-lived. When Columbia’s jazz department went through a major regime change, Shook was dropped from the label along with Horace Silver, Joey DeFrancesco and many others.)

Then in 1994, jazz vocal innovator Betty Carter hired Shook as her pianist, and he ended up touring Europe extensively with her. The future looked promising for Shook, but not long after that European tour concluded, he entered a very dark period of his life and struggled with addiction for a few years, reaching sobriety in the late 1990s with the help of his wife, jazz vocalist Veronica Nunn. In 1999, he and Nunn started their own company, Full Gallop Entertainment, which includes his label, Dead Horse Records. They have released a trilogy of albums on Dead Horse: Nunn’s debut album, American Lullaby; Shook’s second album, Awake; and his third album, Travis Shook Plays Kurt Weill.

Reggie Workman, Eddie Harris, Joe Lovano, Toots Thielemans, Rufus Reid, Chuck Israels, Ernestine Anderson, Branford Marsalis, Benny Golson and Clifford Jordan are among the many jazz greats Shook has played with along the way. He maintains a busy performance schedule in New York, and Earshot Jazz is pleased to welcome him back to Seattle for tonight’s concert. – Danielle Bias from the Earshot Jazz Festival Schedule

Share on Facebook

Tweet