EyeShotJazz | Jazz Photography

Thomas Marriott’s Flexicon with Rick Mandyck on piano, Paul Gabrielson on bass, John Bishop on drums.
The 2012 Golden Ear Awards, celebrating the contributions and achievements in Seattle jazz, were presented at Tula’s on March 20 and Flexicon opened the evening. Here are some images from the evening of great sounds from some guys who have been around for a while.

Trumpeter Thomas Marriott, saxophonist Mark Taylor and drummer Matt Jorgensen joined pianist Orrin Evans (Bobby Watson’s former pianist) and bassist Essiet Essiet (Art Blakey’s last bassist) under the Human Spirit banner for two nights of  performances at Tulas in the 2012 Earshot Jazz Festival.

The East Coast artists vivified the harmonies while the Emerald City performers moistened the melodies and rhythms. Selections from the live performance were released as Dialogue (Origin, 2012). The program for this year’s festival performance includes original compositions by Marriott, Taylor and Jorgensen from Dialogue, plus new material.

Tula’s last night was the venue for a return of Human Spirit. If you missed them on Tuesday be sure to catch them on Weds. I was there last year when they recorded their album there at Tula’s and the music continues to feel great and more comfortable after repeated listenings over the past year.

2012 Earshot Jazz Festival  continues. Click on the schedule.

Saxophonist Taylor looks forward to the group because of the unknown elements and fresh surprises that can come from performing with two frequent collaborators and two new collaborators. He says, “Their interpretation and stylistic contributions to our tunes, and how that invariably steers us in different directions than we might otherwise go, is always intriguing to me.”

That sweet spot of social intimacy within artistic teams for maximum creativity also intrigues Brian Uzzi, a sociologist at Northwestern. In a study of Broadway musicals, Uzzi’s data revealed that the most successful work came from teams that “had some old friends, but they also had newbies. This mixture meant that the artists could interact efficiently – they had a familiar structure to fall back on – but they also managed to incorporate some new ideas. They were comfortable with each other, but they weren’t too comfortable.”

Check them out tonight.

– Steve Griggs

2012 Earshot Jazz Festival  continues. Click on the schedule.

So for my final set of the evening on Sunday I ended up at Tula’s and got to enjoy the Jon Hamar Quintet.the top-flight Seattle bassist Jon Hamar explored new music with tenor-sax titan Rich Perry, virtuoso multi-reedist Todd DelGiudice , pianist John Hansen and drummer Julian MacDonough,

Here is the  2012 Earshot Jazz Festival schedule

Hamar released his third CD, Hymn (Origin), in September to stellar reviews. DelGiudice features on the release, which eschews the traditional trio format to explore the melodic possibilities sans drums. Bolstered by the lithe alto sax of DelGiudice and Grammy-nominated Geoffrey Keezer on piano, Hamar presents a diverse collection of originals and arrangements that highlights the spirited interplay of these three voices.

Kennewick-born Hamar began playing string bass at age 11. He earned a bachelor’s degree in classical bass performance from Eastern Washington University and a master’s degree in jazz from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He teaches at Central Washington University, Northwest University (Kirkland), Edmonds Community College.

Hamar welcomes Rich Perry, a colossal jazz talent appearing on over 70 CDs. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Perry became interested in jazz in high school, then studied briefly at Bowling Green State University before moving to New York City. In 1977, he joined the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and spent two years touring the U.S. and Europe, and then continued with Mel Lewis. The band is now known as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and has three Grammy-nominated CDs. Perry is on the jazz faculty of William Paterson University in New Jersey.

Also making up the group tonight: the fluid clarinet and sax tones of Florida-native Todd DelGiudice, assistant professor of clarinet and saxophone at Eastern Washington University and member of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra; gem of the Northwest jazz scene, pianist John Hansen, an ensemble player with an attentive ear; drummer Julian MacDonough, the energetic timekeeper behind an eclectic mix of bands and instructor in Western Washington University’s jazz department.

– GB

Here is the  2012 Earshot Jazz Festival schedule

Also opening the 2012 Earshot Jazz Festival last Friday at Tula’s was the deliciously savvy, flawless, quirky, stratospheric – Grammy- and Emmy-nominated vocalist, lyricist and songwriter Lorraine Feather appeared with pianist and composer Russell Ferrante, a founder of smooth-fuse mainstay the Yellowjackets.

Feather calls her Tales of the Unusual (Jazzed Media, 2012), with Ferrante, “a collection of songs about unusual adventures both real and surreal; odd people; and in some cases, ordinary people suddenly overwhelmed by a new emotion of one kind or another.” The CD follows Ages (Jazzed Media, 2010), Grammy nominee for Best Jazz Vocal Album, also with Ferrante.

Californian Russell Ferrante started piano lessons at age 9 and by high school was performing professionally with local groups. In 1973, he dropped out of college to tour with blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon’s band, including guitarist Robben Ford. After this stint, Ferrante moved to Los Angeles and worked with Ford and other artists, including Joe Farrell, Tom Scott, Joni Mitchell, Bobby McFerrin and Al Jarreau. Soon after, Ferrante, Ford and bassist Jimmy Haslip formed fusion jazz group the Yellowjackets, who has released an impressive string of well-received albums in its 30-year history. The group’s twentieth release, Lifecycle (Heads Up Records, 2008), was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award, and Ferrante also was personally nominated.

In college, Feather was a theater arts major and later worked briefly as a stage actress, landing a role in the Broadway production Jesus Christ Superstar. During this time, she sang with various bands around New York, including backup for Grand Funk Railroad.

In Los Angeles, she developed her talent for writing lyrics, recorded by artists such as Patti Austin, David Benoit and Diane Schuur, and worked in the television and movie industries as a songwriter and lyricist. She’s received seven Emmy nominations; wrote the lyrics for Disney’s Dinosaurs and feature film The Jungle Book 2; and features on soundtracks Dick Tracy and For The Boys.

Feather lives in the San Juan Islands with husband Tony Morales, former drummer for The Rippingtons, David Benoit and Rickie Lee Jones.

– Gregory Brusstar

Here is the  2012 Earshot Jazz Festival schedule to see what is coming up next.

Pianist Sunna Gunnlaugs performed with bassist Thorgrimur Jonsson and drummer Scott McLemore at Tula’s last month in an Earshot Jazz presentation that was sublime and delightful.

 Also the trio on Gunnlaugs’ latest release, Long Pair Bond (2011), the patient and measured group works in a sonic space redolent of familiar environments – dynamic and sometime dusky Reykjavik, Iceland, bordered by sea and mountains. On her first trio album since her debut in 1997, a now more mature Gunnlaugs presents this music with a humble awareness and connectedness.

Gunnlaugs writes about her recent experience at performance hall Sendesaal at the jazzahead! conference in Bremen, Germany: “It was humbling to sit down at the Steinway D in this beautiful room and think that this was where Keith Jarrett played his solo concert (the Bremen part at least) and that Thelonious Monk had played there and also Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Jan Garbarek with Bobo Stenson and the list goes on. Holy moley. Humbling? Yes sir! We all just loved the sound in there.”

As a child on the small Seltjarnarnes peninsula not far from Reykjavik, Gunnlaugs began taking lessons on the organ. It was the gift of a Bill Evans trio record, You’re Gonna Hear from Me, that brought her to modern jazz. Not long after, in Brooklyn, fresh from the William Patterson University jazz program in New Jersey, Gunnlaugs featured connections with Tony Malaby, Drew Gress and drummer-cum-husband McLemore on the 1999 recordings Mindful and Songs from Iceland. Mindful was chosen as one of the top ten CDs of the year by the Virginian Pilot; Songs from Iceland, released a decade later, features Gunnlaugs’ special relationship with the material – five Icelandic folk songs that Gunnlaugs grew up with. “These were tunes that we were playing on concerts … it seemed important to document,” she says.

Gunnlaugs enjoys touring and has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. Seven releases as a leader have consistently met critical praise. Now living in Iceland, she frequently performs with her Iceland trio featuring bassist Jonsson and drummer McLemore. More about Sunna Gunnlaugs at sunnagunnlaugs.com and sunnagunnlaugs.bandcamp.com.

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.

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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

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Hardcoretet at Tula’s

For a great treat, I got to hear a tight group last Thursday night at Tula’s. Earshot Jazz Festival 2011 presented the energetic Seattle quartet Hardcoretet who performed originals drawn from jazz, rock, soul, and improvised music, inspired by fusion supergroups as well as modern jazz outfits like Chris Potter’s Underground and Kneebody. It featured Art Brown (alto sax), Aaron Otheim (keys), Tim Carey (bass), and Tarik Abouzied (drums).

Check out the Earshot Jazz Festival Schedule to see what’s next in the last week of the 2011 Festival lineup.

With Art Brown on saxophone, Aaron Otheim on keys, Tim Carey on bass, and Tarik Abouzied on drums, Hardcoretet presents original material written by each of its members. Brown, Otheim, Carey and Abouzied have all worked on a variety of projects over the years, encompassing a broad range of genres and sounds. From the free jazz sounds of Speak to the funky rhythms of Pocket Change, each group including members of Hardcoretet has proved to be prolific in the Seattle Jazz scene. Hardcoetet members have performed both nationally and globally, and the band has shared the stage with heavy hitters such as Bill Frisell, Cuong Vu, Mike Stern, John Medeski, Bobby Previte, and Charlie Hunter.

Hardcoretet’s second album, Do It Live, to be released at Tula’s during this year’s festival, further propels Hardcoretet on their way to becoming one of Seattle’s most exciting and unique mixed-genre bands. Their debut album, Experiments in Vibe, released in 2009, started the group on that path with a nomination for Mixed Genre Album of the Year at Seattle’s Lucid I/O Awards.

Influenced by artists from Miles Davis and John Coltrane to Soundgarden and Led Zeppelin, Hardcoretet’s sound is an amalgam of the best aspects of many genres. Combining elements of jazz, rock, soul and improvised music, Hardcoretet’s sound is similar to that of fusion groups like Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and Chick Corea’s Return to Forever. Simultaneously, their modern vibe has been likened to the works of Chris Potter’s Underground and Kneebody. Hardcoretet’s compositions, combined with their vibrant energy, make for a show not to be missed. – Abi Swanson, from the Earshot Jazz Festival schedule program

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Cory Weeds Group at Tula’s

Earshot Jazz Festival 2011 presented the Vancouver BC saxophonist Cory Weeds has played with B3 master Dr Lonnie Smith, The Night Crawlers, and mellow vocalist Paul Anka while also excelling as a leader. His The Many Deeds of Cory Weeds (2010) featured organist Joey DeFrancesco, and remained in the JazzWeek charts for 10 weeks. Weeds performed at Tula’s with Mike LeDonne, guitarist Oliver Gannon and drummer Jesse Cahill.

Check out the Earshot Jazz Festival Schedule to see what’s next in the 2011 Festival lineup.

Entrepreneurial Vancouver saxophonist Cory Weeds is an experienced bandleader, producer, club owner and voice for jazz in the Northwest. His show Chasin the Train aired on Vancouver’s Co-op Radio, 102.7 FM, and he’s been heard on the popular CBC show Hot Air, a radio program covering all eras of jazz. He’s played with B3 master Dr. Lonnie Smith, with the Night Crawlers, and mellow vocalist Paul Anka. As a leader, his The Many Deeds of Cory Weeds (2010), featuring organist Joey DeFrancesco, remained in the JazzWeek charts for 10 weeks. Early work in his career with the popular Vancouver band People Playing Music enchanted Weeds to the funkier side of jazz – Maceo Parker, Grant Green, Dr. Lonnie Smith. His January 2008 debut recording as a leader featured New York heavyweights: guitarist Peter Bernstein, organist Mike Ledonne and drummer Joe Farnsworth. He’s at Tula’s with Mike LeDonne, guitarist Oliver Gannon and drummer Jesse Cahill.

Cory Weeds’ father introduced him to jazz at a young age, and Weeds played piano for 13 years before making the permanent switch to the alto saxophone in high school. He attended the music program at North Vancouver’s Capilano College for three years before moving to the University of North Texas in Denton on a scholarship. Back home, Weeds concentrated his energies as a performing musician, then branched out.

In 2000, Weeds purchased The Cellar, a restaurant and jazz club in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighborhood, since voted four times in the Top 100 Jazz Clubs Worldwide by DownBeat. With a focus on the promotion of Vancouver and Canadian musicians and as host to the likes of Charles McPherson, Frank Wess, Mulgrew Miller, George Coleman, Lou Donaldson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Benny Golson and David Fathead Newman, it’s become an integral part in the advance of jazz in Vancouver and the Northwest.

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Jay Thomas performed last Saturday and Sunday at Tula’s with the Shunzo Ohno Group as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival 2011. Seattle’s multihorn great collaborated with the searing, stylish, New York-based Japanese trumpet bebopper Shunzo Ohno, a veteran of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and Phil Sparks, bass John Hanson, piano.

Here are some pictures from their performance.

Check out the Earshot Jazz Festival Schedule to see what’s next in the 2011 Festival lineup.

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Performing at Tula’s tonight as the 2011 Earshot Jazz Festival continues in its first weekend was Emi Meyer and her Japan Trio. I was taken aback with how wonderful she played and sang. The Kyoto-born, Seattle-raised pianist and vocalist, who won the Seattle-Kobe Jazz Vocalist Competition in 2007 and has topped Japanese jazz charts, appeared with Motoki Yamaguchi (drums) and Masanori Hattori (bass). In addition she had local guitarist MILO PETERSEN sit in and join them. Emi and Milo met last spring at a benefit performance raising funds for Japanese victims of the earthquake and hit it off. I wish I could have stayed for the entire set but I had to cover Eric Vloeimans’ Gatecrash at SAM. See the rest of the Earshot Jazz Festival Schedule

Born in Kyoto, Japan, and raised in Seattle, Emi Meyer’s culturally rich heritage has shaped the unique jazz-inspired pop sound heard on her three albums to date, including one recorded entirely in Japanese. Meyer began her musical career early in life, starting with classical piano at the age of 6 and eventually expanding to jazz “for the spontaneity it offered.”

It was her jazz background that paved the way for her win at the 2007 Seattle-Kobe Jazz Vocalist Competition – a contest between residents of Seattle and its sister city of Kobe, Japan. Following her win, Meyer had the first of many performances in Japan, where she has subsequently enjoyed a great deal of success, and she credits the competition with giving her the courage to ultimately pursue her musical ambitions. With the release of her first album, Curious Creature, Emi was invited to perform at the legendary Sundance Film Festival and shot to the very top of the Japanese jazz charts after her single “Room Blue” was chosen Single of the Week on iTunes.

She continues to evolve as an artist, and her latest work, Suitcase of Stones, is a refreshingly unique blend of jazz, pop and soul, using powerful lyrics carried effortlessly along by her signature melodies. The record was mixed and mastered by Husky Huskolds, who has worked with the likes of Norah Jones and Yael Naim. Japan Times praised Meyer’s performance on Suitcase of Stones, citing Meyer’s “gift for belting out warm, wistful songs with a hint of nostalgia.”

Fresh from a string of charity concerts to support the country that has given her so much, Meyer is joined for this Earshot Jazz Festival performance by Motoki Yamaguchi (drums) and Masanori Hattori (bass).It was her jazz background that paved the way for her win at the 2007 Seattle-Kobe Jazz Vocalist Competition – a contest between residents of Seattle and its sister city of Kobe, Japan. Following her win, Meyer had the first of many performances in Japan, where she has subsequently enjoyed a great deal of success, and she credits the competition with giving her the courage to ultimately pursue her musical ambitions. With the release of her first album, Curious Creature, Emi was invited to perform at the legendary Sundance Film Festival and shot to the very top of the Japanese jazz charts after her single “Room Blue” was chosen Single of the Week on iTunes.

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