Jazz NW

Noted Dutch saxophonist Tineke Postma recently played in Seattle as part of the Art Of Jazz Series at The Seattle Art Museum.  The concert was recorded for broadcast on Jazz Northwest and aired this Sunday, May 19 on 88.5, KPLU.

The Seattle appearance was the first for the saxophonist and composer who was on a nationwide tour that concluded with a performance at the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at The Kennedy Center in Washington.  For her concert at SAM she was joined by Seattle musicians Tim Kennedy, piano, Evan Flory-Barnes, bass and D'Vonne Lewis, drums.

"In the Rain Shadow," a new release by trombonist Chris Amemiya & Jazz Coalescence is one of the features on this week's Jazz Northwest. This sextet includes several top Northwest jazz musicians, including Jay Thomas, Travis Ranney, John Hansen, Jon Hamar and Steve Korn in a live studio session at Music Works Northwest.  The CD has the benefit of imaginative arrangements as well as  the immediacy of a live performance and the quality of a studio recording.  The individual musicians are all at the top of their game.

This concert, given last month at Kirkland Performance Center, was the third SRJO musical program drawn from the rich cultural period of New York’s Harlem in the Twenties and Thirties when African-American writers, visual artists and musicians were creating new and in many cases, daring works.  The concert airs Sunday, May 5 at 2 PM Pacific. 

April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and April 30 is International Jazz Day.  Originally organized and named by the Smithsonian Institution, JAM concludes with International Jazz Day on April 30 with jazz celebrations in many countries around the world.  

The Jazz Journalists Association supports both and adds further encouragement by announcing 26 JJA Jazz Heros, cited for their exemplary work in keeping jazz alive and well in their communities.  Special awards celebrations are taking place in these communities including Seattle, where trombonist and educator Julian Priester will receive his Jazz Hero award on April 30.  (more on the link below)

On this week's Jazz Northwest we'll hear music by Julian Priester and some of the other Jazz Heros in the Pacific Northwest who go above and beyond in keeping the music alive and encouraging new audiences and young musicians.

More Information:

JJA Jazz Awards  

A Seattle all-star group played this month's Art of Jazz concert at The Seattle Art Museum.  Co-led by Chuck Deardorf on bass and Dave Peterson on guitar, the group also includes Rich Cole on tenor sax, Bill Anschell, piano, and John Bishop on drums.   Highlights from the concert aired on Jazz Northwest, 88.5 KPLU on Sunday, April 20 at 2 PM PDT.

Take two imaginative, virtuoso jazz guitarists, blend and mix well and you have the recipe for this unique concert recorded last month at Kirkland Performance Center. Stanley Jordan is a master touch or tap-technique guitarist who has developed a world-wide enthusiastic following since he debuted on the Blue Note label in 1985.  Kevin Eubanks is most widely known as the guitarist/leader of The Tonight Show Band and Jay Leno's sidekick, but he had extensive experience as a jazz guitarist before, and has resumed his solo career since leaving The Tonight Show.  

The Northwest jazz scene is not only robust, but varied. Sample it on Jazz Northwest Sunday afternoons.  We’ll hear Latin jazz from Johnny Conga and Lary Barilleau,  straight- ahead from Jay Thomas, Milt Kleeb and Kareem Kandi, singer Eugenie Jones makes her debut and some well worn tunes getting unusual treatments.  

Jazz Northwest is produced by Jim Wilke exlusively for 88.5, KPLU.  A podcast is available after the show.

Multi-instrumentalist and singer Bernie Jacobs fronts his quartet in highlights from an Art of Jazz Concert at The Seattle Art Museum on Jazz Northwest, March 24 at 2 PM PDT on 88.5 KPLU.   The concert was presented by Earshot Jazz and recorded for this broadcast on KPLU.   Joining Bernie Jacobs, who plays mostly flute on this broadcast, are Bill Anschell, piano, Phil Sparks, bass and Adam Kessler on drums.  The music includes standards and jazz classics from Fats Waller to Wayne Shorter.

New CDs by Northwest Jazz artists are featured on this week's Jazz Northwest.  Tenor saxophonist Bill Harris leads his Portland quintet , Cory Weeds and Bill Coon front a quartet from Vancouver BC, singer Gail Pettis, and Jay Thomas and The Cats represent Seattle.  Also included this week is former Seattle trumpet player Tatum Greenblatt and some New York friends billed as the Verve Jazz Ensemble.  Jazz Northwest is broadcast Sunday afternoons at 2 on 88-5, KPLU and kplu.org. 

Latin jazz is one of the features on this week's Jazz Northwest, 2 PM Pacific on 88.5 KPLU.  Recent CD releases from veteran Seattle percussionists Johnny Conga and Lary Barilleau are included as well as a new solo CD by Brazilian pianist Jovino Santos Neto at the Fazioli Piano Salon in NYC.

Also this week, Vancouver reed man James Danderfer leads a New Orleans-style street band, and Jay Thomas' latest CD The Cats plays some neo-boogaloo!

Flugelhorn player Dmitri Matheny was in Seattle for a Valentine's Day concert at The Seattle Art Museum. The concert was recorded for Jazz Northwest and this week's episode will showcase some of the highlights.

Dmitri Matheny was a student of the late Art Farmer, one of the most highly regarded musicians to play the instrument.  Joined by a former Seattle resident, Nick Manson on piano, with Chris Higgins, bass and Robert Rushing, drums, the quartet played a mix of standards, ballads and originals for an appreciative crowd. 

Esperanza Spalding grew up in Portland, and one her mentors was trumpet player and educator Thara Memory.  The two were reunited on stage at the 55th Grammy Awards as they were awarded a Grammy for their co- arrangement of "City Of Roses" named for their hometown, Portland, OR.  The song is one of the originals on Esperanza Spalding's latest CD, "Radio Music Society" which also won a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.  The song is one of the features on this week's Jazz Northwest.

A double bill featuring a piano trio from Iceland, and a six trombone band is featured on Jazz Northwest this week.  The groups were recorded on separate occasions playing at Tula's in Seattle.