EyeShotJazz | Jazz Photography

Earshot Jazz Festival 2013 presented The Westerlies opening for Dave Douglas on Saturday night at Poncho Concert Hall at Cornish College. Later they returned and played a few numbers with Dave and his group.

Trombonist Christian Pincock performed music from his new album release Plentiful Excitement, as well as new works to be released in the future, with Aaron Otheim (piano), Jon Hansen (tuba) and Chris Icasiano (drums) last week at the Chapel Performance Space. Wonderful music.

David Marriott and his jazz trombone quartet Slushpumpers Union performed at the Chapel Performance Space opening for Christian Pincock’s Group.

Naomi Siegel (trombone, pedals, field recordings) & Kate Olson (saxophone, effects)
Syrinx Effect an experimental platform for trombonist Naomi Siegel and saxophonist Kate Olson,  played contemporary, improvised music with electronics at the Chapel Performing Space in the opening performance of the Jazz The Second Century, the latest edition of Earshot’s juried series. It was a beautiful set of interesting music.  Olson mixed jazz licks and space on soprano sax above a layer of laptop effects, Buddha Machine loops, and snaps, pops and analog electronic sounds from a Cracklebox. Siegel explored the range and booms of trombone and lays down a background of looped brass thwarted by guitar pedals, plus field recordings from her travels.

The duo’s recent release Gnarly & Sweet shows their approach to improvised sonic journeys, tending to cinematic soundscapes set on droning rhythmic motifs. The two trade responsibilities in driving the shape and form of the pieces, each, at times, soloing minimally and sweetly or bombastically.

New York-based composer and trombonist Andy Clausen joined former tongue-in-cheek cross-town rival Riley Mulherkar (now classmates at Juilliard) to present the complete Birth of the Cool suite with a Seattle nonet, including French hornist Tom Varner and alto saxophonist Mark Taylor last week at the Chapel Performance Space presented by Earshot Jazz.

To bring a faithful rendition of the classic 1949-1950 recordings, Clausen and trumpeter Mulherkar have compiled parts from various sources and transcribed and edited scores for the complete Birth of the Cool suite. Clausen “I find this music compelling enough to merit serious investigation … I have personally dedicated dozens of hours to copying out every part from the scores and preparing the music to be as accurate as possible. This music needs to be heard.”

If you haven’t heard Birth of the Cool, get it and listen immediately: the legendary nonet with Miles out front plays with the timbre and density of combinations of trombone, tuba, French horn, alto and baritone saxes and rhythm section – lasting as some of the most elegant approaches for groups of its kind. For Clausen, a personal investigation of this suite is not anachronism but a natural extension of his work for his Wishbone Ensemble, an acoustic group featuring his original music for trombone, clarinet, piano, accordion and drums.

Clausen graduated from Roosevelt High School and was the recipient of the 2009 Gerald Wilson Award for Jazz Composition from the Monterey Jazz Festival. An active composer, arranger and bandleader since the age of 14, Clausen has released two albums of original music to critical acclaim. The New York Times has described his work as “sleek, dynamic large-group jazz, a whirl of dark-hued harmony and billowing rhythm.”

Riley Mulherkar, a graduate of Garfield High School, was the recipient of the 2010 Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Soloist award from the Essentially Ellington Competition; the New Yorker calls him a “brilliant teen-aged trumpeter”; and Wynton Marsalis named Mulherkar among a high-profile list of the Next Generation of Jazz Greats in a recent interview in JET magazine.

Jay Clayton, vocals, Jerry Granelli, drums, Anthony Cox, bass and Julian Priester, trombone, performed in a special reunion concert at Cornish College Saturday night part of the Earshot Jazz Spring Series.

Originally from Chicago, Julian Priester’s performing career is long and varied, beginning with stints in his teens playing with blues and R&B legends Muddy Waters, Dinah Washington, and Bo Diddley. In the early 1950s Priester was also a member of Sun Ra’s big band, and recorded several albums with that group before leaving Chicago in 1956 to tour with vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. Priester subsequently settled in New York, and between 1961 and 1969 appeared as a sideman on albums by Max Roach, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine, Blue Mitchell, Art Blakey, Joe Henderson, John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Charles Mingus, Johnny Griffin, and Sam Rivers. In 1969 he accepted an offer to play with Duke Ellington’s big band, then left in 1970 to join pianist Herbie Hancock’s fusion sextet. Since settling down in Seattle and joining the Cornish faculty in the late 1970s Priester has continued to perform as both a bandleader and sideman including tours with Sun Ra, Gary Peacock, the Dave Holland Quintet, Lester Bowie’s New York Organ Ensemble, and Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra. His compositions have been recorded by Sun Ra, Ray Charles, Herbie Hancock, Philly Jo Jones, Lee Morgan, Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Clifford Jordan, and Dave Holland. His own music can be heard on the Riverside, ECM, and Conduit record labels.

Jay Clayton has gained worldwide attention as both performer and teacher. She has appeared at major venues including Lincoln Center, Sweet Basil, Town Hall, the Kennedy Center, Jazz Alley, and the North Sea and Montmartre Festivals. She has taught at Universitat fur Musik in Austria, Bud Shank Jazz Workshop, and at City College and the New School in New York City. She co-taught with Sheila Jordan at the Vermont Jazz Workshop, and at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada, and was on the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts for twenty years. Her book Sing Your Story: a Practical Guide for Learning and Teaching the Art of Jazz Singing is published by Advance Music. Jay has performed and recorded throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe with leading jazz and new music artists including Muhal Richard Abrams, Steve Reich, Stanley Cowell, Kirk Nurock, Gary Bartz, George Cables, and Jane Ira Bloom as well as with the a cappella group Vocal Summit comprised of Urszula Dudziak, Bobby McFerrin, Jeanne Lee, and Norma Winstone. Her current projects integrate poetry and electronics into her music. Her projects reflect the diversity of her art and her live performances, which range from duo to sextet, and are unique events that draw from all of these collaborations.

Bassist Anthony Cox has recorded with Arthur Blythe, Dewey Redman, Geri Allen, Mike Cain, Uri Caine and many others.

Halifax-based percussionist-composer Jerry Granelli grew up in San Francisco where he studied with Joe Morello and drummed for pianists Denny Zeitlin and Vince Guaraldi (on many a Charlie Brown television specials). He pioneered world jazz fusion and electro-acoustic percussion during the ‘60s, established the music department at Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado in the 1970s, and has taught continuously since then in Boulder, Seattle, Halifax and Berlin. In the early ‘80s he performed and recorded in a trio with Ralph Towner and Gary Peacock for ECM records. He has recorded as a leader for Evidence, Intuition, ITM, and the Koch labels, and performed and recorded with longtime musical associates Mose Allison, Jay Clayton, Jane Ira Bloom, Glen Moore, Anthony Cox, Dave Friedman, and Jamie Saft, as well as projects with Bill Frisell, Robben Ford, Julian Priester, Charlie Haden, Kenny Garrett, and Buck 64.

All photographs on this website are by Daniel Sheehan © 2010. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for permission to use.

Wycliffe Gordon performed with the Garfield HS Jazz Band  at the Triple Door Friday Oct 24th

An internationally-acclaimed trombonist, composer, arranger, and educator originally from Waynesboro, Georgia, Wycliffe Gordon has enjoyed an award-winning career performing and teaching hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz for audiences around the world.

In addition to leading the Wycliffe Gordon Quartet, Gordon is a former member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He has also been a featured artist on Billy Taylor’s “Jazz at the Kennedy Center” Series. A gifted composer, he was commissioned to produce a new score for the 1925 silent film Body and Soul, and his musical tribute to Muhammad Ali, I Saw the Light, premiered in a performance by the Brass Band of Battle Creek in March 2004.

Gordon’s work as an educator includes master classes, clinics, and children’s concerts. He is currently developing a collection of trombone quartets, trios, and duos to be entitled Trombone Majesty, with expected publication in fall 2008.

Gordon performed with Seattle’s award-winning Garfield High School Jazz Band, which, under the 37-year leadership of Clarence Acox, was named the Outstanding Festival Band at the prestigious Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival for the seventh time in 2006 and has garnered top awards for seven consecutive years at the Essentially Ellington National Jazz Band Competition and Festival.
The band has also performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Jazz á Vienne in France, and the North Sea Jazz Festival.

Click here for the complete schedule for the rest of the upcoming shows at the 2008 Earshot Jazz Festival

Photograph by editorial photographer Daniel Sheehan a photojournalist who specializes in portrait photography and photojournalism for publications and corporations. He is also a Seattle wedding photographer photographing weddings with a subtle, unobtrusive, story-telling approach creating artistic documentary photography ranking him as one of the best Seattle wedding photographers.

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Wycliffe Gordon performed with the Garfield HS Jazz Band Friday Oct 24th
An internationally-acclaimed trombonist, composer, arranger, and educator originally from Waynesboro, Georgia, Wycliffe Gordon has enjoyed an award-winning career performing and teaching hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz for audiences around the world.
Seattle’s award-winning Garfield High School Jazz Band, which, under the 37-year leadership of Clarence Acox, was named the Outstanding Festival Band at the prestigious Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival for the seventh time in 2006 and has garnered top awards for seven consecutive years at the Essentially Ellington
National Jazz Band Competition and Festival.
The band has also performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Jazz á Vienne in France, and the North Sea Jazz Festival.

Click here for the complete schedule for the rest of the upcoming shows at the 2008 Earshot Jazz Festival

Photograph by editorial photographer Daniel Sheehan a photojournalist who specializes in portrait photography and photojournalism for publications and corporations. He is also a Seattle wedding photographer photographing weddings with a subtle, unobtrusive, story-telling approach creating artistic documentary photography ranking him as one of the best Seattle wedding photographers.

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