Dawn Clement Trio – Jazz Photography at Seattle Art Musem
February 12th, 2010
The Dawn Clement Trio: Dawn Clement, Geoff Harper on bass and Jazz Sawyer on drums at the Seattle Art Museum.
The Art of Jazz Series put on by Earshot Jazz in collaboration with the Seattle Art Museum continues every 2nd Thursday of every month with free admission. Dawn and her trio were in good form and did a couple of set that sounded great in the great hall of the Lobby of the museum
Jim Wilke was there too recording the music for his radio broadcast on Jazz Northwest program, Sunday afternoons, from 1 to 2pm on 88.5, KPLU.
Jazz Photography by editorial photographer Daniel Sheehan who covers jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and corporations. He is also a Seattle Wedding Photographer at A Beautiful Day Photography, a wedding photographer with an artistic photojournalist style.
Music From Iran – The Azadeh Ensemble
February 7th, 2010
The Azadeh Ensemble , made up of Sahba Motallebi, 2nd from left, then Sepideh Raissadat, Laya Etemadi, Bahareh Moghtadaei right and joining them as guest artist on left, Negar Booban, in performance at Town Hall in Seattle, on Friday Feb. 5th, 2010.
On Friday evening, Town Hall Seattle presented the Azadeh Ensemble, four outstanding virtuoso Iranian women musicians who formed in summer, 2009 in response to the political events in Iran, and the prominent role women have played within it, in their Northwest debut on Friday. In Farsi, the language of Iran, Azadeh means liberated. Azadeh Ensemble is one of the few all-female ensembles playing classical Persian music. Their exciting interpretations combine centuries of musical history with modern concerns of individual freedoms and the female voice.
Their vivid repertoire draws from classical Persian music, speaking especially to the concerns of individual freedoms and the female voice. As a women’s group, the Azadeh Ensemble is truly a rarity in Persian music, bringing these traditional forms into a dynamic contemporary context. Heading the ensemble, all of whom were born and trained in Iran but now live in the US, is the remarkable tar (a lutelike instrument) player Sahba Motallebi celebrated for the vigor and clarity of her playing on this stringed instrument, joined by the gifted vocalist Sepideh Raissadat, virtuoso kamanche (a Persian fiddle) and viola player Laya Etemadi, and Bahareh Moghtadaei on the tombak (drum). In the secod portion of their performance they were joined by joined by guest artist Negar Booban, of the Teharan Conservatory of Music, on the oud.
Not being familiar with Persian music it was enchanting and exotic: it was delightful and uplifting and also spiritful. At times I heard strains of the some traditional American blues and at other time their music brought to mind some old Irish folk tunes between the strings and drums. But most of the time it was as graceful and transporting as it was unfamiliar.Knowing their story and how they came to play together was inspiring. It is hard to believe that they can never play in thier home country together like this. I feel sorrow for them and even more for their fellow countrymen. I hope one day they may go and perform such as concert in their homeland.
As Motallebi said before a recent performance, “”[We] will be there as Persian women musicians who suffered a lot for the art and music in Iran. We have so many things to say and feelings to share for our women who want freedom … Our concert will be dedicated to [them].”
Read more in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette
All photographs on this website are Daniel Sheehan © 2010. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for permission to use.
Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan who covers music performances, and creates portrait photography for publication.
Bad Luck – JAZZ PHOTOGRAPHY – Is That Jazz? Festival
February 3rd, 2010
The band Bad Luck on stage at the Chapel Performance Space last Friday night.
Co-led by drummer Chris Icasiano and saxophonist Neil Welch, Bad Luck is about sound art, slowly developed loops and pedals used to propel the music into new aural fields. Tight-knit original compositions meet sonic mosaics in a musical relationship cultivated by years on the bandstand. I managed to catch them last Friday night and was glad I did. A complete jazz sound from a dynamic duo.
Jazz Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan who covers jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and corporations.All photographs on this website are by Daniel Sheehan © 2010. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for permission to use.
“Dedicated to You” Kurt Elling Wins Best Jazz Vocal Album
January 31st, 2010
Kurt Elling in performance at the Bellevue Jazz Festival last spring.
“Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman,” by Kurt Elling won the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album tonight at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. He is always wonderful to see live and this album is a fine example of his music.
Jazz Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan who covers jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and corporations and a Seattle Wedding Photographer at A Beautiful Day Photography, wedding photographers with an artistic photojournaliststyle.
Is That Jazz? seattle’s avant-jazz music festival Continued….sun ra tribute band/sunship
January 28th, 2010
The Sun Ra Tribute Band on stage at the Chapel Performance Space last Friday night.
This all-star dectet reunited and paid tribute to the inspirational iconoclast Sun Ra by playing many of his compositions from the late 1950s and early 1960s. There were sparkly robes, processions, group vocals, flying objects and planetary alignment. The cast of characters included Stuart Dempster: trombone, Bill Smith: clarinet, Tom Baker: guitar, Greg Sinibaldi: saxophone, Michael Monhart: saxophone, Jim Knodle: trumpet, Lynette Westendorf: piano, Greg Campbell: percussion, horn, Dan O’Brien: bass, Bill Moyer: percussion.
Michael Monhart: saxophone, Bill Smith: clarinet, Greg Sinibaldi: saxophone,
Jim Knodle on trumpet
Brian Heaney, out in front of Sunship, last Friday night.
SUNSHIP
Sunship reunited Brian Heaney, one of Seattle’s most creative guitarists, with the amazing New York saxophonist Michael Monhart, both formerly of the band Stinkhorn. Along with a fantastic rhythm section – David Revelli on drums and Andrew Luthringer on bass – and top it all off with the inimitable Stuart Dempster (trombone, didjeridu, conch, etc.) this swinging “intergalectric” ensemble lifted-off for a tour of the galaxy and it was a lot of fun. The packed house loved it too judging from the great reception they got.
Brian Heaney, guitar, saxophonist Michael Monhart, and Stuart Dempster on trombone.
Maybe I will see you there this weekend. The line up looks great here is the schedule for the rest of the festival:
The second weekend of: Is That Jazz?
Friday, January 29
JESSE CANTERBURY’S VERTIGO
Seattle clarinetist Jesse Canterbury leads an all-acoustic ensemble in a strikingly original mix of chamber music, improvisation, and tune-oriented melodic material informed and inspired by the music of clarinetists Louis Sclavis and Michael Moore. The group includes guitarist Tom Baker, cellist Joanne DeMars, and trombonist Chris Stover.
BAD LUCK
Co-led by drummer Chris Icasiano and saxophonist Neil Welch, Bad Luck is about sound art, slowly developed loops and pedals used to propel the music into new aural fields. Tight-knit original compositions meet sonic mosaics in a musical relationship cultivated by years on the bandstand.
Saturday January 30
CUONG VU TRIO
The brilliantly creative Cuong Vu brings his trio mates (Stomu Takeishi and Ted Poor) from New York to headline and close out the 2010 Is That Jazz? Festival. If you haven’t heard this scorching ensemble, do not miss this opportunity. In the words of one critic: “It’s pure art. There’s dark-darkenss, joyful lament… and everything about anguish and despair in flat, naked beauty… it will shake you.”
TOM BAKER QUARTET
Led by Seattle guitarist and composer Tom Baker, this quartet (with clarinetist Jesse Canterbury, bassist Brian Cobb, and drummer Greg Campbell) weaves modern avant-jazz tunes with beautiful and haunting improvisations. Their music blurs the boundaries between notated music and free improvisation; the unique soundscapes that result are grounded in history, while pushing at the boundaries of jazz.
Festival Website for further information:
All performances at: The Chapel Performance Space
(4639 Sunnyside Avenue North, Seattle – SW corner of 50th and Sunnyside in Wallingford).
Jazz Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan who covers jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and corporations and a Seattle Wedding Photographer at A Beautiful Day Photography, wedding photographers with an artistic photojournaliststyle.
Bill Frisell
January 24th, 2010
Bill Frisell playing with Tony Scherr on bazz and and Kenny Wollesen on drums, at the Triple Door.
Bill was in great form Sunday night playing with his Trio of Tony and Kenny. They looked like they were having a lot of fun playing a variety of tunes ending the set with the Lucinda Williams song “Ventura” whose beautiful chorus is:
“I wanna watch the ocean bend,
The edges of the sun,then
I wanna get swallowed up
In an ocean of love.”
I love watching Bill retune his Fender Stratocaster as he plays mid-song below.
is that jazz? 2010 – Sunship
January 24th, 2010
Sunship, Brian Heaney- guitar, Michael Monhart- saxophone, David Revelli- drums, Andrew luthringer- bass, Stuart Dempster- trombone, performing Friday Jan 22.
I made it over to the Chapel Performance Space on Friday to catch some of the is that jazz? festival. It was really great music. The place was packed and both groups Sunship and the Sun Ra Tribute Band were palying some fine music. I will post more photos in the coming week.
Sunship reunites Brian Heaney, one of Seattle’s most creative guitarists, with the amazing New York saxophonist Michael Monhart, both formerly of the band Stinkhorn. Add in a fantastic rhythm section – David Revelli on drums and Andrew Luthringer on bass – and top it all off with the inimitable Stuart Dempster (trombone, didjeridu, conch, etc.) and this swinging “intergalectric” ensemble is ready for lift-off.” Jazz Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan who covers jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and corporations and a Seattle Wedding Photographer at A Beautiful Day Photography, wedding photographers with an artistic photojournalist style.
Tom Varner – Heaven And Hell
January 22nd, 2010
Tom Varner playing and conducting at the Earshot Jazz Festival 2009
Downbeat Magazine just reviewed Tom Varner’s new CD on Omnitone, “Heaven and Hell” Here is an excerpt.
from the February 2010 issue of Downbeat Magazine
It’s usually a good idea to avoid programmatic interpretations of music. The ear of the beholder can be made of tin in detecting intended mean ings, assuming there are any. But when a work is as powerfully rooted in a cultural and political moment as Heaven And Hell, French hornist Tom Varner’s extended piece for tentet, it’s difficult not to assume the images you see in your mind’s eye and the emotions you feel are ones the artist is seeing and feeling as well.
Heaven And Hell was largely inspired by 9/11. Varner witnessed the attacks and their aftermath as a New Yorker. Now based in Seattle, where he and a predominately local cast recorded the album (his first in eight years), he is still coming to terms with the tragedy. A mournful uncertainty defines the opening “Overview,” with its constrained melody and irregular ensemble patterns. As the music builds to the operatic, Greek chorus-like effects and eerie descending tones of “Structure Down,” it draws hope from happier events in Varner’s life, notably the adoption of his Vietnamese son and starting a new life in Seattle. But making stirring use of grouped and clustered horns and sparing use of drums, Varner is nagged by unre solved questions.
For all its darkness, Heaven And Hell unfolds with the easygoing, open clarity that is a hallmark of his music, striking a reward ing balance between bold modern jazz harmonies and austere modern classical voicings. Connected by brief pensive interludes, the longer individual composi tions unfold deliberately. But there’s no lack of peak moments, as witness the lively solos over Phil Sparks’ limber walking bass on “Queen Tai” by the brilliant East Coast trumpeter Russ Johnson, the Konitzian altoist Mark Taylor and the virtuosic Varner.
More than ever, Varner’s warmly expansive but tough-edged playing rescues the French horn from the “miscellaneous” instrument cate gory. The voice of conscience on Heaven And Hell, he also bestows its greatest pleasures.
—Lloyd Sachs Jazz Photography by editorial photographer Daniel Sheehan who covers jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and corporations. He is also a Seattle Wedding Photographer at A Beautiful Day Photography, a wedding photographer with an artistic photojournalist style.
Jazz Photography | Charles Lloyd Redux
December 29th, 2009
Charles Lloyd performing with The Charles Lloyd New Quartet with Jason Moran, Reuben Rogers, & Eric Harland at Town Hall earlier this month.
All Photographs on this website Daniel Sheehan © 2009. All Rights Reserved. Please inquire for permission before using.
Charles Lloyd brought his new group to town earlier this month and I wanted to post one last photo from the concert before the end of the month. Jazz Photography by editorial photographer Daniel Sheehan who covers jazz performances, and creates portrait photography for publications and corporations. He is also a Seattle Wedding Photographer at A Beautiful Day Photography, a wedding photographer with an artistic photojournalist style.
EyeshotJazz Wishes you Happy Holidays
December 23rd, 2009
A Beautiful Day Photography, Daniel, Jana, Ema and Claire, wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We were lucky to get our picture taken by a photographer’s photographer Michael Craft. Photos for this holiday’s posting are from the Studio of Michael Craft.
