EyeShotJazz | Jazz Photography

The Portland based group Blue Cranes performed with a string section at the Tractor Tavern Tuesday night in the third week of the Earshot Jazz Festival.

Part of the recent movement of jazz musicians to bring an indie-rock ethos to their post-bop chops and harmonic sensibilities (think a West Coast version of the Bad Plus), The Blue Cranes work a fine line between avant-garde improvisation and toe-tapping catchiness. Regarded as “a welcome addition to a scene that too often tries to define itself as straight ahead” (Kyle O’Brien), the band members Reed Wallsmith (alto sax), Sly Pig (tenor sax), Keith Brush (bass), Rebecca Sanborn (keyboards) and Ji Tanzer (drums) have also been noted for their strong ensemble playing. “The greatest strength of Blue Cranes is their unity as a band,” All About Jazz’s Marc Meyers says, “they anticipate each other’s moves with considerable empathy.”

Continue reading at: EarshotJazz Festival

Click here for the complete schedule for the rest of the upcoming shows at the 2010 Earshot Jazz Festival

Jazz Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan creating portraits for publications and a Seattle Wedding Photographer with a photojournalist style.

The duo Ballrog, from Norway, opening the bill at the Tractor Tavern Tuesday night before the Blue Cranes, performed music by Eric Dolphy, Paul Bley, Ornette Coleman, and Jimmy Giuffre in a stripped-down, contemplative manner befitting the compositions they take as subject matter. Bringing a “conception that strives for beauty without ever touching on anything lyrical, saxophonist Klaus Ellerhusen Holm and bassist Roger Arntzen create a soundscape that is atmospheric while also managing to be energetic and unpredictable.

Their sophomore outing, Insomnia, finds the duo in a space even more influenced by contemporary American and European improvisatory music than their eponymous debut. Both the young artists have garnered critical acclaim in Norway’s fertile jazz scene. Arntzen is also well-known from his playing a part in the band In The Country.

Continue reading at: EarshotJazz Festival

Click here for the complete schedule for the rest of the upcoming shows at the 2010 Earshot Jazz Festival

Jazz Photography by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan creating portraits for publications and a Seattle Wedding Photographer with a photojournalist style.