Roy Parnell (1943-2006) - Earshot Jazz

EARSHOT JAZZ
A Mirror and Focus for the Jazz Community
March 2006 Vol. 22, No. 3
Seattle, Washington
Earshot Jazz Spring Series
Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares
ICP Orchestra
Roy Parnell, 1943-2006
Photo by Daniel Sheehan

Bumbershoot Deadline
Bumbershoot, Seattle’s Music & Arts
Festival, which in this, its 36th year, will
become a three-day, rather than fourday
event, still over Labor Day weekend
(September 2-4), and still at the Seattle
Center, is accepting applications for artists,
bands, films, vendors, dancers and
more. To get your application, visit our
applications page, http://www.bumbershoot.com/applicationfaq.html,
and
apply (online only) by March 17.
Free Sheet Music
A collection of sheet music, orchestration
parts, skat sheets etc. is available free
to whoever picks it up first – first come,
first served – in South Seattle. The collection
includes about 700 standards.
The full index is available upon request.
Contact barryware@myway.com.
Vancouver Deadline
The Vancouver Creative Music Institute
has extended the application deadline to
March 31. The educational event takes
place June 17-25, 2006 and overlaps with
the Vancouver International Jazz Festival.
For details, see http://www.vcmi.ca/.
The artistic directors this year are pianist
Marilyn Crispell and bassist Mark Helias,
and the faculty includes Nels Cline,
Mats Gustaffson, Dylan van der Schyff,
and Trimpin. Tuition fee: $CAN850 for
International participants.
Call for Unwanted Instruments
Earshot Jazz asks that people who have
instruments that are unused and are
simply taking up space to consider donating
them to needy students. Any and
all instruments are welcome, as finding
Inside this issue...
Notes ________________________________ 2
Golden Ear Awards Evening ____________ 3
In One Ear ____________________________ 4
Earshot Jazz Spring Series ____________ 5
Preview: The Tiptons _________________ 6
Preview: Le Mystère des
Voix Bulgares _______________ 7
2 • Earshot Jazz • March 2006
homes for them with students eager to
play is not a problem. Earshot Jazz is collecting
them, indefinitely, at the address
listed on this page.
Art of Jazz this Spring
The Earshot Jazz/Seattle Art Museum
Spring Art of Jazz series for 2006 begins
in Febuary, with performances slated for
the Garden Court at the Seattle Asian Art
Museum at Volunteer Park. Shows are
free with the very modest museum entry
fee, and run from 5pm to 7pm.
The 2006 Art of Jazz schedule:
March 9: The Tiptons (Sax Quartet)
April 13: Ben Thomas Trio w/ Jovino
Santos Neto
May 11: Fred Hoadley Quartet
June 8: Jeff Johnson Trio
July 13: Paul Rucker, solo cello
Hurricane Katrina Help
Nonprofit organizations continue to
help jazz musicians in New Orleans to
recover from the devastation – material
and personal – of Hurricane Katrina. If
you’d like to see what you can do, two
good sites are WWOZ, the “jazz and
heritage” radio station, which continues
to broadcast (see www.wwoz.org/music_help.php),
and Jim Wilke’s Jazz After
Hours site (www.jazzafterhours.org).
Events Listings
Please send your gigs listings to
calendar@earshot.org. Please also send
us links to your own websites, so we can
keep our links page up-to-date. Soon,
we will post a guide to how to format
your gigs listings at www.earshot.org/
data/gigsubmit.asp so that you can make
easier our job of helping you. Meanwhile,
please consult the online calendar listings
to see how they should be formatted.
Preview: ICP Orchestra ________________ 9
Roy Parnell __________________________ 12
Preview: These Hills of Glory _________ 14
Please Put Me On Hold _______________ 15
On Music: I, The RCA Puppy __________ 16
Jazz on the Radio ______________________17
Calendar _____________________________ 18
On the Cover Photo by Daniel Sheehan.
Han Bennink performing at the 2005 Earshot Jazz Festival.
Bennink is returning to Seattle on March 25 to perform with
ICP Orchestra at the Seattle Asian Art Museum.
E A R S H O T J A Z Z
A Mirror and Focus for the Jazz Community
Executive Director: John Gilbreath
Earshot Jazz Editor: Peter Monaghan
Contributing Writers: Andrew Bartlett,
Robyn Loda, Peter Monaghan, Lloyd
Peterson, Gordon Todd
Photography: Daniel Sheehan
Layout: Karen Caropepe
Distribution Coordinator: Jack Gold
Mailing: Lola Pedrini
Program Manager: Karen Caropepe
Calendar Information: mail to 3429
Fremont Place #309, Seattle WA
98103; fax to (206) 547-6286; or email
jazz@earshot.org
Board of Directors: Fred Gilbert
(president), Paul Harding (vice-president),
Lola Pedrini (treasurer), Jane Eckels
(secretary), George Heidorn, Taina
Honkalehto, Hideo Makihara, Thomas
Marriott, Richard Thurston
Earshot Jazz is published monthly by
Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle and is
available online at www.earshot.org.
Subscription (with membership): $35
3429 Fremont Place #309
Seattle, WA 98103
T: (206) 547-6763
F: (206) 547-6286
Earshot Jazz ISSN 1077-0984
Printed by Pacific Publishing Company.
©2006 Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle
Earshot Jazz
Mission Statement
Earshot Jazz is a non-profit arts
and service organization formed in
1986 to cultivate a support system
for jazz in the community and to
increase awareness of jazz. Earshot
Jazz pursues its mission through
publishing a monthly newsletter,
presenting creative music, providing
educational programs, identifying and
filling career needs for jazz artists,
increasing listenership, augmenting
and complementing existing services
and programs, and networking with
the national and international jazz
community.

Golden Ear Awards
Each year the Golden Ear Awards party
provides an opportunity for Seattle jazz
fans and performers to celebrate the
region’s jazz accomplishments of the
previous year. Winners are selected by
popular vote and nominations from a
committee of knowledgeable Seattle jazz
players, audience members, journalists,
and industry reps.
This year’s gathering, aided by generous
support from the Raynier Institute &
Foundation/No Wasted Notes, was the
seventeenth, and the music was sterling.
The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra
Nonet, joined by special guest Julian
Priester, presented “The Birth of the
Cool,” the music of Miles Davis’s eradefining
album of 1949.
The Winners Were...
NW Recording of the Year
Dave Peck, Good Road
NW Acoustic Jazz Group
The Dave Peck Trio
“Outside” Jazz Group
The Tiptons
NW Instrumentalist of the Year
Bill Anschell
Emerging Artist or Group
Victor Noriega
NW Vocalist of the Year
Greta Matassa
Jazz Concert of the Year
Joe Locke (at Ballard Jazz Festival)
Special Awards for Significant and
Enduring Contributions to Seattle’s
Jazz Scene
Wayne Horvitz
Special Award for Dedicated Excellent
in Jazz Education
Moc Escobedo, Eckstein Middle
School
Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame Inductees
Mack Waldron
Gary Steele
Woody Woodhouse
From top left: Bill Anschell, Greta Matassa, Woody Woodhouse (with Jim Wilke), and Dave Peck. Photos by Daniel Sheehan.
March 2006 • Earshot Jazz • 3

Sonarchy is a weekly showcase of new
music and sound art recorded live in
the studios at Jack Straw Productions,
and broadcast on KEXP 90.3FM each
Saturday evening at midnight.
This month, on March 4, we’ll hear
More Zero, led by trombonist Chris
Stover. With John Silverman, bass; Chris
Stromquist, drums; Ben Thomas, vibes;
and Stuart MacDonald, tenor sax.
On March 11, Michael Monhart (sax/
percussion), Gregg Keplinger (drums),
Ann Talbott (guitar/vocals), and Paul
Kikuchi (percussion) produce giant
waves of free improvisation plus a lovely
song from Talbott.
March 18, Cuchata, whose alternative
Latin music falls somewhere between the
traditional and the experimental.
March 25, The Noisettes air fractured
electronics.
Doug Haire produces and mixes the
shows, which are also available on KEXP’s
web site, via archived audio.
Want to know how one of the most
renowned bassists in the world does
what he does?
This, from the Chronicle of Higher
Education, the industry’s newspaper of
record: The biomechanics lab at Ball State
University last month was hard at work
creating a virtual record of the playing of
GRETA MATASSA
Vocal/Rhythm Section
Workshops
Four weeks of 1/2-hour sessions with
one of Seattle’s top rhythm sections and
vocalists. Final concert at Tula’s, Seattle’s
premier jazz club, w/ optional recording.
Workshops every month. Cost: $250
Limited to 8 vocalists. 206-937-1262
gretamatassa.com (see Teaching page)
4 • Earshot Jazz • March 2006
François Rabbath, one of the world’s
great double bass virtuosi.
Rabbath, who retired recently from the
Paris Opera Orchestra, agreed to have his
unusual technique captured by two dozen
tiny reflectors affixed to his left hand,
arms, and shoulders, which permitted
technicians to record his movements using
strobe lights and cameras.
That idea came from Hans Sturm, an
associate professor of music at Ball State
who is the president-elect of the International
Society of Bassists. One day, he
read about a video-game simulation of
Tiger Woods’s stroke, and decided that
a similar project would make a good
follow-up to a Ball State DVD about
Rabbath’s style, Art of the Bow, that came
out last May, and has done quite well.
The new disc should appear by year’s
end. When pupils see the recording, “they
understand the movement and they begin
to do it,” Rabbath told the Chronicle.
Not that his technique is one that bassists
are likely to emulate. Rabbath became
a virtuoso of both classical and jazz bass
after taking up the instrument as a 13year-old
in Syria. He taught himself to
play in a style all his own in which he
embraces the instrument rather than
standing upright. He lasted only a few
lessons at the Paris Conservatory because
he had decided his own method worked
well enough for him. He says he polished
it by watching crabs’ spindly legs scurry
over sand and trying to slide his fingers
over the strings in a similar way.
Jack Straw Productions, the non-profit
sound-arts organization, has announced
the winners of its three categories of 2006
Jack Straw residencies, the Jack Straw
Artist Support Program, the Jack Straw
New Media Gallery Program, and the
Jack Straw Writers Program. The awards
include 20 hours of free or matched
recording and production time with a
Jack Straw engineer. Once completed,
projects are presented to the public at the
organization’s Meet the Artist events and
its Composer Spotlight series.
Jazz and improvising musicians who
won awards this year include Lori
Goldston, cellist, who will record a
CD-length composition for 12-piece
ensemble combining scored sections
and structured improvisation; Jason
Anderson, a multi-instrumentalist/DJ,
who will record music and sound effects
to press onto vinyl dub plates for use in
his live turntable improvisations; Julie
Cascioppo, vocalist, will record a CD
of original cabaret songs composed in
collaboration with various Seattle jazz
artists; Karin Kajita, pianist and composer,
will record a CD of her original
jazz compositions with her quintet; and
Margie Pos, bassist and composer, will
record original jazz compositions influenced
by her study of musics from Cuba,
India, and Argentina.
Jazz musician and composer, and visual
artist, Paul Rucker received a New Media
Gallery Program grant to create a sevenchannel
sound and video work.

Time after Time: Earshot Jazz Spring Series
Spring is upon us, with any luck; so,
what better time to air out the closets
of the mind, and dry out the fungus
between one’s toes and ears? Here’s a
Spring jazz series that should help you
do that in style.
It’s a star-studded few months of riveting
jazz. After a flying start on February
9 with trombone legend Julian Priester’s
quartet, things rolled on on February
19 with German saxophonist Frank
Gratkowski and his all-star international
quartet. Then, the very next day, and the
day after, Earshot and the Tractor Tavern
welcomes guitar icon Bill Frisell and his
Unmentionable Orchestra for two stunning
nights of the finest in genre-defying
music. Superb!
Things don’t slow down this month.
March 1, an always-welcome visitor,
Kahil El’Zabar, returns to town with
the latest version of his Ethnic Heritage
Ensemble. Every member of the band is
an extraordinary ambassador of modern
jazz, and the whole is even greater than
the parts. But, mark these words: It’ll be
worth the price of admission just to witness
trumpeter Corey Wilkes, one of the
most exciting jazz musicians to hit the
scene in many years. As if his staggering
general playing is not enough, he pulls a
real showstopper from down a wormhole
into an alternate artistic universe when
he puts trumpet and flugelhorn to his
mouth, at once, and plays the same line
on each, with mirrored fingering. Then
he plays different tunes on the two instruments,
still at once. It’s an old Clark Terry
trick, but in Wilkes’s embouchure, it rises
to something far more than party trick.
Venues:
Consolidated Works
500 Boren Ave N, 381-3218
Seattle Asian Art Museum
1400 E Prospect St, Volunteer Park, 654-3100
Town Hall, 1119 8th Ave, 652-4255
Tractor Tavern, 5201 Ballard Ave NW
Triple Door, 216 Union St, 838-4333
For tickets and information call Earshot
Jazz at (206) 547-6763 or go to www.
earshot.org.
Ethnic Heritage Ensemble
Wednesday, March 1, Triple Door,
7:30pm; $18/$16 discount
Kahil ElʼZabar
The Tiptons
Thursday, March 9, Seattle Asian Art
Museum, 5pm; Art of Jazz series,
free w/museum admission
Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares
Sunday, March 12, Town Hall,
7:30pm; $22 in advance/$25 at door
Co-presented with KBCS 91.3FM
Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares
ICP Orchestra – “Instant
Composers Pool”
Saturday, March 25, Seattle Asian
Art Museum, 8pm; $16/$14 discount
Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink wih ICP.
Photo by Francesca Patella.
Ben Thomas Trio w/ Jovino
Santos Neto
Thursday, April 13, Seattle Asian Art
Museum, 5pm; Art of Jazz series,
free w/museum admission
Pharoah Sanders
Wednesday, April 19, Triple Door, 7
& 9:30pm; $27 in advance/$30 day
of show
Ab Baars Quartet
“Kinda Dukish,” Monday, April 24,
8pm; Consolidated Works; $12/$10
discount
Ab Baars. Photo by John R. Fowler
Omar Sosa Quartet w/ Pee Wee
Ellis
Friday, April 28, 7:30 & 10pm; Triple
Door; $20/$18 discount
Theo Bleckmann/Ben Monder
Tuesday, May 2, Consolidated Works,
8pm; $12/$10 discount
Theo Bleckmann. Photo by Jörg Grosse
Gelderman.
Danilo Perez Trio
Friday, May 5, Triple Door, 7 &
9:30pm; $20/$18 discount
Danilo Perez (center) with Adam Cruz and Ben
Street.
Gonzalo Rubalcaba: a night of
solo piano
Wednesday, May 10, Triple Door, 7 &
9:30pm, admission TBA
March 2006 • Earshot Jazz • 5

The Tiptons
Thursday, March 9
Seattle Asian Art Museum, 5pm
Art of Jazz series; free w/museum
admission
The Tiptons, the powerpacked, allwomen
combo formerly known as the
Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet,
are still celebrating the release of their
new CD, Drive, which appeared in January.
And their devoted audience is, too.
It continues in the band’s extraordinary,
much-loved style, packed with goodness
and flava.
For 17 years, the band has been one
of the region’s most-appreciated and
most-admired. Through a succession of
6 • Earshot Jazz • March 2006
6
lineups, each one packed with mighty
fine players, the quartet plus percussionist
has demonstrated great skill, flair, and
appeal.
These days, with the departure of the
extraordinary Sue Orfield, the Tiptons’
four horns players, who all also sing a
bit, are Amy Denio, Jessica Lurie, Tina
Richerson, and Tobi Stone. Their percussionist
over the last few years has been the
outstanding Elizabeth Pupo-Walker.
OK, so they’re not really a quartet, but
rather a quintet; but then Billy Tipton
was not really a man. She was a big-band
saxophone player and pianist who lived
– east of the Cascades, mostly – as a man,
which only was revealed (even to her son)
when she died. And you thought your
parents were withholding.
None of the Tiptons is a bloke in
disguise, it’s fairly certain, but the band
plays in the spirit of their namesake’s bold
turn. They cook up a gumbo of genres,
styles, and moods, all driven by a desire
to engage and delight their listeners.
They have been doing that, around
these parts, with various lineups, since
1988. In 2004, their release Tsunami,
captured the attention of the NPR show
“The Next Big Thing,” which featured
the band busking in a New York subway.
Since then, the Tiptons have peformed
at clubs and festivals in North America
and have toured Europe four times – 70
concerts.
Their new disc features original material,
other than one cover on which they
are joined by the sui generis spoonman,
Artis the Spoonman.
Co-founder Amy Denio spent some
time away from the band at the turn of
the century, but now is back in full force.
Her repute registers far and wide, in the
US and Europe, for her multiinstrumentalism
and dash. She makes it happen.
Progressing from strength to strength
is Jessica Lurie, on alto. Since moving to
New York several years ago, her skills have
improved on what was already a dazzling
high quality, as was most often demonstrated
arouhd here with her barnburning
trio, Living Daylights. She also heads the
Jessica Lurie Ensembles, which has both
East and West coast forms.
The two newest, but now fully blooded
members of the band are Tina Richerson
and Tobi Stone.
Classically trained, Richerson also
performs with the Seattle Women’s Jazz
Orchestra and her own quintet, Hard
Bop or Not? In 1997, while studying
at the University of Idaho, she won the
overall instrumental soloist award from
the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and
then got to work on the Seattle scene.
There, in addition to being a stand-out
in SWOJO, she was the first woman to
break into the ranks of the all-star Seattle
Repertory Jazz Orchestra, and has been
becoming more and more prominent
on the scene after graduating with her
master’s degree from the UW in 2002.
Tobi Stone studied with Bert Wilson
and Don Lanphere, privately, and with
continued on page 8

Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares
Sunday, March 12
Town Hall Seattle, 7:30pm
$22 in advance; $25 at the door
($2 discount for Earshot members, seniors
and students)
Performing a cappella, without amplification,
this ensemble of Bulgarian
woman singers is without par in its interpretations
of compositions inspired by
Bulgarian folk tunes and styles.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, the extraordinary
choral group achieved huge
popularity in the United States, but this
concert marks the first time it has visited
the US in over 12 years.
When the ensemble first came to notice
in this country, it often was mistaken as
a performer of traditional folk music,
but it is something quite different from
that. Rather, it serves as a paradigm of the
solubility of the “folk music” category.
Its history and development stems
from one man’s response to the songs of
Balkan villages. In 1951, Philip Koutev
(1903-1982) founded the Ensemble of
the Bulgarian Republic; it reflected his
goal of rendering into a modern form,
largely of his own invention, the rich
heritage of his country’s solo folk songs.
He adapted those to choral groups, and
employed harmonies and arrangements
that highlighted the haunting timbres
and irregular rhythms of the originals.
From that ensemble was born, one year
later, the Bulgarian State Radio and Television
Female Vocal Choir.
Immediately, the choir, like the many
that followed it, softened what generally
seems, to Western ears, the harshness
of several existing Bulgarian regional
folk forms. That may seem odd to say,
because the choir, in its current form,
sings in strains that often seem on the
edge of shrillness as single and multiple
voices shriek, yelp, and whoop from the
lush, dense fabric of the choir. But there
you have it.
Koutev had trained as a violinist and
later as a composer before obtaining
bandmaster certification and working
in the Bulgarian army. At times, he also
conducted amateur orchestras as he progressed
in military rank. Eventually, he
became an administrator of the country’s
military bands. At the end of a stint in
charge of cultural activities at the Central
House of the Bulgarian National Army,
he, with his wife, Maria Koutev, founded
the State Ensemble for Traditional Song
and Dance, which became the Philip
Koutev National Folklore Ensemble.
That group served as the model for a
whole movement, known as the Traditional
Music Choirs and Ensembles
movement.
Under his direction, his ensemble
gained wide acclaim, in part from extensive
touring. But it was when the group
was expanded with the best vocalists from
other women’s groups, such as Trio Bulgarka,
with the astounding Yanka Roupkina,
that the Mystere mystique boomed
in Western Europe and the US.
The other major reason for its sudden
wide acclaim was the work of ethnomusicologist
Marcel Cellier. He issued their
music on small labels until Nonesuch
took them up, with spectacular results.
Koutev can be considered as akin to
Bela Bartok, Edvard Grieg, and other
20th-century composers who were
inspired by folk song as he composed
copiously – symphonic works, songs for
“traditional” choirs, mass and concert
choral works, film music, and much else.
He directed not only vocal ensembles,
small and large, but also musical groups
such as the National Folk Ensemble
that used village instruments like the
gajda (bagpipe), kaval (end-blown flute),
gadulka (upright fiddle), tamboura (longnecked
lute) and tapan (a large sidedrum
slapped with thin sticks).
Placing his work in reference to “folk
music,” it is well to note his acceptance
by Bulgarian authorities. During the
bleak years of oppressive Communist
rule, a Soviet-inspired concept of arts led
to the setting up of stultifyingly repetitive
village music and dance ensembles
whose every activity was monitored and
subject to official approval. Koutev was in
many senses the ultimate insider in that
national cultural system. He gained full
acceptance, generous sponsorship, and
ultimately considerable control over his
output and its presentation.
In this, he can be seen as starkly different
from, say, musicians among the
Rom minority of the country. The gypsies
continued on page 8
March 2006 • Earshot Jazz • 7

Le Mystère, from page 7
were among the country’s outsiders. The
Communist dictator Todor Zhikov and
his henchmen brutally excluded and
suppressed Rom artistic expression, and
persecuted its practitioners – even now,
after the end of Communist rule, the
country has a poor record of treatment of
the minority Roma, who number about
500,000 – just under seven percent of the
country’s population.
And yet – isn’t it so often this way?
– both official sponsorship and official
persecution produced phenomenal
musical and other artistic results. Rom
wedding bands such as the phenomenal
ensemble of Ivo Papasov flourished in
the underground, and in a true folk sense
– at village festivities, chiefly weddings,
8 • Earshot Jazz • March 2006
promoted by word of mouth. Their “folk”
was a merger of Rom styles with those of
the countries and regions through which
they roamed. It was often electrified
– but folk.
Koutev based his compositions on song
and tunes from various regions of Bulgaria,
and formalized them in a way that
gained approval from thugs and surely
risked producing shockingly debilitated
expression.
And yet he triumphed. His groups came
to represent the pinnacle of what could be
achieved under the wet blanket of state
“sponsorship” of the arts.
Early on, as now, the members of Le
Mystère are singers from the various rural
regions of Bulgaria. Using arrangements
by Koutev, or by the current conductor,
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Dora Hristova, the earmarks of the group
continue to be sophisticated harmonies,
thrilling rhythms, and a dazzling, six-part
vocal style. The repertoire includes works
not only by Koutev, but also by other
composers who followed in his path, including
Krasimir Kyurkchiyski, Nikolai
Kaufman, and Petar Lyondev.
So, in the final count, what should we
make of the group’s connection to “folk”
music? It seems that it is the category,
“folk music,” that is perhaps the problem.
So often invoked, yet so infrequently
inspected, it seems often to serve an
exclusionary role, just as the Bulgarian
authorities wished it to. It doesn’t include
jazz, or the blues, although in many ways
those forms both meet its stipulation of
demotic performance handed down in
practice and performance, borne along
in a tradition of evolution.
But that’s another topic, and I’m not
here to provoke dissonance, not when
we’re about to be treated to music of
such transporting, world-wise otherworldliness.
– Peter Monaghan
Presented by Earshot Jazz and KBCS
91.3FM. Tickets available through Earshot
Jazz (206) 547-6763 and Ticketmaster
(206) 628-0888 and Ticketmaster online.
Town Hall Seattle: 1119 8th Avenue, Seattle
(8th & Seneca); pay parking on site.
The Tiptons, from page 7
Marc Seales and Michael Brockman at
the University of Washington, but had
been a musician since childhood, and a
saxophonist since her teens. A teacher of
saxophone, clarinet, and flute, she has
continued the Tiptons’ tradition of locating
and bringing on board the finest of
woman sax players in the region.
And here, timed to Jessica Lurie’s visit
from out in New York, is an extra treat.
She and her bloke, the phenomenal
artist, Danijel Zezelj, will present their
performance, live painting, projection,
song, and live band performance piece,
“Shop of Wild Dreams,” at Consolidated
Works (500 Boren Ave N, 381-3218)
on March 1 through March 3. This is an
event not to be missed, because Zezelj’s
art must be seen to be believed (see www.
dzezelj.com).

New Dutch Swing into Seattle
ICP Orchestra
Saturday, March 25
Seattle Asian Art Museum, 8pm
$16 ($2 discount for Earshot members,
seniors and students)
The Instant Composers Pool
(ICP) Orchestra, long one of the
world’s most startling and earstretching
jazz ensembles — and
also one of the most amusing
and diverting — makes a return
visit to these shores, with a
lineup of 10 stellar musicians.
Any U.S. tour by the superb
ensemble is a not-to-miss event.
At the helm is one of the true
originals of the art form, pianist
Misha Mengelberg. He
and drummer Han Bennink
formed the group in Amsterdam
in 1967 in the full throes of the
free-jazz movement. It was then,
and remains now, a refuge for playing in
the spirit of those times but, in its performances
and recordings, the band opts
not for fully free improvisation, but for
near-anarchy contained within recognizable
musical forms, from swing rave-ups
to twisted tangos.
For the successful implementation of
its approach, it depends on an evolving
cast of always-topflight musicians. The
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“instant composition” that drives the
band is spontaneity and idiosyncrasy.
“I welcome all kinds of personal things,
which depend on the resoluteness of the
musicians,” Mengelberg told the Boston
Globe. That is to say, he seeks to surround
Han Bennink and Misha Mengelberg. Photo by Francesca Patella.
himself with singular jazz musicians, and
he has plenty of those in the current ICP
— beginning with the tireless Bennink,
with whom Mengelberg says he has a
love-hate relationship that should not be
discontinued.
At the time of the group’s formation,
Mengelberg and Bennink were still in the
glow of their memorable collaboration
with Eric Dolphy in 1964, just before his
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death. That would kick-start their foundational
role in what jazz writer Kevin
Whitehead calls, in his history of modern
Dutch jazz, New Dutch Swing.
That is a hybrid that set itself apart from
American models with such components
as a European chamber-music
sensibility and, notably, a heap of
pizzazz. The latter is an inevitable
element of any performance
that includes the irrepressible,
hyper-percussive Bennink. For
the group’s edginess, however,
Mengelberg is just as important,
and more subtly so. As Sam Prestianni
put it in the San Francisco
Weekly: “The pianist’s strong,
stark dissonance, especially in
the lower register, offers a superb
foil to the drummer’s often
nutty, octopi rhythms.”
Mengelberg is a master of
oblique, unpredictable, and often
just plain playful composing
for this creative orchestra. Wry humor
is one element of his generally eccentric
musical personality, which manifests itself
in surprising tempos and phrasing.
That may bring to mind the zaniness
of the Willem Breuker Kollektief; saxophonist
Willem Breuker was there at the
ICP’s founding, and spent plenty of time
in the band before branching out to form
his own ensemble. But, more than the
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March 2006 • Earshot Jazz • 9

MARCH SHOWS
PIANO JAZZ AFTER SEAHAWKS
HOME GAMES. REGULAR WEEK-
DAY SHOWS ARE FREE!
MON: New Orleans Quintet
TUES: Holotrad Jazz
WED: Floyd Standifer Group
THU: Ham Carson & Friends
3-4 James Armstrong
5 Overton Berry
CD release party
10 The Mudbugs
11 Rent Collectors
12 Pete Leinonen &
John Holte’s Radio
Rhythm Orchestra
17-18 Little Bill and the
Bluenotes
19 Woody Woodhouse
24-25 Paul Green & Straight
Shot
26 Washington Foster Care
Benefit with Two Scoops
Moore
31-4/1 Mark Hummell
FOR DINNER RESERVATIONS
CALL 622-2563
10 • Earshot Jazz • March 2006
Kollektief, the ICP forges humor from
musical play, with fewer stage antics.
The band’s selections are eclectic, drawing
not just from Mengelberg’s vast compositional
pool, but also from free jazz,
European dancehall, parade, and classical
music, and the bag of jazz standards
— “Tea for Two,” “My Funny Valentine,”
and similar curious manifestations of
Americanism. Expect Monkism, too,
because Mengelberg has been a key figure
in preserving and constantly refreshing
the legacy of Thelonious Monk. Similarly,
he has helped revive interest in the
less-vaunted departed pianist/composer
Herbie Nichols.
Always sure to provide both propulsion
and zaniness is drummer Han Bennink,
who has long been one of the most
in-demand drummers in Europe, and
who has performed and recorded with
jazz musicians like Dexter Gordon and
Sonny Rollins. Both he and Mengelberg
have also teamed up often with the most
vaunted Europe-based jazzmen, such
as John Tchicai and Steve Lacy, and
improvisers like Peter Brötzmann and
Derek Bailey.
Bringing all this to life with Mengelberg
and Bennink is a lineup of top-flight,
maverick contributors. The line-up also
includes Wolter Wierbos (trombone;
Gerry Hemingway Quintet, Peter van
Bergen’s LOOS, Theo Leovendie Quintet,
J.C. Tans Orchestra), Ernst Glerum
(bass; Amsterdam String Trio, Guus Jansen,
J.C. Tans Orchestra, Curtis Clark),
Ab Baars (clarinet/saxophone; Guus
Jansen, Maarten Altena, Loek Dikker,
Orkest de Volharding), and Thomas
Heberer (trumpet; Berlin Contemporary
Jazz Orchestra, European Jazz Ensemble,
Pata Orchestra). All those enjoy high
reputations in their own right. Wierbos,
for example, has for many years been one
of his instrument’s most-advanced and
idiosyncratic innovators.
Added to the ICP a few years ago, replacing
cellist Ernst Reijseger, is American
violist Mary Oliver. She brings to three
the number of stellar American expats in
the band. Also there is long-time Amsterdam
resident Michael Moore, a multihornman
(Available Jelly, Gerry Hemingway
Quintet, Clusone 3, Maarten Altena
ensemble) who has impressed audiences
here in Seattle in recent years with the
Monitor Trio and the Clusone Trio, and
longtime Vermonter-in-Amsterdam, cellist
Tristan Honsinger, whose collaborations
include a vaunted one with Cecil
Taylor, and others with Derek Bailey and
Irene Schweitzer, and who has also led his
own string quartet with Ernst Glerum,
as well as the ensemble This, That, and
The Other.
Tenor saxophonist Tobias Delius fills
the last stand. He has stood in in recent
months as a replacement for the ill Tristan
Honsinger, playing the cellist’s charts,
transcribed for saxophone. That exercise
went so well that he remained with the
band upon Honsinger’s return. A member
of Michael Moore’s Available Jelly and
Honsinger’s This, That, and The Other,
among many other projects, Delius also
leads his own quartet with Honsinger, Joe
Williamson (bass) and Bennink.
Mengelberg loosely directs the whole
swirling show — with startling musical
gestures at the keyboard rather than
ostensive conducting. He told Kevin
Whitehead that he liked “to put sticks
into the spokes of all wheels.” Similarly,
the band’s members are at liberty to inject
a “virus” — a written snippet that will
disrupt a tune, forcing the ensemble to
renew its instant composition.
Of the results, Bill Shoemaker wrote
in Jazz Times: “Compelling open improvisations
and pungent thematic materials
function like spark-shooting flints
throughout the program.”
The approach produces results that
many jazz big bands should note, Lloyd
Sachs suggested in the Chicago Sun-
Times. Making reference to a moment
in the ICP’s rendition of “Caravan,” he
wrote: “With one exhilirating stroke — a
unison horn climax that was as brief as
it was sudden — the rendition left you
thinking how thoroughly this band could
kick the rears of countless mainstream
repertory orchestras with its expressiveness
and power.”
– Peter Monaghan
This concert is presented by Earshot Jazz.
Tickets are available at Wall of Sound (315
East Pine), Bud’s Jazz Records (1st and
Jackson), and at Earshot Jazz (206) 547-
6763 or online at www.earshotjazz.org.

March 2006 • Earshot Jazz • 11

Roy Parnell: Jazz club owner and booster
1943-2006
From 1976 to 1980, Roy Parnell operated
a jazz club in Pioneer Square that
veterans of the Seattle scene still speak of
with fondness and respect. He had been
suffering for several years from chronic
scleroderma, a debilitating disease of the
skin that attacks internal organs and the
immune system, and died of pneumonia
on February 18.
Parnell’s hosted national and local
acts at its location at 313 Occidential
Ave S, which was decorated with
the jazz portraits that now hang in
Demetriou’s Jazz Alley, as well as
with living-room-style fixtures such
as lamps and large cushions. Radio
host Jim Wilke told the Seattle
Times: “I don’t know if there ever
was a more comfortable jazz club.
It was always like a party in Roy’s
living room.”
Parnell was raised in Seattle,
went to college in California and
at Central Washington University,
and then in the 1960s and 1970s
worked as a parole officer for King and
Snohomish counties. He was, as Earshot
co-founder and Seattle Times jazz critic
Paul DeBarros put it in an obituary, “a
tall, big-chested, imposing man who
wore a trim beard and carried himself
with the authority of a ship’s captain, the
former county employee did not fit the
stereotype of a jazz-club owner.” That,
because he did not drink, nor particular
like the night life. He was, however, an
entrepreneur, and made good from his
150-seat club, eventually selling it to
musician Marv Thomas, father of multihornman
Jay Thomas, who then sold it
two years later to four investors, including
singer Ernestine Anderson. Renamed
Ernestine’s, the club closed in 1983.
Roy Parnell’s taste in jazz was reflected
in the artists he booked, including many
of the big, mainstream names of the day:
Monty Alexander, Ernestine Anderson,
Chet Baker, Ray Brown, Charlie Byrd,
Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Bob Dorough,
Bill Evans, Dave Frishberg, Dexter Gor-
12 • Earshot Jazz • March 2006
don, Eddie Harris, Earl “Fatha” Hines,
Barney Kessel, Milt Jackson, Blue Mitchell,
Phineas Newborn Jr, Anita O’Day,
Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Sonny Stitt
and Cal Tjader, Joe Williams, and Phil
Woods. He also liked comedians, and
often featured the now-obscure Professor
Irwin Corey.
Many Seattle players were featured at
the club, too, as Parnell hired locals to
Roy Parnell as he appeared in a 1980 profile in the Everett Herald.
fill the rhythm sections for visiting stars.
Those included pianist Dave Peck, bassist
Chuck Deardorf, and multihornman
Floyd Standifer. Peck told the Times: “It
was really influential in the history of the
scene. It was where we could essentially
go to school together. It not only became
a really great gig for us all, but it was the
driving force for us to get better at playing.”
Earlier this year, he told Down Beat
Magazine: “Back in the ‘70s, I might have
thought about moving to New York. But
when I started being house piano player
at [the now defunct] Parnell’s and Jazz
Alley, I got to play with Sonny Stitt for
a week, then I’d be playing with Chet
Baker a couple of weeks later. That was
the bird in the hand.”
Until a few weeks before his death,
Roy Parnell worked in his position as
vice president for human resources at
Crista Ministries, where he had worked
since 1986. The Shoreline nonprofit runs
churches, the relief charity World Concern,
radio stations, and King’s schools.
A memorial celebration was held on
February 27 at Canyon Hills Community
Church, in Bothell. Remembrances can
be sent in his name to King’s School,
19303 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA
98133.
Some of those who played at the club,
and hung out there, recalled the days
there, including Jane Peck, who as Jane
Lambert often sang at the club.
Chuck Deardorf, bassist, Cornish
College instructor
Roy was a fair minded guy who
started a jazz club at just the right
time in Seattle; the Pioneer Banque
was slowly fading, the only other
place for locals was the Other Side
of the Tracks in Auburn, run by
Victory Music. Parnell’s was comfortable
– low cushions and tables,
lots of wood, and a relaxed vibe
for the musicians. Many musicians
of my generation (Dave Peterson,
Dave Peck, Dean Johnson, Dave
Coleman, Marc Seales, etc.) as
well as veterans such as Barney
McClure, Dean Hodges, and Bob
Nixon among others got a chance to
work with many jazz legends there; Chet
Baker, Joe Williams, Zoot Sims, Monty
Alexander, Charlie Rouse, even Professor
Irwin Corey. Roy also opened the club for
weekly jam sessions, local groups got an
opportunity to work, and made sure the
musicians always got paid.
Mark Solomon, entertainment agent
I had heard about Parnell’s jazz club
even before I moved to Seattle in 1979
from my then girlfriend who lived in
Seattle and loved the place. In fact the
only picture I had of her was taken
at Parnell’s. I worked at KUOW and
KPLU after I arrived and taped many
performances live at Parnell’s. After Roy
sold the club to Marv Thomas, I was the
booking manager at the club and virtually
lived there for a year and a half. After the
demise of the club I worked with Roy
booking music for a short-lived club on
the eastside named Roxy’s.
Roy’s intention in starting Parnell’s
was to create a club that felt like a living

oom, and Parnell’s certainly was that.
It had intimacy partly because it was
small (only 150 seats) and also because
most of the seating was on couches. Roy
loved and appreciated jazz. I think he
was in it for the music, not the money.
He was a traditionalist who loved the
blues, bop, and various offshoots thereof.
Most of the time he hired a headliner,
like a Zoot Sims or a Chet Baker, and
hired local players to back them up. That
gave some young local players like Dave
Peck, Marc Seales, Chuck Deardorff, and
Dean Hodges a chance to play with the
“big boys.” Roy also hired a lot of local
groups, and he knew who could play and
who couldn’t. When you went to Parnell’s
you knew you’d hear good music in a
great setting.
Roy was just the kind of person you
hoped would own a jazz club. I always
found him gracious and candid. His very
being was magnanimous. He inspired the
people who worked with or for him, and
he was truly beloved by those who came
into contact with him. Parnell’s the club
was the extension of Roy Parnell the person-warm,
intimate, open to the music.
Jane Peck, singer
Roy Parnell made my career. Many
people along the way were encouraging
and helpful and none of what I have
achieved could have been done without
all of that help, but Roy Parnell made
me. He had such faith in me and always
exhibited such generosity, spirit and humor.
He called me Special Lady and he
always made me feel such. The best thing
about Roy during the Occidental Square
Parnell’s years was his absolute sheer joy
and love of the music. This guy really
loved jazz and said over and over again
how lucky he was and how he couldn’t
believe he was doing what he was doing,
and how lucky for all of us. All the great
musicians of my generation in Seattle had
the opportunity to play with all the great
jazz musicians of the history of the music.
Everyone played Parnell’s and everyone
loved it. The style of the club was often
imitated but never with as much success
because it was the heart of Roy Parnellthis
big smiling bear of a man-that was
the club.
I saw him last year and we had a great
reminiscence about those years. It was
only about four years but still seems like a
lifetime to me. The best of me was there.
It was the best playing, the best listening,
and the best time.
Thank you, Roy
March 2006 • Earshot Jazz • 13

These Hills of Glory
March 5:
Ron Miles, trumpet, soloist
March 19:
Tom Swafford, violin, soloist
Café Paloma, 7:30pm
Admission: $10 at the door
Wayne Horvitz presents the fourth
and fifth instalments of his series of
presentations of These Hills of Glory:
Composition No. 2 for String Quartet
and Improviser, with Denver-based
trumpeter Ron Miles and Seattle-based
violinist Tom Swafford as soloists.
They join the odeonquartet, a top-class
string, in interpreting Horvitz’s work,
which rests at the intersection of composition
and improvisation.
Keyboard player Wayne Horvitz has
long played and composed in multiple
genres, and combinations of them. He
enjoys high repute throughout North
America, and much further afield. Here
in Seattle, he has been the leader of
several stellar projects, including Zony
Mash, Pigpen, and The Four plus One
Ensemble. He was also co-founder of
both East and West Coast versions of the
New York Composers Orchestra. And, he
has long and often performed and collaborated
with many jazz leading of the
day, including Bill Frisell, Butch Morris,
John Zorn, Robin Holcomb, Fred Frith,
14 • Earshot Jazz • March 2006
Julian Priester, Philip Wilson, Michael
Shrieve, and Carla Bley.
His composing has brought him as
much renown as his playing. His compositions
for small jazz groups have made
him a club favorite, and he has been a
mentor to a whole generation of outjazzers
and rockers-turned-jazzers here
in Washington state.
He also has received many commissions
from such quarters as the National
Endowment for the Arts, Meet The
Composer, the Kronos String Quartet,
Seattle Chamber Players, Mary Flagler,
BAM, and Earshot Jazz.
His compositions often have a transporting,
dancing quality, so it is no surprise
that he has often collaborated with
choreographers, including Paul Taylor
and the White Oak Dance Project, Liz
Lerman Dance Exchange, and Crispin
Spaeth. His film work includes music and
sound design for three PBS specials and
Gus Van Sant’s feature film, Psycho.
In 2001, Horvitz received an Artist
Trust Fellowship (Seattle) and in 2002
he was awareded a Rockefeller Foundation
MAP Grant. Last month, Earshot
Jazz awarded him a special Golden Ear
for his many contributions to Seattle
creative music.
He and trumpeter Ron Miles go way
back. Miles has often performed with
longtime Horvitz New York colleagues,
including Bill Frisell and Don Byron,
and has also been a member of the Ellington
Orchestra and Fred Hess’ Boulder
Creative Music Ensemble. A staple of the
Denver jazz scene, he also is in demand
the world over for his rich, distinctive
sound.
The “phenomenally gifted trumpeter,”
as critic Bill Milkowski has described
him, is also a fine composer. He has lived
in Denver since he was 11, where he
began studying the trumpet. He studied
music at the University of Denver and
the Manhattan School of Music, and in
1999 served as musical director and arranger
for drummer Ginger Baker’s disc
Coward of the County (Atlantic 1999).
His compositions anchor that record.
He also released a series of well-received
discs on Gramavision (My Cruel Heart,
Woman’s Day) and Capri (Witness, Ron
Miles Trio).
Tom Swafford grew up in Seattle. He
began improvising in 1991 as a member
of Tufts University New Music Ensemble.
In the late 90’s, while a composition
graduate student at U.C. Berkeley, he
performed with 024c, Dan Plonsey, John
Schott, and Matt Ingalls, among others.
He also recorded the CD Hill Music with
the Emergency String Quartet.
From 2001 to 2002 Tom studied
composition in Amsterdam with Louis
Andriessen. Since returning to Seattle, he

has been active in Seattle’s thriving creative
music community. He is a member
of Doublends Vert, Cipher, Tone Action
Orchestra, Thingsome Q, Volute, and a
duo with drummer Matt Crane, as well
as the Irish/Punk band, Meisce.
He wrote, played, and recorded string
arrangements for pop bands Guster, Papas
Fritas and SweetLou.
In the Seattle-based odeonquartet, Miles
and Swafford will meet one of the most
distinguished of modern string quartets,
with Gennady Filimonov, violin; Heather
Bentley, viola; Jennifer Caine, violin; and
Page Smith, cello.
Among their distinctions is to present
high-quality performances of new chamber
music, and to bring new composition
to new audiences. The quartet has been,
for example, the Lehmann Ensemble-in-
Residence at Cornish College of the Arts
during 2001-2003 season.
They have appeared to increasing acclaim.
Gavin Borchert, in the Seattle
Times, wrote: “Just a few seasons old, this
young, vibrant group has made a Kronoslike
commitment to a 20th century music
all over the artistic map – from serialism,
evocations of folk and pop music from
around the world, American classics
and European neo-romanticism.” The
ensemble features works in varied American
and international styles including
fresh and imaginative performances of
standard and lesser-known masterpieces
as well as new works and unusual repertoire.
Their work may, for example, weave
in threads of tango, American prison
blues, Persian folk music, jazz, Russian
orthodox hymns, minimalism, European
neo-romanticism, and contemporary and
folk influences.
For this, the quartet has received a
prestigious King County Arts Commission
grant, and regularly appeared on the
Seattle Chamber Music Festival’s “Under
Forte” series.
The series will end next month, on April
16, with a performance of the work by
the odeonquartet and, as soloist, Gust
Burns, at Gallery 1412.
For more information, visit www.waynehorvitz.com
and www.odeonquartet.org.
Please Put Me On Hold
Tell you one thing: Whoever is programming
the City of Seattle phone
system’s hold music is hip.
When you call the Public Utilities
department at the city, Wayne Horvitz,
Bogey Vujkov, Carlos Cascante’s
Tumbao with Thomas Marriott, and
Dave Peck are some of the musicians
whose recordings you hear while
waiting.
Music by some of the city’s leading
lights of jazz and other forms of
music is part of city employees’ vision
of making the vexed experience of
waiting on hold a little more pleasant,
and to promote the city’s music scene
while doing so.
Also on rotation have been Aono
Jikken, which creates music from
found objects; the Northwest Chamber
Chorus; Seattle Pro Musica, an
early-music group, performing “To
Mistress Margaret Hussey;” pianist
and accordianist Murl Allen Sanders;
and Wu Ziying, a performer of Chinese
classical music.
The announcement between tunes
is a rather clunky announcement by
Mayor Greg Nickels hippin’ the caller
to what’s happenin’. He even tells you
how to subscribe to a ``podcast’’ to
Origin Records available
GRETA MATASSA
Favorites From a Long Walk
Origin 82452
have the music automatically downloaded
onto your computer, via www.
seattle.gov/onhold.
According to Nate Brown of the
Mayor’s Office of Arts and Cultural
Affairs, some listeners now actually
want to be put on hold. And, San
Francisco is planning to copycat us
by placing its own cats on an on-hold
system.
City employees cooked up the idea
because callers had been complaining
that the exisiting on-hold music...well,
it sucked, and are we surprised? Selling
the idea of replacing it with something
tastier was not difficult, Brown says,
because the music industry employs
8,700 people in Seattle and generates
$1.3 billion in annual sales. City
employees and musicians they knew
selected the first rotation of cuts, but
a more permanent group will make
the selections in the future. Cuts will
rotate every quarter.
The program is already drawing
some extra attention to Seattle music.
The Bloomberg business news service
wrote about it, which prompted the
LA Times and some others to do the
same.
– Peter Monaghan
New Releases
at Bud’s, Tower, Silver Platters & Easy Street
JOHN BISHOP
Nothing if Not Something
Origin 82455
SEATTLE REPERTORY JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Sacred Music of Duke Ellington
Origin 82456
ORIGIN
RECORDS
OA2RECORDS
www.originarts.com - 206/781-2589 distributed by: CITY HALL RECORDS 415/457-9080
March 2006 • Earshot Jazz • 15

On Music
I, The RCA Puppy
We lived in a little bungalow in Jamaica,
Queens, two younger sisters, Dad, Mom,
and myself. The house seemed big to me,
lived there about the 3rd grade through
the middle of the 7th, years when
marbles, baseball cards and comic books
ruled. Our home was surrounded by trees
in a backyard that stretched all around
the house, shed with a big garage at the
end of a long driveway. We had real good
times in that brown house.
Inside was spent mostly between the yellow
kitchen and Mediterranean-spirited
living room. A huge canvas of Venice
canals went along the eastern wall. A
long couch on the opposite wall… and
the long mocking face of the stereo console
sat beside it. Decades before VCRs,
DVD Players, downloads, and iPods,
there were three speeds: 33, 78, and 45
rpm on the turntables. Us kids weren’t
allow to touch it.
The living floor, more than once a week,
instantly became a dance floor. My sisters
would show Mom the latest dance steps
as a 45 disc would drop down on the
turntable and the needle’s arm rose and
swung onto the wax… Then music filled
the house. Music, always somewhere
in that house. Had no idea it was in
my blood. Mom played classical piano
16 • Earshot Jazz • March 2006
through her youth, and loved singers. She
loved to dance and listen to singers.
I loved to laugh and didn’t know it was
all sinking in. On Saturday nights my
folks often had company over, including
family, for Rum & Coke and card games
like Gin Rummy, Tunk, especially Bid
Wiss. From upstairs in my room I loved
to listen to them laugh and drink. Sometimes
argue. Sometimes they get quiet
because of the music; like Nat Cole – who
ruled the world then – singing “Mona
Lisa” or “Nature Boy.” While still reading
nursery rhymes repeatedly, Burroughs,
Wells, and Kipling, I was just a kid but
connected with the singer’s pathos, something
in his tone and story. And others…
like Joe Williams, Johnny Mathis, a new
voice then, Billy Eckstine, Frank Sinatra,
Little Jimmy Scott, Johnny Hartman,
and Arthur Prysock.
Sometimes company got loud. Hank
Ballad & The Midnighters or King
Curtis’s big saxophone got them dancing.
Sometimes my sisters were called
downstairs to show the latest moves. This
would go on all night. And although I
don’t recall anyone breaking music into
categories, the later hours brought some
jazz. Ahmad Jamal. Horace Silver. Art
Blakey. Miles Davis. Only my Uncle
Donnie played Trane, Monk, and the
cats, but loved all of it. I learned most
of what I know about R&B from my
mother’s brother. I fell in love with this
45 single by Wynton Kelly named “Little
Tracie” that Mom had bought – she
brought all the music home. Funny, only
two records I think Dad ever raved about
were Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” and
later Otis Redding’s swansong “On The
Dock Of The Bay.”
Motown hadn’t marched full flank yet.
The Beatles were on their way. Muhammad
Ali was breaking all the rules. I
wanted to be the first Negro President of
the USA when they killed JFK. After the
card party I would sneak downstairs past
the folding chairs, champagne, and wine
glasses, stained tables, playing cards, and
records all in disarray on the floor around
Monthly Jazz in The L.A.B.
@ The Seattle Drum School
THE JIM KNAPP
ORCHESTRA
EVERY FIRST MONDAY
@ 8PM
Wayne Horvitz
Quartet
Sunday, April 2nd
@ 7:30pm
Paul Harding, photo by Daniel Sheehan
continued on page 23
Geoff Harper Presents:
Last Mondays
every last Monday
@7:30 pm
www.lastmondays.com
206.364.8815 - 12510 15th Ave NE - www.thelabatsds.com
Saxophone, Trumpet, Trombone, Violin, Piano, Guitar, Bass, Drums

Jazz on the Radio
What the Puget Sound Offers
KBCS 91.3FM
www.kbcs.fm
Monday midnight-3am :: Prisms
- Avant-garde music, experimental
soundscapes, and art music.
Weekdays 7-9am :: Drive Time Jazz - Jazz,
traffic, news, and weather with John
Midgley, Diane Sweeney, Catherine Hall,
Gordon Todd, and Megan Sullivan.
Monday 9am-noon :: The Bud
and Don Show - In memory of
Don Lanphere, Bud Young playing
“the best jazz in town.”
Monday 9-11pm :: Straight, No Chaser
- David Utevsky plays “music that
burns or tingles the ears like a shot of
whiskey does the throat” from bebop
and hard-bop to avant-garde jazz.
Monday 11pm-1am :: Giant Steps
- John Pai “allows the inherent nature
of the music to speak” and each
week highlights a classic jazz album.
Tuesday 1-3am :: Ampbuzz - A mix
of psychedelic rock, outsider folk,
free and not-so-free jazz, and anything
else “out” but not necessarily
“noise.” With Chris Martin.
Tuesday 9am-noon :: Be-Bop Spoken
Here - Bernie Goldberg journeys
through the classic bebop world.
Wednesday 9am-noon :: 20th Century
Jazz The First Half - Joanie Nelson
plays music of the 1920s to 1940s.
Thursday 9am-noon :: Vintage Jazz - Al
Barnes plays 1920s and 1930s jazz.
Friday 9am-noon :: Caravan - John
Gilbreath explores the intersections
of jazz and world rhythms.
Sunday 2-6am :: Nightowl Jazz - John Petri
plays jazz for “nighthawks at the diner.”
Sunday 10pm-midnight :: Flotation
Device - Jonathan Lawson
presents jazz on the “out” side.
KEXP 90.3FM
www.kexp.org
available on the Web and via streaming audio
archive
Sunday Midnight-2am :: Jazz Theater
- John Gilbreath celebrates
jazz as alive and thriving, now.
KPLU 88.5FM
www.kplu.org
available on the web
Monday - Friday 9am-noon :: Jazz with
Dick Stein – Straightahead jazz.
Monday-Friday noon-3pm :: Jazz with
Robin Lloyd – Straightahead jazz.
Monday-Friday 7:30pm-midnight
:: Evening Jazz with Abe
Beeson – Straightahead jazz.
Monday-Friday midnight-3am :: Jazz
on the Graveyard – Kevin Kniestedt &
Troy Oppie present straightahead jazz.
Saturday & Sunday midnight-
3am :: Jazz After Hours with Jim
Wilke – _Straightahead jazz.
Saturday 11am-3pm :: Saturday Jazz with
Ruby Brown – Bluesy straightahead jazz.
Saturday 3-4pm :: Jazz Profiles with
Nancy Wilson – Syndicated; jazz bios.
Saturday 5-6pm :: Piano Jazz with
Marian McPartland – A different
third and fourth hand each week.
Sunday 9am-noon :: Jazz Sunday Side Up
with Ruby Brown – Straightahead jazz.
Sunday 1-2pm :: Jazz NW with Jim
Wilke – Regional jazz and jazz news.
Sunday 3-6pm :: The Art of Jazz
with Ken Wiley – Classic jazz
and masterful history-telling.
KPLU jazz programs, supplemented by
“Jazz from the KPLU Library,” can also be
heard on KPLU’s World Wide Web stream,
“World Class Jazz.” KPLU is heard at:
88.5 Seattle/Tacoma; KPLI 90.1 Olympia;
KVIX 89.3 Port Angeles/Victoria; Aberdeen/Hoquiam
100.9; Bellingham 88.7;
Centralia/Chehalis 90.1; Raymond/South
Bend 90.3; Longview/Kelso 104.5; Mount
Vernon 91.1; West Seattle 88.1
KSER 90.7FM
www.kser.org
available on the web
Sunday 2-4pm :: Jazz in the Schools
with Steve Ward – Recordings by
Northwest high-school and professional
jazz musicians.
KUOW 94.9FM
www.kuow.org
Saturday 7pm-midnight :: The Swing
Years and Beyond - American popular
music 1920s-1950s with Amanda Wilde.
KWJZ Smooth Jazz 98.9FM
www.kwjz.com
available on the Web
Smooth jazz, 24 hours.
Note: If you know of any other Seattlearea
jazz programs on the radio, do let us
know, at editor@earshot.org.
March 2006 • Earshot Jazz • 17

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1
JA Hiromi, 7:30
JU Sandra Locklear & Inner Circle Quartet, 8
MA PK & Tom Swafford, 7:30
TD Ethnic Heritage Ensemble, 7:30
TU Gail Pettis Trio, 8
1/2 SANDRA LOCKLEAR
Seattle-based vocalist-pianist Sandra Locklear
records a new CD during these two evenings at
Jubilante in Renton, with her Inner Circle Quartet:
Jack Klitzman on horns, Mike Barnett on bass and
Steve Korn on drums. The show also features
guest vocalist Jim Locklear. Sandra Locklear
sings standards and originals with great emotion
and proficiency, honed during years of singing
in Europe, Canada, the Northwest, and Alaska,
and influenced by the likes of Astrud Gilberto,
Laura Nyro, Carol King, Shirley Horne, and Nina
Simone. The club is all-ages until 10pm.
1/3/4/11 GAIL PETTIS
You have four opportunities to hear this
nominee for last year’s Golden Ear Award for
best vocalist. Gail Pettis, originally from Gary,
Indiana, and schooled in the art of the jazz
vocal locally by Dee Daniels and Greta Matassa,
and an admirer of the likes of Bobby Caldwell
and Kevin Mahogany, goes from strength to
strength, performing a winning, crowd-involving
style of vocal jazz. In these pages last July, Todd
Matthews wrote of Pettis that “A performance
provides Pettis the opportunity to process, learn,
reflect, and quite often unpack a tune in search
of its core feeling and emotion. It’s a goal that
Pettis frequently achieves, and with a soulful
grace that makes the process seem almost
effortless.” She told Matthews: “As I experience
it, the currency of jazz is emotion. That’s what
you give and hopefully get back.” She is at Tula’s
on March 1, the Sorrento Hotel’s elegant Fireside
Get your gigs listed! To submit your gig information go to www.earshot.org/data/gigsubmit.asp or e-mail us at calendar@earshot.org with details
of the venue, start-time, and date. As always, the deadline for getting your listing in print is the 15th of the previous month. The online calendar is maintained
throughout the month, so if you are playing in the Seattle metro area, let us know!
AA Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park, Seattle
AF Affairs Cafe, 2811 Bridgeport Way West, University Place, (253) 565-8604
BF Benaroya Hall, 3rd and Union Downtown Seattle, 215-4747
BJ Beacon Pub, 3057 Beacon Ave S, 726-0238
BP (425) 391-3335
C* Concerts and Special Events
CC Charlie’s at Shilshole, 7001 Seaview Ave NW, 783-8338
CF Coffee Messiah, 1554 E Olive Way, 861-8233
CF Copperfield’s Restaurant, 8726 S Hosner, Tacoma, (253) 531-1500
CM Crossroads Shopping Center, 15600 NE Eighth St, Bellevue, (425) 644-1111
CV Café Venus and Mars Bar, 609 Eastlake Ave E
CZ Cutter Point 7520 27th St. W. University Place, (253) 565-4935
FB Seattle First Baptist Church, Seneca at Harvard on First Hill
GT Gallery 1412, 1412 18th Ave
GR Grazie Rist., 23207 Bothell-Everett Hwy SE, Bothell, (425) 402-9600
HS Hiroshi’s, 2501 Eastlake Plaza, 726-4966
IB Il Bistro, 93-A Pike St, 682-3049
JA Jazz Alley, 2033 6th Ave, 441-9729
JB Jazzbones, 2803 6th Ave, Tacoma, (253) 396-9169
JF Johnny’s, Fife exit 137 off I-5 at Motel 6, (253) 922-6686
JU Jubilante Restaurant, 305 Burnett Ave S, Renton (425) 226-1544
JW Julia’s of Broadway, 300 Broadway, 860-1818
KR Kirkland Performance Center, 350 Kirkland Ave, Kirkland, (425) 893-9900
LA Latona by Green Lake, 6432 Latona NE, 525-2238
LU Luigi’s Grotto, 102 Cherry, 343-9517
18 • Earshot Jazz • March 2006
Room on the 3 rd and 4 th , and at Bake’s Place
Providence Point, on the Eastside, on the 11 th .
1 HIROMI
Still only in her mid-20s, this extremely gifted
Japanese pianist inherited a wealth of knowledge
about jazz from her mentor, Ahmad Jamal,
and from other piano greats. She blended it
with everything from the classics to funk, and
emerges as one of the most promising talents
in modern piano jazz, as evidenced by her 2003
debut CD Another Mind. Hiromi Uehara was a
child classical-music prodigy who discovered
jazz in her teens. At 17, she had a now-fabled
chance meeting with piano legend Chick Corea
who, on hearing her, invited her to perform with
him in concert the next day. In 1999, Hiromi
enrolled at Berklee College of Music in Boston.
She says: “I really don’t have barriers to any type
of music. I could listen to everything from metal
to classical music to anything else.” And: “I love
Bach, I love Oscar Peterson, I love Franz Liszt,
I love Ahmad Jamal. I also love people like Sly
and the Family Stone, Dream Theatre, and King
Crimson... Basically, I’m inspired by anyone who
has big, big energy.” At Jazz Alley.
1 STRINGS PACKED IN
In the small but music-friendly Matt’s in the
Market, upstairs from where Patti Summers’
place used to be, two fine string players, violinist
Tom Swafford and bassist PK share their dulcet
airs.
THURSDAY, MARCH 2
C* Ben Thomas & Tangent Project, Seattle City
Hall, 600 4th Ave, noon
C* Jeff Hamilton Trio, Bruce Paulson, Wenatchee
Jazz Workshop, Wenatchee High School, 7:30
C* Jon Pugh jam for teens, Roy’s Place, 4918
196 th St SW, Lynnwood, 7
JA Monty Alexander & Spirit of Jamaica, 7:30 &
9:30
TD George Kahn, 7:30
TU Greta Matassa vocal workshop, 8
2 VIBES, MAN
Seattle vibraphonist Ben Thomas plays
swinging, pulsing jazz that has captured the
attention of critics far afield. In Jazz USA, John
Barrett, Jr. praised Thomas’s second album,
The Mystagogue, for its “power -it’s here by the
truckload. While Ben Thomas brings his mallets
down hard, his band stretches in serpentine,
Zappa-like themes. There’s tons of sustain on
the title track, endless harmony for the drums
to crash against.” Similarly, in All Music Guide,
Adam Greenburg praised his “contemporary
take on the vibes that’s still influenced by the
various masters.”
2 GRETA MATASSA
Greta Matassa, a perennial favorite among fans
of jazz vocals, leads a vocal workship at Tula’s.
She is “stratospherically gifted,” as Earshot Jazz
said, and has repeatedly won best-jazz-vocalist
awards in Seattle, including this year’s Golden
Ear Award for best Northwest vocalist. She has
a varied and get-after-it style, and is a student
of all the greats. At Tula’s at 8.
FRIDAY, MARCH 3
C* Pran, Ballard IOOF, 1706 NW Market, Seattle,
7:30
C* Katy Bourne Quartet, Columbia City BeatWalk-
Revival Lighting, 4860 Rainier Ave S, 7
C* Garfield High School Big Band Dance, Swedish
Club, 1920 Dexter Ave N, 7:30
C* Michael Biller & Joe Casalini Duo, Columbia
City Art Gallery, 4864 Rainier Ave S, 7
HS Jon Hamar Trio, 8
MA Matt’s in the Market, 94 Pike St #32, 467-7909
MK Mr. Lucky, 315 1st Ave N Seattle, 282-1960
NE Norm’s Eatery, 460 N. 36th, (206) 547-1417
NO New Orleans Restaurant, 114 First Ave S, 622-2563
OU On the House, 1205 E Pike, (206) 324-3974
OW Owl ‘n Thistle, 808 Post Ave, 621-7777
PC Plymouth Congregational Church, 1217 6th Ave, (206) 622-4865
PM Pampas Club, 90 Wall St, 728-1140
PN Poncho Concert Hall at Cornish College of the Arts, 710 E Roy St.
RD Richmond Beach Deli, 632 NW Richmond Beach Road, Shoreline, (206) 546-0119
RZ Rendezvous, 2320 2nd, 441-5823
SA The Spar, 2121 N 30th, Tacoma, (253) 627-8215
SB Seamonster Lounge 2202 N 45th St, 633-1824
SF Serafina, 2043 Eastlake Ave E, 323-0807
SQ Scarlet Tree Restaurant, 6521 Roosevelt Way NE, 523-7153
SR Sorrento Hotel, 900 Madison, 622-6400
ST Suite G, 513 N 36th St, 632-5656
SU Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave, 784-4480
SY Salty’s on Alki, 1936 Harbor Ave SW, 526-1188
TA Tempero Do Brasil Restaurant, 5628 University Way, 523-6229
TB Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria, 4918 Rainier Ave. S. 721-3501
TD The Triple Door, 216 Union St, 838-4333
TO ToST, 513 N 36th St, 547-0240
TU Tula’s, 2214 2nd Ave, 443-4221
WB Wasabi Bistro, 2311 2nd Ave, 441-6044

The Frank Gratkowski Quartet appeared at Con Works on February 19, with Frank Gratkowski, bass clarinet; Kjell Nordeson,
drums; Torsten Müller, bass; and Fred Lonberg-Holm, cello. Photo: David Wight.
JA Monty Alexander & Spirit of Jamaica, 7:30 &
9:30
PN Eyvind Kang, Zachary Watkins, Mark Oi, 8
SB Pantheon, 10
SR Gail Pettis Trio, 9
TU Gary Hobbs Quintet, 8:30
3 COMPOSERS NOW!
Cornish Alumni Eyvind Kang, Zachary Watkins,
and Mark Oi present new compositions in jazz,
electronic, and cross-genre experimental music,
at PONCHO Concert Hall (710 E Roy St; $15
general, $7.50 students/seniors/Cornish alumni,
at door, or from Ticket Window 206.325.6500,
www.ticketwindowonline.com, or Ticket Window
box offices). Kang is one of the most compelling
musical minds in the country – not to miss. He
will appear on viola with Tim Young on guitar
(worth the price of admission, alone), and Geoff
Harper, bass. Zach Watkins uses electronics
linked to live music, with John Seman on bass,
Mark Ostrowski on percussion, Izaak Mills on
woodwinds, and Joe Gray working video images.
Also on the program is guitarist Mark Oi, who
spent 10 years working with sax legend John
Tchicai, and then taught in Cape Verde. Could
be the sleeper concert of the year.
3/11/22 KATY BOURNE
Oklahoman transplant Katy Bourne sings
standards as Geoff Harper (bass) and Ron
Weinstein (keys) play, at 7. Originally a sax
player, she first sang in blues bands in Seattle
before blossoming into a fulltime jazz devotee
and studied with Greta Matassa. The also-poet
and writer has performed with some of Seattle’s
finest musicians including Michael Gotz, Farko
Dosumov, Darin Clendenin, Geoffrey Harper,
Clipper Anderson, Mark Ivester, Steve Korn,
Frank Clayton and Ron Weinstein, and counts,
among her musical influences, everyone from
Sarah Vaughan, John Coltrane, and Miles Davis
to Joni Mitchell and Todd Rundgren.
3/10/17/24/31 PANTHEON
Friday nights at the SeaMonster, “SOUL mixing
boomBAP jazz with spaceAGE funk, and still
rocking hard like jimi... stretching the limits
and paying homage...” with P.K., C.D. Littlefield,
Kimo, Thaddeus Turner, Chad Redlight, DJ
Woogie, guests. Cover $5.
3/10/17/24/31 GIDDY UP!
Pony Boy Records is presenting a series of
shows every Friday night in March and April
at Hiroshi’s Restaurant (2501 Eastlake Plaza,
726-4966; www.hiroshis.com) titled Jazz &
Sushi. Each week, drummer Greg Williamson,
the head honcho of Pony Boy who is renowned
for his big groovy beat, will anchor the line-up,
joined by different guest artists from the Pony
Boy stable. Williamson has been a stalwart of
the local scene – one of the busiest jazzers in
the business – backing singers, bandleaders,
and dancers up and down the West Coast and
far afield, and leading his own Pony Boy All-Star
Big Band and Double Sax Quintet. He has spent
several years on the road with the big bands of
Woody Herman and others and toured with the
likes of jazz funnyman Steve Allen and Seattle’s
own Ernestine Anderson. Of his driving, exciting
sound, Jazz Times says: “Capturing a groove
and sticking with it how could you miss?” He
has appeared on more than 40 CDs. Read
more about his collaborators on this series
at www.ponyboyrecrods.com. March 3, he’ll
present the Jon Hamar Trio in which he and
the bassist are joined by guitarist Ryan Taylor
(gtr). March 10: singer Carolyn Graye joins the
Greg Williamson Trio that includes pianist John
Hansen and the incomparable bassist – no one
makes the instrument sound better – Buddy
Catlett. March 17, Catlett’s own trio takes the
stage, with Williamson and trumpet/sax standout
Jay Thomas. March 24, it’ll be singer Karen
Shivers with a different Williamson Trio, this
time with Jon Hamar on bass and the winner of
this year’s Golden Ear Award for musician of the
year, pianist Bill Anschell. On the last date of
the month, the Greg Williamson Quartet brings
together Hamar, Hansen, and a man with a sound
as big as the Russian steppes, saxophonist
Alexey Nikolaev. Shows are from 8pm to 11pm,
with no cover; more shows through April.
SATURDAY, MARCH 4
BF Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra w/ Ernestine
Anderson, Benaroya/Nordstrom Recital Hall,
7:30
C* Greta Matassa Quintet w/ Susan Pascal,
Tacoma Jazz & Wine Festival
C* Bar Tabac, Goddess Café (1901 N 45th St),
11am
GT Zachary Watkins, Son of Rose, Kazutaka
Nomura
JA Monty Alexander & Spirit of Jamaica, 7:30 &
9:30
SR Gail Pettis Trio, 9
TU Mike Allen Quartet, Tribute to Wayne Shorter,
8:30
4-5 GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK
Vocal great Ernestine Anderson is the special
guest of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra
in the third installment of its Great American
Songbook series. Hailed as one of the greatest
Recuring Weekly Performances
MONDAYS
IB Blake Micheletto
MK Reggie Goings & Jazz
Suspenders,
NO New Orleans Quintet
TUESDAYS
NO HoloTrad Jazz
OW Bebop & Destruction
WEDNESDAYS
CV Matt Jorgensen/Mark Taylor
Group, 9:30
NO Floyd Standifer Group, 8
PC Susan Pascal/Murl Allen
Sanders/Phil Sparks, Noon
SA Kareem Kandi Band, 8
ST Ryan Burns Trio
THURSDAYS
CF Monktail Music Series, 8
CM Victory Music Open Mic, 6
JB Kareem Kandi Band, 8:30
LU Robeson Trio, 8
NO Ham Carson Quintet, 7
SQ Darrius Willrich, 10
TA Urban Oasis, 7
WB Wayne Trane, 9
FRIDAYS
AF Kareem Kandi Band, 7
JU Urban Oasis, 9
LA LHH Trio, 5:30
LU Robeson Trio, 8
PM Floyd Standifer, 9
SY Victor Janusz & Tim Koss,
8:30
SATURDAYS
AF Kareem Kandi Band, 7
CC Andre Thomas & Quiet Fire,
9
LU Robeson Trio, 8
PM Floyd Standifer, 9
SU Victor Noriega
SUNDAYS
CZ Kareem Kandi
JF Buckshot Jazz, 5:30
NE Dangerous Brain Clinic, 10
TD Arturo Rodriguez, 8
March 2006 • Earshot Jazz • 19

voices in jazz, Concord recording artist Ernestine
Anderson, together with the all-star jazz
orchestra, performs favorites by George
Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Duke
Ellington, and many others. Anderson, a native
of Seattle and one of the city’s most celebrated
artists, is in demand throughout the world, and
the SRJO has waited years to pair up with her rich,
bluesy voice. On Saturday, March 4, at 7:30pm,
at Benaroya Hall/Nordstrom Recital Hall, and
on Sunday, March 5, at 3pm, at the Kirkland
Performance Center. Tickets $16-$32; at the
door, or call SRJO at 206-523-6159.
4/11/25/29 GRETA THE GREAT
Greta Matassa, a perennial favorite among fans
of jazz vocals, leads her quintet at the Tacoma
Jazz & Wine Festival. “Stratospherically gifted,”
as Earshot Jazz said, Matassa has repeatedly
won best jazz vocalist awards in Seattle for her
varied and get-after-it style. A student of all the
greats, she never fails to impress.
4/11/18/25 NO SMOKING, PLEASE
The Bar Tabac Quartet lends Wallingford a
touch of the boulevards in a weekly, late-morning
gig. With Craig Flory on clarinet, John Sampson
on guitar, Terry Weigland on accordion, and Mike
Doherty on snare drum.
SUNDAY, MARCH 5
C* Wayne Horvitz: These Hills of Glory, Cafe
Paloma, 93 Yesler Way, 7:30
C* Bach Around the Clock, 11am-9pm, Town Hall
(8 th & Seneca), free
C* Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra w/ Ernestine
Anderson, 3, Kirkland Performance Center
FB Jay Thomas Quintet, 6
JA Monty Alexander & Spirit of Jamaica, 6:30 &
8:30
JU Jubilante Sunday Night jam, 7:00
KR Seattle Repertory Orchestra, 3
SU Suffering F*#kheads, 9
TU Reggie Goings/Hadley Caliman Quintet, 3
TU Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, 8
5/12/19/26 THEY DON’T MEAN “FINK”
Wild and wacky renditions of jazz and anything
else that can be wrangled into its ken, with Ron
Weinstien on the mighty Hammond B-3 organ,
Craig Flory on clarinet, Mike Peterson on drums,
Jay Roulston on trumpet, Greg Sinibaldi on tenor
sax. Their style, says Flory, is “sublime selfindulgence
meets wank from hell.”
5 BACH AROUND THE CLOCK
You may not realize that Johann Sebastian
Bach was a jazzcat. Sure he was – improvised
like the dickens! And you can see how that
might have sounded when Jovino Santos Neto,
David Mesler, and other jazzers of today, along
with their counterparts in early music and other
genres, celebrate the Voice of God composer
at Town Hall’s almost-annual Bach Around the
Clock celebration. It’s an all-day affair, kicking
off at 11am and running until 9pm. Won’t cost
you a brass pfennig, either. There is plenty
for all tastes, and all the rest is tasteful, too.
The day begins with a family concert with
the Kaleidoscope Children’s Dance Company
and ends with an audience sing-along of
choruses from the B minor mass with the Puget
Sound Symphony Orchestra (improvisation not
encouraged, but inevitable anyway). In between,
the program includes the Italian Concerto in
F, cello suites, flute trio sonatas, Cantata no.
18, motets, the French Suite in G Major, and
much more. Stuart Dempster and the Didgeri
Dudes perform a new work. There will be new
dance pieces by Anna Mansbridge and local
choreographers Wade Madsen, Joyce Paul, and
Denis Basic. Performers include Seattle favorites
Jillon Dupree, Opus 7, Byron Schenkman, Seattle
Early Dance, and Janet See. Jovino performs
Brazilian jazz based on Bach, and Dave Mesler
plays piano jazz with his trio.
5 JAZZ VESPERS
In this month’s instalment of the popular,
highly appealing series, Jazz Vespers (jazz in a
20 • Earshot Jazz • March 2006
Gothic church with a brief homily from pastor
Stephen Jones and a “free-will offering,” to pay
the musicians, midway) you can hear the alwayscompelling
Jay Thomas with his quintet and
the stellar Becca Duran singing. The concert,
beginning at 6pm, is free, and no bookings or
tickets are required. All this is at Seattle First
Baptist Church on First Hill at the corner of
Seneca and Harvard streets. Dress is as-youcome,
and light refreshments are served in the
church’s Fellowship Hall afterwards. Parking is
free on Sundays in the lighted adjacent lot.
5/19 HORVITZ’S GLORIOUS HILLS
Not sure how you’re going to fit in all the riches
that this Sunday has to offer, but here you go,
anyway: Wayne Horvitz presents his piece “These
Hills of Glory” for sting quartet and improviser.
On the 5 th , the latter is trumpeter Ron Miles, and
on the 19 th , it’ll be violinist Tom Swafford. Both
should be fascinating performances, at Café
Paloma (93 Yesler, just west of First at Pioneer
Square) at 7:30; admission $10 at the door. See
preview in this issue.
5/10 GOINGS & CALIMAN
Saxophonist Hadley Caliman was last year
inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame for
his several decades of top-rate playing. Long
a cherished teacher at Cornish College and a
resident of rural Cathlamet, Wash., he started
his career in stellar company, in the late 1940s,
after growing up in LA, where he played while
in high school in a big band that included Eric
Dolphy and Art and Addison Farmer. After
touring the South with blues bands, he went
to Pomona State College to study singing and
clarinet while studying privately with Dexter
Gordon. From there, his career took off in
various directions. Early on, he worked with jazz
greats like Della Reese, Gerald Wilson, Mongo
Santamaria, Don Ellis, and Hampton Hawes, and
then in San Francisco, while at the San Francisco
Conservatory, he studied flute and played with
some of the great rock and Latin-rock-jazz
fusion bands of the era, including Santana, the
Grateful Dead, and the Escovedo Brothers. He
has since played with a who’s who of greats,
including Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson,
Julian Priester, Nancy Wilson, Joe Henderson,
and others. Touring with Earl “Fatha” Hines on
that all-time great’s last tour brought him to
Washington State, where he ended up settling,
as, of course, did Julian Priester. In 1991,
Caliman, who was early in his career called Li’l
Dex, was chosen to fill Dexter Gordon’s seat in
a tribute to the sax great at Avery Fisher Hall in
New York, where he performed alongside Dizzy
Gillespie, Buster Williams, Wynton Marsalis, and
Bobby Hutcherson. He and Reggie Goings are at
Tula’s for their regular, first-Sunday-afternoon
gig, from 3pm to 7pm (cover $7). Then, on the
10 th , Caliman appears with his quartet, again
at Tula’s.
MONDAY, MARCH 6
C* Jim Knapp Orchestra w/ Tom Varner, 8 (see
highlight box)
TU Greta Matassa jam, 8
6 KNAPP W/ VARNER
The Jim Knapp Orchestra continues its series of
monthly performances at the L.A.B. performance
space of the Seattle Drum School. The Jim Knapp
Orchestra is well known for its original style,
fine writing, and virtuoso performers, including
saxophonists Mark Taylor, Steve Treseler, and
Adam Harris; trumpeters Jay Thomas and Vern
Sielert; and trombonist Jeff Hay The rhythm
section includes John Hansen (piano), Phil
Sparks (bass), and Adam Kessler (drums). The
brass is led by the lead trumpet of Brad Allison,
and anchored by the bass trombone of Dave
Marriott and the baritone sax of Jim Dejoie.
A special treat is the outstanding player of
Seattle newcomer Tom Varner, certainly one of
the very best French horn players in jazz. The
L.A.B. performance space at the Seattle Drum
School is a small theatre with perfect sound and
an excellent piano. It is all ages, and has easy
parking in a safe neighborhood. Admission $10
(students $5).
Bill Frisell. Frisellʼs Unspeakable Orchestra appeared last
month at the Tractor Tavern. Photo by Daniel Sheehan.
TUESDAY, MARCH 7
GT Just Add Water jam w/ Wendy Martin
JA Mary Stallings, 7:30
TU Ingraham H.S. Jazz Band, Jay Thomas Big
Band, 7
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8
BJ Better World w/ Joanne Klein & Marc Smason,
8:30
JA Mary Stallings, 7:30
TU UW Studio Jazz Ensemble, 8
THURSDAY, MARCH 9
AA The Tiptons, 5:30
JA Regina Carter, 7:30 & 9:30
SU PK & What Army, Jessica Lurie Ensemble, 9
TU Beth Winter/Dawn Clement Group, 8
9 THE TIPTONS
The all-women saxophone quartet, plus
drummer, appear at the Art of Jazz Series at
the Seattle Art Museum foyer, at 5:30pm. The
winners last month of this year’s Golden Ear
Award for best “outside jazz” group, the Tiptons
have, with various lineups, been together since
1988, and now again boasts co-founder Amy
Denio, along with stalwart Jessica Lurie (alto/
tenor), and newer additions Tina Richerson
(tenor) and Tobi Stone (baritone). On percussion
is the much-praised Elizabeth Pupo-Walker.
Together they perform everything from Carla
Bley to Los Lobos, and from klezmer to Sun Ra,
with plenty of New Orleans, Eastern Europe,
funk and hip-hop in the mix. At the Seattle
Asian Art Museum, free with the very reasonable
museum entry.
9/10 JESSICA LURIE
Making a return visit to her hometown, the
outstanding saxophonist and flutist Jessica Lurie
appears with another stand-out local who moved
to New York, drummer Andrew Drury, who has
excelled in both composition and performance,
including in solo shows in striking outdoor
settings. Today they’re at the Sunset Tavern in
Ballard, at 9, with bassist PK and his high-wattage
What Army; on the 10 th , they’re at the Paradise
Artist Salon in Chimacum, at 8pm.
FRIDAY, MARCH 10
C* Jessica Lurie/Andrew Drury, Paradise Artist
Salon, Chimacum, 8
C* Brendan Wires, Bellevue Art Museum, 7
GR Greg Schroeder Quartet w/ special guests,
7:30
GT Alan Lechusza and MAD Trio
HS Carolyn Graye w/ Greg Williamson Trio, 8
JA Regina Carter, 7:30 & 9:30
SB Pantheon, 10
TU Hadley Caliman Quartet, 8:30

10 MAD ALAN LESCHUSZA
MAD TRIO presents new music for tuba,
electric cello, and processed woodwinds in
a spirit of electro-acoustic investigations of
composed work and improvisation. For this
Pacific Northwest tour, the trio is focusing on
a series of new compositions by reed player
and composer Alan Lechusza, a member of The
Vinny Golia Large Ensemble, that refer to various
genres, including heavy metal and avant-jazz
with “Feldman-esque textures and sonic/noise
landscapes.” The trio, an electro-acoustic
ensemble based in California and New Mexico
was formed in 1999 by Mark Weaver (tuba) and
Alan Lechusza (woodwinds), both of whom
compose for the trio. Various third members
have graced the group – on this trip, it will be
cellist Carolyn Lechusza who has played as a solo
and chamber artist throughout the U.S. She has
collaborated with new music, improving, and
out-jazz legends such as Bertram Turetzky, Mark
Dresser, Anthony Davis, George Lewis, Joelle,
Fred Frith, Wadada Leo Smith, and Vinny Golia,
and is now loading up on intellectual/academic
fodder for her performance as a doctoral student
in UC San Diego’s renowned Critical Studies/
Experimental Practices Program.
With the Yamaha electric cello, foot pedals and
soundboard of Carolyn Lechusza, wrote critic
Roy Durfee, the trio produces “a music more
purely aural than rhythmic, seemingly both
pre-conceived and manufactured on the spot.
Absent conventions, each trio-led experience
was informed for the listeners by their own
pursuits of the musically defined figures to an
eventual rest.” Of Leschusza’s compositions, he
said: “Sounding almost as though his writing is
sacrificial, the composer describes his partner’s
cello as ‘becoming a battle axe cutting through
compositional complexity while detailing
intricate nuances.’” Adding power to all that
is Weaver’s tuba, which Leschusza calls “an
incredible force of nature.”
10 GREG SCHROEDER
The trombonist appears with his quartet (with
Chuck Kistler, bass; Greg Williamson, drums;
and a guest pianist) each Thursday at 7:30pm
at Grazie’s.
SATURDAY, MARCH 11
C* Emerald City Jazz Orchestra, Sedro Woolley
Jazz Festival, Sedro Woolley High School, 3
C* Bar Tabac, Goddess Café (1901 N 45th St),
11am
BP Gail Pettis Trio, 8
JA Regina Carter, 7:30 & 9:30
SF Katy Bourne Trio, 9
TU Greta Matassa Quartet, 8:30
11/14 EMERALD CITY
Another of the city’s great big bands, and one
of the most spirited ones, Emerald City Jazz
Orchestra, features the work of Matso Limtiaco,
whose compositions and arrangements have
been used for years in local high schools and
colleges, and the talents of top younger players.
At the Sedro Woolley Jazz Festival, at 3pm.
SUNDAY, MARCH 12
C* Paul Rucker Large Ensemble, 2 & 8,
Consolidated Works (500 Boren Ave N)
JA Regina Carter, 6:30 & 8:30
JU Jubilante Sunday Night Jazz Jam, 7
NO Pete Leinonen & John Holte Radio Rhythm
Orchestra, 7
SU Suffering F*#kheads, 9
TU Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, 8
TU Jazz Police Big Band, 3
12 LOTS OF RUCKER
Paul Rucker, one of the most promising
jazz composers to grace these parts in years,
presents music for his 20-person big band,
including many of the city’s most exciting
younger players (and some of the exciting,
not-so-young ones, for that matter). The
performance marks the release of his new CD,
a recording of his earlier large-ensemble works
at the 2004 Earshot Jazz Festival. Two shows,
at 2pm and 8pm; admission: $15 advance 1-
800-838-3006 or www.brownpapertickets.com;
$18/12 at the door
12 HANDS UP!
At Tula’s, at 3pm, another of the city’s many
top-class big bands, the Jazz Police Big Band,
performs at 3pm. Playing big-band standards
and originals by several band members, the
Police play arresting Latin, Afro-Cuban, and
mainstream jazz, as well as blues, fusion, rock,
funk, and even classical opera. James Rasmussen
directs; his lieutenants include saxophonists
Greg Metcalf, Warren Pugh, Jim Cutler, Cynthia
Mullis, and Jim DeJoie; trumpeters Mike Mines,
Dennis Haldane, Alan Keith, and Daniel Barry;
trombonists Dan Haeck, Steve Kirk, Pat Moran,
and Dave Bentley; vibraphonist Evan Buehler,
guitarist Greg Fulton, bassist David Pascal, and
drummer Chris Monroe. It’s quite a force.
12 SWING DANCE
The Radio Rhythm Orchestra, a mainstay in the
Seattle swing scene since the early 90s, perform
classic, eclectic, and original tunes. They feature,
and have done for 20 years, the talents of bassist
and arranger Pete Leinonen.
MONDAY, MARCH 13
TU Darin Clendenin Trio jam, 8
TUESDAY, MARCH 14
C* La Banda Gozona, China Harbor, 2040
Westlake N, 8
GT Chris Stover
JA Dr. John, 7:30
TU Emerald City Jazz Orchestra, 8
14 EMERALD CITY
Another of the city’s great big bands, and
one of the most spirited ones, Emerald City
Jazz Orchestra features the work of Matso
Limtiaco, whose compositions and arrangements
have been used for years in local high schools
and colleges, and the talents of top younger
players. Led by trumpeter Kevin Seeley, the
ECJO is among this city’s amazing large haul of
interesting and compelling jazz big bands. It’s
an intergenerational affair, with some polished
writing and arranging by Limtiaco - hardswinging
stuff with plenty of convincing soloing
by the likes of alto saxophonist Mark Taylor,
pianist Reuel Lubag, and tenor saxophonist
Rob Davis. Of the band’s CD Alive and Swingin
(SMP), critic Jack Bowers said: “Section work is
immaculate, soloists are superb, and the rhythm
section simply kicks ass. Above all, everyone
plays with conspicuous fire and enthusiasm,
diving earnestly into every chart as if it were the
last one they’d ever encounter. And speaking of
charts, any first-rate big band sounds even more
exciting with an expert arranger at its beck and
call, and the Emerald City Orchestra assuredly
has one in Matso Limtiaco,” the ensemble’s
baritone saxophonist. At Tula’s.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15
JA Dr. John, 7:30
TD Lynne Arriale, 7 & 9:30
TO Jack Gold Quartet, 9
TU Hal Sherman & BCC Jazz Orchestra, 8
15 DRUMMING FOR GOLD
The drummer presents his quartet, which
includes Michael Monhart on saxophones; Jim
Knodle on trumpet, and music that is “fiery
and on edge, by turns pushing things toward
chaos then reining the sound back in structure’s
direction.”
15/28 MONDAY NOT MONDAY
Hal Sherman leads the Bellevue Community
College Jazz Orchestra in his adaptations of
big-band arrangements of Count Basie, Woody
Herman, and Stan Kenton.
THURSDAY, MARCH 16
C* Jon Pugh jam for teens, Roy’s Place, 4918
196th St SW, Lynnwood, 7
GT Soma Series presents Joe Stevens and Chris
Stewart
JA Dr. John, 7:30 & 9:30
RZ Greg Sinibaldi, 7:30
TD Lynne Arriale, 7 & 9:30
TU Kelley Johnson vocal showcase, 8
16/20/24 KELLEY JOHNSON
One of the finest vocalists around, as has
been testified to by area fans for several years,
Johnson arranges her numbers herself, largely,
and to great effect, as she showed in particular
on her CD Music is the Magic. With one track
from it, “Tea for Two,” she won first place
in the 2002 International JazzConnect Vocal
Jazz Competition. An improvising singer who
values lyrics, Kelley is known for her tasteful,
understated phrasing and relentless swing. As
an arranger, she reworks standards creating
modern jazz out of classics while keeping the
stories intact. Johnson has been awarded “Best
Northwest Jazz Vocalist” by Earshot Jazz and the
Northwest jazz community. At Tula’s at 8:30,
she leads a vocal showcase. Then, on the 20 th
she is back leading a jam, while on the 24 th , she
leads her quartet with fine pianist (and husband)
John Hansen.
FRIDAY, MARCH 17
C* Karen Shivers & Karen Kajita, HG Bistro, 1618
E Main, Puyallup, 8
HS Buddy Catlett Trio, 8
JA Dr. John, 7:30 & 9:30
SB Pantheon, 10
TD Marlena Shaw, 7:30 & 10
TU Thomas Marriott Quartet, 8:30
17-18 MARLENA SHAW
Swinging, soulful vocalist Marlena Shaw,
equally adept in any of a variety of jazz styles,
is renowned for her wit, style, and charm, and
has been for decades. Raised early on gospel
in Valhalla, NY, she moved into jazz under the
influence of an uncle. By 10 she was performing
with him at the Apollo Theater in Harlem;
on their return gig, the uncle was booked
elsewhere, so Shaw took the stage alone. After
some misdirections, her career blossomed when
she was invited to sing with the Count Basie
Orchestra, and did so to the leader’s acclaim. She
has, ever since, sung with great spirituality and
style, rich and broad. At The Triple Door.
SATURDAY, MARCH 18
C* Bar Tabac, Goddess Café (1901 N 45th St),
11am
GT Slide Show Secret
JA Dr. John, 7:30 & 9:30
TD Marlena Shaw, 7:30 & 10
TU Susan Pascal Quartet, 8:30
18 ACCORDIAN/BASS SECRET
A really stunning accordian/bass duo – really!
– from Denmark, and about as far from the
polka as Denmark is from your local, friendly,
experimental-music house, Gallery 1412 (18 th &
Union). The Slide Show Secret is stellar Icelandic
double-bassist Kristján Orri Sigurleifsson and
German accordionist Eva Zöllner, who work
out of Copenhagen, Denmark. Sigurleifsson is
studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Music.
His teacher is Michal Stadnicki, first principal
in the National Danish Radio Orchestra while
performing in a variety of new-music ensembles.
His performance is something to behold. At
Gallery 1412 (1412 18th Ave) where admission
prices are always eminently reasonable.
SUNDAY, MARCH 19
AA Victor Noriega Trio, 1
JA Dr. John, 6:30 & 8:30
JU Jubilante Sunday Night jam, 7:00
TU Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, 8
SU Suffering F*#kheads, 9
19 VICTOR NORIEGA
The fiery pianist releases his second album,
Alay, with original compositions and jazz
interpretations of traditional Filipino songs. Of
his first disc Stone’s Throw, Gordon Todd, jazz
music director at KBCS, said: “Introspective at
times, energetic and boundary-stretching at
others, these tunes seamlessly blend jazz and
March 2006 • Earshot Jazz • 21

modern classical influences, expertly rendered
by Noriega and his trio. Ranks with the best
jazz CDs of the year so far.” For this CD release,
Noriega will be accompanied, as he has been
for six years, by Willie Blair, bass; and Eric
Eagle, drums. “Alay” means “gift” or “offering” in
Tagalog. Noriega says he wanted to pay homage
to the music he heard at home growing up.
However, these are “not just jazzed-up Filipino
songs,” Noriega says. Instead they are playful,
sometimes complex and eclectic arrangements.
At 1pm at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in
Volunteer Park; $11; $9 students/museum
members, at the door or www.noriegamusic.
com.
MONDAY, MARCH 20
TD Bellevue Community College Vocal Jazz
Ensemble, 7:30
TU Kelley Johnson jam, 8
TUESDAY, MARCH 21
GT Just Add Water jam w/ Wendy Martin
JA Papa Grows Funk, 7:30
TU Roadside Attraction Big Band, 8
21-22 PAPA GROWS FUNK
Some of the most talented jazz-inflected
funkiest jam merchants of New Orleans comprise
Papa Grows Funk, and they’re heading to Jazz
Alley for two nights. John Gros (Hammond B3,
electric piano, and vocals), Jason Mingledorff
(saxophone, cowbell and vocals), June Yamagishi
(guitar), Marc Pero (bass) and Jeffrey “Jellybean”
Alexander (drums and vocals) were voted #1
Funkiest Band by Offbeat Magazine thanks to
their steaming Hammond B-3, chunky guitar,
wailing sax, and a rollicking rhythm section. The
band has grown from a weekly Monday night
jam-session at New Orleans’s Maple Leaf Bar into
a national and international touring act.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22
JA Papa Grows Funk, 7:30
TB Katy Bourne Trio, 6:30
TU Brian Kirk & SCCC Jazz Ensemble, 8
22 BIG BAND CENTRAL
You don’t always look to colleges for highquality
big-band jazz, but for years the Seattle
Central Community College Jazz Ensemble
came to shine under the direction of Brian Kirk.
At Tula’s.
THURSDAY, MARCH 23
JA Mindi Abair, 7:30 & 9:30
OU Marc Smason jazz workshop, 7:30
TU Mark Taylor, Marc Seales, Jeff Johnson, Byron
Vannoy, 8
22 • Earshot Jazz • March 2006
23 FOUR OF THE BEST
Mark Taylor, sax; Marc Seales, piano; Jeff
Johnson, bass; Byron Vannoy, drums. Four of the
best jazzmen the city has to offer. At Tula’s.
FRIDAY, MARCH 24
HS Karen Shivers w/ Greg Williamson Trio, 8
JA Mindi Abair, 7:30 & 9:30
JW Emily McIntosh & Karin Kajita, 6:30
SB Pantheon, 10
TU Kelley Johnson Quartet, 8:30
SATURDAY, MARCH 25
C* Bar Tabac, Goddess Café (1901 N 45th St),
11am
JA Mindi Abair, 7:30 & 9:30
TU Greta Matassa Quartet, 8:30
SUNDAY, MARCH 26
JA Mindi Abair, 6:30 & 8:30
JU Jubilante Sunday Night jam, 7:00
SU Suffering F*#kheads, 9
TU Fairly Honest Jazz Band, 3
TU Jim Cutler Jazz Orchestra, 8
MONDAY, MARCH 27
JA Kobe Sister City Jazz Vocalist audition, 7
RD Bernie Jacobs & Karin Kajita, 7
TU Darin Clendenin Trio jam, 8
27 KOBE BOUND
For the second year, one high-school and
one adult jazz vocalist from the Seattle area
will proceed from Jazz Alley to performances
in Japan thanks to the Kobe, Japan, Sister City
Jazz Vocalist competition (admission $5). In
Kobe, the singers will perform at the Kobe Jazz
Queen Vocalist Contest, in May. Every fall for
the last six years the winner of the Kobe Jazz
Contest has flown to Seattle to debut in the US
at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley. Last year SKSCA sent
local jazz vocalist Kelley Johnson and Roosevelt
High School vocalist Isabelle DuGraf to Kobe for
an October concert event.
27 JACOBS & KAJITA
Seasoned flute and sax player, Bernie Jacobs,
also a talented singer, has quietly won renown
among fellow jazz men since he moved here
about a decade ago. He is often heard with
Woody Woodhouse, Brian Nova, and Larry Fuller,
and here teams with the accomplished pianist,
a local and UW grad, Karin Kajita. She is one of
the too-little-known jewels of the local scene.
Unassuming but expansive and bigminded,
she plays hard-bop standards and her own
compositions with an authority and swing that
should earn her far greater attention. In addition
to her UW studies, she studied privately with
Jerome Gray and William O. Smith, and shows all
the signs of sharing their expansive conception
of jazz music. A mark of her versatility is that
she also performs Italian music on Fridays
at Saviano’s Italian Restaurant in Bellevue,
accompanying a variety of Seattle’s finest opera
singers.
TUESDAY, MARCH 28
TU Hal Sherman’s Monday Night Jazz Orchestra,
8
15/28 MONDAY NIGHT ON TUESDAY
Hal Sherman leads the Bellevue Community
College Jazz Orchestra in his adaptations of
big-band arrangements of Count Basie, Woody
Herman, and Stan Kenton.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29
C* Chicago 7 w/ Joanne Klein & Marc Smason,
Highway 99 Blues Club, 1414 Alaska, 8:30
TU Greta Matassa vocal workshop, 8
THURSDAY, MARCH 30
JA Stanley Clarke, 7:30 & 9:30
TU Beth Winter vocal showcase, 8
FRIDAY, MARCH 31
CM Seattle Womens Jazz Orchestra (SWOJO), 7:30
GT Eric Ostrowski presents Film and Improv
HS Greg Williamson Quartet, 8
JA Stanley Clarke, 7:30 & 9:30
JW Cheryl Serio & Karin Kajita, 6:30
PN Red Hot and Cole: Spring Musical Production,
8
SB Pantheon, 10
TU Milo Peterson & The Jazz Disciples, 8:30
31 PORTERING RED HOT COLES
The “swellegant” musical production Red Hot
and Cole comes to Seattle for two nights, March
31 and April 1 (no foolin’), presenting the life and
music of the great Broadway composer and wit,
Cole Porter. Presenting favorites like “Anything
Goes,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “High Society” and “Can-
Can,” it also presents Porter’s life, which took
him from childhood in Indiana to the stages and
salons of New York, London, Paris, and Venice.
With book by James Bianchi, Muriel McAuley,
and Randy Strawderman, and lyrics and music
by…correct: Cole Porter, this is a production
that is traveling the country. It demonstrates,
according to the Burbank Daily Review, that “the
composer’s enduring, sphisticated, frequently
deliciously wicked rhymes and catchy melodies
provided one of the major sources for the
emergence of our modern American musical
stage.”

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RCA Puppy, from page 16
the stereo. Everyone gone home or sleep.
Sneak a couple of albums onto the turntable.
Turn the volume real low.
Doo-wop groups were evolving into sophisticated
arrangements using orchestras
like Phil Spector did. Loved his “Shangra
La” by The Ronettes. Mary Wells’ “You
Beat Me To Punch” got to me. The Coasters
and The Contours were popular, even
more The Marvelettes and Martha & The
Vandellas. But Gary U.S. Bonds, LIVE
on American Bandstand, coming out of
Philly, was the first R&B performer to
get my immediate attention. Dug this
cat twisting away, swinging his arms as
he sang “About A Quarter To Eight”
with such a wonderful, convincing soulful
delivery. I mean I dug it. But it was
the music my mother played that took
anchor in my soul.
So… just like the little RCA puppy
with the spotted ear up against that huge
flowering brass speaker, I laid there right
up close against the screen cheeks of the
console. Yeah, Mom’s records were the
ones I wanted to listen to alone. Staring at
the album jacket covers of Gloria Lynne,
Etta Jones, Carmen McRae, Dakota Station,
Dinah Washington was the queen!
Nancy Wilson was hot, Esther Phillips,
Sarah Vaughn (her favorite!), June
Christie, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald,
Anita O’ Day, Lena Horne, and (no one
intrigued and pulled me in like) Billie
Holiday, I was gazing upon the poets
who would slay me. Little did I know,
was maybe 11.
Lady Day was with me sometimes when
I was Spiderman in one of the trees in
our backyard. I was rescuing her. In a
high branch sometimes I’d sing a lyric
like “Easy Living” like Tarzan might if
he were Fred Astaire of the jungle. Try
Sara’s “September” low notes singing in
the tub… had a dog named Blue Gene…
after a Gene Ammons record long before
I saw Jug blow… and then came The Jazz
Messengers….
To be continued: – Paul Harding
Paul Harding is a poet, performance artist,
and director of education programs at
the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle.
He is also a member of the Earshot Board
of Directors.
March 2006 • Earshot Jazz • 23

C L A S S I F I E D S
Seattle Drum School offers private
instruction for saxophone, trumpet,
trombone, violin, piano, guitar, bass,
drumset & hand drums. Plus jazz
ensembles, jazz recording workshops
& big band. 206-364-8815
Classifi eds cost $10 for 25 words or less, 50 cents per
additional word. Copy and payment accepted through
the 15th of the month prior to publication at Earshot
Jazz, 3429 Fremont Pl. #309, Seattle WA 98103.
Fax: 547-6286, Email: jazz@earshot.org
Open to All - Free
Sunday, March 5, 6 pm
Jay Thomas Quartet
with vocalist Becca Duran
Sunday, April 2, 6 pm
Hadley Caliman
with Reggie Goings and Group
100 minutes of popular jazz
with an inspirational interlude
Held in the Gothic Sanctuary of
Seattle First Baptist Church
Seneca and Harvard on First Hill
Seattle, WA
206-325-6051
www.SeattleFirstBaptist.org/SJV
Earshot Jazz
3429 Fremont Place. N, #309
Seattle, WA 98103
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Tula’s Jazz Calendar March 2006
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