Jazz Northwest

Highlights from concert performances of Duke Ellington's "Such Sweet Thunder" are featured this week on Jazz Northwest. These unique performances combine excerpts from Shakespeare's plays with Duke Ellington's musical portraits of the featured characters. Michael Brockman conducts the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra with guest actors from The Seattle Shakespeare Company, Darragh Kennan and Hana Lass. "Such Sweet Thunder" was commissioned by the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, and

It's the 50th anniversary of the famous KRAB - Helix Piano Drop. The event took place near Duvall, Washington and involved a piano, a helicopter, Country Joe and The Fish and a bunch of people looking for something new. You kind of had to be there - but you get the idea, don't you? However, no pianos will be harmed or destroyed on today's Jazz Northwest. We can promise several excellent pianists, ranging from Wynton Kelly at The Penthouse in Seattle (1966) to recent recordings by Bob Hammer and

Gail Pettis sang for an appreciative crowd at this month's popular "Art of Jazz" concert presented by Earshot Jazz at The Seattle Art Museum. An excellent trio including Darin Clendenin on piano, Chuck Deardorf, bass and Brad Boal on drums, backed Gail Pettis’ warm contralto. Ms.Pettis has won the Earshot vocalist of the year award twice and has performed in Europe, Russia and the Far East as well as the US. She has recorded two CDs, both of which have received considerable national airplay. In

This week's Jazz Northwest spotlights a pair of new releases of intimate jazz. Bassist Jeff Johnson and saxophonist Hans Teuber arrived in Seattle in 1990 from different points but soon discovered a common love of melody and lyrical music-making. They've played together in many musical situations since then and a new duo album "Deuce" displays this deft duo in a collection of music including standards and co-compositions. Another new release is pianist Bill Anschell's "Shifting Standards".

Some old, some new, and some new versions of old music are featured on this week's Jazz Northwest. Hal Galper's Quartet opens with a new take on Miles Davis' Solar and Jeff Baker sings his arrangement of Billy Joel's And So It Goes from another new release. From Vancouver BC, The BC Double Quartet combines a jazz quartet with a string quartet, and Portland writer and broadcaster Lynn Darroch remembers interviewing Ray Charles, after which we'll hear a 26-year old Ray Charles playing a Quincy

Several recent releases by northwest resident musicians are featured on this week's Jazz Northwest . Pianist and singer Dawn Clement has recorded duets with five prominent artists on the regional scene in her CD Tandem. We'll hear her in a duo with trombonist Julian Priester. Although the group Scenes sixth CD Destinations was issued last year we're just now featuring it on Jazz Northwest. Scenes is a cooperative trio with John Stowell, Jeff Johnson and John Bishop. Also new is clarinetist Edgar

Many of the performances heard on Jazz Northwest on KNKX are unique, recorded in concerts around the Puget Sound region. This week's fund drive edition features performances by the Jay Thomas Quartet, members of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, Susan Pascal and Pete Christlieb, Overton Berry and Bruce Phares , and the late Jim Hall, an NEA Jazz Master playing at the 2004 Earshot Jazz Festival. These performances were recorded specifically for Jazz Northwest at The Seattle Art Museum,

Arts and crafts have a long tradition of masters guiding and encouraging students, and the Art of Jazz is no different. This concert at The Seattle Art Museum illustrates the interplay between established artists like saxophonist Stuart MacDonald and pianist and singer Dawn Clement and talented students from Garfield High School, Cornish College and the University of Washington. Two groups were formed and rehearsed, a trio led by Dawn Clement and a quartet led by Stuart MacDonald, and each group

Highlights from Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra concerts featuring music of Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond are featured this week on Jazz Northwest. The concert includes some of the most renowned compositions of Brubeck and Desmond including Wendy, In Your Own Sweet Way, Take Five and The Duke. The original recordings by the Dave Brubeck Quartet are among the best selling jazz records of all time, but in this concert various arrangers for 17-piece big band expand the scores. In the roles of Dave

Quite possibly one of the most unusual and inventive duos you'll hear anywhere, Syrinx Effect (Kate Olson, soprano sax and Naomi Siegel, trombone) came to our attention when they played an Earshot Festival concert full of surprises last Fall at the Columbia City Theatre. The duo, occasionally expanded to trio with percussionist and recording engineer Eric Eagle, uses loops, pedals, and other electronic augmentation to build up layers of sound via a plethora of styles ranging over the history of

Vibist Susan Pascal invited saxophonist Pete Christlieb to join her group at Tula's in a celebration of Stan Getz and some of his collaborations with vibists. The music played at Tula's one night earlier this month recalled tenor saxophonist Stan Getz with vibists Cal Tjader and Gary Burton as well as with pianists Oscar Peterson and Chick Corea. The sold-out house responded with enthusiasm for the flowing lyricism of such songs as 'O Grande Amor,' 'Ginza Samba' and 'Sweet Rain.' Susan Pascal's

Thomas Marriott's new working band played the February concert in the Art Of Jazz series presented by Earshot Jazz at The Seattle Art Museum. Playing for a standing room only audience, the quintet played compositions by members of the group including Marriott, saxophonist Rick Mandyck and pianist Tim Kennedy. Geoff Harper completes the group on bass and Xavier LeCouturier on drums. Thomas Marriott enjoys a bi-coastal career and touring when he's not at home in Seattle. In addition to leading his

Pianist Overton Berry has been a fixture on the Northwest jazz scene since the 60s, playing in coffee houses, jazz clubs and concert halls as well as touring abroad, particularly the Far East.

A pair of quintet performances recorded last Summer and not previously broadcast are the focus on this week's show. The first set is with an all-star quintet assembled for a concert in conjunction with the Seattle Public Library's Rhythm in Colors celebration of Seattle Jazz exhibition last Summer. Johnaye Kendrick, Julian Priester, Dawn Clement, Phil Sparks and D'vonne Lewis perform a set of jazz classics and standards. The second set on this program was recorded on the opening night of Centrum

A pair of new releases combining jazz groups and classical string quartets inspired this week's show. Vancouver guitarist and composer Bill Coon has composed and arranged for combined jazz quartet and string quartet in his new CD, Departure by the BC Double Quartet, and bassist and composer Rufus Reid fronts his jazz trio with the Sirius Quartet in a new vinyl album, Terrestrial Dance. This show opens with the Kronos Quartet playing music by Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk. The Kronos Quartet was