Close up of a musician playing a guitar with the words Jazz the second century, call for artists, superimposed over the image.

Seeking submissions, now through August 1, 2021!

Earshot Jazz seeks submissions from Seattle-area individual artists and ensembles for the Jazz: The Second Century series. Projects that question and expand the conventions of the jazz form are welcome. The series brings the progression of jazz into creative motion and is a current and un-sentimental look at our city’s engagement with this diffuse, vibrant art form.

Seattle-area individual artists or groups are eligible to apply. Submissions must include a recorded sample of a project and a written statement between 250–350 words. Our submission format is fluid and flexible. Artists are invited to use the tools and technology available to them to create a response to what jazz is right now.

Artists are selected through a blind-jury process. We’re keeping our options open to have live concert presentations (if it is safe to do so) and/or pre-recorded performances. Either way, we’ll host a “Watch Party” in October during the Earshot Jazz Festival via our social media streams. Selected artists are paid a competitive fee for the performance ($125 per artist up to 8 artist/contributors per ensemble).

Please send submissions electronically to 2ndcentury@earshot.org by August 1, 2021.

This series—presenting Seattle artists, selected by a peer panel, performing original work—is a continuation of the very first programming initiative of the Earshot Jazz organization, and embodies one of our core values. Earshot’s first concert series, New Jazz/New City, was mounted in the New City Theater, now the Hugo House, on Capitol Hill in 1986. The series has continued each year since as New Jazz/New City, the Earshot Spring Series, Voice and Vision, and now Jazz: The Second Century.

Thanks to the artists, to our panelists who help curate these concerts, and to audience members who support them. A list of past Second Century artists can be viewed online at earshot.org.