Welcome to the 33rd Annual Presentation of Sacred Music by Duke Ellington

Happy Holidays from Earshot Jazz, the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, and the soloists on tonight’s program. We are so glad you’ve joined us.

As the years go by, especially the recent years, this concert becomes an ever-more special marker of our time in this community, of lives lived, and the ability of great music to warm our hearts. The deeper we travel into this history, and the more unsettled the world around us appears, the more important the spirit of this music becomes. We are grateful for the passion and excellence provided by Michael Brockman, Clarence Acox, and the SRJO. Their stewardship of this music, and the joyous reverence with which they showcase the history of jazz, have been a blessing to the Pacific Northwest.

We are pleased to join the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, Dee Daniels, Jacqueline Tabor, Alex Dugdale, and YOU for the annual presentation of the Sacred Music of Duke Ellington in Seattle.

We extend warmest Holiday greetings and our best wishes for a peaceful, healthy, happy New Year.

– John Gilbreath, Executive Director, Earshot Jazz

Every man prays in his own language, and there is no language that God does not understand.  —Duke Ellington

This thought captures the spirit of the three Concerts of Sacred Music Ellington premiered in 1965, 1968, and 1973, created in the final phase of his career that spanned more than 55 years. Ellington was given a religious upbringing, and through much of his life he intended to create music of a spiritual nature. He was inspired to present sacred music by the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, saying, “Every time God’s children have thrown away fear in pursuit of honesty – trying to communicate, understood or not – miracles have happened.” When an invitation came from the Dean of San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral to create a large sacred work, Ellington accepted the challenge with relish.

Prior to the creation of the first Concert of Sacred Music (which premiered on September 16, 1965), Ellington and Billy Strayhorn had already worked side-by-side to create many of the great suites famously performed by the Ellington Orchestra. Ellington biographies relate that both he and Strayhorn, working on opposite sides of the country, arrived at an almost identical series of thematic tones (do-me-re-te-le-me) for the melodic setting of the opening text from Genesis (“In the beginning God…”). This may have been evidence that a marvelous new endeavor – the presentation of big band jazz in sacred sites, done as only the Duke could do it – was meant to be.

The first sacred concert focused on Duke’s epic “In the Beginning God” and climaxed with “David Danced Before the Lord with All His Might,” both references to favorite biblical passages. Ellington and his star-studded orchestra (featuring the likes of Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Harry Carney, Cat Anderson, and Paul Gonsalves) performed with choirs, tap-dancer Bunny Briggs, and vocal soloists including jazz vocalist Jon Hendricks. They filled Grace Cathedral with meditative, rousing, and always reverent musical offerings.

Three years later (and after Strayhorn’s passing in 1967), Ellington combined his orchestra with vocal soloists, dancers, and a massed choir for a second Concert of Sacred Music, with themes expressing humility and joy in offerings from down-home gospel to moaning blues and hard-driving swing. From this concert came the beloved “Praise God and Dance,” based on Psalm 150. More than 7,500 people attended the official premiere at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City, followed by another performance at St. Mark’s Cathedral in New Canaan, Connecticut. The latter was an even grander presentation than the first, featuring a choir of more than 100 voices in a 155-minute concert, which DownBeat accorded the critical rating of “all the stars in God’s heaven.” Following this, Ellington and the orchestra presented hundreds of repeat performances in sanctuaries of nearly every denomination around the world, from London to Barcelona, Stockholm to Toronto.

The third Sacred Concert, written to honor the United Nations, premiered at Westminster Cathedral in London on October 24 (United Nations Day), 1973. In this work, we hear the composer’s tribute to the universal spirit of all humankind, and from it came his stirring settings of “The Lord’s Prayer.” The London premiere took place exactly seven months before the composer’s death.

Ellington considered his sacred music to be some of his most important life’s work. Creating these works was an opportunity to share his personal philosophy and faith, and to state “out loud to all the world what I’ve been saying to myself for years on my knees.” All three Sacred Concerts live on as strong statements of Duke’s oft-uttered belief in the vast power of love, and of his enduring passion for non-denominational universalism.

– Michael Brockman, Conductor & SRJO Co-Director

In the Beginning
Dee Daniels, alto voice; Alex Dugdale, baritone saxophone; Dan Wickham, clarinet;
Travis Ranney, tenor saxophone; Jay Thomas, trumpet

Recitation: Books of the Old Testament
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings I, Kings II, Chronicles I, Chronicles II, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi

Heaven
Jacqueline Tabor, alto voice; Michael Brockman, alto sax

The Shepherd
Michael Van Bebber, trumpet

Come Sunday – instrumental version (arr. Brockman)
Dan Wickham, clarinet; Scott Brown, trombone; Nathan Breedlove, trumpet, Mark Taylor, alto sax

Don’t Get Down on Your Knees
Dee Daniels, voice

Reflections in D/Warm Valley
Randy Halberstadt, piano

Tell Me It’s the Truth (arr. Brockman)
Jacqueline Tabor, voice; Mark Taylor, alto sax; Bill Anthony, trombone; Tobi Stone, tenor saxophone; Randy Halberstadt, piano; Phil Sparks, bass

Come Sunday – solo version
Dee Daniels, voice

150th Psalm – Praise God and Dance
Dee Daniels, voice; Alex Dugdale, tap-dancer; Mark Taylor, alto sax; Jerome Smith, trombone; Travis Ranney, tenor sax

MICHAEL BROCKMAN (conductor, arranger, and saxophonist) is the co-founder/co-director (along with Clarence Acox) of the SRJO. He moved from the East Coast to Seattle in 1987 to join the UW School of Music faculty and is an active performer in numerous Seattle ensembles, with more than 300 performances in the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He earned a Master of Music degree with distinction from the New England Conservatory in Boston, a Doctor of Musical Arts from the UW, a bachelor of music degree from Lewis and Clark College, and also attended both the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and the Musikhochschule in Cologne, Germany. His doctoral dissertation explored the orchestration techniques of Duke Ellington. As a jazz soloist and a classical recitalist, he has toured and taught throughout Europe, and in recent years has begun doing so in Asia. A perpetual student of woodwind acoustics, Brockman is the inventor of a patented device called the “Broctave Key” (U.S. Patent No. 8,314,318) that provides an additional octave/register vent to any wind instrument. He served several years as the director of the UW’s acclaimed Jazz in Paris overseas program. He was inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame in 2019. 

CLARENCE ACOX (co-artistic director) directed the award-winning Garfield High School jazz ensemble and for many decades was among Seattle’s busiest drummers. A native of New Orleans, he graduated from Southern University in Baton Rouge. Acox was honored with the Outstanding Achievement in the Arts Award from ArtsFund in 2011, Seattle’s 2007 Mayor’s Arts Award, and he was also the recipient of the 2005 Educator of the Year award from Downbeat Magazine. His own sextet has won numerous awards for its CD and he can also be heard around Seattle as the leader of the Legacy Quartet. He serves on the teaching faculty of Seattle JazzED, and appears as a faculty artist for the renowned Centrum Jazz Workshop.

DEE DANIELS (vocalist) developed her vocal style singing in her stepfather’s church choir in Oakland, California, then refined it through the R&B era, polished it during a five-year stay in the Netherlands and Belgium (from 1982 to 1987), and brought it to full fruition upon her return to North America. Between those years and the present, she has performed and/or recorded with many ‘Legends of Jazz’ including Benny Green, Houston Person, John Clayton, Russell Malone, Wycliffe Gordon, Cyrus Chestnut, Clark Terry, Ken Peplowski, Kenny Barron, Bill Mays, Jeff Clayton, Benny Golson, Grady Tate, Toots Thielemans, Jeff Hamilton, Monty Alexander, Steve Wilson, Marvin Stamm, Lewis Nash, Kenny Washington, Norman Simmons, Ben Riley, Dennis MacKrel, Steve Davis, Martin Wind, Bucky Pizzarelli, Helen Sung, Christian McBride, David Young – to mention a few.

Her career highlights include teaching at Queens College (NY) 2013 – 2014; in September 2011, being named Artistic Director of the Frank DeMiero Jazz Festival, a camp dedicated to Jazz Vocals with around 60 participating schools; a nomination for Atlanta Theater’s 2010 Suzi Bass Award; the 2009 receipt of an Honorary Doctorate Degree of Fine Arts and 2008 President’s Award, both from Capilano University; 2003 recipient of the prestigious Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and induction into the University of Montana’s School of Fine Arts Hall of Honor as well as a 1997 University of Montana Distinguished Alumni Award; a 2002 inductee into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame with a plaque installed on Vancouver’s Granville Street Walk of Fame; and a command performance for the King and Queen of Belgium’s 25th Wedding Anniversary. Her international career includes performances in twelve African countries, Australia, South America, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Japan, throughout North America, and many countries within Europe.

Dee has recorded and released nine albums as a leader, and since creating a series of symphony “pops” programs (Great Ladies of Swing, The Soul of Ray: The Music of Ray Charles, and A Night Out With the Boys), she has become busy sharing stages with symphony orchestras across the USA and Canada. She has toured with the Nord Netherlands Symphony Orchestra; performed “Songs From Disney Movies” with the Munich Radio Orchestra; recorded her Wish Me Love album with The Metropole Orchestra of Holland; and recorded the holiday pops album with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. She is also the guest vocalist on the 2006 Crossover Xmas and the 2007 Crossover Xmas: The Sound Goes Big albums recorded with the Philharmonie Baden-Baden of Germany.

JACQUELINE TABOR (vocalist) is a native of Bellevue, Washington. She studied music and history at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she developed a deep understanding of the blues and the origins of jazz music. In 2003 she relocated back to Seattle, and in 2004 began study under the accomplished vocalist and Cornish College instructor, Andrienne Wilson. In 2005, she began work as lead vocalist with the Black Lab Trio, performing selections from the “American Songbook” and in 2011 she launched the Jacqueline Tabor Jazz Band. In that same year, she was named winner of the Seattle-Kobe Jazz Queen competition, held annually at Jazz Alley in Seattle (this title includes an invitation to travel and perform in Kobe, Seattle’s sister city in Japan). Very soon after this, she released her debut album, What a Wonderful World. In 2012, she was named the “NW Vocalist of the Year” at the annual Golden Ear Awards, and in 2014, she released her second album, The Jazz in You. Her newest album, Lady in the Gown was nominated for the 2018 Golden Ear Award (for NW Recording of the Year), and in 2019 she was named the “NW Vocalist of the Year” for a second time.

ALEX DUGDALE (baritone saxophone, and tap dancer) is a graduate of Roosevelt High School and holds a Bachelors Degree in Jazz from the Eastman School of Music and a Masters Degree in Education from Seattle Pacific University. He first performed with SRJO in 2006 in the Duke Ellington Sacred Music Concert, and looks forward to this concert every year. Beginning in fall 2021, Alex has been serving the SRJO in the role of Educational Outreach Director, coordinating all of SRJO’s activities for young people in the community. He also teaches 4th and 5th grade band and orchestra in Seattle Public Elementary Schools, and works as an instructor in the Dance Department of the UW. He frequently performs in the greater Seattle area with his group FADE, giving regular performances at local clubs.

SRJO Personnel

CLARENCE ACOX (co-artistic director) See above

BILL ANTHONY (trombone) has been a professional trombonist for 40 years. In that time he has performed with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, J. J. Johnson, and many others. In addition to the SRJO, he locally appears with the Full Circle Jazz Ensemble and has a very busy private teaching schedule in Bellevue and Issaquah.

NATHAN BREEDLOVE (trumpet) was born in Tacoma and raised in Memphis. He studied classical piano and began playing trumpet at age twelve. He is a sixteen-year veteran of the NYC music scene, and has been nominated twice for a Grammy award after recording and performing around the world with jazz legends that include the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis, Lester Bowie, Monty Alexander, David Murray, Skatalites, Roy Hargrove, Frank Morgan and many others. He currently resides in the Seattle area and leads “The nu Trio” that features SRJO bassist Phil Sparks and drummer Brian Kirk.

MICHAEL BROCKMAN (conductor, arranger, and saxophonist) See above

SCOTT BROWN (trombone) is a graduate of the University of Washington, and is the nationally recognized director of bands at Seattle’s Roosevelt High School. He is the recipient of many awards for his teaching, including the Washington State Golden Apple Award for excellence in education. Scott has been a faculty member for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Band Director Academy, and serves as an adjudicator for their Essentially Ellington regional competitions.

ALEX DUGDALE (baritone saxophone) See above

RANDY HALBERSTADT (piano) has appeared with national artists such as Terry Gibbs, Buddy DeFranco, Herb Ellis, Grace Kelly, Mimi Fox, Kevin Mahogany, Sheila Jordan, Bobby Shew, Marlena Shaw, Matt Wilson and Jeff Hamilton. He is featured on numerous recordings, including with vocalists Jay Clayton, Meredith d’Ambrosio, Gail Pettis, and Greta Matassa, and the Clarence Acox Sextet. He has recorded five CDs of his own, and is the author an instructional text, Metaphors For The Musician: Perspectives From A Jazz Pianist (Sher Music Publishing). Randy retired in May 2018 after 41 years as a professor at Cornish College of the Arts.

BRIAN KIRK (drums) recently retired as Professor of Jazz, Percussion, and Music Theory at Seattle Central Community College. He earned a Master of Arts Jazz/Contemporary Music Studies from New York University. Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, attended Indiana University and studied under jazz educator David Baker. Kirk spent ten years in New York City performing jazz drums locally and on several European tours with Lou Donaldson, Jack McDuff, and Little Jimmy Scott, in addition to accompanying Dizzy Gillespie, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Locke, the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, and the Count Basie Orchestra (under the direction of Frank Wess and Grover Mitchell). Kirk was also first call on New York’s Broadway show scene, performing in Ain’t Misbehavin’ (featuring the Pointer Sisters), Five Guys Named Moe, Fiddler on the Roof, Les Miserables, Jelly’s’ Last Jam (featuring Gregory Hines), and Bring on the Noise Bring in the Funk (featuring Savion Glover). He is an active performer in Seattle on both drums and vibraphone with various jazz groups, including “The nu Trio.”

Andy Omdahl (trumpet) is very active as a first-call lead and jazz trumpet player throughout the Pacific Northwest. He began playing trumpet in 1968 while in New York, and is a twenty-one year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps music program in which he was a trumpeter in the Marine Band (El Toro in Anaheim). He became a warrant officer of the Marine Band in El Toro and in New Orleans, afterwards commanding the Marines at the AF School of Music. He retired from the Marine Corps in 1996 with the rank of captain. In addition to the SRJO, Andy is a member of “Nearly Dan” a twelve-piece group performing the music of Steely Dan. He also performs in countless shows and concerts throughout the Seattle-Tacoma area.

Travis Ranney (tenor sax) is a Seattle-based saxophonist with a stylistic emphasis on bop and swing jazz. He has been performing and touring since 1990, and playing with many jazz greats as well as with top local bands. His work includes performances with John Pizzarelli, Doc Severinsen, the Ramsay/Kleeb Orchestra with Pete Christlieb, and he toured in the Northwest region with the Duke Ellington Orchestra (under the direction of Paul Ellington). He has also been featured many times in the Port Townsend Jazz Festival Big Band.

JEROME SMITH (trombone) was born in Austin, Texas, and has been a professional musician for almost 20 years. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Trombone Performance from University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Trombone Performance and Pedagogy from Texas Tech University, and an Artist Diploma from Boston University. Playing music has taken him all over the world to places including Los Angeles (for the Grammy Awards show), Orlando, FL (for Disney World show bands), Beijing and Shanghai (on orchestra tours), the United Kingdom and South America (on Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Lines), and teaching at the International School in Moscow, Russia.

Phil Sparks (bass) is among the leading bassists in Seattle, having performed with nearly every top jazz group in the city. He has performed and recorded extensively with many of the Northwest’s top names in jazz, appears on dozens of award winning compact discs, and in 2008 was inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame.

TOBI STONE (tenor sax) grew up in Washington state and earned a B.M. from UW School of Music in 2000 with an emphasis in Jazz Studies. She has studied with many great local musicians and teachers: SRJO’s Michael Brockman. Randy Halberstadt, Jay Thomas and Don Lanphere, plus Darren Motamedy, Jordan Ruwe, Bert Wilson, Bill Smith, Marc Seales, Nancy King, Rob Scheps, Jordan Ruwe, and Paul Harshman. Over the last 25 years, Tobi has performed professionally with several groups including the Tiptons Saxophone Quartet (touring Europe), Reptet Jazz Septet (touring the US), and with SRJO for the first time in 2012. She has appeared with Dave Brubeck, Kristen Chenowith, Branford Marsalis, and Anat Cohen. Tobi teaches classes and private lessons at Jazz Night School. You can visit her website at tobistone.com

Mark Taylor (alto/tenor sax) is a prominent voice in the Seattle jazz community both on the stage, and in our schools, in addition to being a versatile and much sought after sideman in numerous creative groups and projects. He earned honors from Earshot Jazz in 2008 for “NW Instrumentalist of the Year” and in 2009 for “Jazz Recording of the Year” for his second quartet release, Spectre (Origin Records). Mark works extensively as a private teacher, ensemble coach, festival clinician/guest artist, and recently joined the faculty at Cornish College of the Arts. He holds a B.M. from the UW School of Music and M.M. from Manhattan School of Music.

Jay Thomas (trumpet) is among the leading jazz soloists in Seattle, appearing with his own group and as a member of groups far and wide. Jay’s career spans decades beginning with a 1970 recording in NYC with James Moody, and stretching to his recent recordings made with drummer Matt Wilson and DownBeat Poll winner Gary Smulyan. He has recorded with and performed alongside numerous lumi­naries of the jazz world, among them George Cables, Charles McPherson, Machito Latin Jazz Orchestra in NYC, Harold Land, Cedar Walton, Billy Higgins, Herb Ellis, and Slim Gaillard. He recorded with Slim in London on a record featuring Jay McShann and Buddy Tate.

Michael Van Bebber (trumpet) was raised in Seattle, graduated from the University of Washington and then earned two M.A. degrees in classical trumpet and composition at Truman State University. He earned his doctorate in Jazz Studies from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where he was a member of the renowned Eastman Jazz Ensemble. He has shared the stage with many notable jazz artists including Lee Konitz, Walt Weiskopf, John Pizzarelli, the Woody Herman Band, Chuck Mangione, Jeff Beal, Walter White, John Fedchock, Pat LaBarbara, Marvin Stamm, and Bill Dobbins. He also directs two jazz bands at Roosevelt High School and the Jane Addams Middle School Senior Band. In addition to SRJO, he is a member of the Jay Thomas Sextet and the 5th Avenue Theatre pit orchestra.

DAN WICKHAM (alto sax, clarinet) is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Music and the University of Puget Sound. He studied with William O. Smith, Don Lanphere, and Michael Brockman, and is one of the premier clarinet and saxophone performers and teachers in the Seattle area. Over his 20-year career as a musician, Dan has played with such luminaries as The Temptations, Clint Holmes, and Frank Sinatra Jr. Locally, he can be seen performing with the Type A! Funk Band.

Michael Brockman and Clarence Acox, Artistic Directors

Now celebrating its 27th Season, the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra (SRJO) is the Northwest’s premier big band jazz ensemble. The 17-piece big band is made up of many of the most prominent jazz soloists and bandleaders in the greater Seattle area. The SRJO was co-founded and is co-directed by saxophonist/arranger Michael Brockman, long-time faculty member at the University of Washington School of Music, and drummer Clarence Acox, nationally recognized director of bands at Seattle’s Garfield High School. 

The SRJO’s extensive and growing repertoire is drawn from the 100-year history of jazz, from turn-of-the-20th century ragtime to turn-of-the-21st century avant-garde. This includes works by America’s most famous jazz composers, among them Fletcher Henderson, Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck, Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan, Thad Jones, and of course, Count Basie and Duke Ellington. In addition, the SRJO’s repertoire grows each year as the ensemble adds rare and previously unpublished works to its library. The band also fosters the creation of new works for big band by commissioning compositions by modern jazz composers, including jazz legends Christian McBride and Jimmy Heath.

A Great History

The SRJO has brought internationally known guest soloists to join in its concerts, including bassist Christian McBride, trombonists Wycliffe Gordon and Slide Hampton, saxophonists Joshua Redman, Branford Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Benny Golson, James Moody, Frank Foster, Frank Wess and Kenny Hing, trumpeters Clark Terry and Arturo Sandoval, bassist Buddy Catlett, composers Maria Schneider, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Gerald Wilson, Bill Holman and Jovino Santos Neto, drummer Ignacio Berroa, and singers Carmen Bradford, Marlena Shaw, Ernie Andrews, Dee Daniels, Ernestine Anderson, and Dean Bowman. In 2001, Quincy Jones conducted the SRJO at the Seattle Opera House in a performance of works he wrote for the Basie band and his own groups. 

Jazz4Kids and SRJO Jazz Scholars Programs

SRJO undertakes many year-round educational outreach activities, including the Jazz Scholars Program that provides weekly instruction at more than ten local schools with underserved band programs, workshops, and clinics for local school musicians, in-school visits, and lessons by SRJO artists, free instruments for kids, free concert tickets to families with children, and the SRJO’s acclaimed Jazz4Kids concerts that are presented free-of-charge to all school age children and youth, plus any parent, teacher, or youth group leader accompanying them.

Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra/SRJO 

www.srjo.org

P.O. Box 45592, Seattle, WA 98145-0592 

phone: 206-523-6159 

email: srjojazz@gmail.com

Formed in 1984, Earshot Jazz cultivates a vibrant jazz community to ensure the legacy and progression of the art form by engaging audiences, celebrating artists, and supporting arts education.

Earshot is a key link between musicians and audiences of the Pacific Northwest and pursues its mission by presenting creative music, publishing a monthly magazine, producing educational programs, assisting jazz artists, developing audiences, and networking with the national and international jazz community.

Support for Earshot Jazz comes from individual members, private donors, foundations, and the community.

Concerts

Earshot Jazz presents nearly 100 concerts each year, showcasing musicians from around the Northwest, the nation, and the world. Earshot concerts, including the annual Earshot Jazz Festival, are renowned for their artistic integrity and celebration of the progression and creativity in jazz.

For many years, Earshot has provided the setting for original performances by many of the most creative and esteemed musicians residing in this region. Our ongoing concert series have provided respectful performance opportunities to thousands of Northwest artists over the years. The annual Golden Ear Awards formally honor the significant achievements of area artists each year.

Magazine

Celebrating 37-years strong, the monthly Earshot Jazz publication has been described as “consistently world class” by JazzTimes, and “a model for what jazz newsletters can be” by DownBeat magazine. Earshot Jazz surveys the scene with feature articles, reviews, profiles, history, career support, and the area’s most complete jazz calendar. Each month over 6,000 copies are distributed free of charge throughout the area. A complete calendar of jazz events is also updated regularly and available at earshot.org.

Education

Earshot’s commitment to jazz starts with educating the next generation to this music’s history, delights and intricacies. The “Roots of Jazz” interactive concert programs have involved more than 42,000 students in public schools around Washington. Earshot has provided scholarships for students to the prestigious Centrum Summer Jazz Workshop in Port Townsend and hosts many workshops and special meet-the-artist events throughout the year in Seattle.

Community Engagement

Earshot Jazz provides programming assistance to other area jazz programs, commissions groundbreaking works from local and international artists, provides grant support for artists, and participates in national consortia work to advance the field of jazz in America.

Join Earshot Jazz!

Earshot Jazz is Seattle’s non-profit 501(c)(3) jazz-support organization. Our programs and services are distinctive, respected, and important, and are supported by our community.

With more than 2,000 one-of-a-kind concerts and related programs produced over the past 33 years, Earshot Jazz has nurtured the creative spirit in jazz, and enriched the artists and audiences of this region.

Please join us! Consider a tax-deductible donation to the Earshot Jazz organization.

For information, visit earshot.org, e-mail info@earshot.org, call (206) 547-6763, or pick up a copy of Earshot Jazz in the lobby after tonight’s concert.

Thank you!

SRJO Quintet Plays “Seattle Jazz Vespers”
Sun, January 2, 2022, 6 pm Seattle First Baptist Church

Seattle Jazz Vespers presents the SRJO Quintet to continue the New Year celebration in a secular concert of professional jazz music “for those who love jazz, with an inspirational message.” Join us for the evening concert by Milo Petersen, guitar; Phil Sparks, bass; D’vonne Lewis, drums; SRJO Co-Artistic Director Michael Brockman, saxophone; and Jay Thomas, trumpet/saxophone. Info at: www.SeattleJazzVespers.org

SRJO with Tia Fuller
Sat, February 5, 2022, 7:30pm Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall
Sun, February 6, 2022, 2pm Kirkland Performance Center

SRJO invites international saxophone star Tia Fuller to share the stage in a concert of stunning selections from her acclaimed album Diamond Cut such as “Save Your Love For Me,” “Queen Intuition,” and “I Love You,” plus other favorite pieces featuring the soprano or alto sax. Fuller has toured the world in the band of celebrated singer Beyoncé, has performed a concert for President Barack Obama at the White House, and has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Oprah, plus the Grammy Awards. A faculty member at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, Fuller is the featured saxophonist heard in the Pixar film, “Soul” as the character Dorothea Williams. Both in-person and livestream options available

SRJO Directs SRJO
Sat, April 9, 2022, 7:30pm Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall
Sun, April 10, 2022, 2pm Kirkland Performance Center

In addition to being virtuoso instrumentalists, nearly every musician in the SRJO has spent years leading his/her own jazz groups in the Seattle scene. In this concert, we let that leadership shine by asking ten individual SRJO members to select, rehearse, and direct the band in a favorite big band classic. Music of Basie, Thad Jones, and Mingus will certainly be represented, and we’ll introduce lots of hidden gems that are sure to become new audience favorites. Both in-person and livestream options available!

Duke Ellington’s “Reminiscing in Tempo”
Sat, June 18, 2022, 7:30pm Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall
Sun, June 19, 2022, 2pm Kirkland Performance Center

Ellington composed “Reminiscing in Tempo” during the summer of 1935 as a heart-felt response to the death of his beloved mother, Daisy Ellington, in May of that year. The piece was a breakthrough work for Ellington and is often regarded as the most ambitious jazz composition to be created up to that time, requiring all four sides of two 78-rpm records. Our performance of “Reminiscing” is made possible by SRJO co-artistic director Michael Brockman’s careful note-for-note transcription of the unpublished Ellington score from the original 1935 vintage recording. Other jazz classics from Ellington and his peers will be featured, and SRJO brings back its popular tradition of inviting “rising star” seniors from award-winning high school band programs to join us on stage to strut their stuff! Award-winning vocalist (and SRJO audience favorite) Jacqueline Tabor joins us as well, performing some great hits from this golden era of jazz. You don’t want to miss any of this season finale! Both in-person and livestream options available!

Golden Ear Awards Program

Nominations: For over 30 years, Earshot Jazz has organized an awards process to celebrate the accomplishments of Seattle jazz artists over the previous year. This year, we are asking you to help nominate artists to be included on the ballot. Your nominations (due by January 16) will be tabulated and condensed onto a ballot to be published in the February issue of Earshot Jazz and available at earshot.org. The awards ceremony will be held March . Stay tuned for details, and thanks for your participation! Nominations Form

Winter and Spring Concerts

We’ve got some incredible concerts line up for you in the winter and spring of 2022!

Feb 2: Wolfgang Muthspiel Trio w/ Brian Blade and Scott Colley at Town Hall Forum

Feb 22: Harriet Tubman, the band w/ Melvin Gibbs (bass), JT Lewis (drums), and Brandon Ross (guitar) at Langston Performing Arts Institute

Feb 25: Lakecia Benjamin Quartet at Langston Performing Arts Institute

Feb 26: James Brandon Lewis and Chad Taylor at Langston Performing Arts Institute

Mar 3: Gordon Grdina, solo & Tim Berne and Greg Belisle-Chi at Royal Room

Mar 14: Golden Ear Awards Party at Royal Room

Mar 26: EEE “Eubanks Evans Experience” w/ Kevin Eubanks (guitar) and Orrin Evans (piano) at Town Hall Forum

Apr date TBA: Gerald Clayton Trio at Town Hall Forum

Earshot Jazz Festival
October 14-November 6, 2022

Celebrating its 34th year, the Earshot Jazz Festival presents the over 30 concerts and events – from high profile concerts to cutting-edge creations that move the art form ever forward. It brings jazz greats from around the world into creative collaboration with area audiences and artists. Earshot celebrates Seattle’s place in the world of jazz with mainstage concerts by our award-winning student ensembles and a strong representation by our renowned resident artists.

For tickets & info visit earshot.org.