Week 1, Event Previews

Jenny Scheinman photo courtesy of the artist

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 7:30PM 

THE ROYAL ROOM 

What’s Going On Festival: Conduction, Improvisation, and the Culture of Structure 

Seattle Modern Orchestra

Presented by the South Hudson Music Project. Co-produced with Earshot Jazz, Nonsequitur, and Seattle Modern Orchestra. Major funding from the Live Music Society.
$20-25. Tickets

BY M.V. SMITH

The 2024 Earshot Jazz Festival kicks off with the first installment of What’s Going On, a series of seven concerts at Columbia City’s Royal Room paying homage to the musical concepts and creative legacy of African American composers and bandleaders Julius Hemphill, Sun Ra, and Lawrence “Butch” Morris. For tonight’s performance, the Seattle Modern Orchestra (SMO) partners with veteran Seattle composer Wayne Horvitz and multimedia artist CHARI to present a blend of repertory pieces and world premieres.

Best known for his bluesy, earthy work with the World Saxophone Quartet, Julius Hemphill also nurtured an interest in more overtly classical, through-composed works; tonight the SMO performs his 1992 piece “One Atmosphere,” the original recording of which features heavyweight modern classical ensemble the Pacifica Quartet performing successions of ostinato phrases that are repeated and expanded upon by pianist Ursula Oppens, Hemphill’s life partner.

Before moving to Seattle in the late ’80s, Horvitz was a frequent collaborator of Butch Morris, an erstwhile cornetist who spent decades creating and refining Conduction, a system through which he composed on the fly, guiding the improvisations of big bands with a series of pre-determined hand gestures. Since Morris’s 2013 death, Horvitz has developed his own variation on Morris’s concepts as leader of the Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble. Tonight, he premieres “Worst Planet Yet,” a conduction inspired by the music of pioneering Afrofuturist bandleader Sun Ra, in addition to a performance of “188 Sullivan: Varèse Meets Bird,” inspired by the true story of bebop pioneer Charlie Parker turning up at the legendary modernist composer’s Greenwich Village doorstep to ask for music lessons.

Last but not least, the SMO performs the world premiere of “Breaking Time,” the latest piece by Emmy-nominated interdisciplinary artist and composer CHARI, whose practice spans mixed media art, improvised soundscapes, and theatrically-minded provocations like “Scream Church,” in which CHARI guides participants through a series of “screaming lessons,” refining their guttural cries into a harsh sonic tapestry.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 7:30PM 

TOWN HALL SEATTLE, Forum 

Skerik & Ahamefule J. Oluo Ensemble

Sponsored by Seed IP. Welcomed by KBCS.
$12-35. Tickets

BY PAUL RAUCH

Skerik can be a chameleon of sorts, able to adapt his seismic tenor saxophone style into a variety of musical environments. His artistic forays into vast territories of sound in and around jazz are stuff of legend in Seattle, and the most obvious of reasons why he is this year’s Festival Resident Artist. Truth be told, however, the tenorist doesn’t simply adapt and submit his contribution to a given situation. He grabs it by the hand and leads it in a way that can only be described as musical adventurism. For this particular performance, he is met midstream by a collection of like-minded adventurers, or as he puts it, “Skerik steals Aham’s amazing band for one night only. Featuring original compositions and vocalist Phinehas Nyang’Oro.”

Nyang’Oro is Seattle’s risk taking king of scat while trumpeter Ahamefule J. Oluo is a noted writer, comedian, actor, composer and trumpet player outside of the bebop tradition. All three of these artists have similar traits in that their music reflects and is a part of a larger artistic persona. Nyang’Oro is very much steeped deeply in the jazz vocal tradition, and a master improviser, using voice as his musical instrument of choice.

All of that vital artistic energy will be funneled into Skerik’s original compositions for this performance in the lovely warmth and intimacy that the Town Hall Forum provides.

The rhythm section is solid, with fourth-generation Seattle musician D’Vonne Lewis on drums, a longtime associate of the rebel tenorist. Bassist Marina Christopher is an aggressive player with a harsh resonance. She swings hard and can settle at moments notice into a repose of elegance and grace with the chops to back it up. Trombonist Jason Cressey adds another solo voice and ensemble partner for the front line, adding a base that is impacted by funk, jazz and psychedelia.

It is always tempting to claim to know what is to take place at a Skerik show. Then the show happens and we are left with our own narrow vision to be impacted by something alarmingly new. This amounts to a fabulous precedent for creative playing and listening.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 8PM 

THE ROYAL ROOM 

Grace Love

Sponsored by BECU. Welcomed by KNKX. Presented in partnership with Town Hall Seattle.
$12-30. Tickets

BY DAVID BENEDICT

The Pacific Northwest’s own Grace Love brings her powerful stage presence and rich, soulful voice to Columbia City to showcase her brand of classic soul blended with the flavors of modern funk and R&B.

Love has established herself as a fixture in the Seattle music scene, captivating listeners with her magnetic energy and authentic storytelling. Her live performances offer more than just music—they’re an emotional journey. Through music, she creates a heartfelt connection bearing themes of love, resilience, and community, inviting her listeners to join the authentic and welcoming atmosphere of her performances.

Love grew up in Tacoma, but her PNW artistry is built on a foundation of Memphis soul. Over the past decade, Love has made a name for herself in the U.S. and internationally. She’s gained the support and admiration of the local music institution KEXP and nationally through NPR, and her work has not only taken her across the globe but also into unique collaborations, including a memorable performance with the Seattle Symphony for Quincy Jones and then was selected by Jones himself for a festival curated performance.

A true multi-faceted artist, Love is not just a soul singer but also a chef and activist. Her performances reflect her varied life experiences, each note infused with genuine passion and authenticity. Whether she’s rallying for community causes or dishing up some soul, Love’s passion is palpable in everything she does. For this performance, Love is joined by Park Evans (guitar), Jason Parker (trumpet), Brian Bermudez (saxophone), Eileen Neff (vocals), Holly Ricciardi (vocals), Kathryn Farrell (vocals), Nate Omdal (bass) and Adrian Van Batenburg (drums).

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 3PM 

ARTS AT KING STREET STATION

Event Launch for Jackson Street Jazz Trail

Presented by Jackson Street Jazz Trail Committee. Free.
More Information

BY ARMANDO FLEURY

The Jackson Street Jazz Trail is a self-guided walking tour of Seattle’s historic jazz district, where musicians such as Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Buddy Catlett and Ernestine Anderson got their start in clubs such as the Black and Tan, Basin Street, the New Chinatown and Washington Hall. The Trail website, easily accessed by cell phone using QR codes or at JacksonStreetJazzTrail.org, explains with text and archival photos (with sound to come) the history and some of the personalities on the old jazz scene. The Trail starts at King Street Station and winds back and forth across Jackson Street, stopping at 28 locations in the Chinatown-International District and beyond. Some of the stops include the murals in the stairwell that led to the Club Royale (aka the “Bucket of Blood”); the “rice bowl” perched at the corner of Sixth Avenue South and South Main Street, which marked the New Chinatown; the venerable Black and Tan, at the district’s hub of 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street; and Washington Hall, where historic photographs by Al Smith are on display.

The Trail has two physical markers planned so far, with more to come. A signal box wrap honoring the “Women of Jackson Street Jazz” is scheduled to go up later this fall at the northwest corner of South Jackson Street and Seventh Avenue South, pending approval by the historic district. A two-sided sign announcing the Trail, at the corner of South Jackson Street and 12th Avenue South is up now. The sign was originally erected by the city of Seattle in 2005 to memorialize the jazz district, but it was vandalized and destroyed by weather. In response, the Jackson Street Jazz Trail formed to restore or replace the sign, but ultimately decided to create a jazz trail through the entire district.

The event at King Street Station begins at 3pm with music by Darelle Holden, followed by speeches, a visual presentation of the Trail website, and more music. Selected panels from the exhibit, “Jackson Street After Hours” will be on display. The first 15 people to sign up will be taken on a walking tour of the district by jazz historian Paul de Barros.

The Jackson Street Jazz Trail Committee is comprised of stakeholders in the neighborhoods it traverses, including representatives from Little Saigon, the Wing Luke Museum, Black & Tan Hall, the Black Heritage Society of Washington, and the Jackson Street Jazz Program. The members of the committee are Paul de Barros, John Gilbreath, James Gore, Scott Plusquellec, Paul Rucker, Tuyen Than, Chris Liu, Chris Hopper, Stephanie Johnson-Toliver, Ben Hunter, Aolani Chan, Jessica Toon, Jacob McMurray, and Tom Im.

The Jackson Street Jazz Trail is funded by 4Culture and has benefited from the assistance of the Black Heritage Society of Washington, the Museum of History and Industry, Earshot Jazz, CID Block Party, and the Friends of I-5 CID.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 7:30PM 

TOWN HALL SEATTLE, GREAT HALL

Garfield High School Jazz Band Plays Sun Ra and Lincoln High School Jazz Band Plays Wayne Shorter and Carla Bley

Sponsored by BECU. Presented in partnership with Town Hall Seattle.
$13-33. Tickets

BY NADYA BARGHOUTY

Garfield and Lincoln High School’s jazz programs are a living testament to Seattle’s long history with the genre. The Garfield Jazz program has taught thousands of students how to play their instruments and perfect their craft for over forty years. Garfield Jazz is critically acclaimed around the state and currently has over 80 students involved in the program. The Lincoln High School  Jazz Band continues to impress with their Jazz I ensemble – placing top two at  five of the jazz festivals they participated in last year. They also took the sweepstakes at last year’s Bellevue High School Jazz Festival.

Under the direction of Jared Sessink, Garfield High School will be performing the music from one of the genre’s most eccentric and celebrated musicians: Sun Ra. Sun Ra engaged in the avant-garde, frequently drawing inspiration between his identity, space, and ancient Egypt. With diverse instrumentation and stunning supporting visuals, his music broke barriers and heavily contributed to a new cultural identity. By playing pieces from Sun Ra, students will investigate themes of Afrofuturism and what it means to bend genre.

Lincoln High School will be playing the music of Wayne Shorter and Carla Bley under the direction of Zachariah MacIntyre and assisted by saxophonist Neil Welch. In the ‘60s, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and pianist Carla Bley were pioneers of the genre – walking the line between creation and improvisation, experimental composers of jazz fusion and integral to the free jazz movement. Curious enough to try new things and bold enough to conquer barriers, both Shorter and Bley took jazz and ran with it. By playing works from groundbreaking artists, students deepen their knowledge of the history that inspires this musical repertoire. 

High school is the gateway to becoming a musician and engaging the music community for many young people. A high-quality music program is essential for those who may not have access to the equipment, knowledge, or time it takes outside of school to learn an instrument or specific genre. Programs like the ones at Garfield and Lincoln are essential to keeping the Seattle jazz community flourishing. Festival attendees can look forward to hearing the works of jazz musicians who pioneered the genre played by Seattle’s next generation of jazz musicians.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 8PM 

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 7:30PM 

THE ROYAL ROOM 

Jenny Scheinman: All Species Parade

Welcomed by KBCS. Supported in part by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) and the National Endowment for the Arts.
$12-30. Tickets

BY M.V. SMITH

The violinist Jenny Scheinman has forged a career at the intersection of jazz and American roots music, appearing on the original cast album for Anaïs Mitchell’s Americana-tinged hit musical Hadestown and backing country-influenced singer-songwriters like Rodney Crowell, Lucinda Williams, and The Flatlanders’ Jimmie Dale Gilmore, in addition to lengthy stints with the similarly-minded guitarist Bill Frisell and as a member of drummer Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom band. 

As co-leader of Parlour Game alongside Miller, and on nine albums as a leader under her own name, Scheinman has proved a versatile composer and nimble musician, languidly weaving around Miller’s rock-solid groove on Parlour Game’s “Fake Weather,” tipping a hat to klezmer music on Shalagaster’s jittery “Wiseacre,” or beautifully recalling the Christian hymn “Abide With Me” on 12 Songs’ gentle “Sleeping in the Aquifer.” Scheinman has also molded her sensibility to more straightforward evocations of roots music — commissioned to compose a set of spare fiddle tunes to accompany director Finn Taylor’s film Kannapolis: A Moving Portrait, which compiles archival footage of daily life in the North Carolina Piedmont mill town during the Great Depression.

Her latest project All Species Parade takes a more conceptual tack, enlisting Frisell, Parlour Game bandmates Tony Scherr on bass and Carmen Staaf on piano, drummer Kenny Wollesen, and guitarists Nels Cline and Julian Lage for a double album that pays homage to the history and culture of her native Humboldt County, on Northern California’s isolated Lost Coast. Scheinman is joined for her Earshot performance by Staaf, guitarist Adam Ratner, drummer Mark Ferber, and a guest bassist.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2:30PM 

CORNISH RAISBECK AUDITORIUM

Andy Clausen

Sponsored by BECU.
$12-30. Tickets

BY SUSAN YANAGIHARA 

Seattle-raised, now New York-based Andy Clausen may be known as a founding member of the brass quartet, The Westerlies. Clausen lists himself as a trombonist, composer, and arranger. He is also a producer, educator, and is involved with multiple projects, including film and media scoring. Having performed in the U.K. as a solo act in September, Clausen will return to the States and the Earshot Jazz Festival in October in support of his latest release, Few III Words: Solo Trombone at The TANK, Vol. 1. What might audience members expect for this particular solo performance?

“My hope in these solo performances is to transport audiences to a place of deep resonance, peace, and empathy, with familiarity, surprise, and delight along the way. One could say this Earshot performance is THE Seattle album release for my recent solo album. I’ll be sharing selections from the album, as well as some newer pieces coming soon on Vol. 2.”

The album itself has a unique birth. Recorded at the TANK Center for the Sonic Arts in Rangely, Colorado, this seven-story converted railroad water silo, with a 30-second reverberation, has served as a sonic laboratory for exploratory artists. The space, an instrument in its own right. “A duet partner in music. Notes hang in the air like frozen in time,” says Clausen. The Cornish Raisbeck Auditorium houses an impressive Meyer Sound Constellation System (capable of mimicking the acoustic properties of any space), which Clausen hopes will be able to transport the audience to the resonant space of the TANK. Clausen has dedicated works on this album that include Jon Hassell, Bill Frisell, Ron Miles, and Tom Petty.

As a fellow Roosevelt High School alum, Clausen reflected generously about his time there and being under the direction of now recently retired Scott Brown. “I feel SO incredibly lucky to have come up in the ecosystem of Seattle Public Schools music programs. As a touring professional now, often visiting schools all across the country, I have come to deeply appreciate how fortunate we were to have the infrastructure, support, and educators that we did. It is very, very rare in the country…. He [Brown] believed EVERY student was capable of greatness, and with the right combination of hard work and spirit, we could achieve anything together. His belief in the students instilled so many important lessons about music and life.”

Clausen is eager for this homecoming and pleased to be part of this year’s festival.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 8PM 

CORNISH RAISBECK AUDITORIUM

Samantha Boshnack’s Uncomfortable Subjects

Sponsored by BECU. Co-presented with Nonsequitur and Cornish College of the Arts Music Department. Commissioning funds for Uncomfortable Subjects come from Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, 4Culture and City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
$12-33. Tickets

BY ALEXA PETERS

Sometimes, the creative intuition leads us exactly where we need to go, often long before we understand why we need to go there. That’s one way to look at what’s happened to award-winning trumpeter/composer/bandleader Samantha Boshnack since she conceived her ambitious song-cycle for 13-piece ensemble, entitled “Uncomfortable Subjects.”

The idea for the composition came in February 2020, after Boshnack collaborated with poets at a residency in Florida. She came home inspired and set out to dig into difficult topics with more honesty, using this same interdisciplinary approach.

With this glimmer of a direction, Boshnack began looking into poets at Elliott Bay Book and discovered the work of Natasha Marin (Black Imagination and the Reparations Project) and the Pushcart Prize-winning poet Jane Wong (How to Not Be Afraid of Everything; Overpour). 

Just when these poets had agreed to work with Boshnack, the pandemic hit, and as 2020 roiled on, the once-vague theme of challenging topics became explicit and uncannily apropos. For a little over a year, the trio took to Zoom to regularly dialogue about topics like the isolation [of the pandemic], race, mental illness, and climate change. And, without seeking to “make big statements about the world,” they found commonality, healing, and support during that intense time. 

Boshnack then crafted her innovative seven-piece song cycle, which incorporates Marin and Wong’s original poetry, as well as voice, strings, woodwinds, guitar, bass, and percussion, in response to the catharsis, curiosities, and poems their discussions unearthed.

Boshnack was all set to premiere the composition in March 2022 when the unexpected struck again: She herniated a disc in her neck, endured related physical and mental health challenges, and was unable to play. For two years, Boshnack sat on the work until she felt well enough to approach it again.

On October 20, Boshnack’s Earshot performance will mark the premiere of “Uncomfortable Subjects,” and the first time she’s performed her own compositions live in over four years. That whole time, Boshnack “held onto” this music, both literally and figuratively, and looks back on the process of creating it as an “awakening.”

“Now is the right time [to share it],” she said.