April Magazine
April 2020
-In Memoriam-
-Notes-
Call For Artists Jazz: The Second Century
– Feature –
Community Responses to COVID-19
The Health of the Musical Ecosystem
COVID-19 Impact on Seattle Jazz Community
– Preview –
Earshot Jazz Live at The Forum at Town Hall Seattle
Thomas Marriott: Trumpet Ship Album Release
-For The Record-
Masthead
April 2020
Volume 36, No. 04
Executive Director
John Gilbreath
Managing Director
Karen Caropepe
Programs Manager
Tara Peters
Development Manager
Errin Patton
Marketing & Development Asssociate
Lucienne Aggarwal
Editors
Lucienne Aggarwal & Tara Peters
Contributing Writers
Kelly Clingan
Ian Gwin
Bryan Lineberry
Gus Marshall
Peter Monaghan
Kate Olson
Nate Omdal
Calendar Editors
Carol Levin
Jane Emerson
Tara Peters
Illustrations
Reed Olsen
Layout
Tara Peters
Karen Caropepe
Distribution
Karen Caropepe
Dan Dubie
Earshot Jazz volunteers
Send Calendar Information to:
Add a gig to the calendar online or send us an email.
Board of Directors
Danielle Leigh (President)
Chris Icasiano (Vice President)
Chris Nutter (Secretary)
Sheila Hughes (Treasurer)
Augusto Cardoso
John W. Comerford
Maurice James
Kenneth W. Masters
Gail Pettis
Ruby Smith Love
Diane Wah
Emeritus Board Members
Clarence Acox
Sue Coliton
Taina Honkalehto
Hideo Makihara
Kenneth W. Masters
Peter Monaghan
Lola Pedrini
Paul Toliver
Cuong Vu
Founded in 1984 by Paul de Barros, Gary Bannister, and Allen Youngblood.
Earshot Jazz is published monthly by Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle.
Subscription (with membership): $35
3417 Fremont Ave N, #221
Seattle, WA 98103
phone / (206) 547-6763
Earshot Jazz ISSN 1077-0984
Printed by Yakima Herald-Republic
© 2020 Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle
Letter From The Director
Every Day A New Normal
If there is any positive outcome for today’s unexpected and game-changing environment, it may be the demonstration that we are all connected, even, or especially, outside of the economic construct and the internet; and that each individual is equally important, and equally vulnerable. We may also need the reminder that we are not really in charge of this giant machine, that, for the most part, has kept the world on its wobbly path year after year. This thing seems to be going off the rails in unimaginable ways. It is difficult to be optimistic.
In this issue you’ll find an artist-centric focus on the well-being of individual musicians, who have seen an already less-than-robust gig environment all but evaporate. With the prognosis for the Covid-19 epidemic seeming more bleak and long lasting with each new announcement, the outlook for artists who rely on a gig economy and healthy jazz-education programs is not good. But artists can bring a lot of creativity to bear on the problem.
We, at Earshot Jazz, have resolved to keep supporting initiatives to support and sustain Seattle artists. On the plus side, we’re beginning a new series of Saturday evening jazz concerts this month, in collaboration with Town Hall Seattle. Offering a high-quality audio and video stream originating from the stage in The Forum, downstairs at Town Hall, the series features Seattle artists in an equally high-quality concert setting, with a great piano and no physical audience. All measures will be taken to assure that the participating artists and production personnel are healthy, and remain so, with a stage big enough to guarantee 6’ in distancing between participants. You’ll find a tentative schedule in this issue, with all events occurring within the guidelines that public health restrictions currently allow.
You can also look to the April 4 concert with Marina Albero as a forum to announce the winners of this year’s Golden Ear and Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame Awards, which had to be cancelled last month. We look forward to getting that eagerly anticipated news out into the world, though the individual winners will be unable to be on site to deliver their acceptance speeches. We hope you’ll join us online to celebrate the accomplishment within our widely respected jazz community. And, bearing this newly revealed interconnectivity in mind, we once again have the opportunity to make decisions based on our horizontal humanity. As one recent piece by Agnes Callard concluded: At times like this, when a window opens, and all of humanity sees the End rushing at us from the future, it behooves the humanists (the artists) to be the ones who refuse to shut our eyes. We’re going to have to take better care of each other.
Be well, be careful, and keep us posted.
—John Gilbreath, Executive Director