In this Issue
Table of Contents
Jazz the 2nd century Call For Artists
– Profile –
The 2018 Golden Ear Awards & Seattle Jazz Hallof Fame Awards
-Previews-
8th Annual North Bend Jazz Walk
María Grand: Persephone HerStory
Jack DeJohnette, Joe Lovano, Esperanza Spalding, Leo Genovese: The Spring Quartet
West Coast Premiere of Nina Simone: Four Women
-For the Record-
– On the Radio-
Masthead
April 2019
Volume 35, No. 04
Executive Director
John Gilbreath
Managing Director
Karen Caropepe
Programs Manager
Tara Peters
Marketing & Development Associate
Lucienne Aggarwal
Editors
Lucienne Aggarwal
Tara Peters
Contributing Writers
Halynn Blanchard
Marianne Gonterman
Ian Gwin
Andrew Luthringer
Peter Monaghan
Paul Rauch
Carlos Snaider
Calendar Editors
Casey Adams
Jane Emerson
Tara Peters
Photography
Daniel Sheehan
Layout
Tara Peters
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)
John W. Comerford (Vice President)
Jon Perrino (Secretary)
Sheila Hughes
Chris Icasiano
Maurice James
Chris Nutter
Gail Pettis
Ruby Smith Love
Diane Wah
Emeritus Board Members
Clarence Acox
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
3429 Fremont Place #309
Seattle, WA 98103
phone / (206) 547-6763
Earshot Jazz ISSN 1077-0984
Printed by Pacific Publishing Company
© 2019 Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle
Letter from the Director
A Celebration of Acknowledgements
As you can see by Daniel Sheehan’s photo on this month’s cover, the recent Golden Ear awards party at the Royal Room was a huge success. Riffing on the title from Evan Flory-Barnes’ earlier creative opus, Acknowledgement of a Celebration, this annual awards program is a celebration of acknowledgements, honoring the brilliant work done by Seattle’s established and emerging artists over the previous year. And the field was rich.
This year’s recipients were selected from a record number of votes, and once again exemplify the breadth and beauty of Seattle’s world-class jazz scene.
In fact, Seattle’s jazz scene itself is a shining example of the excellence and multiplicity of approaches that are making this such an exciting time for jazz around the world. The Earshot Jazz organization has always embraced an expansive view of the art form. Earshot’s 33-year presenting history is full of names of the adventurous seekers who have helped to pave the way for the richness of today’s scene, much as the artists we’ll present in the coming months are blazing a trail to tomorrow.
Our April concerts provide a fascinating ride down the freeway of jazz in the present tense. From the New Orleans pianist Sullivan Fortner’s fresh refinements of the traditional jazz piano trio, to drummer Makaya McCraven’s advancements of Chicago’s commitment to creative musicians, and on to the emerging vision and artistry of saxophonist María Grand.
We are also pleased to offer the long-overdue Seattle appearance of guitarist Miles Okazaki, with his incendiary Trickster quartet. A Whidbey Island native, Miles has been enriching the New York scene for a number of years, and touring the world as part of Steve Coleman’s Five Elements group. He will appear here with everyone’s favorite pianist Matt Mitchell, and the searing funk of Coleman’s long-time rhythm team of Anthony Tidd and Sean Rickmann.
As we charge into this spring however, we are planning for the summer and fall. We encourage Seattle artists to prepare a concept and submit an entry for the annual juried series, Jazz: The 2nd Century, which we’ll present on consecutive Thursdays in July, at the Chapel Performance Space. And we encourage all of you to dive into this issue, join us at these fascinating concert opportunities, and clear the entire month of October for another supersonic jazz festival.
Seattle is a jazz town. Let’s all get out to hear some live jazz this month!!
See you out there.
–John Gilbreath