Bad Plus photo by Josh Goleman

The 29th Annual Earshot Jazz Festival

October 8–November 12
Various venues, Seattle

Save the date(s)! The 2017 Earshot Jazz Festival is just around the corner.

Seattle’s eagerly anticipated Earshot Jazz Festival swings into its 29th year this fall with more than 50 events in venues all around the city. Known for adventurous programing that brings jazz greats from around the globe into creative contact with Seattle artists and audiences, the Earshot Jazz Festival engages all manner of jazz listeners and shines an international light on the jazz culture of this vibrant city. Earshot works to cultivate and grow the jazz ecology in its home community, creating one of the most inclusive and boundary-defying music festivals in America.

This year’s marquee of modern masters and important emerging artists includes the super-group Hudson, featuring Jack DeJohnetteJohn ScofieldLarry Grenadier, and John Medeski, and the multimedia project “In My Mind” with pianist Jason Moran’s Bandwagon + Horns, both presented in collaboration with Seattle Theatre Group, which also brings the dynamic soul-jazz vocalist Gregory Porter to the lineup.

Earshot Jazz presents a sublime solo concert by pianist Brad Mehldau; an “end of an era” concert by The Bad Plus; the Quarteto AfroCubano of Omar Sosa; exciting new groups including Mostly Other People Do The Killing and Marquis Hill’s Blacktet; special projects from drummers Matt Wilson and Mark Guiliana; creative pioneers like Joe McPhee, Jameel Moondoc, and Burnt Sugar Arkestra; and concerts by artists from Africa, Japan, Spain, Poland, and Romania. Helping us celebrate the 100th Birthday of Thelonious Monk are pianist Danilo Pérez’s Panamonk, “downtown” guitarist Elliott Sharp, and Monk’s own son, drummer T. S. Monk, with Monk on Monk.

Earshot’s commitment to Seattle’s resident artists is abundantly clear throughout. The festival kicks off with a homegrown celebration at KEXP’s new Gathering Space, and moves to Jazz Alley for a community tribute to the beloved pianist Overton Berry. This year’s Resident Artist is pianist Dawn Clement, appearing in a variety of settings. Other projects include Ivan Arteaga’s CMD, uniting Computers, Music, and Dance; Naomi Moon SiegelKate Olson; SWOJO; Tarik Abouzied; and new trio work by Robin Holcomb, among many others. Seattle celebrates Monk 10/10, honoring Thelonious Monk’s 100th birthday with 10 piano solos and an all-star improvising collective taking Monk’s legacy out of the box and into the future.
The festival also includes educational programs, panel discussions, jazz films, programs curated by Seattle artists, and special community engagement events.

The complete schedule for the Earshot Jazz Festival will be available in mid-August. Tickets will go on sale soon. Look for special advance access for Earshot Jazz members. Additional festival information will be forthcoming on earshot.org or 206-547-6763.

Support for the 29th Annual Earshot Jazz Festival is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, City of Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, 4Culture of King County, The Raynier Institute and Foundation, AHS Foundation, The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Boeing Company, and many community partners.