In this Issue
Leaning into Community: Three Local Music Orgs Ramp Up in 2025
“The community is strong,” said local saxophonist Alex Dugdale. “When the government is like, ‘Yeah, we don’t care about your music,’ there are certain people who will step in and say, how much do you need to get your music done?”
Compose Yourself: The Joy of Writing Original Jazz
So yes, there are plenty of jazz songs to play, and the standards certainly aren’t going anywhere. But to write your own music, to dare to put your spirit on the staff, is a virtue in itself.
Philip Woo
If you’re a diehard mainstream fan, keyboard player Philip Woo is probably the most successful Seattle jazz musician you’ve never heard of. Woo came up with Kenny G in the prize-winning Franklin High School Jazz Lab Band in the early ‘70s and was playing in New York at 19 with vibist and pianist Roy Ayers, and has pursued an illustrious career as a first-call sideman in jazz-funk, soul, fusion, pop, and bands.
EarthtoneSkytone, Pottery of Valleys and Arches
While unabashed in their textural play, ETST makes a grounding gesture by rooting their name in the language of landscape and the album title in the language of crafts. The discipline and experience of each member can be heard in the careful control of mixed-meters and the mutual trust amongst one another that allows each to add their colors to the mix.
Rich Pellegrin, Topography
Topography is a masterful celebration of connection—between musicians, environment, and audience. Pellegrin’s improvisational compositions and talent complement Welch’s earthy, textural approach, resulting in a soundscape that mirrors the spirit of the PNW and offers listeners a meditative escape within the rhythms and beauty of the natural world.
