Celebrating Seattle Black Jazz History
Seattle has been blessed with a rich jazz history. Join us this Black History Month as we celebrate and remember a few of the Seattle resident artists who had an enduring impact on the music and this community
Keeping the Beat: Seattle JazzED’s Quest to Foster Community Through Jazz
“All of us on this team care so much about students having this experience,” says Program and Partnerships Director Michael Fowlkes, speaking to Earshot alongside Equipment Manager Walter Cano and new Executive Director Liz Riggs Meder. “We’re trying to make sure that anyone who wants to be able to play jazz has the space to be able to do it.”
2024 Golden Ear Awards Ballot
Each year, the Golden Ear Awards recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of the previous year in Seattle jazz. In the process, Seattle jazz fans and performers can take stock of and show gratitude for the region’s vibrant jazz ecology.
The Journey Continues
As we forge forward into a new era of Earshot, you can rest assured we will continue our legacy of artful performance curation, innovative and evolved programming, promoting, and supporting each other in community — all while we accelerate our outreach to new audiences.
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.
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.
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.
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.
