Letter from the Director

(Give) BIG News!

The Earshot Jazz organization has alternately been described as both a Seattle cultural institution and a spunky little non-profit. They’re both accurate, and we’re happy to be here! As Seattle’s non-profit jazz organization, we’re also proud to be an integral part of the overall landscape of Seattle’s hard-working non-profit organizations. The vibrant cultural fabric of this crazy wonderful city is defined, in large part, by the cultural institutions and spunky non-profits at work here.

In recent years, the GiveBIG initiative of The Seattle Foundation has been instrumental in raising public awareness of the Seattle non-profit sector. GiveBIG has provided the excitement, and the path, for individuals who may not have considered themselves to be philanthropists to make their own contributions, of any size, to their favorite non-profit organizations. The original premise of GiveBIG was that The Seattle Foundation would match any level of donation to some extent, but the program became popular beyond expectations, and the matching pools were quickly exhausted.

But this year, Earshot Jazz has a matching pool of its own! We mentioned last month that Earshot Jazz was selected for a Leadership Award by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Part of that award offers additional matching funding, that can only be granted to match other gifts to our organization—in this case, up to $20,000! In this last year of the GiveBIG day, it is doubly important that you donate to Earshot Jazz because we can double your donation, dollar for dollar. Please donate now.

We’re coming out of April’s Jazz Appreciation Month with a full appreciation of Seattle’s varied and vibrant jazz community. We had an incredible Golden Ear Awards, some fantastic concerts, and a series of informative and stimulating community focus group sessions. Thanks to Chris Icasiano for organizing that initiative, to Ruby Smith Love for co-facilitating, and to each of the 27 participants for sharing their passion about Seattle’s multi-faceted jazz scene. The sessions were potent. We look forward to more.

And speaking of giving big and Seattle’s vibrant cultural community, we send our hearty congratulations to our friends at KEXP on the heels of their stunning announcement about a bequest of close to 10 million dollars, which constitutes the largest private gift to a single radio station…ever. We’d also like to extend our thanks and congratulations to Mr. Jim Kelly, who is retiring as the leading light of 4Culture. The entirety of King County has benefitted from his generosity, hard work, and leadership. Thank you, Jim!

Finally, I know I promised more news on three prestigious national awards that Earshot Jazz has recently received. They include renewed festival support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Leadership Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and program support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. We’ll unpack all of that news next month.

Meanwhile, get on board! GiveBIG to your favorite non-profit, and double your donations to Earshot Jazz with our new matching funds!!

–John Gilbreath, Executive Director