Letter From The Director

GiveBIG, Please!

As this slow-rolling spring gives way to the season of non-profit and public radio fundraising, we ask that you think of Earshot Jazz as you make your gifts. The statewide GiveBIG campaign helps to raise awareness of your hardworking non-profit arts organizations, and their reliance on individual giving to maintain and improve the services they offer all year long. Especially with the world in turmoil as it is, the importance of the arts in everyday life, and our individual ability to make a difference to them, is of huge consequence.

The Earshot Jazz organization understands the need to earn its valued position in Seattle’s vibrant cultural community every year, as we have for 37 years. Celebrating jazz as a cultural treasure of Black America, Earshot builds on the legacy of jazz that grew from the fertile Jackson Street scene into one of the most remarkable jazz ecosystems in the country. And we can’t do it without your support.

This month’s issue will introduce you to some new artists, reaffirm the artistry of some familiar names, and honor the legacy of those on whose shoulders we stand. And, in addition to previews of the scintillating Earshot concerts coming up, we provide a go-to calendar of great live jazz events happening around the city all through the month.

Close to two million copies of the Earshot Jazz magazine have been distributed free of charge around the Greater Seattle area since 1984; advancing the passion, dedication, and great work of Seattle artists and organizations in service to jazz. That is community engagement in the broadest sense and can only happen with your direct support.

Please take a moment, whether through GiveBIG or our subsequent appeals, to make a donation to Earshot Jazz, no matter what the level. We appreciate the fact that there are other cultural organizations that are important to you, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact, we’ll join you in giving big. Let’s be part of the tide that helps all boats to rise for this season.

We are so very grateful for your continued support. Thank you!!

–JOHN GILBREATH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR