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Thursday, April 23, 8pm
The Royal Room
5000 Rainier Ave S

Thomas Marriott photo courtesy of the artist.

To celebrate the March 20th release of his new album Trumpet Ship (Origin), Seattle trumpeter Thomas Marriott will join session regulars Tim Kennedy (piano), Jeff Johnson (bass), Stefen Schatz (drums), and Rick Mandyck (sax) at the Royal Room for a noteworthy launch.

The album, a set of originals and rare favorites, features pianist Orrin Evans (now one third of the Bad Plus) along with his trio: bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Mark Whitfield Jr.

In contrast to his last album, 2017’s Romance Language (Origin)—a studio intensive endeavor with overdubbed parts and large orchestration—Trumpet Ship came about through the quartet’s  long working relationship. Having met Evans ten years ago at a small festival in Idaho, Marriott has played regularly with the pianist in his group Captain Black and throughout New York. Evans, having recorded with Marriott on the latter’s 2014 Origin release, Urban Folklore, happened to be passing through Seattle with this trio when Marriott struck up the idea to make a record.

“The session was organized in a short time frame, so I knew it was going to have to be about the interplay, the dynamic and the journey,” Marriott explains. “I sketched out a few tunes the night before, and I brought some things I had already written but hadn’t recorded under my own name. We also improvised some of the material in the studio.”

The resulting first takes clocked in close to three hours, and though they had more time to spare, Marriot says, “we just didn’t use it.” According to the trumpeter, it’s the trio’s teamwork built up over a long period playing together, their fluency in the idiom and mutual trust that made the session exciting.

Marriott’s eagerness to collaborate with artists ranging from standard bearers like Joe Locke, and Eric Revis, as well as in-demand groups like Spanish Harlem Orchestra and Deltron 3030 has made him a local artist on the map. His onstage collaborators include veterans like Johnson and Mandyck, who can be heard sharing their expressive sounds on Marriott’s prior recordings, and on their own prolific discographies. Session players like New York born Schatz, and Kennedy—a member of Tarik Abouzied’s fusion super group Happy Orchestra, add to the living state of music that Marriott’s latest release keeps in orbit.

“[The album] is very much about being in the moment, extemporaneous risk-taking and exploration,” Marriott says, “It’s much more like what we do on the band-stand, and a natural part of that is acceptance. You have to be okay with whatever happens.”

Ian Gwin

Tickets and information available at theroyalroomseattle.com. Important Note In light of evolving restrictions on gatherings, this concert is subject to change. Please check with the venue online at theroyalroomseattle.com. Thanks for your support and understanding during this unprecedented time!