Clarence Acox photo courtesy of the artist
2017 Essentially Ellington Results
Three Seattle-area high school jazz bands recently played in the annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival in New York City. Edmonds-Woodway, Mount Si, and Mountlake Terrace high schools were named finalists back in February.
Mount Si’s and Edmonds-Woodway’s reed sections and Mountlake Terrace’s brass section earned an honorable mention.
Individual awards went to Gered Beyford (Mount Si) and Jack Hillman (Edmonds-Woodway) in the Outstanding Trombone category, Sean Hakala (Mount Si) in Outstanding Trumpet, Dylon Rajah (Mountlake Terrace) in Outstanding Tenor Saxophone, and Sage Eisenhour (Mount Si) in Outstanding Vocalist.
Alto saxophonist Christian Palomo (Mount Si), trombonist Kyle Bainbridge (Edmonds-Woodway), and guitarist Gian Neri (Mountlake Terrace) each received honorable mentions. Mountlake Terrace senior Andrew Sumabat, who played trombone, trumpet, and tenor sax, received a special award, “The Trippler,” for soloists who perform on three different instruments in an outstanding manner.
Clarence Acox Inducted Into DownBeat Jazz Education Hall of Fame
Jazz drummer and educator Clarence Acox was recently inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Education Hall of Fame.
An instrumental figure in the Seattle music scene, Acox has nurtured young musicians for the past 35 years as director of jazz bands at Garfield High School. He leads the renowned Garfield Jazz Ensemble, winning dozens of awards and making regular appearances at national and international venues.
“We…want to applaud the great educators who influence young musicians,” DownBeat wrote in its May issue. “We salute those men and women who kindle in their students not just a passion for jazz but the confidence to pursue it. These dedicated professionals will continue to fill the world with great students – of music and of life.”
Jazz Radio
88.5 KNKX hosts Saturday Jazz Matinee, Jazz Sunday Side Up, Ken Wiley’s the Art of Jazz, and Jazz Northwest, in addition to its weekday NPR and late-night and prime-time jazz programs. Full schedule and info at knkx.org.
Abe Beeson hosts The New Cool, Saturdays, 3pm, featuring 21st century jazz inspired and informed by the sounds of today, hip-hop, funk, electronic & punk rock, followed by Robin Lloyd’s Jazz Caliente, 5pm, where jazz meets Latin rhythms.
Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest, Sundays, 2pm, features the artists and events of the regional jazz scene. For JazzNW podcasts of archived programs, see jazznw.org.
Jazz Northwest June Highlights: June 4, highlights from the Guitar Summit at The Ballard Jazz Festival, featuring three guitar trios led by Cole Schuster, Brad Shepik and Dan Balmer; June 18, the Sam Boshnack Quintet from this month’s Art of Jazz concert at the Seattle Art Museum.
90.3 KEXP, late-night Sundays, features Jazz Theater with John Gilbreath, 1am, and Sonarchy, midnight, a live-performance broadcast from the Jack Straw Productions studio, produced by Doug Haire. Full schedule information is available at kexp.org and jackstraw.org.
Sonarchy’s June schedule: June 4, Brown Cloud, slow, low, loud, and deep trio of Kristian Garrard (guitar, electronics), Andrew Swanson (sax, keys), and Chris Icasiano (drums); June 11, Jason E. Anderson, computer-controlled analog synth and voice processing, with Ian Halloran (vocals); June 18, Fraktal Phantom, massive, free jazz, bomb-dropping episode featuring Sean Fisher (guitar), Cary Kindberg (bass), and Jack Gold-Molina (drums); June 25, Rahikka, meditative atmospheres through electronics.
91.3 KBCS, features creative and improvised music on Flotation Device with John Seman and Jonathan Lawson, Sundays at 10pm. The Monday night lineup includes The Caravan with John Gilbreath at 7pm, Straight No Chaser with David Utevsky at 9pm, Giant Steps with John Pai at 11pm, and The Shape of Modern Jazz with Gordon Todd at 1am Tuesdays. Shows can be streamed anytime at kbcs.fm.
91.7 KSVR Mount Vernon, Doctor Dee hosts two nights of jazz, Fourth Corner Jazz, featuring recordings of live performance in Northwest Washington, Sundays, 6-7pm, and The Doctor’s Den, Mondays, 8-10pm.
94.9 KUOW, Saturdays, 7pm, features Amanda Wilde’s the Swing Years and Beyond, popular music from the 1920s to the 1950s. More at kuow.org/swing_years.php.
102.9 KLOI-LP Lopez Island, Mondays & Fridays, 3pm, Joy Spring with Gary Alexander, classic jazz and the Great American Songbook.
Hollow Earth Radio, hollowearthradio.org, Fridays at 6pm, biweekly, Black Roots Radio, hosted by Jordan Leonard, promotes jazz as a dynamic genre rooted in the Black American experience.
Hollow Earth Radio is Seattle’s freeform online radio station that supports the local music communities in the greater Pacific Northwest and tries to create an open, encouraging stage for underrepresented voices. More at facebook.com/blackrootsradiojl and hollowearthradio.org.
In One Ear News
Email news about Seattle-area jazz artists, for In One Ear, to editor@earshot.org.
