September Magazine
September 2021
-Profile-
Marina Albero: 2021 Festival Resident Artist
-Earshot Jazz Festival-
-Previews-
Stories of Black Erasure in Portland and Beyond
-Catching Up With-
-Feature-
Masthead
September 2021
Volume 37, No. 9
Executive Director
John Gilbreath
Managing Director
Karen Caropepe
Marketing & Development Associate
Lucienne Aggarwal
Editor
Rayna Mathis
Contributing Writers/Artists
Paul de Barros
Grace Kaste
Pete Leinonen
Dennis Moran
Alexa Peters
Paul Rauch
Jonathan Shipley
Calendar Editors
Carol Levin
Jane Emerson
Photography
Daniel Sheehan
Layout
Karen Caropepe
Distribution
Karen Caropepe
Dan Dubie
Earshot Jazz volunteers
Send Calendar Information to:
Add a gig to the calendar online or send us an email.
Board of Directors
Chris Icasiano (President)
Sheila Hughes (Vice President)
Augusto Cardoso
John W. Comerford
Maurice James
Danielle Leigh
Ruby Smith Love
Jazmyn Scott
Diane Wah
Emeritus Board Members
Clarence Acox
Sue Coliton
Taina Honkalehto
Hideo Makihara
Kenneth W. Masters
Peter Monaghan
Lola Pedrini
Richard Thurston
Paul Toliver
Cuong Vu
Founded in 1984 by Paul de Barros, Gary Bannister, and Allen Youngblood.
Earshot Jazz is published monthly by Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle.
Subscription (with membership): $35
3417 Fremont Ave N, #221
Seattle, WA 98103
phone / (206) 547-6763
Earshot Jazz ISSN 1077-0984
Printed by Wenatchee World
© 2021 Earshot Jazz Society of Seattle
Letter From The Director
Tomorrow Never Knows
I wish the future would settle down. We hope that you’re healthy and safely navigating these trying times.
With the ongoing global pandemic, natural and unnatural disasters, wars, horrific human rights abuses, and the prophetic effects of climate change, our world seems to be in some seriously perilous times right now, and the light at the end of the tunnel is diffuse with smoke. As Ray Charles once sang, “The world is in an uproar / Danger zone is everywhere.”
We’ve resigned ourselves to not being able to see around the next corner, but the news is rarely good. The wound of what’s happening in the world is going to take a long time to heal. Meanwhile, we can hope for the best, count our blessings and recognize our privilege, and do just a little bit more to help the human condition.
In that light, we’re unveiling the Earshot Jazz Festival for 2021. Luckily, the environment around jazz has always been about reacting creatively to events popping up all around us. We’ve adjusted the festival in response to the changing times and we can’t wait to dig in!
We are enormously proud to be able to present the star-studded, soul-satisfying Duets with Dianne Reeves, Chucho Valdés, and Joe Lovano. Masters all, these artists will be here for an October 21 concert in the intimacy of Town Hall’s Great Hall.
Our exciting creative collaboration with this year’s Featured Resident Artist, Marina Albero, has grown steadily into a series of fascinating events throughout the festival schedule. You can read more about Marina and the planned concerts in these pages.
We are also proud to partner with LANGSTON in presenting concerts from several of the brilliant young artists now emerging on the national jazz scene, with bands fronted by trumpeter Theo Croker, saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, trumpeter Giveton Gelin, and the astounding vocalist Samara Joy, who performs in duo with the pianist Sullivan Fortner. Also at LANGSTON, the stunning vocalist Dee Daniels will perform a tribute to John Lewis. Following that, a continuum of jazz in Seattle’s Central District will flow through vocalist Darelle Holden, the granddaughter of Seattle jazz legend Oscar Holden.
It wouldn’t be an Earshot Jazz Festival without celebrating Seattle’s place in the world of jazz with a full roster of local artists. We’ll also welcome back Seattle artists like Dawn Clement, Jay Clayton, and the Tiptons, each with their own ensembles. And, of course, many more.
We’ll present all of these events in safe environments for live, limited, in-person audiences. We’ll have plenty of shows that will also be available to stream directly to your homes! Tickets go on sale in early September at earshot.org.
Please join us!!
–JOHN GILBREATH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR