We Can All Bop: Lessons from the Preschool Set

/
We Can All Bop: Lessons from the Preschool Set

I recently signed my four-year-old up for WeBop jazz classes, an early childhood education program developed by Jazz at Lincoln Center. I wanted to share my love of jazz with my son, with the hope that someday soon he’ll want to tag along as I go to concerts and clubs. So right now, he’s learning the fundamentals of jazz—blues form, improvisation, scat singing, and time—while singing, dancing, and drumming his way through a collection of jazz standards.

Read More

Women in Jazz Festivals. Do We Need Them?

/
Women in Jazz Festivals. Do We Need Them?

Valentine’s Day weekend marked the second annual Seattle Women in Jazz Festival, and once again, founder Jessica Davis put on a wonderful community-building event. It was the first of three similar festivals scheduled to take place this spring. This “mini-season” of women in jazz fests has gotten me thinking again about festivals dedicated to female performers. Do we still need them? Do they help or hurt the larger cause of women trying to make it in the male-dominated world of jazz? Which leads to the larger, most pressing question: How do we cultivate more female talent and build audiences for their concerts?

Read More

"There is nothing more fun in the world than singing, moving your feet in time, and playing clave."

/
"There is nothing more fun in the world than singing, moving your feet in time, and playing clave."

Today I’m excited to present an interview with Seattle-based vocalist, composer, and musical activist Elspeth Savani.

For the past decade she has been the co-leader of the Cuban big band orchestra Zarabanda, which regularly performs the salsa rhythms of old Havana throughout the Pacific Northwest. And in recent years she has applied her love of Cuban music to a more intimate, small ensemble jazz setting.

Read More

Female musicians don’t want to be “pretty good, for a girl.” They want to be awesome. Period.

/

Today is International Jazz Day (I’m throwing virtual confetti as I write this), and that means that Jazz Appreciation Month is almost over. It’s been a busy, jazz-filled month, and once again, I’ve been reminded how lucky I am to live in Seattle. Not only do we have an amazing scene, we have an amazing scene with dozens of incredibly talented women. Many of whom performed during last weekend’s first-ever Seattle Women in Jazz Festival. This was a wonderful event, a true act of love and devotion by its founder Jessica Davis.

That said, jazz festivals devoted solely to women have their pros and cons. Celebrations of women and their accomplishments are, on the whole, a good thing. As is bringing a greater awareness to the hardworking women amongst us. But they also risk marginalizing these same women. It’s far too easy to dismissively say (or think), “Oh, she’s just a ‘woman in jazz,’” then go hear your favorite male musician instead.​

Read More

"Sometimes, it’s difficult to say how you do something, you just do it."

/
"Sometimes, it’s difficult to say how you do something, you just do it."

Today’s interview is with New York-based composer, arranger, and vocalist Sarah Elizabeth Charles. The S.E. Charles Quartet, with Jesse Elder on piano, Burniss Earl Travis on bass, and John Davis on drums, will perform at the Triple Door on Sunday, April 28, the final night of the Seattle Women in Jazz Festival. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the set begins at 7:30 p.m. This is Sarah’s first time singing in Seattle, so don’t miss out!

Read More

“Here in Seattle there is an incredible network of women jazz musicians.”

/
“Here in Seattle there is an incredible network of women jazz musicians.”

Today it’s my pleasure to present an interview with trumpeter and composer Samantha Boshnack. She's participating in the Seattle Women in Jazz Festival’s youth-oriented performances at the Vera Project on Sunday, April 28. Her set begins at 8:00 p.m. and promises to be a blast.

Read More

“I don't self-identify as a woman when I'm on stage. I'm me, I'm a dude.”

/
“I don't self-identify as a woman when I'm on stage. I'm me, I'm a dude.”

My celebration of JazzApril continues with another interview with a Seattle Women in Jazz Festival performer, this time soprano saxophonist Kate Olson.

She’s a relative newcomer to Seattle, arriving in 2010, but she has quickly made her mark on the jazz and improvised music scenes. In 2011 Kate appeared in the Earshot Jazz Festival and was nominated for an Earshot Golden Ear Award in the Northwest Emerging Artist category. In 2012 Kate was chosen to perform in Earshot’s Jazz: The Second Century series, which showcases the next generation of jazz musicians. And she can be regularly heard around town performing with her own projects including the Syrinx Effect and Sugarpants and as a collaborator with the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra, Ask the Ages, Daniel Barry’s 2 Hemispheres, and Wayne Horvitz’s Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble. ​

Read More

“Music can bring out so many facets of one person.”

/
“Music can bring out so many facets of one person.”

I’m excited to post the first of four interviews with musicians performing at the Seattle Women in Jazz Festival next week. We’ll begin with vocalist Jeannette d’Armand, who kindly answered questions about her singing and inspiration.

Jeannette is a familiar face (and voice!) for Fifth Avenue Theater regulars, and Seattle jazz lovers are beginning to appreciate her talents, too. Her roots in musical theater and jazz will both be on display during her vocal showcase at the Rainier Valley Cultural Center on Friday, April 26 beginning at 7:00 p.m.  Backed by guitarist Troy Chapman and bassist Rick Leppanen, both from the popular gypsy jazz group Pearl Django, she’ll sing a collection of oldies but goodies from the American Songbook, jazz standards, and plenty of Joni Mitchell.

​

Read More

Here Come Seattle's Women in Jazz!

/
Here Come Seattle's Women in Jazz!

In today’s JazzApril​ posting, I’d like to tell you more about the inaugural Seattle Women in Jazz Festival taking place April 26-28. It’s the first festival of its kind here in Seattle and will feature fourteen vocalists, nine instrumentalists, and two big bands. They will perform at Egan’s Ballard Jam House, Rainier Valley Cultural Center, the Triple Door, Vera Project, and LUCID Lounge. And as the fest’s name suggests, all groups are led by or comprised primarily of women.

Read More

Jazz Appreciation Month, Seattle Style

/

April is already a week old, and I neglected to mention that it is Jazz Appreciation Month! I don’t really need another reason to celebrate anything and everything jazz, but JAM reminds me to take a moment to think about jazz, its history, and enduring legacy. And it reminds me that, as a lover of jazz, I am very lucky to live in Seattle. We have an unusually vibrant community of jazz musicians, students, and listeners plus a network of clubs, house concerts, festivals, jazz appreciation societies, record labels, and radio stations that all nurture our local scene. We can hear high-quality, live jazz every night of the week.

​

Read More