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Lynn Seaton

Lynn Seaton has had a stellar career as a jazz bassist. Born in Oklahoma in 1957, he started playing the bass at age 9. By the late 70’s he was performing around the state. From 1980 until 1984 he was the house bassist at the Blue Wisp Jazz Club in Cincinnati, accompanying big name guest soloists every week.

In 1984, he joined Woody Herman and in 1985 he played with the Count Basie Orchestra. After a two-year engagement with the Basie Band, he did extended tours with Tony Bennett and George Shearing. Most of 1991 and 1992 was spent touring with Monty Alexander. Lynn spent a lot of time on the road as a member of the Jeff Hamilton Trio from 1995-1999. Since 1993, Lynn has also had a busy career free-lancing with many of the great jazz musicians from many generations, including: Toshiko Akiyoshi, Monty Alexander, Ernestine Anderson, Buck Clayton, Al Cohn, Kenny Drew Jr., Blossom Dearie, Bob Dorough, Harry “Sweets” Edison, Herb Ellis, John Fedchock, Frank Foster, Freddy Green, Tim Hagans, Jeff Hamilton, Scott Hamilton, Wynard Harper, Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Marian McPartland, Jay McShann, Mark Murphy, Ken Peplowski, Bucky Pizzarelli, Jimmy Raney, Emily Remler, Diane Schuur, Maria Schneider, Bud Shank, Carol Sloane, Marvin “Smitty” Smith, Maxine Sullivan, Mel Torme, Frank Wess, Joe Williams, Nancy Wilson, Steve Wilson, Mark Vinci, and Teddy Wilson.

He lived in NY from 1986 until 1998. That year, he accepted an offer to teach at the world famous University of North Texas, home to one of the largest jazz programs in the world. He has performed at festivals world wide including Bern, Concord, JVC, Kool, Kyoto, Newport, North Sea, Perugia and Pori. Lynn has performed in 49 of the 50 United States and 35 foreign countries. He has performed on over 100 recordings, including the Grammy winning “Diane Schuur and the Count Basie Orchestra”, and two Grammy nominees, John Fedchock “No Nonsense” and Woody Herman “50th Anniversary”. He has three recordings as a leader, “Bassman’s Basement”, “Solo Flights”, and “Puttin’ on the Ritz”.

Rob Parton's Ensemble 9+: Relentless

Read "Relentless" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
September 4, 2024

Rob Parton, who once led the Chicago area's marvelous JazzTech big band, has since moved on to other pursuits, namely mentoring the next generation of jazz trumpeters at the stellar University of North Texas Jazz Lab in Denton. Having released eleven widely acclaimed albums with the JazzTech band, Parton has pared the lineup to nine (plus) on Relentless, enlisting the skills and talents of colleagues at UNT and drawing on the large talent pool of first-call musicians in the Dallas-Fort ...

Album Review

Rob Parton's Ensemble 9+: Relentless

Read "Relentless" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
August 29, 2024

After many years in the Windy City, most notably as the leader of the JazzTech Big Band, trumpeter Rob Parton wanted a change of scenery, which brought him to the University of North Texas, where he joined the faculty in 2019. And of course, that meant he now had the opportunity to work with lots of premium large-ensemble talent, as the college has been an incubator for big-band jazz for decades. Many of Parton's colleagues from UNT and other stalwarts ...

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Album Review

Lynn Seaton: Puttin

Read "Puttin" reviewed by Marcia Hillman

by Marcia Hillman
January 19, 2006

This recording offers a refreshing take on eight standards, plus one original. Between them, bassist Lynn Seaton, pianist Stephen Anderson, and drummer Joel Fountain make a lot of good music. “Bernie's Tune is a perfect opener, swinging with solos by all three players. “Gone With The Wind starts off with Anderson playing out-of-tempo solo piano and reharmonized chord changes. Seaton and Fountain join in with the tempo, Fountain with brushes and Seaton laying down some double time ...

510

Album Review

Lynn Seaton Trio: Puttin' on the Ritz

Read "Puttin' on the Ritz" reviewed by Dr. Judith Schlesinger

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
December 15, 2005

The legend goes that Dizzy Gillespie once said “It's taken me all my life to learn what not to play." This quote came to mind while listening to Lynn Seaton's brilliant Puttin' on the Ritz, where careful choices create one of the tightest and most swinging trios around. There's no fluff or filler here and no ego parades: just crisp, tasty jazz where the arrangements are both lean and expressive. It's no surprise that Seaton's impressive resume includes a stint ...

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Album Review

Lynn Seaton: Solo Flights

Read "Solo Flights" reviewed by AAJ Staff

by AAJ Staff
February 1, 2001

Perhaps the most demanding medium for the upright bassist is the solo outing. Unlike settings where a drummer helps keep time, or where a pianist helps define harmonic changes, the solo format demands everything from the bassist. In a way, solo recordings have been a proving ground: some of the greatest bass players in history have done their best work alone in the studio (eg. Dave Holland's Emerald Tears, or William Parker's Testimony ).

Lynn Seaton comes from a background ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Lynn Seaton

Source: Michael Ricci
July 18, 2013

All About Jazz is celebrating Lynn Seaton's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Lynn Seaton

Source: Michael Ricci
July 18, 2012

All About Jazz is celebrating Lynn Seaton's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Lynn Seaton

Source:
July 18, 2011

All About Jazz is celebrating Lynn Seaton's birthday today!

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Lynn Seaton

Source:
July 18, 2010

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Lynn Seaton

Source: All About Jazz
July 18, 2009

All About Jazz is celebrating Lynn Seaton's birthday today!

JAZZ MUSICIAN OF THE DAY Lynn Seaton

Lynn Seaton has had a stellar career as a jazz bassist. Born in Oklahoma in 1957, he started playing the bass at age 9. By the late 70’s he was performing around the state... more

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