Articles by Bill Bennett

Thomas Marriott: Both Sides of the Fence

by Bill Bennett
March 17, 2007

Thomas Marriott Both Sides of the Fence Origin Records 2007

In 1999, Thomas Marriott won the prestigious Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Competition sponsored by the International Trumpet Guild and the Herb Albert Foundation. Michael Caldwell wrote in the March 2000 International Trumpet Guild Journal: “[His] confident stage demeanor and intense interest in the rhythm section adds depth and character to his performance. A particularly interesting aspect of Marriott's playing is his ...

Michael Blake's Hellbent, Earshot Jazz event at Tula's

by Bill Bennett
March 17, 2007

Michael Blake's Hellbent Tula's Jazz Club Seattle, WA February 24, 2007 Michael Blake last played in Seattle during the 2002 Earshot Jazz Festival with The Herbie Nichols Project, a group spawned by The Jazz Composers Collective. This reviewer covered the Nichols show for Coda magazine (Issue 309, May/June 2003). Let's hope that the wait between performances won't be quite so long next time. Originally from Montreal, Quebec, Canada--he was born ...

Scenes: Along the Way

by Bill Bennett
January 26, 2007

The scenes along the way here are generally bucolic ones, awash with that distinctive just after the sundown light celebrated by photographers. It's a contemplative journey--"no hurry, no worry," as the cliché goes. The tempos are relaxed, the timbres unfailingly warm. Subtlety is the key word. This amiable, polished music never clamors for your attention; however, a little deep listening will yield many aural delights.

Guitarist John Stowell plays with a full, rich, bottom heavy tone and possesses a strikingly ...

Earshot Aural Snapshots: 2006 Earshot Jazz Festival, Seattle, October 27-30

by Bill Bennett
December 15, 2006

2006 Earshot Jazz Festival Seattle, WA October 27-30

Toshiko Akiyoshi Seattle Asian Art Museum Friday, October 27

It's a shame that economics and logistics decreed the demise of The Toshiko Akiyoski-Lew Tabackin Big Band a few years back, but Toshiko's fans around the world can take solace in her higher profile as a solo artist. This solo piano concert began with her composition “The Village," based on a Japanese ...

Satoko Fujii: Undulation, Live!!, Maru & Kobe Yee!!

by Bill Bennett
October 28, 2006

This cornucopia of pianist Satoko Fujii's large ensemble work is a daunting package. It's heavy in more ways than one. Four full-length CDs, three of them over an hour in length and one clocking in at 52:31, plus a simultaneously released concert DVD, add up to one heck of a portion of adventurous music to digest in one sitting--or for that matter in dozens of sittings. Listeners will be assimilating, mulling over and enjoying this music for a long time ...

Randy Weston & His African Rhythms Trio: Zep Tepi

by Bill Bennett
September 17, 2006

Randy Weston returns to the trio format for the first time in over thirty years with Zep Tepi. Poised to enter his eighth decade on the planet, Weston is an elder in every sense of the term. His distinctively percussive attack, yard-wide chords, criss-crossing rhythms and idiosyncratic melodies remain sui generis. Both literally (he's 6'9") and figuratively, Weston is a giant of the music.

He pays tribute to his friend and mentor Thelonious Monk on “Ballad for T," a reflective ...

John Tchicai / Charlie Kohlhase / Garrison Fewell: Good Night Songs

by Bill Bennett
September 16, 2006

Justly renowned since the 1960s as one of the most lyrical and imaginative players in the avant-garde, Afro-Danish reedman John Tchicai shows no signs of diminishing creativity, although he recently celebrated his 70th birthday. He has collaborated with Boston-area musicians Charlie Kohlhase and Garrison Fewell in several contexts, but this tour was the first time the three had worked as a trio.

Tchicai plays tenor sax and bass clarinet; Kohlhase tenor, alto and baritone saxophones; Fewell guitar, chopsticks (!) and ...

Junk Box: Fragment

by Bill Bennett
September 15, 2006

The prolific and omnidirectional pianist/composer/bandleader Satoko Fujii premieres her “Com-Impro" concept with this recording by her Junk Box trio. She states: “I don't use traditional music notation... for these pieces. I use words and some graphic notation. Although this kind of notation is not so new for contemporary music, it is a new avenue for me to explore."

Junk Box brings percussionist John Hollenbeck together with Fujii and her long-time partner, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura. Methodology aside, the music created is ...

ICP Orchestra in Seattle, WA

by Bill Bennett
May 7, 2006

ICP Orchestra Seattle, WA March 25, 2006

New Dutch Swing is the phrase coined by critic Kevin Whitehead - who wrote a book of the same name - to describe the music of the ICP (Instant Composers Pool) Orchestra, the Willem Breuker Kollektief, Bik Bent Braam and other members of the vital improvised music scene in Holland. Misha Mengelberg, Han Bennink and Breuker were co-founders of ICP in 1967. In Seattle as part of a ...

The Jim Knapp Orchestra at the L.A.B. Performance Space in Seattle

by Bill Bennett
February 24, 2006

Jim Knapp Orchestra L.A.B. Performance Space Seattle, WA January 9th, 2006

The Jim Knapp Orchestra inaugurated a first Monday of the month series at the Seattle Drum School's intimate and acoustically friendly L.A.B. Performance Space with a superb concert of Knapp originals and arrangements on January 9th, 2006. The sound reinforcement was crystalline in its clarity, the music performed adventurous yet accessible, the solo work by the Orchestra's members consistently creative and often inspired. ...