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Jazz Articles about John Bishop
Scenes: Trapeze
by Paul Rauch
The storyline for the Pacific Northwest-based band Scenes began in 1983, when drummer John Bishop and guitarist John Stowell began playing together in Portland and Seattle. When bassist Jeff Johnson arrived in Seattle in 1989, he began playing a weekly trio gig with Bishop and tenor saxophonist Rick Mandyck. Stowell, already frequently traveling abroad to play and teach, would drop by every so often to play.The quartet wouldn't get around to record until 2001, releasing Scenes on the ...
read more20 Seattle Jazz Musicians You Should Know: John Bishop
by Paul Rauch
The city of Seattle has a jazz history that dates back to the very beginnings of the form. It was home to the first integrated club scene in America on Jackson St in the 1920's and 30's. It saw a young Ray Charles arrive as a teenager to escape the nightmare of Jim Crow in the south. It has produced such historical jazz icons as Quincy Jones and Ernestine Anderson. In many instances it has acted as a temporary repose ...
read moreNew Stories: Speakin' Out
by Edward Blanco
Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of a ground-breaking album in their catalog of jazz, Origin Records reissues Speakin' Out from the Grammy-nominated Seattle-based trio with guest Ernie Watts on saxophones. The trio consisting of pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller and drummer John Bishop, were instrumental in developing the label's sound but, it was their 2000 and third album as a group that caught fire with saxophonist giant Ernie Watts providing the fuel that propelled the Origin Record name to international ...
read moreNew Stories: Speakin' Out
by Jack Bowers
New Stories is a seasoned piano trio (and a very good one) rendered even more persuasive on Speakin' Out by the singular presence (on five of nine tracks) of renowned saxophone maestro Ernie Watts. The trio itself consists of pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller and drummer (and Origin Records founder) John Bishop. The wide-selling album, a centerpiece of Origin's catalog since its initial release in 2000, when New Stories was only two years old, has been re-released this year ...
read moreTom Collier: Across The Bridge
by Dan Bilawsky
Ruminations on the past, musical or otherwise, are often weighed down by the sediment of sentiment. But it certainly doesn't have to be that way. Looking back can provide an outlet for the imagination to take control, and vibraphonist Tom Collier seems well aware of that. On Across The Bridge, Collier revisits his youth, delivering nine original numbers that touch on a childhood spent on the opposite side of the West Seattle Bridge from where he currently resides. It's a ...
read moreHal Galper Trio: Trip the Light Fantastic
by Dan McClenaghan
About eighty percent of the jazz piano players out there can fit into one of two schools: that of the introspective, harmonically rich Bill Evans mode; or the more percussive and gregarious Bud Powell bebop approach. There's also a small slice of the that pie that draws it primary inspiration from bright and splashy Art Tatum/Oscar Peterson pre-bop playing style, along with various subsets. Then there are those who take a foundation of one of those approaches and craft something ...
read moreHadley Caliman and Pete Christlieb: Reunion
by C. Michael Bailey
Both Hadley Caliman and Pete Christlieb were active on Los Angeles jazz scene going on 50 years ago, and the two tenor saxophonists actually performed together at the time. Real life got in the way, guiding each man in his allotted direction. Origin Records' house pianist (and All About Jazz Contributor) Bill Anschell brought the two together for Reunion, composing a good old fashioned cooker to open the disc. Little Dex" (after Dexter Gordon) is thus titled ...
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