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Thomas Marriott: Live From the Heat Dome
by Paul Rauch
A “heat dome" is created when an area of high pressure hovers over an area for days or weeks, trapping warm air underneath. The meteorological phenomena is much like a lid on a boiling pot. In late June of 2021, residents of the Pacific Northwest became plainly aware of what a heat dome is by experiencing three days of severe heat topping 108 degrees, in an area more accustomed to temperatures in the low to mid seventies. The three days ...
Continue ReadingJim Snidero: Far Far Away
by Dan McClenaghan
Alto saxophonist Jim Snidero had quite a year in 2021, with the re-release of his masterpiece, Strings (Savant), originally released in 2001, and the release of another masterful set, Live At Deer Head Inn (Savant). In 2022 he decided to keep a good thing going, inviting his Deer Head rhythm section--pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Peter Washington, with Joe Farnsworth back in the drummer's seat--into the studio, along with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, for an inspired set of bop and post-bop tunes, ...
Continue ReadingThomas Marriott: Live From the Heat Dome
by Dan McClenaghan
Trumpeter Thomas Marriott settled into his groove on the Seattle-based Origin Records. He released more than a dozen discs under his own name there, including the gorgeous Romance Language (2020), a striking ballad set, and Trumpet Ship (2018), a high-energy bop workout. And then there was Crazy: The Music of Willie Nelson (Origin Records, 2008), described as having “a distinctly modern and often brash tone." And “Favoring some serious musical adventurousness." With Live From The Heat Dome that ...
Continue ReadingCaleb Wheeler Curtis: Heatmap
by Paul Rauch
It is mostly troublesome to make blanket assertions about jazz and the musicians that facilitate the art form. Such assertions are subjective at best, yet it would not seem unreasonable to assert that Caleb Wheeler Curtis is one of the more interesting alto saxophonists to emerge since 2000. His playing has a radiant, vocal quality to it, whether addressing strong melodies, or abstractions of the same. His approach is strong without being forced, and while his musical spirit has an ...
Continue ReadingSeattle Jazz Fellowship Presents: Orrin Evans & the Captain Black Big Band
by Paul Rauch
The Seattle Jazz Fellowship, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by trumpeter Thomas Marriott, was created in response to the loss of viable jazz stages showcasing the vibrant resident jazz scene in Seattle. While local jazz musicians and fans alike mourned the downfall of longtime resident haunts such as the New Orleans club and Tula's Jazz Club, Marriott and a supportive group of like-minded community members sought an alternative to the traditional jazz supper club personified by the aforementioned institutions. Gentrification of ...
Continue ReadingMichael Feinberg: Hard Times
by Troy Dostert
Although the Covid pandemic has been devastating to the artistic community, and certainly jazz musicians are no exception, albums like Michael Feinberg's Hard Times point to the possibility of hopeful resilience. With a top-shelf bunch of colleagues and smart compositions with rhythmically crafty arrangements, the bassist's eighth release is a winner, with a plucky spirit and satisfying grooves in abundance. Feinberg pulled this band together in October 2020, and with folks like drummer Jeff “Tain" Watts and pianist ...
Continue ReadingOrrin Evans: The Magic of Now
by C. Andrew Hovan
The pandemic brought with it a shift in sensibilities for many musicians as they navigated new and unfamiliar waters. There were pros and cons of all this activity, with many streaming events and weighty recording projects taking place. Few of the albums coming from that period speak with such authority and freshness as the set at hand. Pianist Evans assembled a trio with bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Bill Stewart back in 2014 for a festival performance and hoped to ...
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