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Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra: SRJO Live
by Jason West
Like Shackleton’s epic voyage of survival in Antarctica, one struggles to imagine the time, resources, social skill and organizational acumen necessary to lead a jazz orchestra. Even more mindboggling is the idea of stepping into the shoes of Duke Ellington, Count Basie or Jimmie Lunceford, transcribing their classic big band recordings, and performing them live on ...
Jeff Johnson: The Art of Falling
by Jason West
I like living with CDs. I like to leave them in the player for a week or two and see how they grow. I'm not worried if, at first, I don't hear everything that's going on. Just as long as there's something - a few magnetic bars, a particularly firey exchange, a pregnant moment in the ...
Pax Wallace: Language Arts
by Jason West
It's a pity Pax Wallace will soon be leaving Seattle to take up residence in Europe. Luckily, the thirty-nine year old pianist/composer leaves us with some wonderful music representing much of his best work over the seventeen years that he has made Seattle his home. Recorded in the autumn of last year, “Language Arts" offers ten ...
Steve Korn: Here and Now
by Jason West
It's possible that the jazz fans of the next thousand years will revisit the Seattle sound at the turn of this century. If so, John Bishop's independent label, Origin Records, will enjoy a number of reissues. Representing a small circle of local players, Origin's catalog sports over a dozen releases, the most recent being one of ...
Rick Mandyck/Gregg Keplinger: Tribute
by Jason West
It seems fitting that, only days after last month's monster electrical storm descended upon Seattle, the duo of R. Mandyck and G. Keplinger unleashed sonic shockwaves of their own upon the local jazz community with the release of “Tribute." For nearly an hour, fans of energy music can hear lightning burst from Mandyck's tenor, illuminating the ...
New Stories Trio: Speakin' Out
by Jason West
Does the Seattle jazz community-that nebulous amalgamation of big-eared musicians, students and listeners-realize the good fortune that we possess as friendly, backyard neighbors to John Bishop, Doug Miller and Marc Seales: the New Stories Trio? It's a question that is undoubtedly answered with countless nods in the affirmative from those of us who have heard the ...
Dave Peck: 3 and !
by Jason West
With3 and 1, pianist Dave Peck, acoustic bassist Chuck Deardorf and drummer Dean Hodges have combined to produce a musical work of art. Here is melody and harmony. Here is humor and sadness. Here technique and musicianship wed personality and communication. And here is improvisation – the heart of this music we call jazz –revealing Peck ...
Steve Griggs Quintet: Jones for Elvin
by Jason West
Imagine yourself stepping out of an old barn-turned-music studio and into a lush, green pasture surrounded by Evergreen trees. The early afternoon sun is high overhead—it’s a clear, spring day—and you’re about to record your first CD as a leader. Sitting next to you is one of the world’s most admired jazz drummers, Elvin Jones. He ...
Mike Stern: Play
by Jason West
For fans of Mike Stern, recommending his latest CD is like preaching to the choir, but for those unfamiliar with Stern’s guitar, PLAY maybe the music that calls you to the church-house door. Teamed up with guitar-buds John Scofield and Bill Frisell, Stern offers music lovers, and guitar devotees especially, a cornucopia of killer riffs, funky ...
Marius Nordal: Notoriety
by Jason West
Oscar Peterson used to advise his students not to be afraid of the piano. Somehow, I don’t think it was piano they feared. Listening to Marius Nordal’s “Notoriety” can be just as intimidating. Nordal’s technical mastery of the piano is immediately apparent, and his arrangements---he’s worked primarily as a composer---are highly original. To echo the words ...
