Sleepless in Seattle

The Seattle jazz scene, insofar as such a thing can be responsibly encapsulated, is the subject of this feature in Arts & Leisure, due out in print this weekend. A few days ago I also sat down for a conversation with Ben Sisario, for the NY Times Popcast (via the ArtsBeat blog).

My focus was on the high school, collegiate and post-collegiate level, where I see real changes taking place. (The photo above is from a scene depicted in the piece: Riley Mulherkar earning some comically expressive respect from a certain fellow trumpeter. Shaky video here.) I won’t expand much further on my basic thesis, since it’s all up in the piece. But some additional context might be nice. Shall we?

It’s always a little weird descending on someone else’s turf, with the understanding that you’ll eventually be generalizing it for others. The research was as exhaustive as I could make it. My timing was good, at least. I caught an Earshot board meeting, and part of a related gig by Clarence Acox; rehearsals at Roosevelt and Garfield; a University of Washington gig by Cuong Vu, with Heatwarmer, one of Luke Bergman’s bands, as the opener; a panel and concert organized by UW, with many of the folks on the scene; lunch with John Gilbreath and Michael Brockman, separately; and of course the Racer Sessions, which I had to cut short to catch my flight out. (I missed an SRJO concert, to my chagrin. Did I mention this all went down during the EMP Pop Conference, where I presented a talk about Pat Metheny? Hence the title of this post. You can still cringe, it’s OK.)

The exciting thing was that I went in with a promising hunch, and left with more pertinent material -- evidence, as it were -- than I could ever hope to convey. And then came Essentially Ellington the following month, with its fortuitous results. But I do feel some responsibility for emphasizing the more youthful aspects of the Seattle jazz ecosystem, possibly at the expense of the other parts. Here are some thoughts on the subject from Thomas Marriott, the trumpeter:

Thomas Marriott

Intriguingly, given his comments about segmentation within the scene, Marriott’s Flexicon band recently played a double bill with Speak, at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard. That bodes well for some crosstalk among factions. And speaking of Marriott and crosstalk: next Sunday he’ll be playing Bumbershoot with the Matt Jorgensen Quintet, which also includes saxophonist Mark Taylor. The headliners? Um, how about Bob Dylan, Drake, Mary J. Blige, Weezer and Hole?

Comments

[Paul]

Thomas has a point about high school musicians "not needing" the publicity they get at the expense of pros. But what he should consider is the role jazz - or any non-pop music - plays in the community.

Maybe Seattlites value jazz more as a school activity than as an art music.

Not that that is end-of-story, or should be. But it would be good to know what jazz is up against in one's own community. Musicians usually are too busy playing, or looking for gigs, to really gauge the scene.

[Nate Chinen]

Thanks, Joe, for your comments. I agree wholeheartedly that the Seattle high-school jazz ecosystem has to do with more than just Roosevelt and Garfield. As you noted, there were certain narrative restrictions presented by the scope and medium of the piece.

For the record, that band led by Andy Clausen at Cafe Racer also included some talent from Nathan Hale High School. And I probably should have found a way to mention that Cuong Vu went to Bellevue High, before heading out to NEC. At a certain point, though, you start to worry that there are too many names, places and institutions in play for a general readership to digest over their Sunday-morning coffee.

Which is one reason it's important for those like yourself to keep this conversation going. I'd love for this story to be a kick-starter. (It's certainly not the definitive word on the subject.) Someone -- maybe Hugo Kugiya at the Seattle Times? -- should think about a follow-up piece, somewhere down the line.

[Numinous]

Thanks Nate for spotlighting Seattle's jazz scene especially focusing a bit on the high school programs. Many years ago, before coming to NYC, I was the director of award-winning bands at Interlake High School in Bellevue (just across Lake Washington from Seattle) and always felt that the incredible musicianship and quality coming out of not one or two, but many of the high schools there was deserving of more attention. Two years after I brought Maria Schneider to Interlake HS for a concert/workshop, which was her first performance appearance in the Pacific Northwest, she discussed in her 1999 Eastman School of Music Commencement Address the high-quality and specialness of the students she encountered (you can read about that entire experience here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3).

I understand that the NY Times article is a somewhat limited snapshot of Seattle's scene but one small quibble is I think you could have put a little more emphasis on the fact that there are plenty of other great high school music programs in the Seattle area. Garfield and Roosevelt are certainly wonderful programs that have produced some outstanding musicians and that I have high respect for (I know how hard it is to do what they do), but despite my having issues with Essentially Ellington as a marker for high school band quality, there are a number of other schools from the area that have been a part of it (Newport High School, Mountlake Terrace HS, Shorewood HS, etc.). And while they didn't 'win', I think the fact that they were there shows that the entire Seattle area is more than just two quality high school programs. In fact, although EE started in 1995, they did not accept West Coast schools until 1999 and since then Seattle area schools have been the predominant area represented year to year, with often multiple schools as finalists.

Anyway, it was nice reading about my old stomping grounds and glad to see Seattle get some light shed its way, especially on the educational front. Thank you.

Joe Phillips
www.numinusmusic.com

[Thomas Marriott]

Jason is completely right - we should all be celebrating the achievements of each other, professional and student alike. And yes - there are lots of great professionals here - Jason Parker, Andy Ohmdal Owar Arunga, Chad McCullough, Jay Roulston, Al Keith, Ahum Omafule,Samantha Boshnack and lots of other. Thanks for helping me out there! - Thomas Marriott.

[joel harrison]

yes for Seattle
cool place

[Jason Parker]

Thank you Nate for shining the spotlight on our scene for a minute! I'm so glad that you found the time to talk to so many people and to take in the Racer Sessions, fertile ground for some serious creative music! We have amazing players here, both young and old, and thankfully many of them, myself included, feel a responsibility to pass on what we know to the younger generation, thereby building a strong foundation for the future of jazz music in Seattle.

And while I love Thomas both as a player and a friend, I don't think any of us should begrudge the high school programs any attention that they get. Instead, we should realize that any attention given to them only helps us all, from the ground up. More people supporting young jazz musicians means more people supporting us veterans as well. They work hard for the recognition they get, and quite frankly many older pros could learn a thing or two about creating an emotional attachment with an audience from them.

And just for the record, there's at least one more professional jazz trumpet player in Seattle than Thomas Marriott and Jay Thomas. ;)

Again, thanks so much for letting the world know that there is something special going on in the jazz community here in Seattle.

Cheers,
Jason
http://oneworkingmusician.com