Jazz Northwest

Each week on Jazz Northwest , we highlight various aspects of the regional jazz scene, some recent releases, some noteworthy gigs, or a recent performance. This week, we'll feature the Keith Henson Octet, Alex Dugdale, McTuff, Susan Pascal, Mark Lewis, Kelley Johnson and Ben Roseth, plus a sample from a soon to be released album of the Wynton Kelly Trio playing at The Penthouse in Seattle in 1966. Kelly was noted for his work with Miles Davis, Wes Mongomery, Cannonball Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie

This week's show includes jazz groups you can hear around the area this week (e.g.Jazz Police, Adam Kessler, Jacqueline Tabor), and a preview of a soon to be released album of the Wynton Kelly Trio and guitarist Wes Montgomery playing at The Penthouse in Seattle in 1966. The album will be released on limited edition vinyl LP on Record Store Day, April 22, and it comes from tapes of live and direct broadcasts produced by Jim Wilke and never circulated since the live broadcasts. A deluxe CD

This week on Jazz Northwest , we're brining you excerpts from two concerts at Centrum’s Jazz Port Townsend 2016. These highlights come from concerts by the Jeff Hamilton Trio with Akiko Tsuruga and Graham Dechter, and the grand finale with an all-star septet including Terell Stafford, Sean Jones, Grace Kelly, Wycliffe Gordon, Taylor Eigsti, John Clayton and Matt Wilson, and represent the final offerings from last July's Jazz Port Townsend. The music includes blues, standards and bop played by a

Jazz Northwest provides updates and keeps you in touch with the regional jazz scene. This week's show includes samples of two recent Earshot Award winners, flugelhorn player Dmitri Matheny (Northwest Instrumentalist of the Year) and pianist Bill Anschell (2016 Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame). Also this week, the Keith Henson Octet, Jay Thomas and the Cantaloupes, The Jessica Williams Trio and others, plus best bets for live jazz in the coming week. Next week: The all-star finale from last Summer's

The cheerful sound of Cuban son music is featured in a concert performance on this week's Jazz Northwest. The concert was recorded earlier this month when the band played at The Seattle Art Museum as part of the Art of Jazz series presented by Earshot. It's sunny music and a perfect antidote for a rainy Seattle day. Kiki Valera is considered by many to be Cuba's finest cuatro player and after 25 years directing La Familia Valera Miranda in Santiago de Cuba, he is now living in Seattle and

The annual Golden Ear Awards for outstanding achievement in Seattle jazz will be presented on March 13 at the Royal Room. There are five nominees in each of eight categories for individual and groups, including the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame. This week on Jazz Northwest, we are previewing some of the nominees including Bill Anschell, the B'shnorkestra, the Westerlies, and Anton Schwartz. The program also includes music by the New York-based Ryan Keberle and Catharsis which will play at the Royal

Ella Fitzgerald, aka "The First Lady of Song," was born April 25, 1917 and centennial celebrations are beginning to appear. For the third pair of concerts in its current series, The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra invited Carmen Bradford to sing some of the many songs popularized by Ella Fitzgerald. The concert at Kirkland Performance Center was recorded for radio and is featured on this week's Jazz Northwest.

Guitarist Larry Coryell began his career in Seattle where he grew up playing in local bands and sitting in on jam sessions. He died unexpectedly of natural causes last Sunday after playing two nights at the Iridium in New York City. He was widely credited as one of the originators of jazz-rock or fusion music, but he commanded a wide variety of styles from blues to bop to classical. He composed two operas based on works by Tolstoy and transcribed Stravinsky ballet suites for solo guitar. An

Drummer Adam Kessler and bassist Phil Sparks have been co-leading Thursday Jazz Nights at the Barça Lounge on Capitol Hill in Seattle for over a decade. Generally, it's the rhythm section and a guest soloist. To celebrate 10 years of this on-going weekly event, they made a CD featuring a dozen musicians on various tracks, recorded in performance at Barça. For this "Art of Jazz" concert, three of those soloists are featured together in a special edition of the band - Dave Peterson on guitar,

Guitarist and composer Ralph Towner returns to the Pacific Northwest this month as part of a a national tour including Portland and Seattle, Feb. 20 and 21. His new CD "My Foolish Heart" debuts this week on Jazz Northwest. Now an international artist, Ralph Towner was born in Chehalis and played piano in Seattle in the 1960s before co-founding the group Oregon and later concentrating on 12-string and classical guitars. He has recorded over two dozen albums for ECM since 1972. Also on this week's