In a meeting of east and west, April’s Ballard Jazz Festival in Seattle brought together New York pianist Orrin Evans with Human Spirit. Led by trumpeter Thomas Marriott, alto saxophonist Mark Taylor and drummer Matt Jorgensen, the Seattle quintet is attracting international attention, in part because of this album featuring Evans as a guest.
Jim Wilke, who doubles as recording engineer and radio host, captured Human Spirit’s Ballard performance and will feature it on KPLU’s Jazz Northwest on Sunday. The program airs at 1 PM PDT on 88.5 FM in the Seattle-Tacoma area. Listeners elsewhere in the world will find it streamed at kplu.org. As usual, after the broadcast KPLU’s website will make a podcast available.
Ballard is a section of Seattle with a seafaring history and a fishing economy. Parts of it are yuppified without serious damage—so far—to its quaintness and historical character.
Wilke provided a description of the Jazz Walk:
The Ballard Jazz Walk is part of the annual Ballard Jazz Festival and includes a dozen or more venues featuring live jazz, all within walking distance of each other in old Ballard. Over 70 musicians played during the jazz walk and the music and people spilling out of the small clubs along the street provided a very festive atmosphere. The festival is produced by Matt Jorgensen and John Bishop with production coordination by Chad McCullough and supported by the Ballard business community.
The nonagenarian pianist presented de Barros with every biographer’s hope, unrestricted access to his subject’s personal papers and nearly unrestricted access to her private thoughts. He made the most of it, turning exhaustive research and hundreds of hours of interviews into a true story with the sweep of a novel. From the early discovery of McPartland’s musical gift through her wartime service, her ecstatic and stormy marriage to Jimmy McPartland, her growth as a pianist, her deep affair with Joe Morello, and the radio show that made her a national figure, she has had a fascinating life. It makes a splendid read.
Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band had three fewer musicians than most big jazz outfits. Its size permitted precision, flexibility and subtlety, yet the band had the power of sprung steel. In this concert from a half century ago, the CJB is as fresh as yesterday. Arrangements by Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn and Johnny Mandel set standards to which big band writers still aspire. Bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis inspired Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Gene Quill and Zoot Sims to some of the best soloing of their careers. This beautifully produced issue of the complete concert is a basic repertoire item.
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I read and thoroughly enjoyed it -- great writing!Roberta on Poodie James Sale
Good luck with your book Doug. I will check it out. Thank you for the great blogging. All the best, Roberta Arnold, Artist Representative Toninho Horta Ronnie Cuber