As time goes by, the expanding universe of jazz sometimes seems to be going in all directions at all times – forward and back, inside and out, up and down. This fascinating multiplicity of approaches to the music has invigorated the art form like never before, and also challenged capacities to support and, at times, even to clearly define what jazz is. That’s why I love to think about jazz in relation to the String Theory developing in physics. We live in a universe (or universes) where all things are interconnected, across multiple dimensions, by the vibrations of jazz fibers at their very core.
The Earshot Jazz organization is in its 27th year in this fascinating continuum, focusing on services to our own jazz community and on the presentation of one-of-a-kind events that celebrate an absolutely vibrant art form.
This year’s Earshot Jazz Spring Series (or String Theories) brings you concerts that tap into the core traditions and the expansion of jazz music. We invite you to join us for some truly distinctive concerts, and let’s have some fun with this music!
– John Gilbreath
Tim Berne’s Snakeoil
Thursday, March 1, 8PM
Seattle Asian Art Museum, Volunteer Park
Tickets are $18 in advance; $20 at the door; Earshot Jazz members and seniors receive $2 discount; students pay half price
Saxophonist Tim Berne introduces his new Snakeoil group – Oscar Noriega, clarinet and bass clarinet; Matt Mitchell, piano; Ches Smith, drums – in a program of new music from his first studio album in eight years, and first release on ECM.
Berne’s musical constructions for this quartet come about in equal parts sonic structure and attitude. “I was looking for strong personalities who are not afraid to express their musical opinions,” Berne says. With three skilled improvisers in this dynamic presentation, Berne’s found musicians as concerned as he is at shaping the music, he says.
He started in that trust on the project with pianist Matt Mitchell, a “master at managing the transitions, balancing the structural elements and the free elements and cueing events in the scores,” Berne says. Berne then invited Oscar Noriega on the project, after a positive rehearsal of some of saxophonist Julius Hemphill’s music that the World Saxophone Quartet founder, and Berne mentor, had written for a Lester Bowie gig.
Enter drummer Ches Smith, a West-to-East transplant, with diverse experiences in improvisation, punk and metal backgrounds, who’s brought unique and fresh energy to Brooklyn and downtown New York music communities. Smith has a charisma on the drums and a certain timing of explosiveness and expression. Collaborators have found in him a true musicality and an inexhaustible focus on the music in front of him. “I liked Ches’ whole vibe,” Berne says.
Berne brought Snakeoil to producer Manfred Eicher, who contributed a lot to the overall development of the work, Berne says. That’s a bit of a departure for Berne, who since 1996 has primarily released his work on his own label, Screwgun Records. Stepping away from his more controlling tendency on previous works, Berne’s opened it up to the musicians and to producer Eicher. “I had a strong wish to work with a producer, to have some feedback in the working process. I wanted a collaboration,” Berne says. “I like to give more responsibility to the players and involve them more in the shaping of the music.”
Berne was in the Seattle area twice last year – once for some great work with University of Washington students in the early spring and again for the Bellevue Jazz Festival with Michael Formanek’s group from The Rub and Spare Change. This Snakeoil presentation is your opportunity to witness the continuing evolution of one of jazz’s most markedly independent voices, now with an ECM release.
Ben Williams Group
Friday, March 16, 8PM
Seattle Art Museum
Tickets are $18 in advance; $20 at the door; Earshot Jazz members and seniors receive $2 discount; students pay half price
Rising-star bassist Ben Williams performs with his group at the Seattle Art Museum, downtown. The Washington DC-born, Harlem-based bandleader, musical educator, composer, electric and acoustic bassist was the winner of the 2009 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition, an award that helped the young artist produce his debut CD release State of Art. That record has galvanized Williams as an emerging and prominent voice in the jazz today.
State of Art is a mature statement stamped with his voice: “I wanted to make an album that regular nine-to-five people could enjoy,” Williams says, “and to make a deep artistic statement as well. I like music that grooves, and I make sure that my music feels good.”
Even before the release of State of Art, Williams was one of the most sought after young bassists in the world; his resume is a who’s who of jazz wisdom: Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Terence Blanchard, Christian McBride Big Band, Nicholas Payton, Paquito D’Rivera, Cyrus Chestnut, Benny Golson, Roy Hargrove, and Mulgrew Miller, to name a few. Williams’ warm, woody tone, flowing groove, melodic phrasing and storytelling approach has found favor among musicians, but also a larger audience.
On the bassist’s appeal, Nate Chinen of the New York Times writes, “Williams took several long solos in his first set at The Jazz Gallery … and each one felt more like an entitlement than an indulgence.”
He’s a natural who shares through his music what he sees happening in the world right now. From the liner notes of State of Art, by Williams: “This album is my honest and humble attempt at expressing (musically) what it feels like to be alive in 2011.”
In this February’s issue of JazzTimes magazine, writer Giovanni Russonello reports on Williams and contemporaries in Harlem doing just that – Christian Scott, Gerald Clayton, Justin Brown, Jamire Williams. “It’s almost like a second coming of the Harlem Renaissance,” trumpeter Christian Scott says.
Sierra Maestra
Saturday, March 31, 8PM
Town Hall Seattle
Tickets are $26 in advance; $28 day of show; Earshot Jazz members and seniors receive $2 discount; students pay half price
Revered in Cuba for decades, Sierra Maestra was originally formed by Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, who subsequently served as guiding spirit and musical director of the Buena Vista Social Club. As the first of the modern-era groups to play in the old-style son lineup – tres, guitar, trumpet, bongo, güiro and vocals – Sierra Maestra recalls the style’s golden age of the 1920s and 30s. Five of the original nine members remain. They are pioneers in reviving this style for new generations and reintroducing it into the Cuban – and global – mainstream.
Sierra Maestra is named after the mountain range in the eastern part of Cuba as a tribute to the birthplace of son. Nominated for a 2010 Latin Grammy, the group now celebrates 34 years since its formation. World Music Central says, “If son is indeed the soul of Cuba, then Sierra Maestra are the heartbeat at the center of that soul.” Oh yeah, there will be a dance floor.
Wolter Wierbos
Thursday, April 12 &
Friday, April 13
Venue announcement to come
The humorous and stunningly virtuosic Dutch trombonist hosts a workshop and performs. Stay tuned for venue announcements and ticket info.
– Schraepfer Harvey
