Jazz in The Georgian, August 23, 2013

Super saxman Alexey Nikolaev was back at The Georgian, the Four-Diamond restaurant inside The Fairmont Olympic Hotel on Friday, August 23, 2013.  As usual we had a terrific time playing many great tunes and songs from the Great American Songbook.  Alexey was in prime form as always.  Playing the saxophone in The Georgian is a challenging prospect.  The nature of this gig is that it is quiet.  This is a very fine dining establishment and it is incumbent upon us, the band, to perform at a level of ambient volume that does not overshadow the phenomenal culinary experience of this great restaurant.  Alexey has extraordinary facility and chops who is known for his powerful tenor sax playing.  It is remarkable to hear him play at a pianissimo level and still retain the intensity and speed of his playing.  This is a very difficult thing to do.  Alexey is no ordinary talent.  He pulls it off effortlessly.

Here are some moments we captured on video.

Autumn Leaves

This is a nice tune called Whisper Not by Benny Golson.

Whisper Not

This song exemplifies exactly what I said about Alexey's marvelous facility and ability to perform quietly yet retain his fluidity, speed, and intensity over his instrument.  This song is a good old standard called Just One Of Those Things.  Alexey just burns on this tune yet is quiet enough that you can hear the clicking of the sax keys from his fingers.  This is great stuff.

Just One Of Those Things

Alexey Nikolaev will be back for Jazz in The Georgian on Friday, September 13, 6pm-10pm.
Don't miss out!

Please visit our YouTube channel to see and hear highlights of Jazz in The Georgian, and Smooth Groove Productions special events.

Follow us on:

Jazz in The Georgian every Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm-10pm at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, 411 University Street, Seattle, Washington 98101, 206-621-7889.

For booking inquiries of Emmanuel del Casal Jazz Ensembles,

please write to emman@smoothgroove.net

Or, call us at 1-866-771-2500.

Elevate your event with live music.  We don't miss a beat!

Jazz in The Georgian, August 10, 2013

The incomparable jazz harmonicist Jay Mabin was back again at The Georgian Restaurant inside The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in the heart of downtown Seattle.  For over three years Jay has been a regular guest artist with whom I have had the privilege to play.  He is a rare harmonica player who can not only play traditional blues music that the harmonica is so associated with, but can play difficult complex melodies as well as improvise over challenging jazz harmony.  Playing over jazz chord changes is really where Jay separates himself with other harmonica players.  According to the great Seattle jazz vocalist Greta Matassa, she told me recently that Jay is really a unique harp player.  Some years ago she was recording an album and she wanted Jay to be on it.  He was unavailable at the time for the session.  She did a search for qualified jazz harmonica players around the country, but she was not able to locate someone who could substitute for Jay.  True jazz harp players are not abundant.  We're fortunate that we have Jay to represent the Pacific Northwest region as our truly outstanding jazz harmonicist.

We had another fun night of playing.  Here are a few videos of some of the highlights.

This first video is a Chick Corea song called 500 Miles High.  It's a really fun jazz fusion type song.  We play it kind of funky.

500 Miles High

This next video is of a great standard by the late jazz legend and pioneer Louis Armstrong called What A Wonderful World.

What A Wonderful World

This last video is a song that he played at the end of the night.  We made this one up on the spot.  It's called Shuffle In F Thang.  This is just some down home blues.

Shuffle In F Thang

Jay Mabin will be back again for Jazz in The Georgian on Saturday, September 14.  Hope to see you!

Please visit our YouTube channel to see and hear highlights of Jazz in The Georgian, and Smooth Groove Productions special events.

Follow us on:

Jazz in The Georgian every Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm-10pm at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, 411 University Street, Seattle, Washington 98101, 206-621-7889.

For booking inquiries of Emmanuel del Casal Jazz Ensembles,

please write to emman@smoothgroove.net

Or, call us at 1-866-771-2500.

Elevate your event with live music.  We don't miss a beat!

Jazz in The Georgian, August 9, 2013

On Friday, August 9, 2013 the remarkable and highly accomplished guitarist Frank Seeberger was back again at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel for Jazz in The Georgian.  Frank had just purchased a brand new guitar and got a chance to break it in for some very fun playing of jazz tunes and standards.  I have been playing my Ibanez fretless electric bass with Frank for the past several times.  His sound and versatility allows my fretless to blend in with him in a variety of styles that range from straight ahead jazz, fusion, and funk.  

We had a great night of playing.  There were lots of excellent takes from the evening.  Here are some of the video highlights.

This first video is an old standard called On Green Dolphin Street that we played by request.

On Green Dolphin Street

This next video is a wonderful bossa nova tune by Antonio-Carlos Jobim called How Insensitive.

How Insensitive

This is a song that I never get tired of playing.  As a result it's been a tune that I've featured many times called Beatrice.

Beatrice

This last song is tune we kind of made up on the spot.  One may not think to hear this type of song played in the fine dining establishment that The Georgian is.  This one is called "Shuffle In G".  This was a lot of fun.  I dare you not to move to this.

Shuffle In G

Please visit our YouTube channel to see and hear highlights of Jazz in The Georgian, and Smooth Groove Productions special events.

Follow us on:

Jazz in The Georgian every Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm-10pm at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, 411 University Street, Seattle, Washington 98101, 206-621-7889.

For booking inquiries of Emmanuel del Casal Jazz Ensembles,

please write to emman@smoothgroove.net

Or, call us at 1-866-771-2500.

Elevate your event with live music.  We don't miss a beat!

Jazz in The Georgian, August 3, 2013

This past Saturday, on August 3, 2013, my friend and terrific hard bop jazz pianist John Hansen was back for Jazz in The Georgian at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel.  As usual John brought his hard swinging phrasing and no-nonsense straight ahead jazz playing for another fun evening at this esteemed four-star restaurant in the heart of downtown Seattle.  It was an especially busy night that featured an unusual two-for-one dinner promotion over the weekend.  Such promotions occur only on the weekdays and exclude the weekends, but this was an exception.  The night before on Friday, there were so many guests dining and the collective din of conversational volume, that I could barely hear myself play my un-amplified bass with pianist Randy Halberstadt.  Tonight wasn't quite as busy as Friday, but the room still hummed with several dozens of patrons as the Georgian staff were put through their tough task of maintaining the high exceptional service that is trademark for this distinguished hotel restaurant.

John and I had a good time as usual playing lots of great tunes and standards.  We got a couple good takes from the evening.  The first video is a standard called The Song Is You by Jerome Kern.

The Song Is You

In this video we're playing a long time old standard by Ray Noble called Cherokee.

Cherokee

John Hansen will be back for more outstanding piano jazz playing at Jazz in The Georgian on Saturday, August 24.  Catch some remarkable jazz performance at the unique fine dining experience at The Georgian restaurant inside The Fairmont Olympic Hotel.

Please visit our YouTube channel to see and hear highlights of Jazz in The Georgian, and Smooth Groove Productions special events.

Follow us on:

Jazz in The Georgian every Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm-10pm at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, 411 University Street, Seattle, Washington 98101, 206-621-7889.

For booking inquiries of Emmanuel del Casal Jazz Ensembles,

please write to emman@smoothgroove.net

Or, call us at 1-866-771-2500.

Elevate your event with live music.  We don't miss a beat!

Jazz in The Georgian, August 2, 2013

The great jazz pianist Randy Halberstadt was back in the house for Jazz in The Georgian inside The Fairmont Olympic Hotel on Friday, August 2, 2013.  Fresh from performing the previous week at the Centrum Port Townsend Jazz Festival where he participates as a faculty member and performer every year at this week long event, Randy brought his high energy playing to The Georgian after performing with some of the world's best jazz musicians on the planet.

We managed to get one decent recording and video from this evening.  The Georgian Restaurant was running a rare two-for-one special during this weekend.  Normally, specials such as this one and also the Seattle Restaurant Week specials, always occur only on the weekdays.  This special promotion made The Georgian exceptionally busy on this Friday night as it was a very full house.  With such a high capacity of guests comes the loud din of simultaneous conversations.  As the evening went on, I could barely hear myself play.  For this gig specifically, I play my bass acoustically with no amplification.  We did manage to get one recording that wasn't too saturated with noise.  The song featured is Irvin Berlin's How Deep Is The Ocean.

How Deep Is The Ocean

Randy Halberstadt's next appearance at Jazz in The Georgian will be on Saturday, September 21.
Don't miss some great piano jazz music!

Please visit our YouTube channel to see and hear highlights of Jazz in The Georgian, and Smooth Groove Productions special events.

Follow us on:

Jazz in The Georgian every Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm-10pm at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, 411 University Street, Seattle, Washington 98101, 206-621-7889.

For booking inquiries of Emmanuel del Casal Jazz Ensembles,

please write to emman@smoothgroove.net

Or, call us at 1-866-771-2500.

Elevate your event with live music.  We don't miss a beat!

Jazz in The Georgian, July 19, 2013

Super tenor saxophonist Alexey Nikolaev was back in The Georgian Restaurant inside The Fairmont Olympic Hotel for more tenor sax and bass duo combo at Jazz in The Georgian.  It's a real privilege and treat to be able to play with one of the very best sax players in the region as well as international level.  Alexey, a native of Moscow, Russia, is a gentleman who is always warm and gracious with whom to work.  We have a couple video highlights from our gig this evening and also a video from last month's gig.

This first song is a wonderful ballad called Autumn in New York.

Autumn in New York

Sir Paul McCartney was performing a concert at Safeco Field at the very moment Alexey and I were playing.  It would have been great to see the former legendary Beatle, but, hey, we were working.  In his honor we played one of his famous tunes that he co-wrote with that other legendary Beatle John Lennon called Yesterday.

Yesterday

This last video was actually from our gig together on June 21 last month.  This is an excellent rendition of a great Cole Porter tune called You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To.

You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To

We hope that you enjoy these songs from our gig.  But there is nothing like being there to witness live performance.  We invite you to come out to The Georgian and see Alexey and I play live.  Alexey Nikolaev will be back for Jazz in The Georgian on Friday, August 23.

Please visit our YouTube channel to see and hear highlights of Jazz in The Georgian, and Smooth Groove Productions special events.

Follow us on:

Jazz in The Georgian every Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm-10pm at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, 411 University Street, Seattle, Washington 98101, 206-621-7889.

For booking inquiries of Emmanuel del Casal Jazz Ensembles,

please write to emman@smoothgroove.net

Or, call us at 1-866-771-2500.

Elevate your event with live music.  We don't miss a beat!

Jazz in The Georgian, July 20, 2013

On Saturday, July 20, 2013 guitarist Paul Sawyer was in the house for Jazz in The Georgian at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel.  Paul is an old friend whom he and I go back many years.  We had a very enjoyable time playing lots of tunes and standards.  Here are a couple of video highlights from our gig.

This video is a version of a great Duke Ellington song called Prelude To A Kiss.  We play this version as a waltz in 3/4 time.

Prelude To A Kiss

Here is a great jazz tune to play called Solar by Miles Davis

Solar

Please visit our YouTube channel to see and hear highlights of Jazz in The Georgian, and Smooth Groove Productions special events.

Follow us on:

Jazz in The Georgian every Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm-10pm at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, 411 University Street, Seattle, Washington 98101, 206-621-7889.

For booking inquiries of Emmanuel del Casal Jazz Ensembles,

please write to emman@smoothgroove.net

Or, call us at 1-866-771-2500.

Elevate your event with live music.  We don't miss a beat!

Jazz in The Georgian, July 12, 2013

On Friday, July 12, 2013 my good friend John Hansen was back in the house for Jazz in The Georgian at the fabulous The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in the heart of downtown Seattle.  This session was an especially on night.  We played lots of great tunes in which the energy was high and the feel was swinging hard.  John is the hardest swinging bop jazz pianist in town.

I've been videotaping these gigs in The Georgian for over a year now and posting select videos on my YouTube channel.  The Sansung W300 pocket camcorder has been the video capturing device along with my Boss BR600 digital 8-track recorder for audio capture.  In the editing process I sync the video minus the camcorder sound with the better recording of the digital recorder, which has good results.  Normally per gig, I'll get one or two good takes of songs that are worthy of making into a video and posting up on YouTube. My goal is to get just one decent video out of the more than two hours of video footage from the gig.  This evening was one of those nights that felt great and high musicality was abundant.  Out of the eighteen tunes we played on this four-hour gig, almost everything we played was really on.  I made five videos but I'm just posting four for now.  And, there were more songs that could have made the cut to become a video.  It was a total blast to play with John.  Nights like these remind and ground me to as what this musical career of playing gigs is all about.  Of course it's also essential to get paid for what we do as professionals.  Certain nights come together musically more so than others and this was one of those nights.  I hope you enjoy these selections.

The first tune of the evening is called Alone Together.  This set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Alone Together

Come Rain Or Come Shine is a really great fun standard to play.

Come Rain Or Come Shine

Here's a blues tune by the late great bebop pianist Bud Powell called Dance Of The Infidels.

Dance Of The Infidels

This song was the last one we played for the evening.  It didn't get captured on video but the audio recording of John's blazing solo was too good not to share.  This is Herbie Hancock's One Finger Snap.

One Finger Snap

John Hansen will be back for more hard bop jazz playing in August.  Stay tuned for scheduling updates on Facebook and Twitter.

  

Please visit our YouTube channel to see and hear highlights of Jazz in The Georgian, and Smooth Groove Productions special events.

Follow us on:

Jazz in The Georgian every Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm-10pm at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, 411 University Street, Seattle, Washington 98101, 206-621-7889.

For booking inquiries of Emmanuel del Casal Jazz Ensembles,

please write to emman@smoothgroove.net

Or, call us at 1-866-771-2500.

Elevate your event with live music.  We don't miss a beat!

Jazz in The Georgian, July 5, 2013

On Friday, July 5, 2013 jazz guitarist Ron Peters was in the house for Jazz in The Georgian at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in downtown Seattle.  We had an excellent post July 4 gig.  Here's a taste of what we did.

Alone Together

Please visit our YouTube channel to see and hear highlights of Jazz in The Georgian, and Smooth Groove Productions special events.

Follow us on:

Jazz in The Georgian every Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm-10pm at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, 411 University Street, Seattle, Washington 98101, 206-621-7889.

For booking inquiries of Emmanuel del Casal Jazz Ensembles,

please write to emman@smoothgroove.net

Or, call us at 1-866-771-2500.

Elevate your event with live music.  We don't miss a beat!