This past Friday we had the phenomenal tenor saxophonist Alexey Nikolaev in the house for Jazz in The Georgian at the illustrious The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, Washington. Alexely hails originally from Moscow, Russia. He has been in Seattle for over 12 years and plays prolifically in and around Seattle as well as internationally and throughout the United States. Tenor saxophone and acoustic bass make an ideal duo paring. It has been about three years since we featured a sax player in The Georgian at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel. It's taken awhile but it has been a journey to acclimate the room for live music in The Georgian, a room absent live music for many years before our arrival.
Jazz in The Georgian started in mid-2005. Prior to that live musical entertainment was featured in The Garden Court back when The Olympic Hotel was run by the Four Seasons luxury hotel chain. When The Fairmont Hotel took over in August of 2003, The Garden Court ended its run as the hotel's nightclub and live music venue up to New Year's Eve of that year after decades of operation. The Garden Court became dark and was converted to a banquet room for private special events. In 2004 the hotel only had solo piano in The Terrace as its sole live music entertainment. In 2005 the executive management decided to reintroduce live music not in The Garden, but rather, The Georgian. As beautiful a room as The Georgian is there was a sense that live music would add to the elegance of this fine dining room, thus elevating the ambiance. So began a run of live jazz music that has been going on coming up on eight years. At first The Georgian hadn't had live music regularly for quite some time other than having a solo pianist play a grand piano in the middle of the room back in the 1990's. There was a time back in the early days of The Olympic Hotel that there were music ensembles and big band type music in The Georgian. But, it had been a while since ensemble playing was featured there regularly. Live music initially took a while to ease back into The Georgian as regulars and newcomers alike got used to the idea of it. We were playing in a manner of temerity and "on eggshells" as it were as to not offend dining guests in a room that had not seen live music on a regular basis for many years. There are lots of older folks especially with hearing aids that find live music even if played at a low volume to be too uncomfortable for them as the devices amplify all ambient sounds. Music even played at an ambient level that does not interfere with conversations could still be unbearably loud to a person with a hearing aid turned up high. For the first four and a half years, a guitar and bass duo of myself and guitarist Dan Sales were the ensemble that played. With Dan's departure in early 2010, I've had the fortune of inviting and performing with some of the best players in town on their respective instruments. Guitarists and pianists were the primary instrumentalists that joined me on Friday and Saturday nights. I experimented with bringing in some saxophone players also. The first couple times it seemed to work as the sax players played at a very low volume level. However, unfortunately, we had a situation one night where an elderly lady with a hearing aid could not tolerate the sound of the saxophone. And the foray into saxophone music ended.
It has been a few years since then and we brought in tenor saxophonist Brian Kent to play for Valentine's Day in The Georgian this past February with my jazz trio. Brian was actually the first sax player I brought in three years ago, and he understood the nature of the room. The trio was a success for that night as it was well received, and the saxophone was very appropriate in its sound and volume. I believe that the room has acclimated to live music after all these years, and we're not so much walking tenderly and on egg shells in regards to playing live jazz music. With that in mind, the time felt right where I could reintroduce the saxophone into The Georgian. We did just that and it is with great pleasure that I introduce saxman Alexey Nikolaev to Jazz in The Georgian.
Alexey is one of the most in demand saxophonists in Seattle. He quickly established himself when he first arrived from Russia playing in a pop band from his country that made a stop in Seattle. Alexey at that point decided to stay and the rest is history as they say. He is a world class saxophonist with virtuoso chops. It was just a great pleasure to play with Alexey as he is not only a great musician, but a very gracious and fine person to be around.
Alexey was eager to play a duo with a bassist as a challenge of producing music in an instrumentally sparse setting. Also, this is a very challenging situation to play with great restraint in terms of the volume level. The physics of playing a horn instrument requires a certain amount of air to be blown through the instrument to produce a satisfying tone and sound. Maintaining the intensity of the sound is very difficult at very low volume for saxophone. As a testament to his remarkable chops, Alexey manages to pull off this feat effortlessly.
We have three videos from this night as evidence of what took place musically. The fourth video is actually from a special corporate event that Alexey and I played on a month and a half ago in February at Escala Tower. This features my jazz quartet. This is a stark contract to show you what Alexey sounds like playing full bore at volume and sound. Enjoy!
Up Jumped Spring
Sophisticated Lady
Groovin' High
Pent Up House
Emmanuel del Casal Quartet @ Escala Tower
Please visit our YouTube channel to see and hear more highlights of Jazz in The Georgian, and Smooth Groove Productions special events.
Jazz in The Georgian every Friday and Saturday nights, 6pm-10pm at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel, 411 University Street, Seattle, WA 98101, 206-621-7889.
Please visit www.smoothgroove.net
Elevate your special event with live music. We don't miss a beat!
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