On Saturday, April 27 we had superb tenor saxophonist Brian Kent featured at Jazz in The Georgian at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in downtown Seattle. It has been three years since he played with me on a weekend in The Georgian. I believe that Brian and I first met on a gig sometime in the mid-1990's. A native of Colorado and a graduate of Berklee College Of Music, Brian moved to Seattle in the mid-1980's, and has been a prolific saxophonist in the local music scene since.
Brian also has a long running steady gig every Saturday afternoon at a high end specialty women's boutique called Alhambra owned by Serpil and Shakir Kaymaz, right across from the Pike Place Market. His gig like mine here is a jazz duo in which he rotates a different musician every session.
We captured some good video moments from this night. The first video is actually the very first tune we played of the evening called It Could Happen To You.
It Could Happen To You
This next tune is of a good old standard called What Is This Thing Called Love for the beginning head and on the out head it's bebop version called Hot House.
What Is This Thing Called Love/Hot House
Here is All The Things You Are played as a waltz.
All The Things You Are
This is a song called Groovin' High by the late great bebop pioneer Dizzy Gillespie.
Groovin' High
This last video is of the great Steve Swallow tune Falling Grace, which was featured in last week's post as well. It's a tune I learned recently that is one of the more challenging tunes that is getting lots of play here.
Falling Grace
Next time you happen to be in the Pike Place Market vicinity on a Saturday afternoon, come see Brian Kent play at Alhambra located at 101 Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98101. He plays there from 1pm-5pm. Come in for some stellar live jazz and hot tea as well as some of the finest women's clothes to shop.
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.
Guitarist Frank Seeberger was in the house Friday, April 19 for Jazz in The Georgian at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in the heart of downtown Seattle. A native of the Pacific Northwest, Frank holds a music Masters degree from New England Conservatory in Boston. He has been an elementary music teacher in the Seattle school district for over 15 years who also gives guitar lessons as a private instructor. Frank is one of the most in-demand guitarists in the area who is extremely versatile in playing in almost any professional gig situation. Whether the music is straight ahead jazz, big band swing, rock and pop music, R&B/funk, or shows that require qualified music reading skills, Frank can back it up.
On this particular night I decided to bring my Ibanez fretless bass guitar. I have owned this bass for about 23 years. Almost all of that time it mainly spent forgotten in the corner of my office with a generous coating of dust. Back in 1990 I had a beautiful Music Man electric four-string bass with a stunning birds eye maple neck. It was a great funk bass and just growled. One evening I went out drinking with a buddy in Pioneer Square and put the bass in the trunk of my friends car. We were parked on a side street just off First Avenue. Apparently, someone had spied us putting the bass in the trunk. When we got back to the car after an hour, the bass was gone from the trunk. The thief at least had the courtesy to close the trunk. It was pretty devastating to lose that fine instrument. It makes me wince just thinking about. I put the thought of it long out of mind. The next day I immediately went to the music store and bought two basses to make up for this tremendous loss. I got a Fender Jazz bass that became my main bass for many years, and a black Ibanez fretless bass. Getting two basses instead of just one was probably more of a reaction to quell the agony of this mishap. I recall that I did have a desire to play the fretless bass and this was an opportunity to get one as it was on display at the store. However, almost all of my time was spent on the new Fender Jazz bass as my new number one bass. Every now and then I would dabble on the fretless but never found a comfort level with it. I was simply not ready to pursue this bass as my playing style at the time was not really suited for it. Also, I was simply afraid and intimidated by the fretless bass. It is much different than a regular fretted electric bass. Playing in tune is the main issue. I didn't have the chops for it and wasn't focused on it enough to dive into it. So the poor bass languished and sat neglected pretty much untouched for...decades.
It was only not until a few weeks ago that I decided to give this bass a shot. What prompted me was my association as a partner of Seattle record label Urban Mosaic Records that needed some fretless bass tracks on some studio music projects. I put down some fretless bass tracks on a composition of mine where it was the lead instrument. Something of a revelation happened. I could play this bass! I was also learning the great song by Steve Swallow called Falling Grace. With all tunes that I learn, I learn the melody as well as chord changes and did so on the acoustic bass as well as the "new" fretless. Because of my time spent on the upright, which if you think about it is really the ultimate fretless bass, this electric fretless felt totally at home and comfortable. It's like an extension of my upright. Even though the spacing and certain technique is different on the upright, this electric fretless just felt so comfortable and right. It was butter. Playing the upright bass is all about using the ears to maintain correct intonation. Playing an electric fretted bass does not have the same challenge. Just by rolling your finger slightly on the finger board of an upright or electric fretless will immensely vary the pitch. Having played the upright bass so extensively has produced a great skill set of ear training that apparently seamlessly transfers to the electric fretless. It's as if I just discovered a new instrument even though I've had it for twenty-three years. It feels like full circle in a way. The first half of my music career was spent exclusively on the electric bass. The latter half of my career up to the present time has been mainly on the acoustic bass. Now, after all these years I have gotten back to the electric bass (actually never left it), but I have found a new voice with the electric fretless. This would not have happened had I not been playing the upright bass for the last twelve years. Right now, it's a neat feeling to discover a "new" thing at this stage of music career and life as a youthful middle aged person. It's exciting.
With Frank coming in The Georgian, I thought this would be a great opportunity to bring the fretless out and leave the big upright at home. A lot of traditional jazz musicians do not carry over to the electric instrumentation world of jazz-rock-funk-fusion. Frank does as he is a modern contemporary guitarist who is equally skilled playing traditional straight ahead jazz and fusion jazz. This is the first time ever that I have played this fretless bass on any gig or situation where it's the main bass. Frank's style of playing is such that the electric fretless would be compatible to him. That turned out to be correct. It was just great fun to play that night.
We covered a lot of musical ground this past Friday. Normally, if I can get just one or two good videos out of the whole night, that's a success. We got a bunch of moments captured on video to share. I'm so excited about the possibilities of playing the fretless electric. It has such a great resonant earthy wood tone. Please enjoy these video presentations from our night of Jazz in The Georgian!
This first video is the new tune I recently learned, Falling Grace.
Falling Grace
This next video is a pretty waltz called Emily.
Emily
Here's a blues tune by jazz guitar legend Wes Montgomery called D Natural Blues.
D Natural Blues
This song is a Antonio-Carlos Jobim piece called Once I Loved.
Once I Loved
The last video is a great song by Sam Rivers called Beatrice.
Beatrice
I hope I didn't overwhelm with these many videos. If you did get through them, thank you for taking the time to check them out. I truly hope you enjoyed them as much as we enjoyed playing on them.
Next at Jazz in The Georgian we have the marvelous jazz guitarist Milo Petersen back again this Friday, April 26, and superbly hip tenor saxophonist Brian Kent in the house on Saturday, April 27.
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.
Jay Mabin, harmonica player extraordinaire, was in the house on Saturday, April 13 for Jazz in The Georgian. He has been a monthly regular at The Georgian Restaurant inside Seattle's Fairmont Olympic Hotel for the past three years. Jay is a dear friend whom I've known for about twenty years. He is a highly accomplished and marvelous harmonicist who plays chromatic and an array of diatonic harmonicas. Jay plays the diatonic harps chromatically, which underscores his deft abilities and skills. Jay is also an accomplished bassist as well who has backed up many regional artists throughout his musical career.
The night before on Friday, we had great tenor saxophonist Alexey Nikolaev. As discussed in the previous blog post, the duo of tenor sax and bass is a challenging but not an uncommon configuration. The lack of a chordal instrument creates a freer musical space in terms of harmonic improvisation. Also, the absence of a drummer places greater responsibility in both players to uphold the tempo/meter and rhythmic feel of the music. Tenor sax and bass is not unusual at all. It's been recorded and featured many times with great players over many years. However, it is not common to hear a harmonica and bass duo. I think that may be due to the fact that there are not a plethora of harmonica players that can play jazz and improvise over complex chord changes. Harmonica has traditionally been in the realm of blues music. It is an instrument that the musical layman may be able to pick up and play along in a straight ahead blues setting. Perhaps because of this the harmonica has not been given the recognition than say a saxophone, trumpet, piano, or any traditional type of instrument. I am not aware of any places of higher learning that offer degrees in harmonica playing. Even though there are great world-class harmonica players such as Toots Thielemans, Larry Adler, Ron Kalina, and Stevie Wonder, harmonica does not elicit the same serious acknowledgement as other traditional instruments.
The initial debut of Jay Mabin in The Georgian three years ago was an opportunity to try something different and somewhat daring. It was daring because The Georgian is a Four Star restaurant in the most prestigious luxury hotel in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest region. Because harmonica is something that is usually heard more in a bar or tavern setting in blues bands, it was somewhat bold to introduce it into such a posh setting. I think the young female Georgian manager at the time was a little nervous. But, there were two things that happened upon our initial gigs in The Georgian. For one, there was an instant chemistry between Jay and I that we recognized. It felt right and it sounded...great. And, two, the feedback from The Georgian staff and servers was predominantly positive. In fact, out of all the players that have come through the room, Jay is the staff favorite. Normally, no one will say much about anything, but when they go out of their way to make praise, it is something to take notice. As far as the feedback from the guests, Jay has received some of the most profuse positive comments. This duo has elicited more positive response than any other combination of players that I have worked with in The Georgian. It's the unusual combination of harmonica and bass that sparks the attention, but more so, Jay's skill and accomplishment on the instrument is the main reason for the positive feedback. On the other hand, we have also received the most vehement and negative feedback directed towards us. It's been just a few folks. But, like any situation where there is negativity it is highlighted and more grandiose. The negative feedback has been solely upon the sound of the harmonica and the belief that such an instrument has no place in a fine dining room such as The Georgian. Again, this goes back to the notion that the harmonica is an instrument that is not accepted in the same way as other traditional instruments. It's not supposed to fit. It's not the right image as it were.
I would agree with that sentiment if the harmonicist was not qualified and not performing at the utmost professional and high level. This is the furthest thing from the case with Jay. There is really no one else qualified that I am aware of in the region that can play what Jay plays and at his level of accomplishment. Make no mistake, there are outstanding harmonicists in the area such as Lee Oskar formerly of WAR who resides here and is of great renown in contribution to harmonica as well as a rock and roll legend. Because this gig is Jazz in The Georgian, the type of players who make their way into this room are some of the best jazz players in the area. Jay is one of those players. He covers many melodies and songs from the Great American Songbook and can improvise over the complex and harmonic progressions that is the basis of a qualified jazz musician. If you ever get to have a discussion with Jay over jazz discography, you will realize that he possesses a vast and deep knowledge of the jazz genre and of the major players and their recordings or historical importance.
Playing with Jay has been a real treat and privilege. A great musician and even more so a terrific person.
Here are a few videos that highlight just a sampling of our performances.
The first video is of a recording in July of 2010 of a real nice ballad called Old Folks. Jay and I have played this song dozens of times over these few years. This is actually the first recording of this song that we made. In my opinion this is the best version we have ever done of it. Jay is searing, soulful, and conveys a melancholy mournfulness. I got chills when I first heard this played back, and still do.
Old Folks
These next two videos are from April 13, 2013. Here is a rendition of the classic Benny Golson tune Killer Joe.
Killer Joe
Whenever we play we have to do a blues. This isn't so much a blues form because we're just vamping on a couple chords. But, the feel is a blues shuffle. We call this one Shuffle in F Thang. Feel free to dance. Enjoy!
Shuffle in F Thang
Jay is scheduled every second Saturday of each month for Jazz in The Georgian. Come on by and see and listen to this unique musical collaboration of harmonica and bass!
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.
On Friday, April 12, 2013 we had the marvelously superb tenor saxophonist Alexey Nikolaev back at Jazz in The Georgian at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in the Emerald City that is known as Seattle in the great Pacific Northwest.
This will be Alexey's second time in as many months in the fine dining restaurant The Georgian. Here is a link to the blog post of Alexey's debut last month.
Again, Alexey and I had a great time of duet playing. Tenor sax and string bass duo is not an uncommon configuration. It is an interesting combo in that there is no harmonic instrument, ie., piano or guitar. The bassist implies the harmony by outlining the chords in walking bass lines. But, also, there is a harmonic ambiguity as well as the bassist may choose to not necessarily define the chord structure. This sparse harmonic accompaniment frees up the soloist, in this case the tenor saxophonist to explore improvisational territory that is not rigidly laid down by a traditional harmonic chordal instrument. For the inexperienced jazz soloist this lack of a present chordal instrument as well as lack of a drummer resulting in more open space may be a daunting exercise. But, for a veteran master player such Alexey, this offers a musical playground from which to meet the challenge of taking the responsibility that more harmonic and rhythmic freedom offers, yet create music that is aesthetic, pleasing, and tasteful...or perhaps not if that is the artistic intent.
We have a couple videos to share from this night. The first video is a good old standard called Bye Bye Blackbird. The second video is a very nice bossa nova tune called Once I Loved by great Antonio-Carlos Jobim.
Bye Bye Blackbird
Once I Loved
Alexey Nikolaev will be back in The Georgian next month on Friday, May 24. We both hope to see you come out to experience the culinary artistry of Chef Gavin and the exquisite fine dining experience that The Georgian offers. Combined with the outstanding sonic art of jazz, it is a full sensory adventure not to be missed.
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.
On Friday, April 5 we had the superb hard bop pianist John Hansen in the house for Jazz in The Georgian at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in the heart of downtown Seattle, Washington. John is one of my very favorite pianists to work with. John and I go back many years to our days at the University of Washington where we met on campus in the music building. This would be around 1986-87. We actually never played together in any of the jazz ensembles at that time. We both played in the first jazz ensemble big band taught by the late Roy Cummings, but at different years. John preceded me in that band by a year or two. We actually played our first gigs together in a music project that played at the New Orleans Restaurant in Pioneer Square for a July weekend in 1990 when the Goodwill Games were going on in the Puget Sound at that time. After that John and I traveled separate musical paths. We didn't see one another or play another gig together until 2007. John's playing style harkens back to the hard bebop style of pianists Bud Powell, Barry Harris, and Mugrew Miller. His phrasing and everything he plays is steeped in a pronounced sense of swing. There is no doubt to where the meter and feel is when John executes his no nonsense straight ahead jazz lines. John has traveled the world playing jazz music with his renowned jazz vocalist wife Kelley Johnson. He is also a member of the Jay Thomas Band and the Jim Knapp Big Band as well as numerous other jazz projects and prolific accompanist for aspiring jazz vocalists.
John at The Georgian
Here are videos of a few of the songs we did that night. The first video is a great jazz tune called Four by MIles Davis. We started out the tune with a sort of 6/8 Afro-Cuban feel and then launched into a bright straight ahead jazz feel for the solos.
Four
This video is a nice standard called You Stepped Out Of A Dream. We did a rendition of this tune in a Brazilian bossa nova style.
You Stepped Out Of A Dream
This last video is of another excellent standard called Just One Of Those Things. This is a version of an arrangement that legendary jazz pianist Herbie Hancock did. Enjoy!
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.
