Jazz in The Georgian, April 19, 2013

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.  

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

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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.

Please visit www.smoothgroove.net

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

Jazz in The Georgian, April 13, 2013

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!

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

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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.

Please visit www.smoothgroove.net

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

Jazz in The Georgian, April 12, 2013

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.

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

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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.

Please visit www.smoothgroove.net

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

Jazz in The Georgian, April 5, 2013

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!

Just One Of Those Things

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

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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.

Please visit www.smoothgroove.net

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

Jazz in The Georgian, March 23, 2013

Jazz pianist Randy Halberstadt was the featured musical artist at Jazz in The Georgian on Saturday, March 23 at the posh The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, Washington.  Randy is a prolific pianist who performs regularly with many great jazz artists in Seattle and nationally. He is a composer of several albums as a leader as well as countless session recordings with other renown jazz artists.  Whether he is arranging for and accompanying jazz vocalists, playing in numerous gigs, or leading his own group, Randy is a tireless performer who is a stalwart of Seattle jazz in the Pacific Northwest.  

Randy whom I greatly respect and admire is more than just a fantastic jazz pianist.  He is a full music professor at Cornish College of the Arts as well as an author of a book called Metaphors For The Musician: Perspectives from a Jazz Pianist.  

We had a fun time playing this past Saturday.  Randy knows so many tunes and can play in any key on a whim.  We really delved into the Great American Songbook where the standards are from.  It's a treat and privilege to perform with Randy for which I am fortunate.

We have a couple videos captured from the gig.  The first tune was actually the first tune of the evening called I Should Care.  The second song is a Cole Porter standard called Everything I Love.  Enjoy!

I Should Care

Everything I Love

For more information about Randy and how to obtain his CD's and book, as well as see his calendar where he is performing, please visit his website.

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

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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.

Please visit www.smoothgroove.net

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

Jazz in The Georgian, March 22, 2013

On Friday, March 22 we had the inimitable jazz guitarist/drummer Milo Petersen back for Jazz in The Georgian at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, Washington.  

As always playing with Milo is a fun filled trip playing jazz standards and bebop heads.  We captured some nice moments on video of three great tunes: Tenor Madness, Soul Eyes, and Half Nelson.  Enjoy!



Tenor Madness is jazz blues staple.  It's a great uptempo blues tune to play.

Tenor Madness

Soul Eyes is a tune by jazz pianist and composer Mal Waldron.  This ballad is a widely recorded jazz standard that is dark and haunting yet beautiful.

Soul Eyes

This last video is a tune called Half Nelson by Miles Davis, which is based upon Ted Dameron's song Lady Bird.  Like many bop melodies Half Nelson is a challenging head to play.  Milo lays it down and also plays a shout chorus that is a tribute to the original song Lady Bird.

Half Nelson

Visit Milo's website.

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

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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.

Please visit www.smoothgroove.net

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

Jazz in The Georgian, March 15, 2013

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.

Follow us on Facebook and Twitter

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!