Seattle Photographer Daniel Sheehan

Evan Flory-Barnes conducts his ensemble in the premiere performance of his large chamber composition ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF A CELEBRATION at Town Hall in the final presentation of the 2009 Earshot Jazz Festival.

What a great performance by the orchestra moving through a fusion of jazz, hip-hop, and classical music, complete with modern dancers and freestyle break dancers. The Seattle bassist and composer is excited premiering the large chamber work, a snapshot of the abundance of inspiration that can thread artistic mediums together in Seattle. The premiere of Acknowledgement of a Celebration features 35 musicians and ten dancers set to Flory-Barnes’s new compositions.

Flory-Barnes performs with an inclusive passion and expressive intensity, as though he were completely immersed in music. He regularly brings his trio, The Teaching, to the Lucid jazz club in the University District for an open community jam and hang. The Teaching appeared in the 2008 Earshot Jazz Festival at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.

I was photographing the group 2nd Century Savage, at the Earshot Jazz concert series: Jazz: The Second Century at the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford last Thursday, and it turned out not to be as hot as it was on Weds. There was a cool breeze drafting in the windows as the Good Shepherd Center sits on top of a hill and the space is on the 4th floor with a view of the sun setting over the Olympics. I was taken by the backlighting on this tree and focused on it rather than the sunset.

2nd Century Savage is saxophonist, flutist, and composer John C. Savage with electronica artist, vusac (aka Isaac Peachin). Their mission, they say, is to expand the definition of jazz to include electronic instruments and live production techniques in tandem with contemporary jazz improvisation. The results are haunting, transporting, and strikingly novel. Their performances give the impression of swirling planes of sound, some melodic and familiar, some protean and mysterious, folding through untold dimensions of space and the mind.

Photograph by Seattle Photographer Daniel Sheehan specializing in photojournalism, portraits for publications and corporations, and photojournalistic Seattle wedding photography.

Phil Kelly has been working on a new CD project,out at Bear Creek Studio in Woodinville recently, his first big band jazz album under his own name, “Convergence Zone” which is scheduled for fall release on Origin Records. I got to make a panoramic photo of the whole band on a break out behind the studio. Phil is seated at right.
In addition to more than 40 years as a composer / arranger for film, TV, and other media applications, Phil Kelly has written for bands like Bill Watrous’ NY Wildlife Refuge, the Old Tonight show band , Doc Severinsen, Si Zentner, as well as functioning as arranger/ conductor / drummer for vocalists Buddy Greco, Julius LaRosa, Frank D’Rone, Sylvia Syms, John Gary, Jenny Smith, and Al ‘TNT’ Braggs among others..

Early on in his career, he also logged several years as a jazz drummer with artists such as Terry Gibbs ,Red Garland, and Denny Zeitlin as well as years of work as a studio and recording drummer. In addition to his film and TV writing, He has written music for over 500 national commercials , ESPN, ABC Sports , NFL Films, and industrial films and shows for Cadillac, Chevrolet, Volkswagen, American Airlines and Zales Jewelers.

His website is at http://www.philkellymusic.com/

I photographed  Dianne Reeves and Kurt Elling last night at the Belllevue Jazz Festival. What a treat.  Two of the top jazz vocalists around today. Dianne Reeves performed last night in the Meydenbauer Center with her Strings Attached ensemble featuring guitarists Russell Malone and Romero Lubambo. They were fantastic. I last photographer Russell at the Triple Door back in March playing a duet with Bill Frisell.

Kurt Elling performed with Laurence Hobgood on piano, Rob Amster on bass, and Ulysses Owens Jr on drums. The trio created a great sound backing Kurt in a marvelous performance. He was so cool and suave.

I photographed Wayne Horvitz during a sound check before his performance at the 2006 Earshot Jazz Festival at the Triple Door. He was laying with the Gravitas Quartet. A beautiful group. What I really like about this photograph is the backlight making almost a complete silhouette. It is really nice to have access to different angles during a soundcheck instead of shooting from the audience. I am going to add this to my editorial website splash page. I like the feeling of it. Maybe it is too quiet?

Photograph by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan, a photojournalist specializing in photojournalism and portrait photography for publications and corporations and a Seattle wedding photographer with an unobtrusive, story-telling approach creating award winning Seattle wedding photography and wedding photojournalism ranked among the best Seattle wedding photographers.

Photograph of Seattle based musican and composer Wayne Horvitz conducting the New York Composers Orchestra, East and West

The New York Composers Orchestra was formed in 1986 by composers Wayne Horvitz and Robin Holcomb as a means to perform works by composers wishing to write for jazz instrumentation without being confined by traditional jazz and big band styles. In New York, the orchestra was commissioned to perform works by Anthony Braxton, Lenny Picket, Butch Morris, Marty Ehrlich, and Elliott Sharp, among many others. After Horvitz and Holcomb relocated to Seattle in 1988, however, the NYCO repertoire spread out across the US – it has been performed by the original ensemble in New York City, Horvitz and Holcomb’s New York Composers Orchestra West, which very occasionally performed here in Seattle, and the Boston-based Jazz Composers Alliance, which has also showcased some of its scores.
Opportunities to hear large orchestras as adventurous as this, featuring musicians as gifted as this, are few and far between. As Rolling Stone has noted: “The NYCO points directions out of the musical prison that surround too much current jazz. And, like all truly great big bands, it swings its tail off.”
In this Seattle revival, Horvitz presented a stellar lineup of old friends from New York days along with some of the outstanding Seattleites whom he recruited to his cause early in his time here: on reeds, Hans Teuber, Briggan Krauss, Skerik, Doug Wieselman, and Jim Dejoie; on trumpets, Ron Miles, Brad Allison, and Thomas Marriott; on trombones, Chris Stover and Nelson Bell; on French horn, Tom Varner; on drums, Bobby Previte; on bass, Phil Sparks; on piano and organ, Wayne Horvitz. Robin Holcomb conducts and plays piano. With special guest, on guitar: Tim Young.

Steven Bernstein’s Millennial Territory Orchestra West, Wednesday, November 5, King Cat Theater
This was something different in the course of the Earshot Jazz Festival. There are always some surprising shows and this was one of them.

New York-trumpeter Steven Bernstein conducts his fine nine-piece band, which typically explores the largely-lost music of the bluesy, loose-territory bands. Tonight he performed in accompaniment to three Laurel and Hardy silent films on the screen behind him at the King Kat Theatre and he and the band had a lot of fun with it as did the audience. The Laurel and Hardy films were classic treasures.
Steven Bernstein likes to have his cake and eat it too. The Grammy-nominated trumpeter is one of the hardest-working musicians to come out of New York’s “downtown scene.” He recently released three critically-acclaimed CDs on John Zorn’s Tzadik label and has had his music featured on MTV, Saturday Night Live, and National Public Radio.
His ensemble, the Millennial Territory Orchestra, is an outgrowth of his immersion in the sound of the Midwestern swing bands from Robert Altman’s movie Kansas City. The ensemble was formed in 1999 for a series of midnight shows at New York’s Tonic nightclub, and they subsequently spent a year and a half in residency at the Jazz Standard. The group, a collection of distinctive musical personalities, recently released its debut recording, MTO Vol. 1, on Sunnyside Records. This is sure to be an edge-of-your-seat performance, featuring swing band adaptations of several rock and soul genre classics, led by this wonderfully “left of center” musician.

Click here for the complete schedule for the rest of the upcoming shows at the 2008 Earshot Jazz Festival

Photograph by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan, a photojournalist specializing in jazz photography, photojournalism and portrait photography for publications and corporations. He is also a Seattle wedding photographer with an unobtrusive, story-telling approach creating award winning wedding photojournalism among Seattle wedding photographers.

Bill Cosby sits in with the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra Saturday, November 1, Nordstrom Recital Hall/Benaroya Hall

Bill Cosby was scheduled to appear at Benaroya Hall but before he went on he wandered over to the Nordstrom Recital Hall to visit with his old friend James Moody who was scheduled to appear with the SRJO. It was then that he invited himself to make a surprise guest appearance with the SRJO too. So to the delight of the Orchestra and the audience he came onstage and after a brief consultation began playing Duke Ellington’s “Take The A Train” with very funny interjections.

The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra is the Northwest’s premier big band jazz ensemble. Founded in 1995, the 17-piece band is made up of the region’s leading jazz instrumentalists, both young and old. Committed to presenting the great works of jazz, the SRJO’s repertoire is drawn from the past 100 years of jazz history, including works by Fletcher Henderson, Charles Mingus, Gil Evans, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Gerry Mulligan, Thad Jones, and of course, Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

Click here for the complete schedule for the rest of the upcoming shows at the 2008 Earshot Jazz Festival

Photograph by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan, a photojournalist specializing in jazz photography, photojournalism and portrait photography for publications and corporations. He is also a Seattle wedding photographer with a subtle, unobtrusive, story-telling approach creating award winning wedding photojournalism ranking him among the best Seattle wedding photographers.

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Ravi Coltrane Quartet Thursday, October 30, Triple Door

Just got back from shooting the wonderful Ravi Coltrane at the Triple Door, one of my favorite jazz venues. Ravi and the Quartet were in good form performing with an amazing intensity. You got to get out and see some of these wonderful performances that Earshot Jazz festival is bringing to Seattle. There are still some wonderful shows coming up especially this coming  weekend. I am looking forward to seeing the legendary Charlie Hayden on Saturday at Town Hall.

Like his legendary father, John Coltrane, tenor and soprano saxophonist, bandleader, and composer Ravi Coltrane is dedicated to walking his own musical path. Considered one of the driving forces in modern jazz today, Coltrane was initially influenced by soul and funk music, R&B, classical music, and film scores before beginning formal musical studies at the California Institute of the Arts in 1986.
After meeting drummer Elvin Jones in 1991, Coltrane relocated to New York, where he performed with a variety of players, including Rashied Ali, Kenny Barron, and Steve Coleman. He toured regularly with Coleman and appeared on several of Coleman’s albums before producing his first CD, Moving Pictures, in 1997. Since then, Coltrane has produced five more albums, including Legacy, a four-disc, thematic study of his father’s career; Translinear Light, a collaborative project with his mother, pianist Alice Coltrane; and In Flux, featuring pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Drew Gress, and drummer E.J. Strickland – his primary ensemble since 2003. In addition to working and touring with his band, Coltrane launched his own recording company, RKM Music, in 2002. He has also performed with McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Carlos Santana, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Michael Brecker, George Duke, Stanley Clarke, and Branford Marsalis, among others.

Click here for the complete schedule for the rest of the upcoming shows at the 2008 Earshot Jazz Festival

Photograph by Seattle photographer Daniel Sheehan, a photojournalist specializing in jazz photography, photojournalism and portrait photography for publications and corporations. He is also a Seattle wedding photographer with a subtle, unobtrusive, story-telling approach creating award winning wedding photojournalism ranking him among the best Seattle wedding photographers.

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