November 4 Joe Doria, Eric Barber & Byron Vannoy, Tula’s, 8:30, $20 Reservations: 206-443-4221
An organ trio for the ages – Seattle’s go-to Hammond man brings two of Seattle’s fiercest improvisers to the stage in a funkified format. Expect gripping organ-sax-and-drums music from the Northwest virtuosos Doria, Eric Barber (saxophone), and Byron Vannoy (drums).Doria’s fingers and feet work the keys and pedals in astonishing feats of comp and groove. Doria performs regularly with Michael Shrieve’s Spellbinder and with McTuff, also appearing in the 2009 Earshot Jazz Festival. Barber, born in Eugene, Oregon, took musical education at the University of Oregon and then the California Institute of the Arts. He moved from Los Angeles to Seattle in 2004 and is regularly featured in some phenomenal ensembles here. Vannoy is a local performer and educator. He attended the Berklee College of Music, Cornish College of the Arts, and the California Institute of the Arts. He teaches at North Seattle Community College, at the Seattle Drum School, and at Pacific Music in Redmond.
October 27 Washington Composers Orchestra (WACO) Chapel Performance Space, 7:30, $15 BUY ONLINE
Robin Holcomb, Wayne Horvitz, and Tom Varner lead this adventurous 15-piece ensemble featuring top-flight Seattle improvisers and composers including Mark Taylor, Thomas Marriott, Eric Barber, Byron Vannoy, and Phil Sparks. Tonight, WACO presents an evening of music specially suited for the gorgeous acoustics of the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center. Approaching the traditional jazz big band as a “pocket orchestra,” the program will feature four extended compositions by Holcomb, Horvitz’s concerto for clarinet “River of Whiskey,” featuring guest clarinetist Beth Fleenor, and Chris Stover’s “The Murderess.” The program will also include the Seattle premier of “Laredo,” written for saxophone quartet by Holcomb, and commissioned by the Rova Saxophone Quartet.
October 29 Tom Varner Tentet, Andy Clausen & Sjenka Chapel Performance Space, 7:30, $15 BUY ONLINE
Rarely known for its fleetness, the French horn has a rather short list of jazz masters. Challenge most, and they’ll come up with only Julius Watkins’s name. And one of Watkins’s foremost proponents, Tom Varner (whose participation in the 6th annual Julius Watkins Jazz French Horn Festival on October 3 is eagerly anticipated at press time) presents his new tentet and the fast-approaching new CD, Heaven and Hell. Varner calls the piece “my big meaty work for tentet,” something he’s incubated and worked on since September 11, 2001. He notes that the piece mixes “My … hell … being in New York City on 9/11,” with that most incongruous thing, a sort of heaven, as he and his wife adopted their son in Vietnam a short 8 days later. That contrasting mix of elements and imperatives is a Varner specialty, something he did with magnificent ease on The Window Up Above, a take on the American song-book, in 1998. The free-ranging French horn, hardly something one associates with George Jones, made fabulous, slippery improvisational material out of, well, George Jones and other American staples on Window. The point? Varner’s got no fear of steep material, of flowing free, of going “big and meaty.” Varner’s discography shows him using his horn as if it were always an improviser’s mainstay, something that shone as it seemed to smear across notes, slowed brilliantly even as it sped (it is a French horn, after all). His 2001 look at Don Cherry’s Second Communion is nothing short of a master-work, a tribute, of course, but also something that takes the trumpeter’s clipped execution and makes it pliable and all-encompassing. That’s what Heaven and Hell promises, the orchestration of Varner’s elastic harmonics, his use of the ensemble as an instrument, his Ellingtonian ability to animate against the instruments’ limitations.
October 17
Miguel Zenon Esta Plena Quintet
Byron Vannoy’s Meridian, The Triple Door, 7:30 - $22 general, $11 youthBUY ONLINE
The Puerto Rican saxophonist, a brilliant star on the international jazz scene, and the newest faculty member at the New England Conservatory, brings his explosive new group to the main stage for his second appearance during Earshot’s opening weekend. The members of the Esta Plena Quinet include the thoughtful pianist Luis Perdomo, dynamic bassist Hans Glawischnig, standout drummer Henry Cole, and the exciting percussionist and vocalist Tito Matos.
Drummer Byron Vannoy’s Meridian opens for Zenón. A local jazz fusion outfit, the band features Vannoy and several other talented artists, including Chris Symer on bass, Kacey Evans on the keyboard, Chris Spencer on guitar, and Eric Barber on saxophones. In 2008, Meridian won the Golden Ear Award for NW Recording of the Year.
Miguel Zenon Esta Plena Quintet
Byron Vannoy’s Meridian, The Triple Door, 7:30 - $22 general, $11 youthBUY ONLINE
The Puerto Rican saxophonist, a brilliant star on the international jazz scene, and the newest faculty member at the New England Conservatory, brings his explosive new group to the main stage for his second appearance during Earshot’s opening weekend. The members of the Esta Plena Quinet include the thoughtful pianist Luis Perdomo, dynamic bassist Hans Glawischnig, standout drummer Henry Cole, and the exciting percussionist and vocalist Tito Matos.
Drummer Byron Vannoy’s Meridian opens for Zenón. A local jazz fusion outfit, the band features Vannoy and several other talented artists, including Chris Symer on bass, Kacey Evans on the keyboard, Chris Spencer on guitar, and Eric Barber on saxophones. In 2008, Meridian won the Golden Ear Award for NW Recording of the Year.
Friday, July 31st- 11:45am - 1:30pm - Summer Sounds at 2200. The event is taking place on the upper plaza at 2200 above Whole Foods Market on the corner of Denny and Westlake 11:45-1:30. www.myspace.com/byronvannoy
Saturday, July 25th, 2009 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm ALL AGES SHOW. Sounds Outside Festival, Cal Anderson Park, Capitol Hill, SeattleWashington Composers Orchestra (WACO), an avant big band featuring compositions by Tom Varner, Wayne Horvitz, and Robin Holcomb. Free music outside in Capitol Hill!
Sunday, May 31st, 2009 - 8:00pm - ?. ToSt Fremont, 513 N. 36th St. #E · Seattle, WA 98103 · (206) 547-0240 www.tostlounge.com Washington Composers Orchestra (WACO), an avant big band featuring compositions by Tom Varner, Wayne Horvitz, and Robin Holcomb. Monthly last Sunday gig by this great ensemble.
Thursday May 14th, 2009 - 5:30-7:30 . FREE admission with museum admission. Earshot Art of Jazz Series, Seattle Art Museum. http://www.earshot.org/
Byron Vannoy's Meridian featuring Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. The atrium at SAM is a great place to listen to music and check out great artwork as well.
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 - 12:00pm - 1:30pm. FREE admission. Mayor's Noontime Concerts, Seattle City Hall. www.seattle.gov/artsWashington Composers Orchestra (WACO), an avant big band featuring compositions by Tom Varner, Wayne Horvitz, and Robin Holcomb. Presented in a beautiful concert space in Seattle City Hall.
Sunday March 29th, 2009 - 4:00-6:30pm. $15 admission. Jazz Project Concert Series, Museum of Radio and Electricity, Bellingham, WA, http://www.jazzproject.org/Byron Vannoy's Meridian featuring Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. This concert will have food and drink and is in a very unique venue in downtown Bellingham.
October 20, 2008 - 8:00pm. EB with Paul Harding's Juju Detective Agency on the Earshot Jazz Festival. Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave. S, Seattle, WA, 98144. http://www.earshot.org/ Sharing the bill with bassist Evan Flory-Barnes' trio The Teaching. The band plays a unique mix of free motown, post-hardbop, snakeskin miles davis, cubic country, and versified funk while infamous spoken music poet Paul Harding mobilizes his MiddleVoice of songhistory and storytelling. We call it free hop. September 27th, 2008 - 8:00pm. EB with Jovino Santos Neto Quarteto @ Bake's Place, Issaquah. http://www.bakesplace.org/. Grammy-award nominated pianist Jovino Santos Neto's Quarteto with Chuck Deardorf - bass, Jeff Busch - drums and Eric Barber - saxophones. The group will be playing music from Jovino's latest release Alma de Nordeste on Adventure Music. June 12, 2008 Art of Jazz Series 5:30pm - 7:00pm, all ages showSeattle Art Museum Downtown, 1300 First Avenue, Seattle. Concert is free with museum admission. ZIGGURAT QUARTET - Bill Anschell - piano, Eric Barber - sax, Doug Miller - bass, Byron Vannoy - drums. November 15th, 2007 - Byron Vannoy's Meridian Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. This new ensemble featuring all originals by Byron! Creative, evocative music. Egan's Ballard Jam House 1707 NW Market Street Seattle, WA 98107 Phone: 206-789-1621 7:00pm - $8 cover http://www.ballardjamhouse.com/ September 20th, 2008 8:00pm, $10 admission. ZIGGURAT QUARTET at the Chapel Performance Space, Good Sheperd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N. http://gschapel.blogspot.com/Bill Anschell - piano, Eric Barber - sax, Doug Miller - bass, Byron Vannoy - drums. The Ziggurat Quartet features four innovative jazz improvisers performing all original compositions. A passion for rhythmic experimentation drives the ensemble’s complex original compositions; many of the pieces are deeply influenced by the rhythms of East Indian music, as well as jazz and contemporary chamber music. Coupled with strong improvising, the result is a mix of music that is engaging, spontaneous, and compelling. Members of the quartet bring personal voices and broad aesthetic horizons to the ensemble, together charting new directions for jazz quartet. September 14th, 2008 - 2:00pm. $10 admission. MERIDIAN CD release party. Seattle Drum School, http://www.seattledrumschool.com/Byron Vannoy's Meridian featuring Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. This concert will have food and feature the release of the CD Meridian. Visit http://www.seattlesoundmag.com/september-2008/ for a great review of this CD. April 25th, 2008 8:30pm-1am Ballard Jazz Festival JAZZ WALK - One price, great jazz at several venues in downtown Ballard. 10:30pm ZIGGURAT QUARTET (10:30pm) http://ballardjazzfestival.com/jazzwalk.phpBill Anschell - piano, Eric Barber - sax, Doug Miller - bass, Byron Vannoy - drums. The Ziggurat Quartet features four innovative jazz improvisers performing all original compositions. A passion for rhythmic experimentation drives the ensemble’s complex original compositions; many of the pieces are deeply influenced by the rhythms of East Indian music, as well as jazz and contemporary chamber music. Coupled with strong improvising, the result is a mix of music that is engaging, spontaneous, and compelling. Members of the quartet bring personal voices and broad aesthetic horizons to the ensemble, together charting new directions for jazz quartet. April 23rd, 2008 - 8:00pmBallard Jazz Festival's THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE DRUM Music groups led by some of Seattle's greatest drummers THE SUNSET TAVERN (21+), 8:00pm, $13 Advance / $15 DOS 5433 Ballard Avenue NW Byron Vannoy's Meridian featuring Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. This new ensemble featuring all originals by Byron featured on his upcoming CD. November 19th, 2007 - Snapbite and and Michael Shrieve's Spellbinder Eric Barber, saxophones; PK, bass; Matt Crane, drums. Electrifying free improvisation from this bold free improv trio. Opening for Santana drummer Michael Shrieve. ToST 513 N. 36th St.Seattle, WA 98103 (206) 547-0240 8:00pm - no cover for Snapbite August 8th, 2007 - Snapbite and Moraine Eric Barber, saxophones; PK, bass; Matt Crane, drums. Electrifying free improvisation from two stellar ensembles. Jazz: The Second Century A New Earshot Concert Series Chapel Performance Space Good Shepherd Center 4649 Sunnyside Ave N 7:30pm http://www.earshot.org/ August 29th, 2007 - Ziggurat Quartet and Reptet Bill Anschell, piano; Eric Barber, saxophones; Doug Miller, bass; Byron Vannoy, drums. A great quartet performing all original music in the beautiful Good Sheperd Chapel. Also featured: Reptet. Jazz: The Second Century A New Earshot Concert Series Chapel Performance Space Good Shepherd Center 4649 Sunnyside Ave N 7:30pm http://www.earshot.org/ September 5, 2007 - Byron Vannoy Band Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. The premiere of this new ensemble featuring all originals by Byron! Creative, evocative music. THE HENDRIX LOUNGE AT THE COLUMBIA CITY THEATER 4916 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle, WA {map it} (206) 723-0088 Music starts at 8:00pm Admission: $5.00 October 4, 2007 - Ziggurat Quartet Bill Anschell, piano; Eric Barber, saxophones; Doug Miller, bass; Byron Vannoy, drums. A great quartet performing all original music at Tula's in Belltown. Tula's Restaurant and Nightclub 2214 Second Avenue, mid-block between Blanchard and Bell 206-443-4221 8:00pm
Saturday, July 25th, 2009 - 4:00pm - 5:00pm ALL AGES SHOW. Sounds Outside Festival, Cal Anderson Park, Capitol Hill, SeattleWashington Composers Orchestra (WACO), an avant big band featuring compositions by Tom Varner, Wayne Horvitz, and Robin Holcomb. Free music outside in Capitol Hill!
Sunday, May 31st, 2009 - 8:00pm - ?. ToSt Fremont, 513 N. 36th St. #E · Seattle, WA 98103 · (206) 547-0240 www.tostlounge.com Washington Composers Orchestra (WACO), an avant big band featuring compositions by Tom Varner, Wayne Horvitz, and Robin Holcomb. Monthly last Sunday gig by this great ensemble.
Thursday May 14th, 2009 - 5:30-7:30 . FREE admission with museum admission. Earshot Art of Jazz Series, Seattle Art Museum. http://www.earshot.org/
Byron Vannoy's Meridian featuring Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. The atrium at SAM is a great place to listen to music and check out great artwork as well.
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 - 12:00pm - 1:30pm. FREE admission. Mayor's Noontime Concerts, Seattle City Hall. www.seattle.gov/artsWashington Composers Orchestra (WACO), an avant big band featuring compositions by Tom Varner, Wayne Horvitz, and Robin Holcomb. Presented in a beautiful concert space in Seattle City Hall.
Sunday March 29th, 2009 - 4:00-6:30pm. $15 admission. Jazz Project Concert Series, Museum of Radio and Electricity, Bellingham, WA, http://www.jazzproject.org/Byron Vannoy's Meridian featuring Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. This concert will have food and drink and is in a very unique venue in downtown Bellingham.
October 20, 2008 - 8:00pm. EB with Paul Harding's Juju Detective Agency on the Earshot Jazz Festival. Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave. S, Seattle, WA, 98144. http://www.earshot.org/ Sharing the bill with bassist Evan Flory-Barnes' trio The Teaching. The band plays a unique mix of free motown, post-hardbop, snakeskin miles davis, cubic country, and versified funk while infamous spoken music poet Paul Harding mobilizes his MiddleVoice of songhistory and storytelling. We call it free hop. September 27th, 2008 - 8:00pm. EB with Jovino Santos Neto Quarteto @ Bake's Place, Issaquah. http://www.bakesplace.org/. Grammy-award nominated pianist Jovino Santos Neto's Quarteto with Chuck Deardorf - bass, Jeff Busch - drums and Eric Barber - saxophones. The group will be playing music from Jovino's latest release Alma de Nordeste on Adventure Music. June 12, 2008 Art of Jazz Series 5:30pm - 7:00pm, all ages showSeattle Art Museum Downtown, 1300 First Avenue, Seattle. Concert is free with museum admission. ZIGGURAT QUARTET - Bill Anschell - piano, Eric Barber - sax, Doug Miller - bass, Byron Vannoy - drums. November 15th, 2007 - Byron Vannoy's Meridian Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. This new ensemble featuring all originals by Byron! Creative, evocative music. Egan's Ballard Jam House 1707 NW Market Street Seattle, WA 98107 Phone: 206-789-1621 7:00pm - $8 cover http://www.ballardjamhouse.com/ September 20th, 2008 8:00pm, $10 admission. ZIGGURAT QUARTET at the Chapel Performance Space, Good Sheperd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave. N. http://gschapel.blogspot.com/Bill Anschell - piano, Eric Barber - sax, Doug Miller - bass, Byron Vannoy - drums. The Ziggurat Quartet features four innovative jazz improvisers performing all original compositions. A passion for rhythmic experimentation drives the ensemble’s complex original compositions; many of the pieces are deeply influenced by the rhythms of East Indian music, as well as jazz and contemporary chamber music. Coupled with strong improvising, the result is a mix of music that is engaging, spontaneous, and compelling. Members of the quartet bring personal voices and broad aesthetic horizons to the ensemble, together charting new directions for jazz quartet. September 14th, 2008 - 2:00pm. $10 admission. MERIDIAN CD release party. Seattle Drum School, http://www.seattledrumschool.com/Byron Vannoy's Meridian featuring Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. This concert will have food and feature the release of the CD Meridian. Visit http://www.seattlesoundmag.com/september-2008/ for a great review of this CD. April 25th, 2008 8:30pm-1am Ballard Jazz Festival JAZZ WALK - One price, great jazz at several venues in downtown Ballard. 10:30pm ZIGGURAT QUARTET (10:30pm) http://ballardjazzfestival.com/jazzwalk.phpBill Anschell - piano, Eric Barber - sax, Doug Miller - bass, Byron Vannoy - drums. The Ziggurat Quartet features four innovative jazz improvisers performing all original compositions. A passion for rhythmic experimentation drives the ensemble’s complex original compositions; many of the pieces are deeply influenced by the rhythms of East Indian music, as well as jazz and contemporary chamber music. Coupled with strong improvising, the result is a mix of music that is engaging, spontaneous, and compelling. Members of the quartet bring personal voices and broad aesthetic horizons to the ensemble, together charting new directions for jazz quartet. April 23rd, 2008 - 8:00pmBallard Jazz Festival's THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE DRUM Music groups led by some of Seattle's greatest drummers THE SUNSET TAVERN (21+), 8:00pm, $13 Advance / $15 DOS 5433 Ballard Avenue NW Byron Vannoy's Meridian featuring Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. This new ensemble featuring all originals by Byron featured on his upcoming CD. November 19th, 2007 - Snapbite and and Michael Shrieve's Spellbinder Eric Barber, saxophones; PK, bass; Matt Crane, drums. Electrifying free improvisation from this bold free improv trio. Opening for Santana drummer Michael Shrieve. ToST 513 N. 36th St.Seattle, WA 98103 (206) 547-0240 8:00pm - no cover for Snapbite August 8th, 2007 - Snapbite and Moraine Eric Barber, saxophones; PK, bass; Matt Crane, drums. Electrifying free improvisation from two stellar ensembles. Jazz: The Second Century A New Earshot Concert Series Chapel Performance Space Good Shepherd Center 4649 Sunnyside Ave N 7:30pm http://www.earshot.org/ August 29th, 2007 - Ziggurat Quartet and Reptet Bill Anschell, piano; Eric Barber, saxophones; Doug Miller, bass; Byron Vannoy, drums. A great quartet performing all original music in the beautiful Good Sheperd Chapel. Also featured: Reptet. Jazz: The Second Century A New Earshot Concert Series Chapel Performance Space Good Shepherd Center 4649 Sunnyside Ave N 7:30pm http://www.earshot.org/ September 5, 2007 - Byron Vannoy Band Byron Vannoy, drums/composer, Eric Barber, saxophones; Kacey Evans, keyboards; Chris Spencer, guitar; Chris Symer, bass. The premiere of this new ensemble featuring all originals by Byron! Creative, evocative music. THE HENDRIX LOUNGE AT THE COLUMBIA CITY THEATER 4916 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle, WA {map it} (206) 723-0088 Music starts at 8:00pm Admission: $5.00 October 4, 2007 - Ziggurat Quartet Bill Anschell, piano; Eric Barber, saxophones; Doug Miller, bass; Byron Vannoy, drums. A great quartet performing all original music at Tula's in Belltown. Tula's Restaurant and Nightclub 2214 Second Avenue, mid-block between Blanchard and Bell 206-443-4221 8:00pm
