A few days ago, my friend Jason Parker, trumpeter, bandleader, educator and KPLU blogger, wrote a post entitled “Why Jazz Fans Shouldn’t Be So Quick to Dismiss Pop Music.” Jason is a member of a Facebook group “Jam of the Week” and wrote his post in response to negative comments that some “jazz snobs” had made about pop music. Jason makes a lot of good points. He questions the logic behind cutting oneself off from an entire genre of music. He also gives examples of…
A few months ago, I had a gig at one of my favorite clubs. Leading up to the gig, I did all the requisite promo; I blasted through social media, sent emails to my distribution list, posted on my website and made sure the date was listed on all the local music calendars. Despite my efforts, the turnout was abysmal. As any sensitive artist would do, I left the club that night feeling crestfallen. Although the band and…
First of all, I apologize for the unintended gap since the last post. Unfortunately, I was recently slammed with the mother of all sinus infections and for a brief period, everything came to a screeching halt. The body is like that sometimes; it demands that we stop everything and tend to it and rightly so. This was the sickest I’ve been in well over a decade. After over two weeks of misery and a course of Amoxicillin, I’m just now climbing out. Although I’m still…
My good pal Jason Parker recently posted a link on his Facebook page to an article about musicians and depression. It was from the blog "Behind the Music." The post was about a list complied by Health.com of the top ten professions with the highest rate of depression. Artists ranked fifth on the list. Further, artists who have a secondary job as a source of income, such as waiting tables or mopping floors, rank second on the list. It seems that plenty of musicians, writers…
UNIVERSITY DISTRICT JAZZ WALK-SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2010 One of the cool things about the Earshot Jazz Festival is the big line-up of outstanding artists and the plethora of performances to choose from. The downside is that it can be difficult to find the time to hit all the shows you want to and it can also get a little spendy. This is just one of the reasons that the University District Jazz Walk is such a great offering. This year, Earshot has teamed up with…
It is with great enthusiasm that I send a virtual high five out to Seattle jazz musicians Jason Parker and Dave Marriott for their spanking new podcast Jazz Now! Seattle. Jazz Now! Seattle is a weekly podcast that features music from local jazz artists in the Seattle community. The mission of the podcast is twofold: (1) To put the spotlight on Seattle musicians and their projects and to help publicize their performances. (2) To present the thriving Seattle jazz scene to the rest of the…