The EntreMundos Jam Sessions: 8 Reasons Why YOU Should Go

There’s some mighty, mighty magic happening on the Seattle music scene on Monday nights: the EntreMundos Jam Session at Capitol Cider. Each week, musicians, fans, neighbors on the hill and other locals gather together for what is one of the most extraordinary hangs in the city. If you’re in Seattle and haven’t rolled through yet, you should. Here are eight reasons why: The host band EntreMundos. This blazingly fun sextet kicks off the evening with a short set of high-energy Brazilian tunes. The band, which…

Read More


Our Creative Lives: Rejection

  Last week, a local organization announced the finalists for an annual vocal competition that it hosts. These finalists will sing at Jazz Alley for a shot at winning a trip to Japan. Throughout the afternoon after the announcement was made, I received emails and texts from a handful of vocalists, friends who did not make the cut. Their reactions ran the gamut from perplexed to downright miserable. (I should add that all of these women are great singers.) We talked about a lot of…

Read More


The Business of Vocal Jazz: the book & the class

   Danielle LaPorte is my business guru. Her digital course “The Spark Kit” (formerly known as “The Fire Starter Sessions”) is easily the most inspirational and helpful guide for any entrepreneur looking to fire up and build an authentic, satisfying and successful business. (If you’re not yet hip to Danielle, I strongly urge you to visit her website: www.whitehottruth.com. Pure gold.) Danielle has changed the way I think about my life and my work and has empowered me in more ways than I can articulate…

Read More


Playing Well With Others: On Singers & Musicians

Over the past few weeks, I’ve observed a few disparaging remarks about singers out there on the social media playground. More specifically, these were remarks made about jazz vocalists by jazz musicians. It actually surprised me a little. While there is definitely a common sentiment that musicians look down on vocalists, I guess I’ve never entirely bought into that idea. That said, I’m more than willing to entertain the notion that I might be kidding myself. It certainly seems like something worthy of investigating here.…

Read More