25 Earshot Jazz Festival in Seattle - October 1 to November 17, 2013

WELCOME FESTIVAL SCHEDULE FESTIVAL AT-A-GLANCE ARTIST INDEX BUY TICKETS SITES & ADDRESSES FESTIVAL STAFF FESTIVAL SUPPORTERS VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP JOIN EARSHOT EARSHOT JAZZ MAIN WEBSITE		FESTIVAL SCHEDULE Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services Tuesday, October 1, Benaroya Hall, 8pm Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette 30th Anniversary Concert “Very simply, this is jazz at its finest” – Los Angeles Times. In one of only four US concerts this year, the premier piano trio in jazz celebrates 30 years as the gold standard of telepathic invention, intuition, and cohesion. $30-125. Tickets going fast! (A Live @ Benaroya Hall co-presentation.) BUY NOW Tuesday, October 1, Tula’s, 7:30pm Industrial Revelation Hard-hitting post-bop with D’Vonne Lewis, Evan Flory-Barnes, Aham Oluo, & Josh Rawlings. $16 general/$14 members & seniors/$8 students CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS Wednesday, October 2, Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm John Scofield’s Überjam The guitarist’s new groove/funk band features bassist Andy Hess, guitarist and sample ace Avi Bortnick, and drummer Luis Cato, fresh from a new studio album. A veteran of bands going back to Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, and Miles Davis, Scofield is an ever-evolving jazz-rock icon. $25 advance, $30 day of show, $35 VIP (Presented by The Triple Door.) BUY NOW Thursday, October 3, Tula’s, 7:30pm Bill Ramsay Tribute Featuring Northwest legend saxophonist Bill Ramsay and his septet with Jay Thomas (trumpet), Travis Ranney (sax), Dan Marcus (trombone), John Hansen (piano), Greg Williamson (drums), Chuck Deardorf (bass), and several guest artists. $16 general/$14 members & seniors/$8 students CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS Friday, October 4, Tula’s, 7:30pm Trumpet Madness Generations of jazz trumpet with Willie Thomas, Jay Thomas and young Seattle players. $16 general/$14 members & seniors/$8 students CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS Friday, October 4, Royal Room, 8pm Dayna Stephens Trio w/ Justin Brown & Ben Street An intensely organic saxophonist with top New York colleagues. $18 general/$16 members & seniors/$9 students BUY NOW Saturday, October 5, Town Hall, 8pm La Familia Valera Miranda A special Seattle residency by this family of musicians from Santiago de Cuba, in the Oriente region. Father Felix, his wife, brother, and sons have virtually defined cauto son, the mid-tempo form of the Cuban son style, marked by its easy-going, contagious swing. $30 general/$28 members & seniors/$15 students (Welcomed by Seattle Latino Film Festival.) BUY NOW Saturday, October 5, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya, 7:30pm Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra: Play It Again, Sam! The region’s all-star jazz repertory ensemble performs highlights from its recent and 20-year repertoire. $44 adult, $40 senior, $15 youth BUY NOW Sunday, October 6, Triple Door, 7:30pm Vinicius Cantuária The Brazilian singer/songwriter has been in the vanguard of soulful collaborations with notable jazz innovators for decades. Appearing with his own seasoned quartet in one show. $22 general/$20 members & seniors/$11 students   (Welcomed by 91.3 KBCS). BUY NOW Sunday, October 6, PONCHO Concert Hall, Cornish College, 8pm John Hollenbeck Claudia Quintet The percussionist’s genre-defying quintet returns to Seattle with driving rhythms, quirky melodies, and stunning virtuosity. Creating its instantly recognizable sound are bassist Drew Gress, saxophonist Chris Speed, vibraphonist Matt Moran, and accordionist Red Wierenga. $20 general/$15 members & seniors/$10 students (Presented by Cornish College of the Arts.) BUY NOW Tuesday, October 8, Edmonds-Woodway High School, 7:30pm Edmonds-Woodway High School Jazz Band w/ Cuong Vu Trio One of three Seattle-area bands selected this year for the annual, prestigious Essentially Ellington Competition at Lincoln Center, New York. Directed by Jake Bergevin, and performing with the trio of Cuong Vu, one of the great trumpeters in today’s jazz. $12 (Presented by Edmonds-Woodway High School Music Boosters.) BUY NOW Wednesday, October 9, Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, 8pm Yosvany Terry Quintet The Harlem-based Cuban saxophonist addresses both the ancient and the immediate, working in a sonic world of Afro-Cuban polyrhythms and sophisticated jazz structures. With Michael Rodriguez, trumpet, Osmany Paredes, piano, Matt Brewer, bass, and Clarence Penn, drums. $22 general/$20 members & seniors/$11 students BUY NOW Thursday, October 10, Seattle Art Museum Brotman Forum, 5:30pm Kareem Kandi Group The savvy south-Sound saxophonist shows his stuff in Seattle. Free Thursday, October 10, PONCHO Concert Hall, Cornish College, 8pm Ken Vandermark & Nate Wooley World-renowned Chicagoan, whose vanguard saxophone earned a 1999 MacArthur Fellowship, performs improvised works with trumpeter Nate Wooley, an extended-technique trumpeter on the booming Brooklyn improv scene. Free masterclass, PONCHO Concert Hall, noon. $18 general/$16 members & seniors/$9 students (Welcomed by 91.3 KBCS) BUY NOW Friday, October 11, Royal Room, 8pm The Westerlies Play Horvitz / The Royal Room Collective Music Ensemble Having taken New York by storm, these two original projects now charm Seattle. $18 general/$16 members & seniors/$9 students BUY NOW Saturday, October 12, PONCHO Concert Hall, Cornish College, 8pm Dave Douglas Quintet / The Westerlies As the recent Time Travel and Be Still recordings show, the new ensemble of the ever-exploring trumpeter delivers transporting, lyrical, and hard-swinging jazz renditions of melodies old and new. Jon Irabagon, saxophone; Matt Mitchell, piano; Linda Oh, bass; Rudy Royston, drums. Also on the bill: The Westerlies $22 general/$20 members & seniors/$11 students (Welcomed by 91.3 KBCS) BUY NOW Sunday, October 13, PONCHO Concert Hall, Cornish College, 8pm Chris Speed, Dave King & Chris Tordini Trio / Bad Luck Three seasoned innovators join forces: Chris Speed (sax/clarinet, Human Feel), Dave King (drums, The Bad Plus), and Chris Tordini (bass, Jean-Michel Pilc Trio). Opening: the “hard-edged and audacious” (NY Jazz Record) duo of drummer Chris Icasiano and saxophonist Neil Welch. $18 general/$16 members & seniors/$9 students BUY NOW Sunday, October 13, Kirkland Performance Center, 8pm DakhaBrakha DakhaBrakha means “give/take” in the old Ukrainian language. Mixing the fundamental structure of folk music with soulful, free-form improvisation, the Kiev, Ukrainian “ethno-chaos” band DakhaBrakha, creates a mesmerizing world of unexpected and engaging new music. $20 general/$18 members & seniors/$10 students (A Kirkland Performance Center co-presentation.) BUY NOW Wednesday, October 16, Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm Mehliana: Brad Mehldau & Mark Guiliana Mehldau, one of the greatest of modern jazz pianists, debuts this piano-less duo, extending his range to Fender Rhodes and a battery of synthesizers with one of the most exciting young drummers on the scene. $25 advance, $27 day of show (Presented by The Triple Door.) (Welcomed by 91.3 KBCS) BUY NOW Thursday, October 17, PONCHO Concert Hall, Cornish College, 8pm Dafnis Prieto Si o Si The Cuban percussion titan has raised the bar for jazz drumming with his breathtaking skill, precision, and imagination, earning him a 2011 MacArthur Foundation “genius” award. This New York quartet features Peter Apfelbaum, sax, Robert Rodriguez, piano, and Johannes Weidenmueller, bass. Free masterclass, PONCHO Concert Hall, 12:30pm. $22 general/$20 members & seniors/$11 students BUY NOW Friday, October 18, Illsley Ball Nordstom Recital Hall at Benaroya, 7:30pm Roosevelt High School Jazz Band Fresh from its third-place victory at the prestigious Essentially Ellington competition at Lincoln Center, New York. $22 general/$20 members & seniors/$11 students BUY NOW Friday, October 18, Royal Room, 8pm Peggy Lee, Skerik, Wayne Horvitz Trio / Steve Lehman Trio Lehman’s standing at the jazz vanguard is affirmed, with Matt Brewer and Damion Reid. A premiere of an exciting new ensemble performing all new repertoire. Lehman’s trio plays first. $18 general/$16 members & seniors/$9 students BUY NOW Friday, October 18, Benaroya Hall Grand Lobby, 10pm Cat O’ Nine Tails Seattle Symphony musicians and the Steve Lehman Trio are among performers as the [untitled] series presents cutting-edge works by Lehman, John Zorn, and others. $20 (Presented in partnership with Seattle Symphony.) BUY NOW Friday & Saturday, October 18 & 19, Tula’s 7:30pm George Colligan Organ Trio Internationally-known Portland keyboardist holds down Seattle’s favorite jazz hang. $16 general/$14 members & seniors/$8 students CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS Saturday, October 19, Kirkland Performance Center, 8pm John Medeski Renowned for the considerable legacy of Medeski Martin & Wood, the keyboardist demonstrates virtuosity and vast range on solo grand piano. $28 general/$26 members & seniors/$14 students/$45 VIP BUY NOW Sunday, October 20, Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm The Bad Plus As badass as highbrow gets. A rollicking and thought-provoking good time with the acclaimed Reid Anderson (bass), Ethan Iverson (piano), and David King (drums), who always go a leap ahead of the conventional piano trio to the very edges of avant-populism. $25 general/$23 members & seniors/$12 students (Welcomed by 91.3 KBCS)BUY NOW Sunday, October 20, Kirkland Performance Center, 8pm Philip Glass A cultural and artistic giant, Glass is an iconoclast of contemporary composition – operas, symphonies, and much else. He returns to KPC for a rare solo piano performance. $75 (Presented by Kirkland Performance Center.) BUY NOW Tuesday, October 22, Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya, 8pm SFJAZZ Collective Stunning virtuosity and drive from the most spectacular all-star ensemble in jazz, with Miguel Zenon, David Sanchez, Warren Wolf, Avishai Cohen, Robin Eubanks, Edward Simon, Matt Penman, and Obed Calvaire. $28 general/$26 members & seniors/$14 students (Welcomed by 91.3 KBCS) BUY NOW Thursday, October 24, Kirkland Performance Center, 7:30pm Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra w/ Ingrid Jensen The highly praised trumpeter Ingrid Jensen joins this all-star big band in a program that includes the world premiere of the winner of its jazz-composition contest for women. $22 general (Presented by Kirkland Performance Center.) (Welcomed by 91.3 KBCS) BUY NOW Thursday, October 24, Chapel Performance Space, 8pm Syrinx Effect / Naomi Siegel Quartet Trombonist Naomi Siegel appears with outstanding soprano saxophonist Kate Olson and then her quartet – two of the most innovative groups on Seattle’s new forward-moving jazz scene. $5-15 sliding scale BUY NOW Friday, October 25, PONCHO Concert Hall, Cornish College, 8pm Nicole Mitchell Ice Crystal Quartet Mitchell, “the most important jazz flutist of her generation” (All About Jazz), plays in the spirit of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians: she draws gospel, African percussion, and other elements into a thrilling extension of jazz. With Jason Adasiewicz (vibes), Joshua Abrams (bass), and Frank Rosaly (drums). $22 general/$20 members & seniors/$11 students BUY NOW Friday, October 25, Royal Room, 8pm Steve Treseler Group featuring Ingrid Jensen The compelling Seattle saxophonist celebrates a new CD release with renowned trumpeter Ingrid Jensen. $16 general/$14 members & seniors/$8 students BUY NOW Saturday, October 26, Town Hall Seattle, 8pm Patricia Barber The “conspicuously literate and restlessly inventive” (The New Yorker) singer pianist is a distinctive social observer and gifted musician who turned from classical to jazz performance while at college. Her sparkling trio includes bassist Patrick Mulcahy and drummer Ross Pederson. $35 general/$26 members & seniors/$13 students BUY NOW Saturday, October 26, Chapel Performance Space, 8pm Beth Fleenor Workshop Ensemble / B’shnorkestra Two distinctive composers on the Seattle scene, clarinetist Beth Fleenor and trumpeter Samantha Boshnack, showcase their works for large ensembles in one of the city’s finest concert rooms. $5-15 sliding scale (Presented by Nonsequitur.) BUY NOW Sunday, October 27, PONCHO Concert Hall, Cornish College, 8pm Lucian Ban & Mat Maneri Classically trained in Romania, pianist Lucian Ban is increasingly recognized for his modernist jazz. He teams with the stellar violinist Mat Maneri on the new ECM release, Transylvanian Concert. $18 general/$16 members & seniors/$9 students BUY NOW Thursday, October 31, PONCHO Concert Hall, Cornish College, 8pm Darcy James Argue & Cornish Contemporary Big Band The Vancouver-raised, Brooklyn-based composer, pianist, and bandleader, part Radiohead, part Steve Reich, and fully his own man, directs the Cornish community’s best. $20 general/$15 members & seniors/$10 students (Presented by Cornish College of the Arts.) BUY NOW Friday, November 1, Jones Playhouse Theater UW, 7:30pm Bill Frisell w/ Cuong Vu & Robin Holcomb This year’s Earshot Festival resident artist, a world-renowned guitar innovator, creates at the intersections of jazz, country, and pop music, all processed through his inimitable personal style. He presents five groups in four concerts, beginning with this collaboration with two other renowned musicians who make their homes in Seattle: stellar trumpeter, Cuong Vu, a veteran of Pat Metheny’s band who has lit up the local scene since moving here from New York, and Robin Holcomb, a captivating vocalist and pianist who like Frisell is equally conversant in a wide array of American musical realms. $20 general, $12 students/seniors (Presented by The University of Washington School of Music.) ON SALE SEPTEMBER 5th Friday, November 1, Tula’s, 7:30pm Marc Seales Group Seattle’s hippest and most elegant jazz mainstay celebrates a new CD. $16 general/$14 members & seniors/$8 students CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS Friday, November 1, Royal Room, 8pm Brian Haas & Scott Amendola / Chemical Clock Keyboardist from Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey joins up with the West Coast’s most inventive drummer. Seattle’s Chemical Clock opens. $16 general/$14 members & seniors/$8 student BUY NOW Friday, November 1, Saturday, November 2, Sunday, November 3, Triple Door, 7pm & 9:30pm Manhattan Transfer For 40 years, Manhattan Transfer has been at the forefront of harmony vocal quartets. With worldwide sales in the millions, Grammy Awards by the dozen, and numerous sold-out world tours, its members continue to prove their uncanny knack for being ahead of the times. 7pm: $40 advance, $45 day of show, $50 VIP / 9:30pm: $30 advance, $35 day of show, $40 VIP (Presented by The Triple Door.) (Welcomed by 91.3 KBCS) BUY NOW Saturday, November 2, Chapel Performance Space, 8pm Paul Kikuchi’s Bat of No Bird Island The Seattle-based percussionist presents the premiere of his song cycle for chamberjazz ensemble, inspired by the memoir of his great grandfather, Zenkichi Kikuchi, a 1901 Japanese immigrant to the Yakima Valley. With Stuart Dempster (trombone/conches), Bill Horist (prepared guitar), Tari Nelson-Zagar (violin), Eyvind Kang (viola), and Maria Scherer Wilson (cello). $18 general/$16 members & seniors/$9 students (A Nonsequitur co-presentation. Supported by Chamber Music America.) BUY NOW Saturday, November 2, Illsley Ball Nordstom Recital Hall at Benaroya, 7:30pm Sunday, November 3, Kirkland Performance Center, 2pm Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra: Take Five: Remembering Dave Brubeck The region’s all-star jazz aggregation pays tribute to pioneering pianist and composer Dave Brubeck in a concert exploring his long, astounding career. Take Five has been the best-selling jazz hit of all time, and is just one of the many Brubeck chart-toppers you will hear in this concert, including Blue Rondo à la Turk, The Duke, and In Your Own Sweet Way. $44 adult, $40 senior, $15 youth (Presented by Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra.) SAT NOV 2 BUY NOW SUN NOV 3 BUY NOW Saturday, November 2, Tula’s, 7:30pm Jon Pugh Quartet Stylish cornet with Seattle legends Bill Anschell, Chuck Deardorf, and Mark Ivester. $16 general/$14 members & seniors/$8 students Sunday, November 3, PONCHO Concert Hall, Cornish College, 8pm Kora Band Drawing well-deserved attention far from its Portland/Seattle roots, this ensemble combines elements of jazz and West African music – pianist Andrew Oliver, kora player Kane Mathis, drummer Mark DiFlorio, trumpeter Chad McCullough, and bassist Brady Millard-Kish. $18 general/$16 members & seniors/$9 students BUY NOW Sunday, November 3, Jones Playhouse Theater UW, 7:30pm Bill Frisell w/ Ted Poor & Luke Bergman In imagining new music, it’s no surprise that Bill Frisell would call on in-demand young bassist Luke Bergman and New York/Seattle drummer, Ted Poor, both of whom range from the most subtle to the thunderous. All three now on the UW jazz faculty. $20 general/$12 students & seniors (Presented by The University of Washington School of Music.) (Welcomed by 91.3 KBCS) ON SALE SEPTEMBER 5th Wednesday, November 6, Triple Door, 7:30pm Garfield High School Jazz Band The region’s perennial powerhouse of high-school jazz, under the baton of its long-serving, multiaward-winning director, Clarence Acox, shows why it seems to carry the very spirit of Seattle’s remarkable jazz continuum. $16 general/$14 members & seniors/$8 students BUY NOW Wednesday, November 6, Kirkland Performance Center, 7:30pm Omar Sosa Afri-Lectric Sextet The Cuban composer and pianist fuses jazz and global elements with Afro-Cuban spiritualism to create a captivating, urban Latin-jazz sound. He presents material from his new CD, Eggun, a tribute to Miles Davis’ seminal recording, Kind of Blue, with his multinational band: Marque Gilmore, drums; Childo Tomas, electric bass; Joo Kraus, trumpet/flugelhorn; Leandro Saint-Hill, alto sax/flute; and Peter Apfelbaum, tenor sax. $38 (Presented by Kirkland Performance Center.) (Welcomed by 91.3 KBCS) BUY NOW Thursday, November 7, PONCHO Concert Hall, Cornish College, 8pm Kneebody A “resolutely un-pindownable band” (Nate Chinen, NYT) melds urban genres, from electro-pop to punk-rock to hip-hop, into its own signature sound: keyboardist Adam Benjamin, trumpeter Shane Endsley, tenor saxophonist Ben Wendel, bassist Kaveh Rastegar, and drummer Nate Wood Free master class, Poncho Concert Hall, 12:30pm. $18 general/$16 members & seniors/$9 students (Welcomed by 91.3 KBCS) BUY NOW Saturday, November 9, Jones Playhouse Theater UW, 7:30pm Dave Douglas w/ The Cuong Vu Trio & University of Washington Jazz Students A rare opportunity to hear two renowned jazz trumpeters perform together – here with UW faculty members and top students. $20 general, $12 students/seniors (Presented by The University of Washington School of Music.) ON SALE SEPTEMBER 5th Sunday, November 10, Meany Hall UW, 7:30pm Bill Frisell’s Big Sur Quintet / Jim Woodring, Eyvind Kang, featuring Bill Frisell After Eyvind Kang and one-of-a-kind cartoonist Jim Woodring join him in an opening performance, Bill Frisell presents his  Big Sur Quintet, fresh from a CD release. It’s as riveting a band as any working today – joining the guitarist are Jenny Scheinman on violin, Seattle-based Eyvind Kang on viola, Hank Roberts on cello, and Rudy Royston on drums. Playing Frisell’s entrancing compositions, they evoke the singular spacious beauty of the Southern California coastline. $20 general, $12 students/seniors (Presented by The University of Washington School of Music.) ON SALE SEPTEMBER 5th Wednesday, November 13, Royal Room, 8pm Piano Starts Here: The Music of Bud Powell Four of Seattle’s brightest celebrate one of the true giants of jazz piano, Bud Powell. $12 general/$10 members & seniors/$6 students BUY NOW Thursday, November 14, Seattle Art Museum Brotman Forum, 5:30pm Bill Anschell Quartet Sublime piano jazz ensemble with Peruvian overtones. Free Thursday, November 14, EMP Museum: Level 3, 8pm NEXT Collective This supergroup, packed with stars from recent Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competitions, has reenergized the Harlem scene, mixing jazz, hip-hop, and soul. Gerald Clayton, one of the most exciting of current pianists, joins bassist Ben Williams, saxophonist Logan Richardson, guitarist Matthew Stevens, and drum monster Jamire Williams, a Downbeat Rising Star. $22 general/$20 members & seniors/$11 students (In collaboration with Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense with support from The Argus Fund.) BUY NOW Friday, November 15, Royal Room, Panel discussion at 6:30, music at 8pM Industrial Revelation / Overton Berry Music and discussion relating to Seattle’s Black-Music legacy from the Local 493 veteran pianist Overton Berry (in performance with Evan Flory-Barnes) to the hard-hitting post-bop of Industrial Revelation (D’Vonne Lewis, Evan Flory-Barnes, Josh Rawlings, and Aham Oluo), with insights gathered by History Link on Seattle’s segregated Musician’s Unions 76 and 493. $12 general/$10 members & seniors/$6 students BUY NOW Saturday, November 16, Royal Room, 7pm Peter Brötzmann & Paal Nilssen-Love A duo that generates as much power as a Northwest hydroelectric dam, the equally torrential German saxophonist and Norwegian drummer represent two generations of the most innovative jazz-infused free improvisation. $18 general/$16 members & seniors/$9 students BUY NOW Sunday, November 17, Tula’s, 7:30pm McTuff Closing night with a classic Hammond organ group as tough as its name implies. $16 general/$14 members & seniors/$8 students CALL 206-443-4221 FOR RESERVATIONS Sunday, November 17, Town Hall Seattle, 8pm Charles Lloyd and Friends w/ Bill Frisell The venerable saxophonist has performed breathtaking, transcendent concerts here in Seattle and around the globe, and has built a legacy of some of the most compelling recordings in jazz. This concert promises to be a blissful finale to Earshot 25, as Seattle’s favorite guitarist – and one of the world’s – lends his boundless talents to a quartet that also includes bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland. $28 general/$26 members & seniors/$14 students. $35 preferred seating. BUY NOW Schedule subject to change. Earshot Jazz Film Festival Northwest Film Forum and the Earshot Jazz Festival present their annual film program celebrating the history, sounds, and spirit of jazz and their intersections with cinema. Visit nwfilmforum.org for tickets and information. Friday, OCTOBER 18, NW FILM FORUM, 8PM Sneak Preview Screening Lady Be Good (Kay Ray, USA, 2013, blu-ray, 90min) LADY BE GOOD Instrumental Women In Jazz looks at the contributions of American women instrumentalists in jazz from the early 1920s to the 1970s and the development and extent of the all-woman jazz groups. LADY BE GOOD captures the lost stories of female jazz musicians in provocative and often humorous interviews with women musicians, big band leaders, jazz authors and historians, Musician and composer Patrice Rushen guides us through these exciting histories with rare photos, previously unseen film and television footage, and scarce recordings. Join Peggy Gilbert, Marian McPartland, Carline Ray, Quincy Jones, Jane Sager and many others in this important new narrative. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 & SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, NW FILM FORUM, 8PM Les Blank On Jazz We couldn't let this year's Earshot Jazz program come and go without an appearance from the late great documentarian Les Blank, who passed away earlier this year. While we've already honored him with a program in our NEX DOCS program in June, Blanks contribution to the music documentary is unparalleled. Celebrating not merely the art, but the communal culture that sustained it, all of it interwoven with romantic flair and wry good humor. Here we screen a 22 minute short on the great Jazzman Dizzy Gillespie as well as his portrait of New Orleans soulful street music at Mardi Gras. More than anything Blank's films urge us to live life to the full, while we still can. Sounds like Jazz to us. Dizzy Gillespie (Les Blank, USA, 1965, 16mm, 22 min) Rare images of immortal bebop jazzman Dizzy Gillespie as he talks about his beginnings and music theories — and blows a lot of hot music on his famous bent horn. + Always for Pleasure (Les Blank, USA, 1978, 16mm, 99 mins) An intense insider’s portrait of New Orleans’ street celebrations and unique cultural gumbo: Second-line parades, Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest. Features live music from Professor Longhair, the Wild Tchoupitoulas, the Neville Brothers and more. This glorious, soul-satisfying film is among Blank’s special masterworks. Monday, OCTOBER 21, 7PM & Thursday, OCTOBER 24, NW FILM FORUM, 7PM Arrows Into Infinity (Dorothy Darr, Jeffrey Morse, 2012, USA, 120min) Arrows Into Infinity is a journey in sound through the unusual life and career of this jazz legend Charles Lloyd, one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 1960s. His music crossed traditional boundaries and explored new territories. Catapulted into worldwide fame in his 20s, by his early 30s, he abandoned his life of touring and recording and went into seclusion in Big Sur, CA. Here, Lloyd and those who worked with him over the last five decades help us better understand this enigmatic man and his spiritual pursuit through music. Tuesday, OCTOBER 22, NW Film Forum, 7PM Director in Attendance! John Coltrane Ascension Double Bill John Coltrane's Ascension was called, “…the most powerful human sound ever recorded" in Down Beat Magazine in 1965, and "the most vexatious work in jazz history" by jazz critic Gary Giddins. These contradictory claims indicate just how controversial this music was at the time Coltrane recorded it in 1965. Ascension in fact still causes arguments; the ideas behind the music are still alive and making waves. All the more reason to rejoice in Electric Ascension, reincarnated for the 21st century in live performance by the large, fluctuating ensemble "Orkestrova". This program features a concert film performance of Ascesion as re-imagined by the Sax quartet Rova plus a behind the scenes look at how the performance came together. Electric Ascension, Live at the Guelph Jazz Festival (John Rrogers, USA, 2013, blu-ray, 68 min) Famed for its scale and raw emotional power, John Coltrane’s 1965 recording, Ascension, has been re-imagined and rearranged for live performance by an all star ensemble of improvisers led by the Rova Saxophone Quartet. with Cleaning the Mirror (John Rrogers, USA, 2013, blu-ray,45 min) A documentary on the musical history and creative process behind Electric Ascension. Shot at jazz festivals in Paris and Saalfelden (Aus.), Musicians speak about their inspiration, their approach to the music, and their connection to Coltrane. Interviewed are Nels Cline, Andrew Cyrille, Art Davis, Jason Kao Hwang, Eyvind Kang, Rova, Jenny Scheinman, and Elliot Sharp. With musical excerpts, archival photos, and behind the scenes footage. Wednesday, OCTOBER 23, NW Film Forum, 7PM & 9PM Babe’s and Ricky’s Inn (Ramin Niami, 2013, USA, blu-ray, 90 min) “Babe’s and Ricky’s Inn” chronicles the last days of one of the most unique and vibrant blues clubs in the world. For fifty three years, Laura Mae Gross (“Mama Laura”), an African American woman from Mississippi, brought musicians together, regardless of race, age, or gender, in her club where only the music mattered. Originally located on the legendary Central Avenue in South Central L.A., Mama Laura brought some of the greatest blues artists in the world such as Johnny Lee Hooker, BB King and Albert King, to share the stage with artists like Guitar Shorty, Ray Bailey, Dennis Jones, Zac Harmon and Keb’ Mo’ whose careers she nourished. Stunning guitar performances and personal stories about the hard blues life come together in a film about what it means to devote your life to the Blues.