A trio of promising performances — and the second part of the “Jazz with Jim” presentation series — are set to cap the third annual Within/Earshot Jazz Festival at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art this month.
The month-long celebration of all things jazz, produced in partnership with the legendary Earshot Jazz, is a cornucopia of concerts, lectures and film screenings, and has proved one of the museum’s most popular traditions.
Grace Love will kick off the last leg of the festival with an evening of soulful jazz at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19 in the Frank Buxton Auditorium.
Doors and the bar open at 6:30 p.m.
Love has spent the last decade working to bring soul music back to the forefront of the Seattle music scene. Collaborating with a local pool of talented musicians who are committed to keeping soul alive and thriving in the Northwest, she is beloved and respected for her powerful live performances and unmistakable voice.
Whether playing with the California Honeydrops, backing Melissa Etheridge or playing to industry giant Quincy Jones, Love’s voice cuts through the crowd, leaving listeners transported and inspired.
KEXP’s Dusty Henry interviewed Love for the Local Artist Spotlight program and described her as “something of an icon in the Northwest.”
“Love’s voice has emerged as a defining focal point … Her vibrant performances have continued to convert fans over the years, feeling like celebrations in themselves.”
Tickets, $25 for members, $30 for non-members, are on sale via www.biartmuseum.org.
The second installment in the “Jazz with Jim” lecture series will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, also in the Frank Buxton Auditorium.
The series, hosted by James “Jim” Cauter, teaches what to listen for, recognizing defining stylistic characteristics, while simultaneously placing the amazing music within its social and historical context.
This second presentation will focus on “Jazz Fusion.”
Discover the always morphing path of jazz into its future through music by Machito and his Afro-Cubans, Miles Davis, Larry Coryell, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Shakti, Weather Report, Jaco Pastorius, King Crimson, The Brecker Brothers, Jon-Luc Ponty, Bob James, Grover Washington Jr., Tony Williams Lifetime, Bill Frisell, John Zorn, The Wayne Shorter Quartet, John Patitucci, Gil Scott-Heron, Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets, Guru, Kendrick Lamar, Terrace Martin, Kamasi Washington, George Benson, Chuck Mangione, Steve Coleman, Al Jarreau, and Robert Glasper.
Serving as a full-time professor of music at Seattle Central College since 1993, Cauter has developed and teaches a variety of music history classes including “World Music,” “American Popular Music,” “Rock Music: History and Perspectives,” “Music in The Western World,” and “History of Jazz” in traditional face-to-face, online, and seminar modes of delivery.
In 2011, he was invited to join the faculty at Olympic College where he has developed and teaches online offerings in “World Music,” “Music in Film and Television,” and “History of American Popular Music.”
Cauter is a past President of the Washington Community College Humanities Association, and served as Director of Instrumental Music at California High School in San Ramon, California from 1979 to 1993.
“As a music educator in both K-12 and higher education, I have had the pleasure of sharing the art of music with my students for 38 years,” he said. “I look forward to doing the same with you here as we explore the eclectic array of composers, performing artists, and genre specific recordings comprising the wonderful art of jazz.”
Tickets, $10 for members, $12 for non-members, are on sale via www.biartmuseum.org.
The penultimate festival performance is an evening show by Bad Luck, with special guest Lorraine Lau, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25.
Doors and the bar open at 6:30 p.m.
Based out of Seattle, Bad Luck is a genre-defying supernova of electronics, metal, folk and jazz.
They perform in another cosmos from most bands. With more than a decade of collaboration, Neil Welch (saxophone and live electronics) and Christopher Icasiano (drums) “bear down on you like a cyclone of fire” (according to The Stranger).
Welch and Icasiano spent years making epic long-form compositions (and three albums) in the tradition of free jazz legends like John Coltrane. Their new album, “Four,” recorded at Avast Studios, slams the epic energy of those free improvisations into shorter, rhythmic forms.
Welch screams and breathes into his horn, acoustically creates chords, and uses electronics more familiar to guitar players.
Icasiano does things that seem impossible with four drumsticks at once.
Lau is a life-long dancer and teacher. She dances to investigate modes joy and healing, interconnectedness and autonomy. Drawn to performing in unusual spaces under magical circumstances, she is a company member of Alice Gosti’s MALACARNE and has most recently appeared with other site-specific creators including Lucia Neare, Melissa Riker of Kinesis Project, and visual artist Mandy Greer.
She is also a member of Au Collective, a “movement-based non-profit that centers artists of color, womxn, and queer artists.”
Tickets, $25 for members, $30 for non-members, are on sale now via www.biartmuseum.org.
Finally, Savani Latin Jazz will rock the museum at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27. Doors and the bar open at 6:30 p.m.
It’s an exciting evening of jazzed up traditional Cuban and South American rhythms with quartet Savani Latin Jazz. The songs breathe with a deep lyricism, inviting the audience into a rich and unpredictable musical landscape, where cha-cha-cha, waltz and swing meet like old friends on the dance floor.
Tickets, $25 for members, $30 for non-members, are on sale via www.biartmuseum.org.
