The Unwound Third > Jam Session

Some Local Seattle History

(1/3) > >>

Stuart:
I happened to catch this last night. I knew a little bit about "The Penthouse" (on the ground floor) in Pioneer Square and the music played and recorded there, but the background re: the recording of John Coltrane's album, "A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle," was new to me. A few links:

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/your-voices-lost-masterpiece-by-saxophonist-john-coltrane-found-released/a61dca2b-7516-4a51-8873-322589da7508/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Penthouse_(Seattle)

https://www.dailyuw.com/arts_and_culture/ghosts-from-the-penthouse-seattle-s-forgotten-jazz-club/article_42dd3916-350f-11eb-ad09-cb3dd7227ea8.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Brazil

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/john-coltrane-a-love-supreme-live-in-seattle/

Naturally, Jazz isn't for everyone and neither is local history. But I have posted the above for those who enjoy jazz and find local history interesting.

"To each his own. Live and let live." (--This ex-NJ cab driver's motto)

lindy:
According to Quincy Jones (who moved to Seattle as a high school kid), Seattle in the 1940s was like New Orleans, a 24-hour town with lots of late-night clubs along Jackson Street. Ray Charles moved here when he was 16, and by the time he left in 1950 he was the Ray Charles we now recognize.

https://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Genre-crossing-Ray-Charles-got-start-in-Seattle-1146973.php

A page about Jackson Street:

https://depts.washington.edu/depress/jazz_jackson_street_seattle.shtml

Stuart:
Thank you for the links, Lindy. Paul de Barros' book, "Jackson Street After Hours," contains a wealth of information about Jazz in Seattle--as the title implies.

Several years ago when Greg Ruby was doing his Frank Waldron project, Paul gave a talk about Frank Waldron before the Camp Jitterbug dance off at Washington Hall. It was quite informative. I didn't see a video or transcript of his talk on-line, but here are a couple of videos of the dance off. (Greg and the band played a set of Frank Waldron's compositions before the  main event began.)





So music and dance were alive and well at Washington Hall. Let's hope it continues.

A few links re: Greg's project:

https://jazzlives.wordpress.com/2017/04/09/syncopated-classic-greg-ruby-and-the-rhythm-runners-play-frank-d-waldron/

https://www.earshot.org/project/greg-ruby-the-rhythm-runners-present-unrecorded-music-by-frank-d-waldron/

https://gregrubymusic.com/projects/frank-d-waldron-project/

There's a free download (in PDF) of the project available, with an essay by Paul and Greg. Greg also had Jacob Zimmerman and Dalton Ridenhour record Frank Waldron's compositions as they might have sounded back when they were composed and played.

I have to hand it to Greg, Paul and the musicians for doing the hard work of being top shelf "custodians of culture and history," as well as having the talent and passion to play the music and keep it alive. After all, it is timeless. The daily struggle continues...

David Kaatz:
There have been some other recordings from Penthouse sets released. Just heard about this one featuring Bola Sete:
https://www.fretboardjournal.com/columns/stream-a-previously-unreleased-live-version-of-bola-setes-one-note-samba/

And this, Wes Montgomery. Although I haven't heard it, I have doubts it can surpass the masterpiece of the same group on Wes' fantastic album, Smokin' at the Half Note.
https://www.amazon.com/Smokin-Seattle-Live-At-Penthouse/dp/B06XGTBNFN

Stuart:
FYI:

https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/music/new-releases-of-vintage-jazz-recordings-show-seattle-jazz-haunt-the-penthouse-in-its-prime/

https://archive.org/details/wes-montgomery-wynton-kelly-penthouse-seattle-1966-kplu/

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page