The New Jason Parker Quartet CDs are in Transit!
This picture is just about the most beautiful thing in the world to me right now! At long last the new Jason Parker Quartet CDs are in transit and should arrive on my doorstep tomorrow.
I have been able to listen to the music for a while now and you can too by visiting my recordings page. But to hold them in my hands and know them as a physical product is going to be a glorious moment. I can’t wait to see the 7 boxes piled up on my front porch tomorrow!
Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble: “Birth of the Cool” Tribute
I’m thrilled to be part of the debut of the Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble tomorrow night at Lucid Jazz Lounge in Seattle. My good friends Michael Owcharuk and Nate Omdal put this group together after the very successful Slava concert last February. They have brought together some of the finest musicians and composers in the Northwest for the official debut tonight.
The show will feature a 9-piece ensemble playing 10 of the 12 original scores from the seminal Miles Davis album Birth of the Cool, as well as new works composed by Owcharuk, Omdal, Jim Knodle, Michael Catts, Nelson Bell, Elsa Nilsson and Andrew Oliver.
We’ve gotten some good press for this show, including features in The Seattle Times and The Stranger.
Click here for all the details. The best part: IT’S FREE!
Amazing News!
I have been applying for grants for years for a number of different projects. There are many wonderful organizations out there willing to fund arts projects but many, many more artists applying for those grants. I’m always disappointed when I don’t get funded, but even more amazed at all the quality artists out there who do get the grants.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that when you receive a letter-sized envelope from a grantor, it usually means there is a rejection letter inside. Most often if you are awarded a grant the letter comes with a packet including your contract, tax info, etc.
So today when I saw one small envelope from 4Culture in my mailbox, I said to my fiance, “Looks like I didn’t get the grant.” Imagine my surprise when I opened the envelope and the first words I saw were “It is our great pleasure to inform you that your 2009 Individual Artist Project to 4Culture has been recommended for an award”! Out of a record 391 applications, mine was one of 94 that was accepted. The letter went on to say:
The peer panel felt that each of the selected applicants demonstrated artistic merit, excellence or innovative quality of project; artistic excellence demonstrated in the work samples provided; feasibility and demonstrated ability to accomplish the project; and a plan to provide access and public benefit for King County residents.
What an honor to be included in this group! I feel humbled and proud to see my work being appreciated and valued, especially as a public benefit. It gives me great faith to see artists recognized in this fashion.
What this means is that between this grant money and the money I have been able to raise through my micropatronage program, I will be able to finish the new Jason Parker Quartet CD with no further money out of my own pocket. I can’t tell you what a relief this is, as I still have to finish the mixing and mastering, find someone to design the artwork, pay royalty fees and get the discs printed and replicated. I was prepared to find a way to do it myself, but this certainly takes the edge off.
Please check out the good folks at 4Culture, who’s mission is to “advance community through arts heritage preservation and public art.” And look for the release of the new JPQ CD sometime this summer!
Keepin’ Time with Jason Parker Music – May 2009
Each month I send out a newsletter to update folks on gigs I’m playing and news from the trenches. I use a great company called Constant Contact, who now gives each newsletter its own unique URL as well.
To view the May edition of Keepin’ Time with Jason Parker Music click here.
Click here to be added to the mailing list to receive future newsletters. On the second page check the box next to Jason Parker Music.
Jason Parker Music Newsletter
Each month I send out a newsletter to update folks on gigs I’m playing and news from the trenches. I use a great company called , who now gives each newsletter its own unique URL as well.
To view the April edition of Keepin’ Time with Jason Parker Music click here.
Click here to be added to the mailing list to receive future newsletters. On the second page check the box next to Jason Parker Music.
Slava! Ukrainian Carols in February?
My good friend Michael Owcharuk put together a wonderful and ambitious project called Slava! Ukrainian Carols and New Christmas Music that was snowed out during the big storm last December. We rehearsed it and were ready to go, and everyone was disappointed when we had to call it. Thankfully, the composers and musicians involved all agreed that the music was too good to go unheard, and Mike decided to put on the concert anyway. So breakout the eggnog and the mistletoe, because Christmas is coming again in February!
The reschedule concert will take place this Friday, February 27th at Trinity Church on First Hill in Seattle. Come hear new arrangements of traditional Ukrainian Carols and brand new Christmas music by seven of Seattle’s finest composers, played by seven of Seattle’s finest musicians. Oh, and its free!
The All New Jason Parker Music.com!
Welcome to the all new Jason Parker Music.com! I am in the process of teaching myself Wordpress, so bear with me while I figure it all out. Soon you will find information, recordings, videos, concert calendars and musings about my career as a working musician in Seattle, WA. I hope you’ll check back often for updates, and please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Waterfront Bridal Show
Josh and I have been invited to play and exhibit at the Waterfront Bridal Show on the famed Skansonia Ferry Boat on Lake Union in Seattle. The show takes place this Sunday, February 22nd from 11:00-3:00 and will feature many of the area’s finest and most sought-after wedding vendors and professionals. If you’re planning your wedding, please come join us for some great music and a chance to chat up the people who just might be your perfect caterer, photographer, baker, officiant, etc…
Lisa Dupar Catering Open House
Josh and I had the pleasure of playing at the Lisa Dupar Company open house last night and had a blast. Lisa, Jonathan and Co. have a beautiful production kitchen in Issaquah, and each year they open it up to their friends, clients and prospective clients for a bash. Having the party in their kitchen is a great touch, as attendees get to see where it all happens. Of course, the food was amazing! There were bites of everything from Potato Latkes with Spinach and Sour Cream to Chorizo Corn Dogs to Tongue Tacos! And Jonathan’s desserts were spectacular, as always, with just a hint of Valentine’s flair. It was great to see old friends like Lisa from Seattle Hospitality, Kaycee from Parker Events, Josh from Chateau Ste. Michelle and Jacky from Event Success as well as meet some great new friends. Thanks to Lisa, Jonathan and the whole Dupar crew for a wonderful evening. If you’re looking for a caterer for your wedding or event, do check them out.
JPQ to play Tula’s in April!
Tula’s Restaurant & Nightclub is the place all the local jazz musicians want to play. It’s the room you have to play to make a name for yourself in Seattle. It’s even been praised by Wynton Marsalis! The JPQ played a Hurricane Katrina benefit there back in 2005, and I’ve sat in with friends like Isabella DuGraf, but this will be our first official show there. Please come out and join us on April 13th for an evening of originals and standards in this venerable establishment.
Recording Date Set!
I’m pleased to announce that I have scheduled studio time for the second JPQ recording! Josh, Evan, D’Vonne and I will be hunkering down at MOUSe Studios in Seattle on April 8th to lay down the tracks that will make up our new CD. I have four original compositions I want to put down, plus standards and covers from artists as diverse as Cole Porter, Lee Morgan, Nick Drake and Kermit the Frog! Check back for details and glimpses into the recording process.
ArtZone Broadcast Date
As mentioned below, the JPQ is excited to be the featured performer on Nancy Guppy’s program ArtZone on the Seattle Channel. We’ll be featured on the the episode that airs on Comcast Cable channel 21 at 8:00pm on Thursday, March 5th. They rebroadcast the show all weekend long if you miss the premiere, and it will be available to stream on the web at Seattle Channel.org.
Lisa Dupar Catering Open House
If you’re planning your wedding and haven’t yet settled on a caterer, you should be sure to check out Lisa Dupar Catering. One of Seattle’s top caterers for 25 years, Lisa and her team are wildly talented, creative, and a pleasure to work with. Each year they open the doors of their huge kitchen in Issaquah to clients, friends and brides and grooms and put out an amazing spread. This year they have asked pianist Josh Rawlings and me to provide the music for the event, held on February 12th. Visit their web page today and contact them if you’d like to attend.
ArtZone taping March 3rd!
Nancy Guppy’s program ArtZone on the Seattle Channel is a weekly 30 minute show devoted to the art scene here in Seattle. The JPQ will be the featured performer on an upcoming show, and we’ll be taping on March 3rd. Check back soon for the air date!
JPQ Returns to Egan’s
Egan’s Ballard Jamhouse is everything a Jazz club should be…intimate, friendly and a great sounding room. We haven’t played there since October, and we’re happy to be returning on Tuesday, February 24th. Join us as we debut a few new tunes that we plan to record for our next CD in April, and a few old favorites. We play the early set, 7:00-8:30pm, so drop by after work for dinner and some great jazz!
I Just Had To Share
My birthday was last month, and my present from my wonderful
girlfriend was this original drawing of one of my heroes, Miles Davis. Pretty cool, right?!?!
JPQ on TV – ArtZone
If you are a lover of the Seattle art scene, you have probably seen Nancy Guppy’s show ArtZone on the Seattle Channel. Each week Guppy, of Almost Live! fame, spotlights three or four local artists, galleries, musicians, authors, movies and more. I’m proud that we’ve been asked to appear as a musical guest on an upcoming show. We’re taping in late-February, so check back then for the broadcast date. In the meantime if you’d like to see video from our appearance on JazzTV, visit our YouTube channel.
Two shows at Seattle’s newest jazz club!
I was thrilled to hear that Seattle was getting a new jazz club. Lucid opened in the University District just a few months ago and has already gained a reputation for being a real top-notch listening room. The owner, David, has put a ton of work into the space and made it into an inviting and comfortable place to grab a drink and hear some great music. The JPQ will be making our debut there on Saturday, March 14th, and we’ll be back again on Saturday, April 4th. We’ll be playing some of our old favorites and debuting some new material that we plan to record for our next CD in early April. Please come join us for one or both of these shows, and help support this new club. We need as many good music rooms as we can get!
New Years at The Showbox with Devotchka!
OK, so this isn’t technically JPQ news, but I just had to share the wonderful experience I had on New Years Eve. A few years back I toured the country with Crooked Fingers, and on the first leg of the tour our opening band was Devotchka, an amazing band from Denver. If you haven’t heard them you must follow the link and check them out. While we were out together they asked me to sit in on a couple of tunes, and ever since then, each time they come through Seattle they ask me to play. So I got a chance to sit in on NYE at The Showbox this year! It was a blast playing with them and getting a chance to catch up with old friends. Since I toured with them, they have gone on to have amazing success, scoring the soundtrack for the film “Little Miss Sunshine” and even providing the music for a Gerber Baby Food commercial and the video game Gears of War. Thanks to Shawn, Nick, Tom and Jeanie for asking me to sit in. In the photo L-R: Cory Gray (Norfolk & Western), me, Shawn King (Devotchka).
Seattle Wedding Show
We had a great time playing at the Seattle Wedding Show yesterday at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. We played two sets in the registration area and got a chance to showcase our talents, meet dozens of brides-to-be (and some husbands-to-be as well), and even saw some old friends. It was nice to run into Jeff & Rhiannon from The Amazing 88s Show, the finest dueling-piano show you will ever see. We had the pleasure of playing at their wedding last summer and hit it off because we’re all musicians and Wedding Professionals. I also saw Annette Lefebvre from Luxe Wedding Design and my dear old friend Martha who was at the show with a friend who’s daughter is getting married. It was like old home week!
Big thanks to my wonderful band Josh, Evan and D’Vonne for always playing so beautifully and enthusiastically. Thanks also to the Seattle Musicians’ Association for setting it all up for us.
I Don’t Like New Years Resolutions…
I don’t really believe in New Years Resolutions for two reasons: 1) because I almost always break them, and 2) because I feel if you want to do something you shouldn’t need an arbitrary time marker to make it so.
That being said, I’m going to make a commitment, that just happens to be around the New Year, to keep this blog more up to date than I have in the past year. I know, I know, I said this last January too, but this time I mean it!
So please do check back regularly and I’ll keep you abreast of all the happenings concerning the JPQ.
Get Hitched, Give Hope
We were honored and thrilled to be a part of Get Hitched, Give Hope, a wonderful wedding event and fundraiser for the Making Memories Foundation at Seattle’s Arctic Club Hotel. The Dome Room was spectacular, the vendors and attendees were dressed to the 9’s, and the event raised $30,000 for terminally ill breast cancer patients. Thanks to Kelly Simants from Sweet Pea Events, Michelle Loretta from mmm…paper and all of the other organizers for throwing such an amazing event and including the JPQ! Click here to read the recap and check out the beautiful pictures from my good friend Jeff LaPlante.
Jason Parker Quartet now available at iTunes!
Our debut CD The Jason Parker Quartet is now available for download at iTunes! For $9.99 (or $0.99 per track) you can have high-quality digital downloads of all your favorite JPQ tunes! Visit the iTunes Store today.
"Bashert" by The Jason Parker Quartet featured in a radio ad!
The Jason Parker Quartet is performing for the 4th year in a row at Farestart’s Guest Chef on the Waterfront on July 9th. KMTT, The Mountain. is a sponsor of the event, and they are running an ad featuring my composition “Bashert”. Click here to check out the ad.
GCOW brings together the finest chefs, bakers, wine makers and the like for a great tasting event at Pier 66. All proceeds benefit Farestart’s job training and placement program. It’s always a great event and we hope to see you there!
I should also mention that the poster pictured above was designed by my friend David Calkins, a talented artist who has worked for clients like Farestart, Expedia and 107.7 The End. If you need graphic design work done you should check him out.
