October 22nd

Walt Wagner

Walt Wagner Website

Walt Wagner once again will open our season as he did twelve years ago! Mr. Wagner, a favorite performer for years around the northwest, has played jazz festivals, solo concerts, and on television with Jay Leno, Bill Cosby, Roberta Flack, Peggy Lee - the list goes on. Recently his compositions have been featured with the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, Washington Wind Symphony, and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

Music Samples

Chariots of Fire

Honky Tonk Blues

Rhythms

Cry Me a River

Reviews

Portland Oregonian: “There are not many pianists with whom he can be compared. There are touches of wizardry that remind of jazz and rock, yet he has the technical fluidity of a classical craftsman. There is a charisma about him that generated a standing ovation with the audience yelling for more.”

Bellevue Daily Journal-American (with Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra): “Wagner was back by popular demand and drew a sellout crowd.”

Variety (Harrah's Reno, with Sammy Davis Jr.): “An outstanding talent, Wagner earned enthusiastic encores with brilliant improvising.”

December 10th

Tingstad & Rumbel

Grammy Award Winners!

Tingstad & Rumbel  Website 

Our holiday show features the Grammy Award winners Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel, performing many of their Christmas favorites along with selections from their latest album "A Moment's Peace." Eric's artistry on guitar and Nancy's haunting oboe and English horn sounds create a New Age ambience that has delighted audiences worldwide. Is it Jazz, classical, a combination? You decide.

Music Samples

Lucinda

Over the Rainbow

Carolina

Stars

Reviews

"...enduring...magical works…Tingstad’s guitar and Rumbel’s oboe draw on years of touring the American landscape.”
-Chicago Sun-Times

"...awesome guitar and woodwind celebration of peace and beauty. Music of nature and grace continue to flow. Superb!"
-Boston Post-Gazette

"...moving in its variety. Evocative both of feelings and nature."
-George Winston

"No other duo has been such a delight over and over again as Tingstad and Rumbel. A taste of eclecticism that delights the palette."
-Sacred World Music

January 28th

Hungry Hill

Hungry Hill Website

Hungry Hill plays contemporary, acoustic bluegrass with a focus on original material. Based in northwestern Canada, the group features five seasoned musicians staying true to the roots of bluegrass and old-time music. This is a do-not-miss afternoon of great country music, the lush harmonies, stories, and sound of mandolin, fiddle, banjo, guitar and bass of Hungry Hill.

Music Samples

Loving You Loving Me      © Jenny Lester

Mountain Girl
© Jenny Lester

I'm Building a Home
© Jenny Lester / Bob Hamilton

Reviews

"...bluegrass quintet Hungry Hill played an hour's worth of brilliant standards.." -Calgary Folk Festival

" The soul of Bluegrass music was born in the Appalachian Mountains in the Eastern United States. Most of the truly hot pickers and singers originate from there having been brought up in the shadow of tall pines and rolling hills, so when someone with that same feeling and soul appears from our own back yard, we have to say that we have been given a rare and precious gift. That gift comes to us in the form of a talented and beautiful songstress, Jenny Lester.
" -Bluegrass Canada

March 11th 

Greta Matassa 

Greta Matassa Website

Greta Matassa, voted the northwest's "best jazz vocalist" four times by "Earshot Jazz", and her outstanding trio will thrill us all as she sings some of jazz's greatest music. Heard regularly on radio across America, Greta is one of the northwest's hottest jazz tickets. For a special treat, the award-winning Mount Si Jazz Band will open the program with Greta as their vocalist. 

Music Samples

Double Rainbow

Inside a Silent Tear

Sweet and Lovely

He's Gone Again

Reviews

"Matassa's performance was a marvel of virtuosity."
Greta Matassa at the Rising Jazz Stars Foundation—Los Angeles Times

"Worldly, gentle, bold, dynamic, Favorites From a Long Walk is a gift for the heart. Greta Matassa is one of America’s finest singers, and stands firmly among the best in today’s jazz."
Favorites From A Long Walk—Jazz Review

Jazz Orchestra

April 22nd

Seattle Repertory Jazz

SRJO Website

A very special performance by SRJO as they pare down to nine players and recreate the historic Miles Davis' recording Birth of the Cool. Rarely presented, this performance is a tribute not only to the original Miles Davis group, but shows off the artistry of the SRJO in a musical afternoon that will leave us all breathless.  

Jazz 4 Kids

1. In-school visitations by SRJO artists
2. Jazz workshops and clinics for local school musicians
3. The annual Jazz4Kids concert (held each year in March) that is presented free-of-charge to all school age children and youth, plus any parent,teacher or youth group leader accompanything them
4. The SRJO Jazz Scholars Program, which provides select students free private lessons with an SRJO musician, and a free instrument when necessary.

Reviews

Seattle Times: "Is there any value to reprising great works of the jazz repertory, when recordings by the masters are so easily available?

It's a nagging question that won't go away. But Saturday night at Benaroya Hall, in a triumphant rendering of the music of Miles Davis' "Birth of the Cool" period, the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra answered it with a resounding - but, of course, cool - "yes."