Seattle Jazz Fellowship: A New Age In A New Space

The Seattle Jazz Fellowship, a 501(c)(3) non-profit supporting jazz and jazz culture primarily at the local level, came to life in a backroom bar in the city's arts district on Capitol Hill in October 2021. The city, the nation, the world, was just beginning to fully climb out of the social slumber imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Artists and audiences alike were eager, yet cautious, in their actions to return to some form of normalcy. Vermillion, a community-oriented art space with a tiny brick-lined bar room in the back of its gallery, partnered with the non-profit to stage weekly performances from local jazz musicians with occasional visits from touring artists that otherwise would be performing at Tula's, the now shuttered, iconic Seattle jazz club. Tula's, along with the New Orleans Creole Restaurant in the Pioneer Square neighborhood had given the local scene legit stages to perform on for three decades, with touring acts largely gathering at the iconic Belltown night club, Dimitriou's Jazz Alley—now celebrating its 46th anniversary. The closing of these vital spaces along with the virtual two-year disappearance of social normalcy left the future of local jazz in Seattle in a perilous state. Vermillion served as a beginning signpost of things to come, with the ultimate goal being an independent venue open at least four nights a week for local artists to perform. The story of the nonprofit's beginnings was clearly delineated in a previous All About Jazz piece—Seattle Jazz Fellowship: A New Beginning For Live Resident Jazz, published in February, 2022, just four months into their journey.

The Seattle Jazz Fellowship is built on raising funds through donations, grants and memberships. More than 700 patrons have become members, a privilege that allows them to gain entrance into shows for a full year. Non-members may choose to enter a performance with a suggested $20 donation. On January 26, 2024, the nonprofit realized its dream of opening their own space, a place to gather in music and fellowship. That space is in the historic Globe Building in the city's first neighborhood, Pioneer Square. With standing room included, the all-ages room accommodates 80-90 guests, serves beer and wine and functions as a jazz performance room—in essential terms, a community clubhouse for the local jazz scene. It sits in the center of the rapidly revitalized historic district of late 19th century brick and stone buildings. The city is in the process of reviving this historic neighborhood in such a way that encourages pedestrians and ties into the city's waterfront that for years was essentially inaccessible to the public. The removal of a hideous elevated viaduct that carried Highway 99 through the downtown area, and Seattle's mammoth waterfront recovery project has given new life to Pioneer Square in its desired revitalization. Once the center of nightlife and in particular, local live music in Seattle, the inclusion of The Seattle Jazz Fellowship in both its macro and micro view of the new Pioneer Square is significant. Art galleries, bookstores, eateries, bars and music venues have begun to spring back to life, whether they be new ventures or businesses well established over time.

The Fellowship provides live local jazz each Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with an all-ages jam session on Monday nights. Local drummer D’Vonne Lewis hosts an all-ages session on Sunday afternoons that draws participants as young as 11 years old. Fellowship artist-in-residence Julian Priester hosts a Saturday afternoon sit-down to listen to jazz and discuss its history through the eyes and experiences of the iconic trombonist. Tuesday and Wednesday performances have begun to creep on to the Fellowship calendar as the venue at 109 S. Main St. steers towards a destination as a full-time expenditure.

The Seattle Jazz Fellowship was put into action by Seattle trumpeter Thomas Marriott, an internationally acclaimed jazz artist with intimate knowledge of jazz scenes in other parts of the country. After a period of living in New York City, he returned to Seattle and settled into a career that has produced 15 albums as a leader, and live performance credits as a leader and side musician with a score of the industry's best. His legacy on stage in Seattle has been largely made within the confines of Tula's and the New Orleans, their demise thus having an impact that was born both out of community and personal concerns. With inflated rents accompanying gentrification in Seattle, the dinner club model for jazz performance was not only getting out of reach for business owners, it also was creating a major barrier to access for jazz fans not able to afford expensive dinners and cocktails. With that in mind, the model was mapped out carefully by Marriott with an open mind to the many contributors to the cause. The very idea had been discussed community wide at jam sessions and online forums for a number of years, with the known impending doom of Tula's in mind. The entire block of Second Avenue, where the iconic club once thrived, was reduced to rubble with yet more glass towers to be added to the rapidly changing Seattle skyline.

The resulting move to Pioneer Square has produced a full-time jazz venue that due to its nonprofit model, can pay musicians a living wage regardless of ticket sales or covers. The guaranteed wage enables artists to choose musicians and rehearse, in essence, giving their very best on the Fellowship stage. To date, the nonprofit has paid out over $320,000 to area musicians, a number growing by the week. The move to Pioneer Square quadrupled Fellowship activity, including wages paid out to performers. The membership/donation-driven model allows music lovers to access jazz music at an exceptionally low rate in a relaxed environment with a clubhouse vibe. Audiences are thus extremely diverse in terms of age, gender and cultural identity. There is a warm sense of community, with musicians present to support the efforts of their peers. Old acquaintances are renewed, new friendships are made, all within the embrace of the music itself. Being independent from any partnership, the nonprofit can program more creatively without restraint. Now a year and over 200 performances into the new digs, to Marriott, and all of those who understand the nonprofit's community objectives, all of the boxes seemingly have been checked. Understanding the possibility—or even inevitability—of a future move, the space is furnished in such a way as to be portable. What time in the space has achieved over the past year, is the truth that the Seattle Jazz Fellowship is its more than 700 members, not where those members are housed.

"We're building a community, we're increasing access to the mentorship cycle, incentivizing excellence and lowering barriers of access to the music every day," cites Marriott. "I would say it's a huge success. I think we're making the most out of the space, and the community has responded."

The international jazz community is a collective of hundreds, if not thousands of local jazz communities. All in all, on a global scale, the community is not that large, facilitating a unity and sense of social awareness within a worldwide collective spirit. It is equal parts music and humanity and fosters a fellowship that is unique to this art form that has thrived over generations without the benefits and distractions of popularity or pop culture at large. Marriott's 30 years in the music exposed him fully to local scenes nationally, a realization brought to all touring musicians and to a lesser extent, the media that covers them. In particular, Marriott has ties within the jazz communities in New York and Philadelphia and so lends a degree of that East Coast intensity and focus that has seemed to avoid the West Coast over time. In any case, the Fellowship represents a local-scene focus adorned with the concerns of modern life in America. It is a serious re-evaluation of the business model that presents this music to the people. Whether housed in a permanent location, or formed in a pop-up model, it is a community-based formula that can be utilized on a global scale if so chosen.

The local, community focus of the Seattle Jazz Fellowship is having impact outside of the music itself. It is a small part of a revival of a historic neighborhood, providing light on the edge of darkness for a part of town that experienced a precipitous decline accentuated greatly by the worldwide pandemic. While the '90s saw the Pioneer Square stretch of First Avenue S become a launching pad for the grunge rock movement of that time, the neighborhood has a rich history in jazz and blues.

In the '60's The Penthouse featured the top acts in jazz, including Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin and John Coltrane, who in 1965 recorded his avant-garde classic, Live in Seattle (Impulse,1971) at the club located at the base of Cherry St. on First Avenue. A parking garage now occupies that spot. In the '70's and '80s, three jazz clubs occupied the Pioneer Square area. The Pioneer Banque was a tiny basement room at First and Yesler that welcomed Bill Evans, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Dexter Gordon and a long A-list of jazz performers through its doors. Parnell's, later Ernestine's, was a small room with wonderful acoustics in Occidental Square, a one-minute stroll from the current location of the Fellowship. Its third owner was the great vocal artist Ernestine Anderson, who grew up in Seattle side by side with Quincy Jones. The New Orleans Creole Restaurant hosted jazz and blues on the local scene until 2014. Marriott had a Friday night residency there that included notable Seattleites Matt Jorgensen, Rick Mandyck, Mark Taylor, Phil Sparks and a host of others, week to week. The Fellowship digs at 109 S. Main are a half block from the site of Pete's Poop Deck, Seattle's first club to host mostly national and international talent. The club closed in 1964 after a seven- year run. While the Seattle Jazz Fellowship stands on the edge of jazz history, its sights are clearly rooted firmly in the present, with a vision of where the music takes us moving forward in time.

When Tula's closed its doors in October 2019, the discussion had already begun that led to the idea of a jazz nonprofit in Seattle. Much of the discussion involved Tula's manager Jason Moore relocating the club after its ultimate demise. Others placed hope in new jazz spots popping up like magic, as they always had to some degree. None of that happened—before, during or after the devastating blow dealt by the pandemic. What was left standing was the idea that has materialized in the community in the form of the SJF jazz room at 109 S. Main St.

Where are young jazz fans coming from?

With the move to Pioneer Square into their own controllable space, the Fellowship began programming community events including a weekly jam session on Monday nights. Marriott had hosted a Monday night session in the south end Columbia City neighborhood at The Royal Room for the past year that had drawn well in terms of musician participation. The jam started at 9 PM, essentially excluding younger student players from Seattle's stellar high school jazz programs. Audience participation was there, but the hang was dominated by musicians in terms of actual numbers. With the late-night session on Tuesday nights at the nearby Owl 'n Thistle established, the decision was made to begin the new Monday night jam in Pioneer Square at 7:30 PM. The time, combined with the all-ages nature of the space, caters to a younger audience. At first, musicians showed up in force, instrument cases scattered throughout the room marking their presence. Soon, that would change in a startling way.

When college-aged students began to show up, the word got out via TikTok and YouTube videos that there was "free jazz on Monday nights" in Pioneer Square. On Martin Luther King Day, they turned out in force, with the room tightly populated to maximum capacity with mostly 18-to 25-year-old patrons. The door needed to be held, prompting a sidewalk crowd of 40 people waiting to get in. The house band led by Marriott got the party started before the jam session, the audience surprisingly all in. They listened, they applauded after solos, at one point, even requested a few audience members speak at a polite minimum so they could hear the music. This phenomenon was to be more than a one-shot deal—the crowds have continued to show up on Monday nights, giving Seattle musicians the opportunity to display their wares in front of a large, live and enthusiastic crowd. Where did these kids come from, and how did they get involved with jazz music? That was the question on the lips of the regulars at 109 S, Main. Discussions on the sidewalk outside of the venue provided diverse answers to that question, but the presence on social media created by young fans who had actually attended the session was the driving force. Still, it was the music, the vibe of the return, and discovering this great music that has allowed a sudden explosion to be a sustainable thing. Marriott's reaction mirrors that of Fellowship regulars who have attended on a weekly basis.

"What a gift. What can you say about it," he says. "It's just super encouraging that we're seeing a generation of people that's coming to hear the music, that don't have preconceived ideas about it. They have an open mind about it and are willing to experience it live. They're experiencing jazz for the first time in a live setting, rather than on records or on the radio—that's super vital to growing the audience. It's our job to take care of it."

The actual nonprofit approach was providing success in drawing an audience that never would be seen at dinner clubs such as Tula's, or backroom bar sessions that require patrons to be21 years of age. The Fellowship's Monday night audience is likely half over legal age, judging by beverage sales. But their underage friends could attend with them, with the music being the binding connection for the evening. There were those already familiar with jazz, even some that came specifically to see the opening set by the Thomas Marriott Quartet. But for most, it was a life probe into something new and fun, something with artistic relevance as well. Like most jazz fans for whom the music becomes paramount, the experience of live jazz is the draw that may lead some to recordings and other facets of jazz culture. For the completely unacquainted, seeing artistic excellence that in a way was "serious," approached as something holy, was a far sight different from popular culture. With the jazz audience being in a state of participation as listeners, they could feel something different, something personal, something of physical and spiritual value. The nonprofit in this way, is doing work that is so important, so essential to the forward journey of the music in its city and beyond its borders.

The weekly Thursday-Saturday schedule features Seattle area artists, for the most part, performing original compositions and interpretations of jazz standards. Receiving a living wage for their efforts, leaders are able to rehearse and prepare properly in an effort to give their absolute best effort. Audiences have been the happy recipients of this methodology that puts the music and the musician first. For Marriott and the SJF board of directors, the daily grind of running a nonprofit, while being fully engaged with the forward movement of jazz music in Seattle is a lot of work, and very different work than what may have befallen a jazz club proprietor of any generation in the city's enlightened jazz history. It's new territory, one being traversed with grace by Marriott and the board.

"It's been a lot of work. It's manageable. There's a production aspect to it, there's just a series of layers to running the nonprofit. I'm getting better at it, but I'm also very much learning on the job. The board of directors that we have right now is really strong and engaged, which I really appreciate—they're really all in. We have some nice momentum going forward," says Marriott.

The first year of the new Pioneer Square digs has seen the nonprofit bring some touring acts in, if for no other reason than to set the bar high for what goes on in the room year round with local talent. Sets led by Tarbaby with Orrin Evans, Nasheet Waits and Eric Revis, Peter Bernstein, Ben Wolfe, Ray Vega and Victor North represent top-end talent that has graced the fellowship stage. The first week of the room's operations saw bassist David Ambrosio's Civil Disobedience appear with jazz heavyweights Donny McCaslin, pianist David Kikoski, trumpeter Brandon Lee and the legendary drummer, Victor Lewis. Seattle artists who have taken to living across the country and abroad have found their way home to perform as well. Pianist Brittany Anjou, saxophonist Jessica Lurie, pianist Dawn Clement, bassist Ben Feldman and trumpeter Cecil Young are among those that have landed at 109 S. Main.

The week prior to the writing of this piece featured out-of-towners in drummer Joe Farnsworth and alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan in town performing with young Seattle pianist Roman Goron and first-call bassist Michael Glynn. This union of local and touring talent is a bit of a Seattle tradition, harking back to days when the city was a remote outpost in the upper left part of the country. Before consistent air travel began prior to the Seattle World's Fair in 1962, and Interstate 5 opened at about the same time, travel to the Emerald City was difficult at best, prompting these regularly occurring musical unions.

The Seattle Jazz Fellowship is presenting "Jazz Night in Pioneer Square" on February 18, 2025 in 13 venues along First Avenue, Occidental and Second Avenue near Cherry St. Thirteen bands led by resident artists will perform in 13 venues beginning at 6 PM, with the evening's migration culminating at the Owl 'n Thistle for the weekly jam session there. The session, which takes place in the back room of an Irish dive bar, has been a Tuesday-night staple in Seattle since 1998. The session has been visited by the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Branford Marsalis, Emmet Cohen and scores of others. For this Tuesday evening, it will see an epic manifestation of the session with Jazz Night musicians. Seattle notables include Marriott, Jacqueline Tabor, John Bishop, Ann Reynolds, Mandyck, Marc Seales, Jovino Santos Neto, Jay Thomas and Kate Olson. The event will bring jazz music front and center to a neighborhood rich in the history of Black American music. Best of all, the event is free of charge, enabling an audience without financial constraint. It is after all, a gift of fellowship, a principal emblazoned in the nonprofit's very title.

The presence of Seattle Jazz Fellowship Artist-In-Residence Priester not only during his monthly "Julian Speaks" sessions, but in terms of impacting the entirety of the program cannot be overstated. If jazz is something integral in your life, whether that be as a musician, writer, or patron of the art, it is certain you have developed strong personal feelings about the music and its impact on our culture. Whether that impact is felt or experienced musically, sociologically, spiritually or all of the above—conversations with Priester will create understanding and in a way, offer validation of those sparks of humanity ignited by the music. His very participation in so many important recordings and events in jazz history is a precious resource offered and received in love and reverence. In all, he is a friend to the more than 700 members of the Seattle Jazz Fellowship, someone who may drop by for the same reason that the rest of us show up—to listen. "Jazz attracts an audience that knows how to listen," he stated at his most recent Saturday afternoon event. We then all listened to a piece he recorded with Sun Ra in the late '50s, realizing we were all part of the history of this music, in the moment.

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