Originally published in Earshot Jazz January 2012
Who organized Seattle’s first jazz festival in 1939? It was a member of the Husky Hot Club, a junior at the University of Washington named Norm Bobrow. When Seattle led the nation in gender equality by being the first major city to elect a woman mayor in 1926, how many women were in the Seattle Symphony? Less than ten percent of the orchestra’s musicians were female. Are there any operas about the state of Washington? In 1912 a local woman wrote Narcissa, depicting the life of Washington missionaries Narcissa and Marcus Whitman who were killed by members of the Cayuse tribe.
Originally published in Earshot Jazz January 2012
For “Solitary Man,” guitarist Tim Young lifts his face, neck outstretched, high notes squeezing out the side of his mouth. Robin Holcomb crowds in next to him to harmonize. Wayne Horvitz purrs on the Hammond B-3 organ while Jon Hyde’s head slips and slides atop his shoulders in sync with the bar gliding over his pedal steel strings. Geoff Harper’s bass line locks in with drummer Andy Roth. All audience heads nod in unison. The fifth of seven bands on Saturday, December 17, at new Columbia City venue the Royal Room, Varmint carries the tagline “No original music. No rehearsals.” They also belong to the origin story of a noble idea for a new venue.
