Seattle Women in Jazz Festival

Originally published in Earshot Jazz April 2013

Seattle’s swinging sisters take the spotlight for the Seattle Women in Jazz Festival on April 26, 27 and 28. Five venues from Ballard to Rainier Valley will headline fourteen vocalists, nine instrumentalists and three big bands.

On Friday and Saturday, Egan’s Ballard Jam House will mainly focus on instrumentalists while the Rainier Valley Cultural center will host vocal showcases. On Sunday, Lucid Lounge in the University District will feature vocalists, the Vera Project at the Seattle Center will include an all-girl high school big band, and the Triple Door downtown will pair the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra with singer/songwriter Sarah Elizabeth Charles and her quartet from New York.

Organizer Jessica Davis was inspired when she heard about a Women in Jazz Festival taking place in the other Washington – DC, that is. “Why don’t we have something like that here?” thought Davis. Hats off to Davis’ do-it-yourself approach. “If there is something that needs to be done,” says Davis, “then I just do it.”



April is Jazz Appreciation Month and was initiated by the Smithsonian Institute under U.S. Congressional Legislation in 2003. As Davis began planning the Seattle festival, she talked to Joann Stevens, Program Director for Jazz Appreciation Month at the Smithsonian Institute. Davis decided to show her appreciation for local talent and scheduled the festival to coincide with the Smithsonian’s initiative.

While this is Davis’ first festival, she gained experience producing the documentary Between the Raindrops, featuring footage of two sold out Seattle jazz concerts and interviews with several local jazz musicians. Between her many activities, Davis edits Raindrops for eventual commercial release.

Davis grew up in Seattle. She earned a degree in communications with a journalism emphasis from the University of Washington in 2000. She was familiar with jazz from her grandmother playing Glen Miller on the car radio and enjoyed singing along with recordings of female jazz vocalists.

When Davis was 21, she met Penn Goertzel in a playwriting group. Goertzel was an avid jazz fan and the two writers became regulars at the New Orleans Creole Restaurant listening to Floyd Standifer’s band. Davis wrote an article about Standifer for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Davis’ jazz writing landed her a gig as Managing Editor for Northwest Jazz Profile magazine and she produced Jazz TV weekly on local access cable. Currently, Davis writes publicity materials for jazz artists and record labels. She studied jazz singing at Seattle Central Community College and began sitting in at open mics.

“I am proud to represent and support a form of music that allows freedom in creative thought and expression,” Davis says. “One thing I really like about jazz is that it’s all about creative expression. Not just the music, but that people can show who they are through their solos. You can hear a person’s individuality.”

The individuals you can hear at the festival include the distinctive voices of Rochelle House, Stephanie Porter, Jacqueline Tabor and Leah Netal, winner of the 2013 Seattle/Kobe Female Jazz Vocalist Competition. Unique instrumentalists include pianists Dawn Clement and Sumi Tonooka, saxophonists Kate Olson and Cynthia Mullis, clarinetist Beth Fleenor, mallet percussionist Susan Pascal, trumpeter Samantha Boshnack and Ann Reynold’s Latin jazz band Clave Gringa.

The estate of saxophonist Red Holloway will award a $1,000 memorial scholarship to a female high school student at the Vera Project on the last day of the festival. Davis says, “Red Holloway was a dear friend of mine and I am very touched that his family chose to honor his memory in this way.” In addition to the winning student, the program will include performances by singer/songwriter Carly Calbero, the Holy Names Academy Jazz Band and Samantha Boshnack’s ensemble.

Sunday’s program at the Triple Door includes the New York based singer Sarah Elizabeth Charles. Charles graduated from the New School with degrees in music and sociology. In an interview with Eric Sandler, Charles said, “I think that when you’re watching performance art, specifically jazz performance art, the interactions that happen on the bandstand are super reflective of conversations on street corners. Or at least I think they should be. That’s the kind of musician I want to be.”

This festival gives Seattle a chance to hear several women being the kind of musicians they want to be. More information can be found at www.seattlewomeninjazz.com.