Spring 2007
Jazz
Winter 2007
Jazz Down the Middle
A little before 8 a.m. one Tuesday last spring, the jazz band at Pullman’s Lincoln Middle School, a bit bed-headed and bleary-eyed, was working on a tricky rhythm. Standing at the whiteboard in Room 806, the director, Joe Covill, wrote out the notes and sang the syncopated notation.
“This is how it looks,” he said, “and this is how it sounds.”
It was only a refresher lesson, one they’d heard before, not only from Covill, but from the composer himself.
Greg Yasinitsky, a music professor at Washington State University, has been the middle school’s composer-in-residence for the past four years. In two days’ time, this … » More …
Spring 2009
One More Mile
What caught my attention from the first time I heard album was the silky-smooth blending of tonality this jazz quartet presents. The interplay between instruments (soprano sax, piano, bass, and drums) is balanced in such a way that one initially forgets there are four individual voices, and yet, upon further analysis, the skillfulness of each performer becomes apparent.
The opening tune, Sweet and Lovely, hints at modal journeys, while other selections such as Birks Works have what might be described as smoky and sultry tones. The more up-tempo Punt, and to a lesser degree E.J., contain more driven tempos with a nice bounce that allow … » More …
Winter 2002
Sojourner
Style, phrasing, and rhythmic acuity are hallmarks of a great jazz singer. Julie Silvera displays all of these and more on her debut CD, Sojourner. A graduate of Washington State University with an M.A. in music, Julie cut her “jazz teeth” singing in Pullman with the Charlie Argersinger trio at Rico’s Smokehouse.
How refreshing to hear a singer dig into the literature of the American Songbook and pick out rarely recorded jewels! Sojourner boasts three such gems: “Sweet Georgie Fame,” “Lost and Lookin’,” and “All Alone.”
On Sojourner, Julie covers the gamut of emotional expression, flashing the extremes of her range and dynamics … » More …
Fall 2006
The Dozier-Jarvis-Young Quartet: You Guys From Around Here?
The photo of the Moscow/Pullman highway which graces the cover of the Dozier-Jarvis-Young Quartet’s debut CD release, You Guys From Around Here? brought the memories flooding back, as I settled down to listen to the opening track, “Homecoming.” You see, I’m able to easily answer that particular query, since I was from “around there” for a little over eight years. In one of the group’s earlier incarnations—the Dozier-Jarvis-Jensen Quartet—I performed regularly at Roger Johnson’s venerable Pullman music establishment, Rico’s, and at clubs and concert halls throughout the Pacific Northwest. My objectivity as a reviewer having now been fully compromised, let us forge ahead with a … » More …
Spring 2004
Acoustic Jazz Quartet: Organic
It becomes clearer the longer you listen to Organic that the title of this CD indicates the playing style that the Acoustic Jazz Quartet allows to grow in the middle of its straight-ahead jazz sounds.
Most of the numbers begin simply—almost conventionally—with the percussion and bass coming in light and crisp. Drummer Dean Koba blithely keeps his strokes quick and precise, filling out the ensemble with a skittering, crystalline backdrop. Bassist Zac Matthews (’92 Music) is spry, placing most of his notes on top of the beat, which propels the music even as it gives everyone room. And when he takes the lead, as he … » More …