Bands
Ben and Jak
After hearing the Loose Marbles at last year’s exchange we decided to play for keeps. We couldn’t bring them all back, but we’re thrilled to have Ben Polcer and Jason Jurzak.
Ben plays on trumpet and piano, and Jak slaps bass and guitar (not to mention a mean sousaphone, but not this year).
Catch them this year playing with Blackstick, Casey MacGill’s Late Night Jam, Hot Mustard Buskers (Jak), and Crytzer’s Blue Rhythm Band (Ben).
* in this clip: Ben Polcer, Jason Jurzak, Evan Arntzen, & the Loose Marbles
** video by Bobby Bonsey
Ted Gottsegen
Ted is a former Seattle musician who played for dancers regularly in several bands, such as the Solomon Douglas Swingtet, Ham Carson’s New Orleans Band, the Djangomatics, and sat it with many other bands around the Pacific Northwest. He’s now residing in New York, where he has on occasion been heard hittin’ on all six with the likes of Dan Levinson, Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, Bria Skonberg and Jim Fryer. We’re thrilled to have him hittin’ for us again in Seattle.
Blackstick
Evan Arntzen - Reeds
Lloyd Arntzen - Reeds
Ben Polcer - Trumpet
Solomon Douglas - Keys
Ted Gottsegen - Guitar
Jason Jurzak - Bass
Benji Bohannon - Drums
Sometimes things skip a generation. That is definitely the case with Blackstick; the union of a grandfather-grandson team of clarinet players. Evan Arntzen, the leader of the band, has been playing hot music for dancers for the past few years on the west coast. His grandfather, Lloyd, taught him the clarinet and a love for New Orleans Jazz, and has been a mainstay on the Western Canadian Jazz scene since the 50’s. Assembled to back them up is a rhythm section of some of the swingin’est players from around the United States: Benji Bohannon; drums, Ted Gottsegen; guitar, Jason Jurzak; Bass, Solomon Douglas; piano, with special guest, Ben Polcer; trumpet.
* in this clip: Evan & Lloyd Arntzen, and Benji Bohannon
** video by Joel Schwarz
Bria’s PNW All-Stars
Bria Skonberg - Trumpet
Evan Arntzen - Reeds
Dave Loomis - Trombone
Solomon Douglas - Piano
Ted Gottsegen - Guitar
Georgia Korba - Bass
Benji Bohannon - Drums
Bria Skonberg will be leading a band of regional favorites in a band that is sure to keep you on the dance floor. Representing the cities of Vancouver and Seattle, the musicians in this band have been playing great music and keeping dancers on their feet for many years, and we’re excited to have them playing together for us!
At age 25, Bria Skonberg has been performing on stage for over 20 years. She has made appearances as a bandleader and guest artist all over North America and Europe, as well as China and Japan. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including the CBC Jazz Award of Merit (2006), and the coveted Kobe Jazz Street Friendship Award, presented at the Breda Jazz Festival in 2007. Bria currently resides in Vancouver where she graduated with a Degree in Jazz Performance from Capilano College in 2006. She co-leads and manages three jazz bands based in the Pacific Northwest: The Big Bang Jazz Band aka The 51st Eight (http://www.bigbangjazzband.com) The Mighty Aphrodite Jazz Band (http://www.mightyjazz.com) and Bria’s Hot Five. She is also a member of The Hoppin’ Mad Orchestra, the Yukon based quintet New Orleans North, and is featured often with Crytzer’s Blue Rhythm Band and the Solomon Douglas Swingtet.
* in this clip: Bria Skonberg, Evan Arntzen, Casey MacGill, Georgia Korba
** video by Andy Stockdale
Active Ingredients
Evan Shay - saxophones
Gabe Martin - trumpet
Andrew Kennard - piano
Carmen Rothwell - bass
Alexandria Evenson - drums
Active Ingredients style is rooted in the swinging jazz masters of the past such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie, and also incorporates the cool style of modern players. The quintet is comprised of musicians that are also members of the renowned Garfield High School Jazz Ensemble, which recently placed first at Essentially Ellington in NYC for the third time. They have also taken top honors at the Lionel Hampton, Reno, and Mount Hood Jazz Festivals multiple times. Several members of Active Ingredients have won soloist awards at these competitions.
Active Ingredient Jazz Quintet recently opened for India.Arie and John Ondrasik at the Concert for Point Hope at Town Hall. The quintet was featured at the mayor’s Seattle City of Music Vision 2020 at the Paramount Theater. They were also selected to perform at Moore Music @ The Moore, a regional showcase of exceptional talent. They have also performed at the Edmonds Jazz Connection, as well as a wide array of venues.
Casey MacGill’s Late Night Jam
Casey MacGill - Piano, Uke, vocals
Ben Polcer - Trumpet
Paul Woltz - Saxophones
Glenn Crytzer - Guitar
Jason Jurzak - Bass
Mike Daugherty - Drums
Casey MacGill is a class act performer and one of the swingin-est cats in town. From California, Casey MacGill is a classic Hollywood character in appearance and style. MacGill plays boogie-woogie, swing, and stride piano. He blows a lyrical cornet, and his most unique instrumental voice is a 6-string tenor ukulele. He has been singing and arranging vocal harmonies for almost 30 years, in a career that stretches from Los Angeles (Mood Indigo, feature films “Frances” and “Swing Shift”) to Spokane, WA (The Spirits of Rhythm and the neo-swing classic CD “Jump”) to Broadway (The musical “Swing”) and finally to Seattle. “I’ve played a lot of music with a lot of people,” he says “and one thing I’ve learned is to tailor my arrangements to the individual musicians. Its gives each musical situation a unique sound.” He steers the band from his piano bench, alternately cruising along and sweating feverishly, switching intuitively between the ukulele and the piano and the cornet, singing and scatting, sometimes all within the same song.
* in this clip: Casey MacGill and Mike Daugherty
* in this clip: Casey MacGill and Mike Daugherty
Crytzer’s Blue Rhythm Band
Glenn Crytzer - Leader, arranger, guitar
Ray Skjelbred - Piano
Mike Daugherty - Drums
Dave Brown - Bass
Ben Polcer - Trumpet
Ben McDonald - Trumpet
Ed Castro - Trumpet
Dave Loomis - Trombone
? - Trombone
Paul Woltz - Reeds
Evan Arntzen - Reeds
Pete Peterson - Reeds
Travis Ranney - Reeds
The Blue Rhythm Band was founded in 2008 for Seattle’s “Killer Diller Ball.” The group is comprised of some of the finest jazz musicians in the Pacific Northwest and is one of only a handful of professional big bands in the U.S. focused solely on the music of the swing era (late 20’s-early 40’s). This 13 piece line up (the size band that predominated the popular music scene in the 1930’s) plays charts from the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra, the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra, the Benny Goodman Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Artie Shaw Orchestra, and many more including of course their namesake, the Mills Blue Rhythm Band. The band also pioneers new arrangements of classic tunes written in the 1930’s style by bandleader Glenn Crytzer. Close your eyes and you might just think you’re listening to an old-time radio show!
http://www.syncopators.net/
* in this clip: Crytzer’s Blue Rhythm Band and the Killer Diller Weekend Harvest Moon Ball Dancers
DJs
Swing DJs
Travis Whetman - Seattle
Michael Faltesek - Seattle
Freddie Dickinson - Seattle
Lucy Falkner - Vancouver, BC
Mark Kihara - Seattle
Dan Newsome - Seattle
Brenda Aldridge - Seattle
Justin Hill - Seattle
See the FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY pages for DJ schedules.
Blues DJs
Martin Beally - Seattle
Lizzy Boyer - Seattle
Dan Newsome - Seattle
Orville Zharoff - Seattle
Karissa Lightsmith - Seattle
Jeremy Lightsmith - Seattle
Brien Brown - Seattle
Dargoff - Seattle
Blues DJs will be playing at After Hours each night!