Aug 20 Wednesday
Mandela: The Official Exhibition explores the life of the world’s most famous freedom fighter and political leader. His epic journey is told in a series of experiential galleries, from his rural childhood home through years of turbulent struggle against the apartheid regime, to his eventual vindication and final years as South Africa’s first democratically elected president.
An immersive and interactive experience, the exhibition features previously unseen films, photos, and the display of historical artifacts and personal effects on loan from the Mandela family, museums, and archives worldwide. This unprecedented exhibition offers fresh insights into the people, places, and events that formed Nelson Mandela’s character and the challenges he faced.
MOHAI will also highlight Mandela’s 1999 visit to Seattle and present a look at Seattle’s role in the anti-apartheid movement, including the work of the Seattle Coalition Against Apartheid. Mandela recognized Seattle as one of the first U.S. cities to boycott South African goods.
The period from the 1870s to the 1900s, known as the Gilded Age, saw the rise of the railroad, textile industry, and production. It also saw a rise in migration to US cities, providing workers to fill low paying jobs producing many of the fashions of the era. This era marked a turning point in fashion as new technologies and changing cultural norms transformed the ways in which people dressed.
Explore this history and enjoy the rare chance to see clothing, notions, and artifacts of the period from the Washington State Historical Society collections.
Never Turn Back: Echoes of African American Music unveils the profound legacy of Gospel, Blues, Jazz, and Soul artists who shaped the soundscape of American culture and used their music as instruments of resistance, identity, and representation.
Gospel, Blues, Jazz, and Soul embody the profound influence of African American music on culture and history. From the spiritual foundations and transformative movements of Gospel hymns to the revolutionary improvisations of Jazz, the Blues’ Southern roots rising from the Mississippi Delta, and Soul’s powerful amplification of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, these genres have defined the unique sound and undying spirit of a nation that continues to echo through contemporary Black music today.
"Echoes, Memories and Curiosities" is an unconventional one-man show of art by Chuck Iffland, an outsider artist whose works spring from his inner visions. The son of painters, musicians and craftsmen — he uses his great-grandfather’s hand tools — Iffland turns his dreams and imaginings into sculptures and prints.The show, divided into what he calls echoes, memories and curiosities, is open noon to 5 PM daily except Tuesdays. A free opening celebration is set for 5 p.m. Saturday, July 12, and Iffland will do a free Q & A at 3 p.m. Sunday, July 27.This artist is a free spirit. His degree is in political science, while “I have no art degrees. And I never wanted any art degrees,” says Iffland, who lives and works in rural Chimacum. He infuses his fascinations with archeology, history, borders and the natural world into wood, stone, paper and copper, making what he calls “artifacts of the mind.” His travels, including hikes in the American Southwest and explorations of Belize, also inspire him.
Visit Pike Place Market every Wednesday this summer for Produce on Pike, our evening farmers market happening July 9 through September 10 from 3–7 p.m. Shop fresh, seasonal produce from local Washington farms, meet the growers, and explore handmade goods. Plus, enjoy live chef demos each week featuring recipes made with the freshest Market ingredients of the week.
The Normandy Park Arts Commission has worked throughout the winter and spring to create an exciting summer music schedule for the annual ‘Music in the Park’ concert series! Every Sunday in July and August at Marvista Park, the City is hosting free concerts starting at 5:00 pm. These concerts are open to the public and feature live music and a theater performance. The summer will culminate with a special jazz music finale in late August featuring This finale will offer an entire afternoon of music with three bands. Bring a picnic blanket or lawn chair and enjoy this fantastic summer lineup in 2025
The series is performed at Kingston Village Green Park. Bring your chairs and listen to wonderful and fun melodies outside in the open air.
July 2: Ranger and the Rearrangers - Hot Club SwingJuly 9: Mark Lewis QuartetJuly 16:Jump Monkeys - energetic jump blues and swingJuly 23: WHOZYAMAMA - Cajun musicJuly 30: Olympic Serenade string Quartet - stirring classical, movie and show themesAugust 6: Mark Dufresne Band - exciting and powerful R&BAugust 13: John Greyhound Maxwell Trio - amazing slide guitar, acoustic bluesAugust 20: Bannister and Maine with their guest artist Roger Ferguson bring folk and Americana tunes with guitar, mandolin and voicesAugust 27: Singer/songwriter Ben Gage shares his tunes and covers of folks and Americana tunes
Immerse yourself in the sultry, swingin’ Jazz Age of the Harlem Renaissance, where the Cotton Club is the place to be! Infused with the iconic tunes of Duke Ellington, Dorothy Fields, Harold Arlen, and more, After Midnight weaves groundbreaking jazz standards with rapturous dance and the rhythmic poetry of Langston Hughes in a jubilant production fit to blow the roof off the theater. Timeless songs like “Stormy Weather,” “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing” will have you leaping to your feet to join the fun.
Winner of the Tony®, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle AwardsFeaturing a live jazz band on stage, and the best tap dancing in the Pacific NorthwestA 5th Avenue Theatre debut and original staging
Welcomed by KNKX. Frank Vignola is one of the most extraordinary guitarists performing before the public today. His stunning virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world’s top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, John Lewis, Tommy Emmanuel, Lionel Hampton, the Boston Pops, the New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his “Five Most Admired Guitarists List:” for the Wall Street Journal.
His dynamic genre-spanning music has brought him to 21 countries on three continents – and still growing – performing in some of the world’s most illustrious venues, including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, New York’s Lincoln Center, The Blue Note, and the world’s oldest indoor concert hall, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy.
Pasquale Grasso - It was the kind of endorsement most rising guitarists can only dream of, and then some. In his interview for Vintage Guitar magazine’s February 2016 cover story, Pat Metheny was asked to name some younger musicians who’d impressed him. “The best guitar player I’ve heard in maybe my entire life is floating around now, Pasquale Grasso,” said the jazz-guitar icon and NEA Jazz Master. “This guy is doing something so amazingly musical and so difficult. “Mostly what I hear now are guitar players who sound a little bit like me mixed with a little bit of [John Scofield] and a little bit of [Bill Frisell],” he continued. “What’s interesting about Pasquale is that he doesn’t sound anything like that at all. In a way, it is a little bit of a throwback, because his model—which is an incredible model to have—is Bud Powell. He has somehow captured the essence of that language from piano onto guitar in a way that almost nobody has ever addressed. He’s the most significant new guy I’ve heard in many, many years.”
Supported by KNKX. The Highway 99 All Stars came into existence with the opening in Seattle of the award-winning Highway 99 Blues Club in 2004. Since then the All-Stars have played numerous shows in and around Seattle at its namesake club, fairs, festivals and special events. The line-up for their shows features players from Seattle and the greater Northwest. While some of the players have done multiple shows over the years, the line-up is a roving cast of "all-stars" bringing solid rhythm and blues and deeply rooted blues music to the stage. For the upcoming Jazz Alley shows, the band will feature six musicians from Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. With three different singers; harmonica, guitars, bass, keys and drums, the show will feature solo spots, duo turns and the full band.
