The Westerlies is a brass quartet including 3 former Seattle residents who formed the group when they were students at Juilliard and the Manhattan School of music. The quartet of two trumpets and two trombones is unusual in jazz, with no rhythm section or chordal instrument. Their repertoire is also unusually wide-ranging, including Americana, 20th century composers such as Bartok and Ives, original music and in their new album, spirituals inspired by the Golden Gate Quartet. The new album "Wherein Lies The Good" has just been released and they will celebrate with four performances in Seattle next week at the Westerlies Fest.
Also featured on this week's show is new music by Portland trumpet player and composer Charlie Porter from his extended suite "Immigration Nation," and two albums nominated for Earshot's Golden Ear Awards for NW Recording of the year - Xavier Lecouturier's "Carrier" and Marina Albero's "A Life Soundtrack." Next week we feature a concert Tribute to Billie Holiday featuring Jacqueline Tabor and the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra recorded in concert at the Kirkland Performance Center.
Jazz Northwest is recorded and produced by host Jim Wilke and airs Sundays at 2 p.m. Listeners may also subscribe to the podcast at KNKX, NPR, Apple, Google or Spotify.
