Through a unique arrangement with the owner of the historic Globe Building in Pioneer Square, The Seattle Jazz Fellowship (SJF), a local jazz nonprofit focused on performance and mentorship, has a new temporary home and expanded event schedule.
On Jan. 26 and 27, SJF will christen their new phase with a two-day event featuring more than 20 local musicians, including pianist and University of Washington jazz piano professor Marc Seales, drummer and Origin Records founder John Bishop, award-winning jazz vocalist Greta Matassa, and others.
Originally founded with the mission of creating a regular place to perform and appreciate jazz in the city center, SJF began with a monthly jazz event at Vermillion in Capitol Hill in October 2021.
Driven by donations and a membership model, SJF began presenting “Fellowship Wednesdays” in 2022, a weekly event that included listening sessions hosted by the jazz trombone legend Julian Priester and performances from Seattle jazz musicians. Last year, SJF added in a few events at other local venues and began hosting an all-ages jazz jam in partnership with The Seattle Drum School in Georgetown.
Starting this month, the Seattle Jazz Fellowship will occupy 109 South Main Street inside the Globe Building, previously home to the dinner theater venue Café Nordo. They’ll exist there on a “no-rent” lease, meaning SJF can occupy the space temporarily, until a permanent tenant comes along.
“Just [with] the logistics of commercial real estate, we believe that we will be there at least six months, in probably a year and maybe even longer. And hopefully the tenant that does finally rent the place will want us to stay there,” said Thomas Marriott, SJF founder and executive director.
In 2021, Marriott first started speaking with landlords and property managers in Pioneer Square about SJF’s mission. His goal was to find a location that would be accommodating to a pop-up jazz performance space, and bring SJF’s programs to the heart of downtown.
When Café Nordo left the Globe Building in early 2023, owner Ilze Jones, a proponent for local jazz, began asking around about tenants who might bring jazz into the space and was connected to Marriott.
“I told her, look, we're not really in the restaurant business or the bar business. Like, that's not really our expertise or our area of interest, but let us come down here and start with the music part and maybe we'll attract a tenant that will fulfill what you're looking for,” Marriott said.
As they relocate to the old Café Nordo space, an exposed brick room that seats about 55 people, SJF is able to substantially expand what they do. They will now offer music on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and occasionally other nights of the week. Some shows already booked for February include Marc Seales Band Feb. 2-3, saxophonist Kate Olson Feb. 9-10, and guitarist Peter Bernstein Feb. 21-22.
“We're committed to being open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday and we already have a lot of Wednesdays and Tuesdays booked, as well,” Marriott said. “We are being a little more modest with the fees that we're paying to artists, but we're offering weekends to a lot of the more prominent musicians in our community, as a way...to fulfill our mission, which is to raise the bar, and to build community.”
Though Vermillion offered wine and beer at SJF events in the past, the arts nonprofit is now fully licensed to serve their own wine and beer in their new home.
“It's new for us in the sense that...we're selling it and making the money on it and providing it and obtaining it and cleaning up after it,” Marriott said, adding that the bar will be entirely run by volunteers, some of which recently obtained their mixologists cards to be able to meet this new SJF need.
Moving to Pioneer Square also connotes a mission expansion for SJF. Historically, Pioneer Square was the site of many prominent and important jazz clubs, including The Penthouse, where John Coltrane famously recorded his album At The Penthouse in 1965. But, until recently, there weren’t many places left to see jazz in Pioneer Square.
According to Alissa Bolla, business strategy manager at the Pioneer Square Alliance who lived in the neighborhood from 2016 until 2019, it's a welcome change. Besides a couple of restaurants that would occasionally host solo piano jazz, the only spot she knew of that regularly hosted jazz in Pioneer Square pre-pandemic was The Knife Room, Café Nordo’s now-closed downstairs cabaret space.
Now, Frederick Holmes Art Gallery, RailSpur Seattle, and Underbelly all present regular live jazz in the area. She agreed Pioneer Square is seeing a bit of a jazz resurgence, and that the Seattle Jazz Fellowship is a new, vital piece of this rebirth.
“I think [SJF is] an amazing opportunity for the restaurants and the bars down here, just as more foot traffic comes into the neighborhood. The Fellowship also has a focus on teaching jazz to people of all ages. So, having an outlet where the youth can learn about the art of jazz and just really have something outside of their normal school day...I think that's going to be huge for this area,” Bolla said.
As of 2024, SJF has 410 members who support the organization with an annual patronage and since 2021 they’ve paid out over $143,000 to performing jazz musicians. Marriott hopes that this new phase in Pioneer Square will help increase those numbers even more. He’s also excited about the opportunity to present more music than ever, and to welcome jazz fans new and old in Pioneer Square.
“Seattle Jazz Fellowship is really trying to be a community center. I am always hesitant to call it a jazz club because...to a lot of people, that connotates table service, food, and cocktails, and all those things. We don't have any of those things,” Marriott said. “It's really a jazz room, but I think more importantly, it's a community center for anyone interested in jazz music.”
SJF’s Opening Weekend is Jan. 26-27. Music begins at 7:30 p.m. and admission is a suggested donation of $20.
