New faces and fresh talent at Centrum's Jazz Port Townsend in 2017 included alto saxophonist Tia Fuller and pianist Sullivan Fortner who fronted a quartet with bassist Doug Weis and drummer Kendrick Scott. The performance in McCurdy Pavilion at Fort Worden was recorded for radio and will air on Jazz Northwest on Sunday, October 8 at 2 PM Pacific on 88.5 KNKX. All four musicians also served on the faculty of the Jazz Workshop during the week before the festival.
Tia Fuller was recently featured in the all female band backing Beyoncé on a world tour. She also leads her own group and has recorded four CDs as a leader and many more as guest with others including Esperanza Spalding, TS Monk, Wycliffe Gordon, Sean Jones and others. She is a full-time professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Pianist Sullivan Fortner has toured with Roy Hargrove, Robert Gambarini and Stefon Harris among others, including many fellow New Orleans musicians. He has earned degrees in music at Oberlin and Manhattan School of Music. New York bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Kendrick Scott, who leads his own group Oracle, complete the quartet in this concert.
Jazz Port Townsend is presented by Centrum on the last weekend of July each year. This was the 43rd year for the festival. The mainstage concerts were recorded for Jazz Northwest by Jim Wilke, who hosts the program on Sundays at 2 PM Pacific on 88.5 KNKX and streaming at knkx.org. After broadcast, programs are archived and may be streamed on demand at jazznw.org.
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