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Featured Events
Special Guest Artist Events:
Jaleel Shaw is coming back to Spokane, and this will officially be our 5 year anniversary presenting shows!
2 Sets: Early Set 6pm & Late Set 8pm
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jaleel-shaw-quartet-tickets-600688674997
Special VIP service for those attending both sets!
Joined by Ben Street, Ej Strickland and Lawrence Fields, this is going to be a hot, hot show!
Up close and personal at the McNally recital hall where it's all about the music.
Help us sell out!
Alto & Soprano saxophonist and bandleader, Jaleel Shaw, won the 2014 Downbeat Critics Poll's for Rising Star Alto Saxophonist. He is a longtime member of the Roy Haynes Quartet, Tom Harrell’s “Colors Of A Dream” and has performed with Christian McBride, Jason Moran, the Mingus Big Band, Pat Metheny, Stefon Harris, Roy Hargrove, Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Jimmy Cobb and several others.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, Shaw picked up the alto saxophone and surrounded himself with music at an early age. Immersing himself in the local jazz scene, he studied and performed with many of the city's great musicians and educators and, following high school, received a full-tuition scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, where he received a dual degree in Music Education and Performance. While at Berklee, Shaw was awarded the Billboard Endowed Scholarship for Outstanding Academic and Musical achievement (1998), Woodwind Department Chair Awards (1998 & 2000), The Boston Jazz Society Award (1999) and The Outstanding Student Teacher Award (2000). He later received a scholarship to Manhattan School of Music in New York, where he obtained a Masters Degree in Jazz Performance.
Shaw's debut album, Perspective (2005), received rave reviews from The New York Times and Jazzwise Magazine and All About Jazz named the album one of the top five debut albums of 2005; his composition “The Heavyweight Champion” received an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award.
In 2006, Jaleel joined the Roy Haynes Quartet and was featured on the legendary drummer’s Grammy-nominated album Whereas. Two years later (2008), Shaw founded his record label, Changu Records, on which he released his second album entitled Optimism. The album received reviews from The New York Times, Downbeat and All About Jazz among others. That same year, he received his second ASCAP Young Composer Award for his composition “The Flipside” and was nominated for the Jazz Journalist Association’s “Up-And-Coming Jazz Artist” award.
Shaw was among the musicians listed in the 2011 JazzTimes Magazine’s Readers Poll for Alto Saxophonist of the Year, sharing the honor with Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Bunky Green and Kenny Garrett. In 2013, he released his third album of original compositions entitled The Soundtrack of Things to Come (Changu Records). The album features his current working quartet, and has been favorably received by various publications including the New York Times, New York City Jazz Record, and All About Jazz.
Imagine Jazz Local Residencies & Regular Performances
Jazz at the Bad Seed
2nd & 4th Mondays of the Month (Ex March 13, 27, April 10, 24, May 19, 29 etc) 7pm-10
Jazz Night with Rachel Bade-McMurphy and Brendan McMurphy and a rotation of local musicians. Themed nights such as hard bop night or other composer themes. 2 hour jazz show followed by jam hour at 9pm Get Tickets!
Imagine Collective at Lucky You Lounge
3rd Satrudays of the Month (Ex March 18, April 15, May 20 etc) 8pm-11 (changes to 7pm-9 in April)
Modern Creative, Original Composistions, Fusion and Post-Bop Improvisaion. A ecclectic and energetic explorative adventure that combines elements of many modern styles in performances that never happen the same way twice.
Imagine Jazz at the Centennial
In Collaboration with Hear Me Roar Entertainment and the Davenport Hotels, We are presenting a bi-weekly series which includes a 1 hour performance by the Imagine Jazz Quartet+ followed by student feature and all ages jam. Each performance will feature one group from Spokane All City Jazz Ensembles as well as feature local college students and regional pros.
Feb 19, March 5, March 19 5pm-8 (Future dates on hold)
Historic Davenport
Jazz is happening in the lobby of the Historic Davenport - watch for Imagine Jazz or Rachel Bade-McMurphy quartet at the Historic, and go support other great local acts! See Davenport schedule for details.
Emma Rues
Watch the Emma Rues Schedule for Rachel Bade-McMurphy, Brendan McMurphy or one of your other Imagine friends hosting college jam or jazz night.
We hope to see you soon!
Featured Events
Special Guest Artist Events
Our first collaboration with the Spokane Public Library will be Jaleel Shaw!
Regarded as one of the most influential and innovative saxophonists of his generation, alto & soprano saxophonist Jaleel Shaw has performed and recorded with an exhaustive list of jazz royalty including Clark Terry, Roy Hargrove, The Mingus Big Band, Christian McBride, Chick Corea, Jason Moran, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Arturo Sandoval, Nicholas Payton, Dave Holland, Jimmy Cobb, the Village Vanguard Orchestra, and the Count Basie Orchestra; he is a long-standing member of the Roy Haynes Quartet, and the Mingus Big Band.
A bandleader in his own right, Shaw has released two solo recordings through his independent label Changu Records and one on Fresh Sounds, all of which have been met with rave reviews from critics at The New York Times, Downbeat Magazine, and JazzTimes Magazine, among others.
An ardent educator, Shaw currently teaches improvisation at the Manhattan School of Music and has led numerous workshops and seminars across the country and abroad. He has a B.M. from Berklee College of Music and a M.A. from Manhattan School of Music.
Past Events
Marquis Hill
October 17th at Holy Names Music Center - a packed house enjoyed beautiful music by Marquis Hill, Jahari Stampley, Jeremiah Collier and Joshua Griffin
Jon Irabagon trio
March 9th 2022, Saxophonist Jon Irabagon performed worked with Mt Spokane High School Students and students from the Libby Center in our first Invitational. Students performed for feedback and received a workshop and performance by Jon Irabagon. That Evening Jon played in trio format at the Bad Seed in Hillyard.
Darryl Yokley's Sound Reformation
Darryl Yokley, Zaccai Curtis, Luques Curtis, and Wayne Smith Jr visited Spokane on November 14, 2021 for a legacy workshop and Concert. 20 students ranging in age from middle school to adult attended the workshop with all four members of the quartet, and 40 community members attended the concert at Holy Names Music Center.
Jamie Baum Septet
Jamie Baum, Jonathan Finlayson, Aaron Irwin, Chris Komer, Brad Shepik, John Escreet, Ricky Rodriguez and Jeff Hirshfield performed a workshop at Hoffman Music for a limited audience of 15 on October 19th and a concert at Holy Names Music Center for 45 people on October 20, 2021.
Jonathan Barber "Vision Ahead" Residency
The week before Covid-19 forced closures state and worldwide, Jonathan Barber, Taber Gable, Andrew Renfroe and Matt Dwonszyk performed at McNally Recital Hall on March 6th for and audience of 70 and worked with 12 students in The Legacy Jazz Workshop on March 7th 2020.
Carl Allen Residency
Drummer Carl Allen visited SFCC, Whitworth, EWU and Hoffman music for educational workshops and performed a concert at The Monroe Room sponsored by Spokane City Credit Union (SCCU) on February 26th and 27th 2020.
Jeremy Pelt Quintet Residency
Jeremy Pelt, Chien Chien Lu, Victor Gould, Richie Goods and Allan Mednard performed at McNally Recital Hall on January 15th, 2020 for 85 people, and worked with 20 students and community members in The Legacy Jazz Workshop.
Virtual Events
Virtual Events
During Covid-19 shutdowns we focused on livestream concerts and zoom webinars.
Thanks to support from Spokane Arts we were able to offer the following programs.
Jaleel Shaw "Developing a solid Practice routine and creativity"
Carl Allen - "Building great practice habits and foundational skills for drummers"
Marcus Strickland - “Horn players using piano voicings to develop harmonic concepts”
EJ Strickland "Provoking Rhythmic Dialogue While Improvising"
Jason Palmer "Creating your own backing tracks and other practice tools"
Greta Matassa "Jazz Vocal Workshop" plus masterclass with 4 EWU students
Todd DelGiudice "Finding your own voice as an Improvisor"
Rene Marie "More than Words"
Christopher Brown "Using Jazz as a lens to reframe the gravity of communication and decision making"
Marcus Strickland: Exchange Village
Dayna Stephens: "Finding Your Own Voice Through Improvisation"
Joe Dyson: "New Orleans drumming and rhythm"
Aaron Parks: “Approaches to Composition”
Rick Rosato: “Improvising on the Bass”
Livestream Concerts:
Jeremy Pelt & George Cables
Jason Palmer Quintet
Dayna Stephens Quartet
The Imagine Collective
The Joy of Bird - celebrating the Centennial of Charlie Parker
and many local performers.
Photo Gallery
Joe Magnarelli Quintet & The Legacy Jazz Workshop June 26, 2019
Students ranging from school aged to adult professional worked with Ralph Moore, Anthony Wonsey, Dezron Douglas, Joe Magnarelli and George Fludas in a workshop at Holy Names Music Center on June 26th receiving workshops and group lessons from each member of the quintet. The concert, sponsored by Hoffman Music, Holy Names Music Center, Spokane Art Grant Award and The Herb Alpert Foundation via the Jazz Education Network (JEN) took place at Spokane Falls Community College.
The Black Art Jazz Collective
January 23, 2019
The Black Art Jazz Collective performed a concert on Jan 23rd at SFCC auditorium for an audience of 95.
They also performed an afternoon clinic in which students from Deer Park High School, Washington State University, and members of the community learned from the group.
On January 24th, We drove BAJC to Missoula where they gave clinics at University of Montana and performed to a sold out audience of 130 at the Downtown Dance Collective.
Wayne Escoffery
Jeremy Pelt
Xavier Davis
Corcoran Holt
Johnathan Blake
BLUES PEOPLE
The Logan Richardson Quartet
October 2nd & 3rd 2018
An Inter-dimensional portal was opened and for a short time we all existed on the same plane. Logan Richardson's beautiful alto sound soared above Igor Osypov's intricate guitar lines that weaved and danced above the powerful duo of Dominique Sanders's Bass and Ryan Lee's drums. Epic Rock beats were fused with elements of Jazz, Blues, Metal and Modern Freedom....... Filled with heavy guitar effects, samples and lyrical solos. It was victory music; beautiful and inspiring. It referenced the battle, represented the struggle and was everything we knew we always needed but couldn't quite define. It was simply grand.
Local students from WSU, SFCC and EWU were in attendance in the SFCC band room on Oct 2nd where the workshop began with an interview with Logan Richardson. Richardson spoke about his hometown Kansas City, creative culture in New York, the history of slavery and it's affect on society, current social struggles, the concepts of stretch music and SHIFT.
During the interactive portion of the workshop, students from the WSU combo "Jazz Wires" performed for Logan and the quartet. The students were encouraged to "play like it was the very last time". Drummer Ryan Lee coached
the students on beats, technique and more. The Imagine Collective also performed for the
Quartet.
On Wednesday Oct 3rd, BLUES PEOPLE stepped out to Cheney and talked with students on aspects of the music business and then performed a short set for the entire school of music at Convocation.
The BLUES PEOPLE concert was the first Imagine Jazz collaboration with Terrain at the Washington Cracker Co Building. Around 90 people were in attendance at the concert including many college students.
-Rachel Bade-McMurphy
Logan Richardson at Terrain Oct 3, 2018
Vincent Herring Quartet June 2018
Vincent Herring Quartet Clinic
Vincent Herring Quartet Clinic
Vincent Herring Quartet Clinic
June 18 2018 we had the great pleasure of receiving a clinic from The Vincent Herring Quartet with Carl Allen, David Kikoski and Yasushi Nakamura. Around 30 students and community members were able to receive advice from the Quartet at Holy Names Music Center. The clinic was made possible in part by Yamaha.
Vincent Herring Quartet
Vincent Herring Quartet Clinic
Vincent Herring Quartet Clinic
The show was well attended, with around 90 attendants at The House of Soul. The quartet with Carl Allen, Yasushi Nakamura and David Kikoski played 2 sets to a very appreciative audience.
2018 Imagine Jazz Festival
The 2018 Festival came to a close on April 25th
We were so pleased with the first ever Imagine Jazz Festival!
Local Bands performed at House of Soul Thurs-Sun and we finished out the festival with a performance by The WIllie Jones III Quintet. We rented a grand piano - so Spokane could experience a real dinner-club atomosphere. The Willie Jones III quintet was off the hook - bringing a great mix of intensity, and soul and brought the New York Vibe to Spokane. It was the such a treat for Spokane listeners at The House of Soul who varied from College students to local professional musicians and other jazz loving community members.
Student Clinics
We had 3 fantastic clinics for this years fesstival - giving the local studnets many opportunities to work with the guest artitsts - The Willie Jones III Quintet.
The Tuesday night clinic featured small group combos from WSU, EWU, Whitworth and SAJE who performed and received feedback by the artists. It was a treat for the students to be able to watch each other perform, and for all the students to be able to hear the various comments. In the middle of the clinic, the students were able to watch a small performance by members of the Willie Jones III Quintet - allowing them to hear the model.
There were 2 clinics on Wednesday - one at Mead High School where Jeremy Pelt worked with some students on soloing, and a clinic in the afternoon at The House of Soul where Ralph Moore, Gerald Cannon and Willie Jones III worked in trio format performing for students of SAJE and answering various questions.
Imagine Jazz Festival 2018
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Your support and contributions will enable us to fund more clinics, concerts, masterclasses and jazz events. Thank you for your consideration.
