Walter Hartley’s piece for three bass saxophones and piano: “Abase: So Low (it can’t be published)” with Jay Easton, Scott Granlund and Ward Baxter. This was performed at a party celebrating the 200th birthday of Adophe Sax. The saxophone is such a bad-ass instrument!
I love summer…or Triathlon Season as I now call it.
The sun comes up at 5:11am and sets at 9:11pm. It’s light when I get up early and it’s still light when I take the puppy out at 10pm.
The light energizes me and I feel at my most inspired, motivated and creative best this time of year. Summers here are glorious and this is payback for the darkness of November and December in the Northwest.
On the Solstice, I played saxophone on a float in the Fremont Solstice Parade with a ten-piece Brazilian/Funk band backing a large Samba dance troupe. Rolling down the street playing for thousands of euphoric people lining the street was a blast! But aside from this and a little honking with the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra, my attention is elsewhere this summer.
My goal is to participate in
Well this is the year that the last of the baby boomers turn 50…including myself! To celebrate, I’ve been thinking of what to do to mark the half-century point in my life.
Lately the direction of my musical life has been headed towards Brazil. I’ve always loved Brazilian music and
I played an arsenal of saxophones, clarinet and flute on two really cool performances this month.
These Earshot Jazz Festival concerts were with the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra and the Cornish Contemporary Big Band…two groups that are doing good work in keeping the modern jazz big band flourishing into the 21st century.
Ingrid Jensen and Darcy James Argue are both world-class musicians and this was a great opportunity to hear them in Seattle. I was honored to be playing in concerts with these great musicians.
I recently played saxophone on a session for Sonarchy Radio as the leader of Analog Honking Device. It was aired on KEXP 90.3 FM and is now available as a Sonarchy Radio Podcast.
Here is the direct media link: Sonarchy Radio Session: Analog Honking Device Listen online in your browser -or- Download to your desktop: Right-Click + Save Link As... Analog Honking Device/Sonarchy Session videos are {HERE}
Sonarchy Radio: Analog Honking Device
Produced by Doug Haire at Jack Straw Studio, Seattle, WA
Cynthia Mullis (tenor sax), Chad McCullough (trumpet)
Steve Kim (electric bass), Chris Symer (acoustic bass), Chris Icasiano (drums)
This session was recorded in Seattle on March 16, 2013 and was more condensed than previous live concerts. The biggest challenge was keeping things moving for the sake of a radio recording — we performed 7 tunes in the hour. For this session I invited Chad McCullough to join in on trumpet and we had some freakish
Right now in my life, I have several diverse interests that each take a lot of focus: web design, triathlon training, school, projects, family…and music. Sometimes it seems like the honking becomes way too infrequent in the mix. Then sometimes it takes over and I gladly indulge in the musical momentum. July has been a perfect blend of saxophone, exercise, web design and fun.
Over the weekend I attended the Ballard Jazz Walk and the Ballard Jazz Festival Mainstage concert. Kudos to Matt Jorgensen, John Bishop and all of the people who worked hard to produce yet another great year of the festival. I was pleased to see some Sisters included in the Brotherhood aspect of the festival and it got me thinking about what the “Women in Jazz” thing means to me personally and my mixed feelings about it.
In March I did another Sonarchy Radio session but this time as the leader of Analog Honking Device. I invited Chad McCullough to join in on trumpet and we had some freakish mind-meld moments. Again, we achieved my goal of creating music that was free yet structured, with a lot of interplay between the musicians. Here are some videos from the session.
I attended a great concert last night by Quasar Quatuor de Saxophones, a Montreal based, avant-garde saxophone quartet. Call me a saxophone geek but I found
Here are three videos from the Wayward Series Chapel Performance Space concert in January. The music was free yet structured, with a lot of interplay between the musicians. I was especially pleased with the sound of two basses (electric and acoustic) and two saxophones, and Chris was the perfect drummer to tie it all together.
Analog Honking Device
Wayward Series at the Chapel Performance Space
Seattle WA, January 3, 2013
Cynthia Mullis (tenor sax), Brent Jensen (soprano sax)
Steve Kim (electric bass), Chris Symer (acoustic bass), Chris Icasiano (drums)
Check out two more videos: