* Unlock your creative voice
* Gain a solid foundation in the fundamentals and technique
* Fall in love with music
* Open your passion for discovery
* Create music out of thin air
* Discover the effortless play that can emerge once the basic tools and understanding are in place

Reverie + Spekulation at Lo-Fi on Saturday, July 31st
performance starts at 9pm / 21+ / tickets are $10 advance / $12 at the door

The New Seattle Brass Ensemble (NSBE) presents a special performance after nearly a year of being on hiatus. This performance will be like no other show you’ve seen the NSBE or see at Lo-Fi for that matter. The concert will feature the musical suite ‘Reverie’ composed by Ahamefule J. Oluo with lyrics by SoulChilde (aka Okanomodé), and features an incredible 10-piece band of all amazing local musicians. The show will have superb lighting, sound and projections set to each of the pieces to integrate some visual elements. There will be a 3 person camera crew to document event in all of it’s glory, and Stranger Genius Award winning film maker Zia Mohajerjasbi has been helping design that aspect of it. And if that weren’t enough – we also got approval from from the owner at Lo_Fi to have confetti for the big finale. …in other words…this show is NOT to be missed. Mark your calendars!

Tickets:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/118969

Website:
http://nowimfine.com

Facebook Invite:
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/event.php?eid=121594054551434

Related show

• Artist: New Seattle Brass Ensemble
• Date: Saturday, July 31st 2010
• Time: 9:00pm
• City: New Seattle Brass Ensemble in Seattle
• Venue: Lo-Fi Performance Gallery
• Address: 429 Eastlake Avenue East
• Venue phone: (206) 254-2824
• Country: United States
• Admission: $10
• Age restrictions: No Minors
• Box office: (206) 254-2824
• Buy tickets
• Notes: The New Seattle Brass Ensemble (NSBE) presents a special performance after nearly a year of being on hiatus. This performance will be like no other show you’ve seen the NSBE or see at Lo-Fi for that matter. The concert will feature the musical suite ‘Reverie’ composed by Ahamefule J. Oluo with lyrics by SoulChilde (aka Okanomodé), and features an incredible 10-piece band of all amazing local musicians. The show will have superb lighting, sound and projections set to each of the pieces to integrate some visual elements. There will be a 3 person camera crew to document event in all of it’s glory, and Stranger Genius Award winning film maker Zia Mohajerjasbi has been helping design that aspect of it. And if that weren’t enough – we also got approval from from the owner at Lo_Fi to have confetti for the big finale. …in other words…this show is NOT to be missed. Mark your calendars!
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The Josh Rawlings Trio is back for the 3rd year in a row for the City of Bellevue’s ‘Live at Lunch’ FREE music series. We’re so thrilled to be invited back once again and we look forward to a delightful afternoon with you outdoors. Bring a lunch and we’ll provide the swing you need to get through the rest of your work day!

Here’s the full press release about the ‘Live at Lunch’ music series – lot’s of great live music to enjoy!

Savor lunch hour with free noontime tunes at Downtown Bellevue’s Live at Lunch summer concert series
Series runs July 6 – September 9, every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 1:30 p.m.

BELLEVUE, Wash. (June 17, 2010) – Downtown Bellevue’s outdoor concert series will entertain audiences with a stellar lineup of top Northwest bands every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 1:30 p.m., July 6 through September 9.  Now in its 10^th year, the Bellevue Downtown Association will present 30 concerts in the 10-week series, infusing downtown with jazz, flamenco soul, disco, R&B funk, Rolling Stones tributes and more.

Week one of the series begins Tuesday, July 6 with the Scott Lindenmuth Trio (Jazz standards at Skyline Tower), Wednesday, July 7 with New Age Flamenco (Flamenco soul at Bellevue City Hall) and Thursday, July 8 with Emerald City Throwdown (Hits from the 60s to today at Bellevue Galleria).

Tuesday and Wednesday concerts will take place in outdoor plazas and open spaces throughout Downtown Bellevue, while Bellevue Galleria’s Compass Plaza hosts each Thursday concert.  The annual Rockaraoke contest will be August 19 at Bellevue Galleria.  Concert goers can enter to win lunch for two for a year at Tap House Grill.

Event and venue information is available at bellevuedowntown.com/events or by calling (425) 453-1223.  For day-of event updates, follow Live at Lunch on Facebook(Live at Lunch) and on Twitter (@Live_at_Lunch).

Each Live at Lunch concert will also host sign-ups for the BDA’s Walk Downtown Bellevue campaign.  Participants will receive a free Walk Downtown Bellevue Starter Kit with a free Overlake Hospital pedometer, David Barton Gym water bottle, Downtown Bellevue walking map, reusable BECU shopping bag, and more.  More informationon Walk Downtown Bellevue is available at bellevuedowntown.com/walk.

Live at Lunch is produced by the Bellevue Downtown Association and sponsored by Bellevue Galleria, Unico, U.S. Bank, Puget Sound Energy, 98.9 KWJZ, AM 880 KIXI, Warm 106.9, MOVIN 92.5, the Bellevue Reporter, Ilium and Tap House Grill.

Established in 1974, the Bellevue Downtown Association is a nonprofit membership organization charged with leading the continuing evolution of Downtown Bellevue as the economic and cultural heart of the Eastside. The BDA also produces the annual Bellevue Jazz Festival presented by First Tech Credit Union, the 6th Street Fair, the Group Health Ice Arena in Bellevue Downtown Park, and co-produces the Symetra Bellevue Family 4th.

2010 Live at Lunch Concert Series Schedule

Venue details and directions are available at bellevuedowntown.com/events/liveatlunch.

Related show

• Artist: Josh Rawlings Trio
• Date: Tuesday, August 24th 2010
• Time: 12:00pm
• City: Josh Rawlings Trio in Bellevue
• Venue: Bellevue City Hall
• Address: 450 110th Avenue North East
• Venue phone: N/A
• Country: United States
• Admission: FREE!
• Age restrictions: All Ages
• Box office: (425) 453-1223
• Buy tickets
• Notes: The Josh Rawlings Trio is back for the 3rd year in a row for the City of Bellevue’s ‘Live at Lunch’ FREE music series. We’re so thrilled to be invited back once again and we look forward to a delightful afternoon with you outdoors. Bring a lunch and we’ll provide the swing you need to get through the rest of your work day!
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Please tune in:

Friday, January 29th at 8:00pm
Art Zone on the Seattle Channel (Channel 21)

Wednesday, February 3rd at 7:00pm
Art Zone on KCTS (Channel 9)

This award could significantly help my group The Teaching in our efforts booking a large East Coast for the group next Fall.

If you’d rather mail in your ballot you can print a copy of the ballot by printing this image and mailing it to the following address:

Earshot
3429 Fremont Place, #309
Seattle, WA 98103

Please mail ballot in before January 22nd

It’s a trying time for the people of Haiti and the “aftershocks” have been felt all across the world – even here in our own music community. I encourage you all to do whatever you can to help whether it be donating to the Red Cross (or any of the other organizations former Pres. Bill Clinton recommends on his site HERE), or even donating to David’s bank account through LUCID.  Whatever you can do – big or small – just consider what you’d do if it were someone in your family you couldn’t get through to on the phone and didn’t know whether was safe or not. A helping hand at the beginning of 2010 can go a long way. Thank you!

Along with Jason Parker’s support efforts through his music – I too will donate 100% of all  Josh Rawlings Trio CD sales toward the Haiti Relief Efforts if you by one of my CD’s within the next 2 weeks.

Date: Every Thursday
Time: 9:30pm-1:00am
Location: LUCID Jazz Lounge
Street: 5241 University Way NE
City/State: Seattle, WA
Cost: FREE!
Age: 21+

Ps. If you’re a musician – don’t forget to bring your axe!

Related show

• Artist: The Teaching
• Date: Thursday, July 29th 2010
• Time: 9:30pm
• City: The Teaching in Seattle
• Venue: LUCID Jazz Lounge
• Address: 5241 University Way North East
• Venue phone: (206) 402-3042
• Country: United States
• Admission: FREE!
• Age restrictions: No Minors
• Box office: (206) 402-3042
• Buy tickets
• Notes: Hosted by The Teaching: Josh Rawlings (fender rhodes), Evan Flory-Barnes (upright bass), Jeremy Jones (drums) The infectious energy of The Teaching’s spontaneous musical style permeates this weekly musical collaboration, which opens up to include horn players, singers, rappers, dancers and more. Each week is completely unique while the essential qualities are always the same: intensity, devotion, joy, humor, and that unnamable “something special” that brings people back week after week for another taste. The Hang is fast becoming a Seattle musical treasure.
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Setting Out

Josh Rawlings Trio
Climbing Stairs
Broken Time
4 stars ****

Armed with a handful of creative tunes, a piano and a recent degree from Cornish College of the Arts, Josh Rawlings and his trio are setting out to make a mark on the modern jazz landscape and doing a damn fine job of it. The classic three-piece ensemble pounds out tunes that are whimsical one minute, funky the next. Each track, composed by Rawlings, lilts around dexterous key-stroking and agile solos, nodding to Rawlings’ classical education but also flying into the fancies of the composer’s imagination. Bass and drums are solid by Nate Omdal and Adam Kessler respectively, and the three work together very well, coaxing each tune through to the funky conclusion. Track three, “Acquittal,” composed as an overlay to Thelonius Monk’s “Evidence,” is especially fun, with lots of dissonant harmonies and dramatic hesitations over propulsive drumming. With this album as a start, they’ll keep climbing! RACHEL DOVEY
STANDOUT TRACKS: “Climbing Stairs,” “Another Adventure”

Here’s an image of the full page article:

Also impressive is the Josh Rawlings Trio’s Climbing Stairs (Broken Time Records), on which the pianist works with bassist Nate Omdal and drummer Adam Kessler. They interpret eight solid originals by the Cornish College graduate. Rawlings is romantic, thoughtful player, and his sidemen are right there throughout. It’s an enjoyable disc. My only reservations is that it always seems odd, and does here, when an album of “originals” plays things so safe, stylistically. If Rawlings progresses, in that respect, to the point he has already reached in terms of delicacy and sophistication in composition, he’ll be a force to reckon with.

Here’s an image of the full page article:

Monday, February 25, 2008
$50 gigs – What of it?
Current mood:  determined
Category: Music

Keep in mind that our teachers (and in some cases our teacher’s teachers) were taking $50 gigs before we were even musicians (let alone born – in some of our cases). What does this mean? I think it means that we’ve undervalued our club gigs, our music, skills, talent, abilities, etc. for way too long. I understand there’s a lot of cover-charge models (I know because I still perform under some) and if the night isn’t stellar – well – the money isn’t stellar.

This is a complex issue that doesn’t just result with the simple answer…”we should just demand that the club owners/bookers pay us more than $50.” Easier said then done right?! Many of you may have approached a club owner from this stance and they just laughed you out of their office. To them (in many cases) they’re doing us a favor – the biggest one – offering us a place to play and get exposure. We’ve all heard this before, “don’t focus on the money so much, your band is going to get great exposure.” We’re starting to realize (I hope) that exposure isn’t everything. We need to survive in our industry – and how can we do that if we’re making $50 a night. Truthfully, it doesn’t seem very likely that anyone can make a living even if they’re playing 4-5 nights a week on that kind of money. In other cases we don’t even make $50 – THEY PAY US IN BEER OR DRINK TICKETS!

I don’t have a simple answer, but I do think valuing our music and going to the business table with confidence and a strong self worth is going to get things moving in the right direction. One other situation is if we undercut (taking a gig for $50 or less or taking a gig for less then another group) it’s only going to hurt any movement toward better conditions. Clubs owners will assume there are 20 musicians/bands lined up ready to take the gig when you talk to them about value this value that.

Baby steps – but I think we can all agree that the era of the $50 gigs has to end – we have rent we need to pay, food we need to buy, college loans we need to pay off and the list goes on and on – we can’t meet the living standards of today nor better the music market if we continue struggling as a community. The other option is to work for Microsoft or some other job to maintain your life as a musician – this isn’t the way it should be…should it?

Can we value our music more?

Here’s a possible plan:
1) Make a list of the clubs and venues you really like to perform at.
2) Crunch some numbers (venue capacity, price of drinks, meals, average door charge and anything else you think applies to revenue)
3) Start to add some dollar signs and add up various scenarios (for example: a full house of (x people) will probably bring in $2,200 of revenue for this club on a given night).
4) What are your costs for making your performance a financially feasible night (rehearsals, posters, fliers, gas, etc.)?
5) Now figure out a reasonable price based on some of the numbers you’ve sorted out – How much do you think you are worth to the club owner when you put those things into perspective?
6) Go back to the club owner (keep your crunched numbers withheld unless showing them is absolutely necessary) and openly discuss your value from your new found knowledge.

Working with club owners/bookers to me is about working TOGETHER and making sure they’re giving you the piece of the pie you feel you’ve earned (or can reasonably earn). You work hard and you’re a professional cat – we have every right to approach them from this playing field…it isn’t skewed one way. For example: The club owner says “I’m doing you a favor!” or “I own the club, you’re just a musician.” Do you think his bartender(s) and wait staff would put up with that crap…they work as a team…it can’t be any other way. His staff would give him the finger and walk off the job if they had to listen to that crap…think about it.

We could write an entire book on the subject, but I hope this gets some wheels turning and gets some folks interested in sharing some of their perspectives or experiences.

I (for one) am not taking any more $50 gigs…just to be clear…I’m working on a $75 or above level. I simply turn down opportunities that aren’t worth my time and energy, not because I think I’m too good, but because I value my time, energy, and music. I’m at a place right now where I’m into the quality side as opposed to quantity side. Quantity and mass exposure hasn’t turned out to be all that it was cracked out to be – in my experience.

Thanks for reading my rant.
-J