artist info

SWOJO, Gail Pettis and the Ten O’Clock Quartet celebrate women in jazz with proceeds benefiting Save KPLU!

KPLU has been the source for award-winning jazz and blues in the Northwest for 32 years and is proud of its strong connection to the local jazz scene. KPLU is the nation’s preeminent jazz station, and its jazz programming also has a large online global audience which includes its all-jazz service, Jazz24. It’s hard to imagine life without KPLU's unique brand of curated jazz at 88.5 FM and online—but if the station’s impending sale by Pacific Lutheran University to the University of Washington goes through, that’s exactly what will happen. Join the party and help KPLU meet its goal of raising $7 million so 88.5 FM can become an independent, community-licensed station.

The evening will be emceed by KPLU Midday Jazz Host Robin Lloyd.

ARTIST INFO

Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra (SWOJO)

Showcases many of the finest female jazz artists in the region for over 15 years and can be heard in a recent KPLU live studio session.

The band has performed with remarkable women in jazz such as Ingrid Jensen, Grace Kelly and Mimi Fox, to name a few. SWOJO released two CDs “Dreamcatcher” and “Meeting of the Waters” on OA2 Records.

SWOJO sponsors an annual international jazz composition contest for women composers and proudly features the contemporary, original jazz music of Jill Townsend, Hazel Leach, Robin Holcomb, Ann Reynolds, Jenny Kellogg, Nelda Swiggett, and Christine Jensen.

SWOJO is a nonprofit with a mission to nurture the musical, educational and artistic growth of individual musicians, to encourage women to become involved in jazz performance/composition as a career or avocation, and to foster community interest in and appreciation of jazz as an art form.

Gail Pettis

Named ”2010 Northwest Vocalist of the Year” by Earshot Jazz Society, (also 2007), Gail’s rich, warm vocals and understated phrasing have been described as “deliciously soulful” by Cadence Magazine. She’s been Artist In Residence at the Amersfoort Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, performed in Kobe, Japan, done tours in Russia and continues to perform at jazz festivals around the country. Gail’s latest CD, Here in the Moment, was released in January 2010 and became the most-played new female vocal CD on American jazz radio that year. Whether traveling, performing closer to home or spending time in the recording studio, what Gail continues to value is the freedom of personal expression she finds in music.

Ten O’Clock Quartet

The quartet is make up of female high-school students from all over the region. They met though their work with Seattle JazzED, a nonprofit that empowers students of all skill levels and backgrounds to realize their full potential through exceptional music education. The girls were recently featured on KPLU’s School of Jazz live studio session.