From the Jan 1 – Jan 7, 2004 issue

Music

Classical & Jazz

JIM KNAPP ORCHESTRA

by Christopher DeLaurenti

JIM KNAPP ORCHESTRA It started in my late 20s at bars and dinner parties. Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, I'd suddenly have no idea who I was talking to. As for Sean or Shawna, Jamari or Jamal, and Rob or Rick, all I could do was piece together faint associations lingering in my ever-evaporating memory. I asked myself, Who does this person remind me of? She smiles like Steph and laughs like Fred when he's with Bonnie--ah, her name starts with a B--and therefore her name must be Betty.

Music writers stumble into a similar trap when writing about big band jazz. The tendency is to stitch together a composite description from great bands of the past, citing one or all of the following: Count Basie's ineluctable swing, Chick Webb's drive, the timbral invention of Ellington (or Gil Evans), Buddy Rich's brute power, and the progressive tendencies of Stan Kenton (or Don Ellis).

Longtime Seattle bandleader Jim Knapp and his 13-piece orchestra not only possess all the above-mentioned traits, but more importantly, balance the three main ingredients of big band jazz--drive, swing, and solos--with vitality and freshness. The Jim Knapp Orchestra's recent CD, Secular Breathing (Origin Records), recalls their longtime stint at Tula's nightclub with tight, swinging ensemble work and charts that twist and turn into unexpected places.

When I asked Knapp about the all-important balance between ensemble writing and solos, he explained, "In a good composition, when a solo occurs, it should seem imperative that it be there--that the solo is the necessary next thing. In a large group, composition is a coequal partner with improvisation in the process of creation." And that's why I dig big band jazz. CHRISTOPHER DeLAURENTI

Catch the Jim Knapp Orchestra Sun Jan 4 (Seattle First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard Ave, 325-6051) 6 pm, donation requested.

chris@delaurenti.net

Buy Tickets for Other Events