I will never forget my first telephone conversation with Art
Bloom, clarinetist, conductor, music engraver, arts honcho, and
the wisest musical mind I have ever met. After several hours on
the phone discussing notation, electronic music (“do you know Animus
III by Jacob Druckman? I was the clarinet player”), jazz, John
Cage, and many other topics, he invited me to dinner. I was honored and
terrified.
I had already heard rumors about Bloom from several Seattle
musicians; some mentioned his miraculous system of teaching ear
training while others marveled at Bloom’s work engraving complex scores
by composers such as Elliott Carter and John Corigliano. As a
conductor, he premiered Joseph Wheeler’s completed version of Mahler’s
Symphony No. 10 in 1965.
I began visiting Bloom regularly at his Greenwood apartment in 1999.
We pored over scores, debated aspects of the avant (including “our
friend Mr. Cage”), drank wine, and above all, listened to music.
During the fall of 2000, he penned an article about music notation
for the now-defunct Tentacle magazine. Bloom’s definition cannot
be bettered: “Music notation is the craft of writing graphically to
describe the movement of sounds in time.”
Art Bloom was a university unto himself. His lessons in solfeggio,
conducting, and notation improved my musicianship exponentially. Yet
Bloom’s inquisitive spirit and instructive, illuminating tales mean
more to me. He often spoke of the composers he knew, an uncountable
roster that ranged from Aaron Copland to Ornette Coleman to Morton
Feldman. Bloom recalled recording a Feldman piece that leaves the
actual notes to the performer’s discretion: “I asked Morty, since we’re
picking the notes—shouldn’t the musicians get a cut of the
royalties? Morty laughed and told us to get back to work. Composers get
things done.”
Art died on Thursday, December 6, 2007. 
Thurs 12/20
AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’
The concert version of this beloved musical pays tribute to Fats
Waller, one of the 20th century’s oft-overlooked jazz pianists and
songwriters. With Vivian Jett, a veteran of the initial Broadway run.
Through Sun Dec 23. Jazz Alley, 2033 Sixth Ave, 441-9729, 7:30 pm,
$26.50/$28.50.
Fri 12/21
GREG WILLIAMSON QUARTET
As part of Pony Boy Records’ “Jazz & Sushi” series, drummer Greg
Williamson helms a quartet that features saxophonist Alexey Nikolaev
and one of our burg’s best jazz singers, Greta Matassa. Hiroshi’s
Restaurant, 2501 Eastlake Plaza, 726-4966, 7:30—10 pm,
free.
BAROQUE NORTHWEST
Violinist Courtney Kuroda, soprano Karen Elizabeth
Urlie, and Annalisa Pappano on lirone augment the Baroque NW band
for a mixed program of Christmas music from Germany and Italian secular
music. On the docket: Monteverdi, Schütz, Gabrieli, and others.
I’m eager to see a lirone—which in photos looks like a fattened
cello with a dozen or so strings—up close. Preconcert talk at
7:15 pm. Fourth-floor Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd
Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, 368-0735, 8 pm, $10—$25.
Sat 12/22
TUDOR CHOIR
Pick your own Messiah: This very fine choir teams up with
Seattle Baroque for two versions of Handel’s masterpiece. Catch the
abbreviated one-hour version at noon (free for kids, $5 for you) or
immerse yourself in the complete three-hour version later in the
evening. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 800-838-3006, 7 pm, $20
adv/$23 DOS.
JHABABA
Working with subdued electronics and field recordings, Jhababa
fashions bewitching electro-acoustic songs, miniatures, and silent
interludes. Fourth-floor Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd
Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, 8 pm, $5—$15 sliding-scale
donation.
Sun 12/23
MT. NON-FICTION SESSIONS
I’m still sussing out this weekly jam session where jazz and avant
musicians convene. So far I like what I hear: harried out-jazz skronk
melts on a moment’s notice into funky, polyrhythmic vamps reminiscent
of Big Fun—era Miles Davis. Emperor Norton’s Cabal take
the stage for the first hour, then it’s a mix and match jam until 11 pm
or so. Blue Moon Tavern, 712 NE 45th St, 675-9116, 8 pm,
free.
COMPLINE CHOIR
Despite my faith-based atheism, I have nothing but contempt for
“Christmas Christians,” those lukewarm believers who show up to soak in
a religious spectacle, as if worship services were another holiday
special for live TV. Nonetheless, Compline, the last holy office of the
day, embodies a loneliness before the divine, so go and be alone with
your deity. The cathedral is chilly this time of year, so dress warmly.
St Mark’s Cathedral, 1245 10th Ave E, 323-0300, 9:30 pm,
free.
Wed 12/26
THE HERE AND NOW QUINTET
Stellar products of Garfield High School’s jazz program, saxophonist
Ben Roseth and trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt continue the straight-ahead
hard bop tradition. Roseth has a hearty Coltrane-ish sound while
Greenblatt, at the ripe old age of 23, has already gigged with Joe
Lovano, the Mingus Big Band, Christian McBride, and Reggie Workman.
The Triple Door, 216 Union St, 838-4333, 7:30 pm, $15.
