Ballard Archives | Jason Parker Quartet

May 17, 2009June 22, 2011

Clave Nagila Debuts to a Packed House!

You know how sometimes you have an idea that you think is great, but you have no idea how others are going to react? Well, that’s how I’ve felt about Clave Nagila since the idea was born in Port Townsend four years ago. I had a suspicion that it was an idea who’s time had come, but you never know.

Nate Omdal and I have been working on the arrangements for over a year now. We started with this book of Jewish melodies and transformed them by adding different Latin rhythms to each piece. As each new arrangement was completed we grew ever more confident that we were on the right track.

Last Thursday the band made its debut at Egan’s. I arrived about an hour early to get warmed up and go over the parts one more time with the band. The first people to show up were folks I didn’t know, which I took as a good sign! By the time we took the stage the room was full! Family, friends and strangers all turned out to see what the fuss was all about. It was amazing to look out from the stage and see the anticipation on the faces. And all this for a band that hadn’t even played a note yet!

The show was a blast, and the response since has been truly amazing. This band may just become my most popular band!

I have to give huge thanks to Nate. Without his enthusiasm and dedication to the project it never would have seen the light of day. And I am honored and thrilled to have such a great band to make these songs come to life: Tobi Stone, Adrian Witherspoon, Brian Bermudez, Adam Kessler and Lalo Bello. Thanks to one and all!

I recorded the set, and as soon as I can find the time to go through it I will post a song or two. You really gotta hear this! Stay tuned for the further adventures of Clave Nagila!

March 29, 2009June 22, 2011

Beth & Chad’s Beautiful Wedding

We had the pleasure of celebrating Beth & Chad’s wedding last night at Ray’s Boathouse in Ballard. I met with them at their house about a month ago and they immediately felt like friends. They are warm and welcoming, and we talked about weddings, music, living in Seattle and their new kitty Gus. Beth was extremely organized and a pleasure to work with and told me that they just wanted us to do our thing, which is always great to hear.

So last night Josh, D’Vonne, Evan and I were joined by the lovely Katrina Wible on vocals. Katrina is one of my favorite singers in town because she’s a true musician, and she can sing just about anything, from Ella Fitzgerald to Stevie Wonder and everything in between! Check out her band Soul Kata for some great tunes.

Everyone at the wedding was just as nice as the happy couple themselves, and we received many great compliments. The best was from the mother of the bride, who told me that they’ve had 4 weddings for their 3 children and we’re the best band of them all! Once the dance floor was opened up it was crowded all night long.

Big thanks to Kaycee Parker of Parker Events and her assistant Tali for a great job coordinating the evening. Kaycee is a pro and kept everything running smoothly and calmly all night long. And I had the pleasure of meeting a new photographer, Ashwin Rao, who takes gorgeous pictures. He and his assistant Chris were fun and lively, and got some amazing shots of the band. All the photos you see here are Ashwin’s. He’s is a full-time sports medicine physician, and only shoots a handful of weddings each year, but if you’re lucky to hire him you won’t be disappointed. You can view a slide show of his photos of the JPQ and Katrina here.

Thanks also to the staff at Ray’s for taking such good care of us. I had an amazing plate of Gnocchi for dinner!

February 23, 2009June 22, 2011

New Tunes!

So I’ve been talking for a while about some new tunes that we’ll be debuting at our shows in the next couple months. The one’s that go well and feel the best will be recorded for our next CD in April at MOUSe Recording Studios. Today we had a rehearsal for our show at Egan’s tomorrow, and ran through a few of them. Much to my delight, they went great! Two that I’m particularly excited about are an arrangement I’ve been working on of Nick Drake’s “Three Hours” and our rendition of the Duke Pearson composition “Idle Moments”, which was originally made famous by the guitarist Grant Green. The boys had never seen or heard the Drake tune before, but totally nailed the concept I had in mind within minutes. I can’t wait to lay that tune on the folks at Egan’s tomorrow. And “Idle Moments”, which is a super-slow blues, is the perfect vehicle for Josh, who pulled out his finest Gene Harris licks and killed it! If you’re in Seattle and free tomorrow night, come down to Egan’s in Ballard and check us out from 7-9pm.