Seattle native and vocalist Sara Gazarek returns Tuesday for a two-night stand in her hometown.
A participant in Roosevelt High School’s award-winning jazz program, she won the first Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Vocalist Award at the Essentially Ellington Festival in New York City.
In 2003, Gazarek won Downbeat magazine’s student music award for best collegiate vocalist.
David Grier: Don’t miss the chance to hear this talented flatpicker. He’s been voted International Bluegrass Music Association Best Guitar Player of the Year for several years and played on two Grammy-winning recordings.
Grier’s roots to bluegrass run through his father, Lamar, who played banjo for the Blue Grass Boys in the 1960s. Although he usually tours solo, Grier also plays guitar for Psychograss.
Carrie Akre: It’s been several very busy years since the vocalist worked with the underground bands Hammerbox and Goodness. The pop-rock musician’s songs about life and relationships relate well with her audiences. Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands also will perform. Pickerel has gone through several stages, including drumming for grunge band Screaming Trees, playing on albums of Brandi Carlile and Nirvana and touring with Neko Case. His newest title is frontman.
Peter White: The smooth-jazz acoustic guitarist breathed new life into some older songs and added new ones on “Playin’ Favorites.” White has a decade-long record of chart-topping CDs and 11 No. 1 singles. He started his career playing in Al Stewart’s band and wrote two of Stewart’s hits, “Time Passages” and “Midnight Rocks.”
New Phonographers: The award for the unusual concert of the week goes to a triple bill of musicians, Jonathan Way, Martin Bland and Christopher DeLaurenti, who offer their approaches to phonography, a term that refers to a resurgence of field recording but now also denotes experimental approaches to spinning CDs and vinyls.
Floydian Slips: The eight-piece Northwest band has played the classic rock of Pink Floyd for 10 years … 19 times in 10 years. The group has played through the albums “Dark Side” and “The Wall,” although songs may be pulled from other Pink Floyd lists.
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