July 24 · 25 · 26 2009
Historic Downtown Ellensburg, WA
2008 Performers |
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Jake Bergevin & The Javatown Swing Orchestra John Wikan / Ingrid Jensen Quartet Kelley Johnson & JoHn Hansen Trio |
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Alice Stuart & the Formerlys
Alice spent the mid-60's and 70's, one of the most creative musical periods of the century, making music with some of the greatest artists of that time. She toured the US and Europe with her band Snake and as tour support for Van Morrison. The list of artists she played with in that period of time is an awesome one. They include Michael Bloomfield, Jerry Garcia, John Prine, Albert King, Asleep at the Wheel, Richard Greene, Elvin Bishop, Sonny Terry, Tower of Power & Commander Cody. During this period, Alice also appeared on The Dick Cavett Show, with George Carlin as guest host, and won rave reviews from Billboard, Guitar Player, and Rolling Stone magazines for her recordings and performances.
Alice began performing professionally in Seattle during the early 60's. Her LPs on Arhoolie (1964) and Fantasy Records (1970 and 1972) are landmark recordings. The film "The Station Agent" (Miramax, 2003) featured her song "I Ruined Your Life" from her Burnside CD, "Can't Find No Heaven." Her professional debut at the Berkeley Folk Festival in 1964 introduced her to many folk and blues luminaries, some of whom she was able to tour and perform with, including Joan Baez, Doc Watson, Lightnin' Hopkins, Jesse Fuller & Mississippi John Hurt. Her songs have recorded been recorded by many other artists, some of whom are Jackie DeShannon, Irma Thomas, Jimmy Rabbit and the late Kate Wolf. In 1964, Alice was introduced to California audiences at the Berkeley Folk Festival, then the biggest festival on the West Coast. There she met and consequently toured and performed with many artists like Joan Baez, Doc Watson, Jack Elliott, Phil Ochs, Rosalie Sorrells, & Jerry Ricks. During this period she met and played with blues greats Lightnin' Hopkins, Jesse Fuller, Albert and The
When listening to Alice Stuart today, her broad range of experience both vocally and instrumentally is obvious. After an extended hiatus in the 1980s to raise her family, she returned to recording and performing in 1996. Her first release after returning to music,was "Really Good," a joint effort with bass player, singer and songwriter, Prune Rooney. 1999's "Crazy With the Blues," followed and won rave reviews. Her newest studio CD, "Can't Find No Heaven," was released in 2002 and was nominated for both a Grammy and a Handy Award in 2003. This CD was chosen as "Best NW CD" by the Washington Blues Society in 2004, and she also won the award for "Best Songwriter" and was inducted into the Hall Of Fame. She was also chosen "Best Songwriter" in 2005 & 2006. In 2004 & 2006, The Seattle Weekly readers awarded Alice & The Formerlys "Best Seattle Blues Band" and in 2005, Alice was given the award for "Best Seattle Guitarist." She has appeared on many CD compilations, the latest being 2 tracks on "Blues Guitar Women" released in October 2005 by Ruf Records. 2004 started with a successful 6 week tour in Australia. In 2005 she ventured to Nashville to cut the first 4 tracks for a new studio CD. In December 2005, she and her band, The Formerlys, released their Live double CD called "Live at the Triple Door." Work on a new studio CD in Memphis will begin in September 2006, with Jim Gaines as producer.
Alice Stuart and the Formerlys kick-off the Saturday afternoon festival (July 26th) on the Main Stage at the Rotary Pavilion with an extended set from noon to 1:30p.m.
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Directed By Chris Bruya & John Moawad Each year, the All-Star Big Band performance has wowed the crowd - and this year promises to be even more exciting. Chris Bruya and John Moawad will be directing an all star group of musicians that includes many artists that performed earlier in the festival and will stay to be part of this extraordinary experience.
Chris Bruya: Chris Bruya began teaching at Central Washington University in 2002, after spending seven years at Mt. Hood Community College (Oregon) in administrative and teaching roles. As Director of Jazz Studies at Central, he directs the Jazz Band I, which tied for first place at the 2003 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. He also coaches jazz combos, and teaches jazz, music theory and music education courses.
Prior to his post at MHCC he taught at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, for four years. Mr. Bruya has taught high school in Washington State and for five years at McMinville High School (Oregon), where his jazz bands consistently placed at numerous jazz festivals throughout the Northwest, including Sweepstakes two years in a row at Clackamas Community College.  
Bruya has directed the Oregon All-State Jazz Band, Salem All-City Jazz Band, the Central Oregon Honor Jazz Band, and has been Organizing Chair for the All-NW Jazz Band and Choir as well as the Oregon All State Jazz Groups. He is past director of the Jazz On The Water Instrumental Workshop. In 1997 the Mt. Hood Jazz Band performed at the Internal Association of Jazz Educators Convention in Chicago, placed first for four years straight at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, & placed first at the Reno Jazz Festival in 1998. While at MHCC, his band recorded 4 highly regarded CD's.
John Moawad: Professor Emeritus of Music at Central Washington University, John Moawad is recognized as one of the leading arts educators in the United States. His students have gone on to rewarding performing careers, and many are returning to Jazz in the Valley to play with their former teacher and mentor.
"I consider the opportunity to work with former students a real kick," Moawad said. "It still boils down to these musicians digging in and producing great sounds for their listening audience. Even though it is a reunion of sorts, the bottom line is getting serious about working together and making the band a treat for all concerned."
The Jazz in the Valley All-Star Big Band concert is scheduled for Sunday, (July 27th ) at 2:45 p.m. on the Main Stage at the Rotary Pavilion in historic downtown Ellensburg.
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Arturo Rodriguez Latin Jazz ensemble
Rodriguez grew up in a household where his mother was an impassioned mambo and salsa dancer, and his father was an avid conguero who played with the Hispanic Music Association (HMA), and formed the group Salsa Express. They made certain music was integral to everyday family life. Rodriguez admits it is no surprise that he wound up in a career so completely reflective of his childhood experiences. Although Arturo graduated from the University of California at Davis in 1986 with a degree in Physiology, he gave up a career in scientific research to pursue his life-long passion for music."
Arturo Rodriguez is both a popular face and a powerful force on the local Seattle performing scene. One night, you might catch him tearing up a flamenco-funk set with Fender-endorsed guitar aficionado, Omar Torrez, and the next performing soulful Latin jazz compositions with his trio at the Triple Door. While moving through the musical boundaries of jazz, pop, rock, and even folk music, Rodriguez has an amazing talent for bringing things together.
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Brent Edstrom Trio
Brent Edstrom: Piano
In addition to performing, Edstrom is active as a composer and arranger. He currently works as an arranger and musical director for jazz vocalist Freda Payne and is also a freelance arranger for Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation. Highlights of publishing work include books of transcription of notable jazz piantists including Art Tatum, Bill Evans, Kenny Barron, and Oscar Peterson.
Edstrom has completed several new publications including: "Musicianship in the Digital Age", and "Latin Jazz Piano", distributed by Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation. He recently finished work on a third volumn of transcriptions of the music of Oscar Peterson.
Eugene Jablonsky: Bass
Rick Westrick: Drums
Enjoy the extraordinary talents of Brent Edstrom Trio, Friday night (July 25th) from 9:00p.m. to Midnight at The Clymer Museum.
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Luther Hughes'
"I was sitting around one day listening to The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago , a landmark album recorded in 1959. This album was the only time Cannonball and Coltrane appeared together on record other than their work with Miles Davis. As I was listening to this album I thought it might be fun to re-create and perform the original arrangements".
"While I was mulling over this idea, two dear friends came to mind--Glenn Cashman and Bruce Babad--who were big fans of both Cannonball and Trane. For the rhythm section, I called upon two old friends, Tom Ranier and Paul Kreibich. (In `04, when Tom was unavailable for a gig, I asked Ed Czach, the pianist from Paul's quintet, The Jazz Coop, to help us out. I couldn't have made a better call, as you can hear on our CDs. I feel very lucky to have two great players to share the piano duties on our first CD.)"
Luther Hughes and The Cannonball-Coltrane Project, our first CD, pays tribute to the original 1959 album in a number of ways: the instrumental configuration; the style of playing; utilizing one track each featuring only the alto or tenor sax; and the inclusion of one of the tunes from the original album, "Limehouse Blues." Even Eddie Young's artwork on the cover pays tribute to the style used on the original LP. As Tom Ranier put it, "Tribute albums are only successful if they are interpretive--that is, not a copy, but rather the players' interpretations, impressions and feelings of the original. The listener should be able to feel the great admiration and love we have for the original reflected in our tribute."
"We're honored by and grateful for the support and enthusiasm shown by a number of our friends in the industry. Some have even suggested that Cannonball and Trane would have likely approved. Roy McCurdy, Cannonball Adderley's drummer for 11 years said, "Cannonball liked music that was swingin`, had a good feelin' and was bluesy..like your CD."
You can take advantage of this unique opportunity to hear Luther Hughes and the Cannonbal/Coltrane Project..........Saturday, (July 26th) at Gallery One from 9 p.m. to Midnight.
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Cooke & Greene
COOKE 'n' GREEN is the Seattle-based musical partnership of JAMES "CURLEY" COOKE on guitar and PAUL GREEN on harmonica. These two mature and highly talented musicians blend backgrounds in blues, jazz, rhythm & blues, country, and rock 'n roll into a special vocal and instrumental presentation that is exhilarating -- an experience that only such "unplugged" acoustic magic performed by accomplished artists can elicit, and two such artists in concert will assure.
PAUL GREEN's 36-year professional career began in New Jersey in 1968 with The Blackberry Booze Band. He also performed with other Jersey musicians including Bruce Springsteen, The E Street Band, Clarence Clemons, and Little Steven Van Zandt. Moving to Oakland, California, in 1975, Paul became a member of the house band at a popular blues spot, Eli's Mile High Club, performing there weekly and recording two albums with JJ Malone and Troyce Key. From 1975 to 1989 he performed throughout the Bay Area with his own band and other musicians, including Sonny Rhodes, Little Frankie Lee, JJ "Bad Boy" Jones, Cool Papa, Percy Mayfield, Lowell Fulson, Pee Wee Crayton, John Little John, and others. Chicago where he continued to "cool himself" in the blues. He performed in such legendary Chicago blues clubs as Buddy Guy's, Rosa's, Kingston Mines, and Blues Etc., and shared the stage with such notables as Sugar Blue and Junior Wells. Paul came to the Seattle area in 1991 and promptly won the Washington Blues Society's award for "Best Blues Harmonica" in 1992.
JAMES "CURLEY" COOKEs 35-year career in the music business started in San Francisco where he was a founding member of the Steve Miller Band in 1966-67. During 1968 he performed with his own group, Curley Cooke's Hurdy Gurdy Band, and in 1969 he was a member of the Abeskhy Band, who were signed to MGM. From 1968-1971 Cooke continued his association with Steve Miller, performing West Coast dates, recording on his albums, and working for his production company. In 1974 Curley completed a major tour with Miller and recorded tracks for the legendary albums "Fly Like an Eagle" and "Book of Dreams". During these years he also performed and/or recorded with such greats as Chuck Berry, Jerry Garcia, Ben Sidran, John Lee Hooker, James Cotton, Freddie King, Boz Scaggs, and many others. In 1995 he was voted "Best Acoustic Guitar" by the members of the Washington Blues Society.
COOKE and GREEN's association began when Green walked into Bad Albert's in Ballard where Cooke was performing solo. In 1996 they recorded a live album at Bad Albert's titled "Cooke & Green", and in 2000 they released "House Party", an impromptu recording of their acoustic performance at a private party. In 2001 the Washington Blues Society bestowed three B.B. Awards upon their unique musical endeavor: "Best Traditional Act," "Best Acoustic Guitar," and "Best Harmonica." The members of the Washington Blues Society have nominated Cooke 'n' Green for the 2002 B.B. Award for "Best Traditional Act"!
If you love great blues, don't miss Cooke & Greene performing ..... Saturday night (July 26th) from 9:30p.m. to 12:30a.m. at the Sen Resturant.
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Dylan-Thomas Vance
It took a little over two years to find his "muse", and he feels he is still getting to know her. The turning point happened when he started experimenting with lap slide guitar. He finally felt at home with the music, recalling a quote from Mingus: "I knew I had become a musican when I began to play through the notes."
Some call this music the Blues, some call it Country-blues. Vance says, “To me the slide on guitar strings sounds like a chorus of voices. Lost and found souls, new life and departed lovers all joined together in song.”
You can experience the great sound of Dylan Thomas-Vance on Saturday night (July 26th) from 9:30p.m. to 12:30a.m. at the Sen Resturant. |
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Ellen Whyte Band
Whyte is a high-energy performer who really knows how to work the crowd. She enjoys her audiences everywhere. Ellen has gained a solid reputation playing venues and festival in the Northeast, West Coast, as well as Eastern Canada.
Whyte has been nominated several times for Female Vocalist of the Year (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001) by the Cascade Blues Association winning the award in 2000. In 1999, her band was considered for 2 Grammy award nominations for Best Contemporary Blues Album for their second CD "Here & Gone", and Best New Artist.
The Ellen Whyte Band will headline on the Main Stage at the Rotary Pavilion on Friday night (July 25th) from 9:00p.m. to Midnight .
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Greta Matassa Trio
Matassa's rapport with an audience, lively, spontaneous and humorous one moment and touchingly introspective the next, consistently wins praise from fans and critics alike.
Seattle's Earshot Jazz organization has five times voted Greta the NW best jazz vocalist, and her musicianship as earned her the respect and admiration of many of the areas top jazz players.
As well as her work on stage, Greta is also one of the areas most familiar voices on television and radio advertising. She teaches privately and offers jazz workshops.
Mellow out with Greta Matassa's Trio ..... Saturday night (July 26th) from 9:00p.m. to Midnight at The Clymer Museum. |
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HB Radke & the Jet City Swingers
are traditionalists who take timeless tunes and add their own spin, mixed with a healthy dose of good humo
Band leader Radke has been performing since age 5. Band members have played with big names like Harry James, Louis Prima, Frank Sinatra, Steve Allen and Buddy Greco.
Radke provides lead vocals and plays trumpet. Other band members include Peter Vinikow (vocals, bass), Craig Hoyer (vocals, keyboard), Greg Williamson (vocals, drums, trumpet), Mike West (tenor sax, clarinet, flute), Rich Coleman (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Pat McDanel (trombone).
H.B. Radke and the Jet City Swingers will offer up their own brand of fun that's sure to keep your feet moving during Jazz in the Valley 2008. They are slated to play at the Grand Central Theatre, Friday night from 8:30p.m. to 11:30p.m.
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Henry Cooper Band
Although his music is raw and electric, Cooper is a class act who is well regarded by his fellow musicians and club owners alike. He has performed with a number of bands including Duffy Bishop. After his amiable parting with blues-belter Bishop, Cooper turned to song writing and founded his own record label. His High Action Records released Cooper
He is currently releasing his fourth album, "The Gin Years," and has headed back to Oregon. The 11-song album is a mix of original roadhouse slide guitar ("Unsteady"), roots rockers ("Foxette" and "Blue Sky"), surf ("Kape Kiwanda"), country ("Second Time"), and the kind of greasy slow blues that makes your joints hurt ("Death Jacket Blues"). As an article in Bluesnote commented,"...It all goes to show that Henry Cooper is quite adept at moving about in any type of guitar rhythm he feels like approaching. But, there is never any question that the master behind all of this sound is Henry Cooper. Truly a unique and identifiable artist".
Don't miss your opportunity to hear and experience The Henry Cooper Band, Saturday night (July 26th) on the Main Stage at the Rotary Pavilion from 9p.m. to midnight.
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Hot Club Sandwich
Ray Wood has played the guitar professionally for over half a century and has performed around the world. He plays everything from bebop to doo-wop and has toured with acts such as The Coasters, and the Louvin Brothers. As one of the most revered guitarists in the Northwest, Ray is a regular instructor at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop and the Wintergrass Academy.
Guitarist Kevin Connor arrived in the Pacific Northwest as a spotted owl "hooter" and quickly became involved in Seattle's eclectic music scene. Kevin enjoys singing standards and contributing compositions to the band. He also plays the Cuban tres guitar and is founder and co-director of the SuperSones, a Cuban Son septet, and performs regularly with Michael Horowitz and the Djangomatics.
Greg Ruby is thoroughly immersed in the North America's Gypsy jazz scene. For years, he was the driving guitar rhythm behind the internationally acclaimed Pearl Django and has performed with jazz greats Howard Alden, Frank Vignola and Patrick Saussois. In 2003 Greg authored the Pearl Django play-along vol. 1 music book and is currently working on a transcription book of the music of Oscar Aleman for Djangobooks.com. Greg holds a degree in music from Cornish College of the Arts and teaches guitar in the Seattle area.
Bassist James Schneider is an acoustic roots musician. In addition to upright bass, James plays banjo and guitar and performs regularly with the old-timey hot jazz group The Tune Stranglers. He is also a Humanities Professor at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, WA.
Matt Sircely is an innovator among a new generation of mandolininsts. As a teaching assistant at both the Mandolin Symposium and the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Matt has worked alongside revered musicians such as David Grisman and Paul Anastasio. In addition to his solo work and collaborations in American roots music, Matt recently toured with Margot Leverett and The Klezmer Mountain Boys. As a music journalist, Matt has published articles and photographs in The Fretboard Journal and Strings magazines.
Tim Wetmiller is one of the region's most adventurous young violin improvisers. Rooted in both Swing and Folkloric traditions, Tim travels every year to Mexico to study with some of the country's greatest violinists, including the late great Juan Reynoso and Angel Tavira. Tim also performs with the Latin American roots music band Los Flacos and the bluegrass band Dysfunction Junction.
Bring your dancing shoes and move to the music of Hot Club Sandwich, on Saturday night (July 26th) from 9:30p.m. to 12:30a.m. at the Lilly's Cantina.
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Jake Bergevin &The JavatowN Swing Orchestra
Jake Bergevin: vocals/trumpet
Greg Fulton: guitar
Jim Sisko: trumpet
Travis Ranney: tenor saxophone
Saul Cline: tenor saxophone
Dan Haeck: trombone
Mark Yeend: drums
Always popular at the Jazz in the Valley festival, Jake Bergevin and the Javatown Swing Orchestra will perform Saturday (July 26th) from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m at the Grand Central Theatre in historic downtown Ellensburg. |
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Jeffery Brooks: www.clarinetmonster.com Jeffrey Brooks has been Principal Clarinetists of the Yakima Symphony Orchestra since 2000 and has performed as soloist with the Everett, Yakima, Walla Walla, and Wenatchee Symphony Orchestras, and as section clarinetist for Seattle Symphony and the Tacoma Opera. In March 2008, Jeff gave the world premiere performance of the Weiss Clarinet Concerto with the Octava Chamber Orchestra after only three days advanced notice, due to the regular soloist becoming ill. A video of this exciting performance can be found on myspacetv.com. Jeff holds a BA from Central Washington University and his teachers include Eddie Daniels and Laura DeLuca. Jeff is adjunct clarinet lecturer at CWU in Ellensburg, WA and lives in Olympia, WA where he maintains a full-time teaching studio. In addition to his orchestral and freelancing work, Jeff is a recitalist, jazz performer/composer. Jeff recorded his first jazz album, One Take in March of 2008, which is available for advance purchase. In the fall of 2008, Jeff will be attending FSU in Tallahassee where he will be a teaching assistant for Frank Kowalsky.
Tom Pell: Tom Pell is a versatile musician, composer, and producer who has played with artists such as: John Pizzarelli, Diana Krall, Kurt Elling, David Sanborn, George Probert, Craig Hoyer, and many more. He has toured nationally with the Continental Singers and has received 1st prize numerous times as a part of various jazz ensembles at the Lionel Hampton and Reno Jazz Festivals. Presently, Tom is finishing his degree in audio and video production at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, where he has been featured on the Evergreen CD Project. Tom is a founding member of Fungus Riot and the Jeff Brooks Quartet both of which have an album that will be available in June 2008
Davy Nefos: "Defos" aka Davy Nefos, enjoys long walks in the park, adventure films and playing music with his friends. Defos has been crafting beats for 18 years, and in that time has earned a bachelor's degree in percussion performance from Central Washington University, and now plays professionally in the Seattle area. His current project is leading the band Manazma Sheen, which is focuses its energy on the genre of jungle/drum 'n' bass, a style of electronic techno music.
Dan Taylor: Dan Taylor was born in Bremerton, Washington and now lives and teaches in Seattle. He received his bachelor's degree from Central Washington University in 2006 and has before and since performed with some of the best young talent in the state. In 2004 he co-founded the Galileo Quartet with Lenny Price and currently performs with his live drum and bass band, Manazma Sheen. Dan has performed in Thailand, Europe, and the Bahamas, as well as numerous festivals in the U.S. including the I.A.J.E national conference in Long Beach, California and the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho. Now at 25, Dan teaches children and adults of all ages for Prosser Piano in Tukwila and looks forward to getting married and completing his masters of piano performance starting in the fall of 2008.
Elizabeth Stewart: Elizabeth Stewart is an arts activist and repeat performing vocalist in Ellensburg venues, most recently at Gallery One with a jazz combo from CWU's music department. Elizabeth has taught music and performed in the Four Corners area and Santa Fe. A former member of the Seattle based City Cantabile Choir (Fred West, director), Elizabeth performed with Dave Brubeck and Paco Pena. She was co-founder/director of The Sirens out of Macalester College (St. Paul, MN). With training in voice, piano, percussion and violin, Elizabeth credits her basic capacity for harmony to singing in church and at home with her gifted, operatically trained mother.
Enjoy the artistry of the Jeffery Brooks Qunitet on Saturday night (July 26th) from 9:30p.m. to 12:30a.m. at Bailey's Bibliomania . |
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John Wikan / Ingrid Jensen Quartet www.ingridjensen.com
Born in Vancouver and raised in Nanaimo, Canada, Ingrid headed east after receiving a number of scholarships to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Since graduating in 1989, her life has contained a whirlwind of musical activities. From her early days playing in the subways of New York, to establishing herself as a leader and soloist in a wide array of musical genres, Ingrid has made her mark. Her three CD's for the ENJA label and her latest CD, At Sea, won her nominations from the Canadian Juno Awards, including an award in 1995 for Vernal Fields.
Jensen can be heard with the Grammy winning Maria Schneider Orchestra, the IJQ with Geoffrey Keezer, Project O, Nordic Connect and a number of New York-based bands. She has received rave reviews and a strong reputation among critics and peers. In 2003 she was nominated, for the second time, alongside trumpeter Dave Douglas for a Jazz Journalist Association Award in New York and is seen yearly in the top five of the Downbeat Critic polls in the Talent deserving wider recognition category. Ingrid was featured on Gil Evans' Porgy and Bess at the San Francisco Jazz Festival, under the direction of Maria Schneider and was also a guest in the festival's "Tribute to Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard", alongside Terence Blanchard, Eddie Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson and Kenny Garrett. Some of the many musicians she has performed and or recorded with include; Steve Wilson, Jeff 'Tain' Watts, Dr.Lonnie Smith, Marc Copland, Bob Berg, Gary Thomas, Gary Bartz, Jeff Hamilton, Bill Stewart, Terri-Lynn Carrington, Geoffrey Keezer, Billy Hart, George Garzone, Chris Connor, Victor Lewis, Clark Terry, Frank Wess, Dr.Billy Taylor and the DIVA Big Band. She also performed on SNL with the British soul star, Corrine Bailey Rae. Ingrid has been on staff at the Port Townsend Centrum Jazz Workshop for the past five years and from 1990 until 1992 held the professor of Jazz Trumpet chair at the Bruckner Conservatory of Music. Jensen continues to fill her schedule with an astonishing array of artistic creativity as a performer and educator. In addition to performing, she conducts master classes, clinics, and workshops around the world.
Born in Alaska, but growing up in Seattle Wikan developed his love of jazz while playing drums in his high school's jazz band and listeneing to old recordings of jazz greats. He honed his skills at Central Washington University where he took a year's sabatical before graduating to tour with the legendary Mills Brothers and Ellington alumni Herb Jefferies. The road experience paid off as he was soon called to work with vocalist Ernestine Anderson. During his travels he managed to study with some of the great drum masters such as Chico Hamilton, Carl Allen, and Jeff Hamilton.
After graduation in 1996, Wikan immersed himself in the Seattle jazz scene and was taken under the wings of multi-horn man Jay Thomas, Bill Ramsay, and composer James Knapp. During this period he became one of the busiest sidemen in the Northwest
Wikans' moved to New York City and immediately landed a record date with pianist Geoff Keezer, a tour of Japan with Downbeat Vocalist of the Year, Mark Murphy and a week at the Blue Note with Grammy award winners, the New York Voices. As well, he performed with the Ingrid Jensen Quartet at the Detroit jazz festival, the Mary Lou Williams Jazz festival, the Savannah Jazz Festival and a live CBC radio concert in Montreal. More recently, Wikan was involved in the formation and recording of a band called "Project O" which in 2002 played to sold out crowds during a 2-week West Coast tour (US/Canada).... including 3 nights at The 2002 Earshot International Jazz Festival. That year they also released new record entitled NOW AS THEN.
Wikan does not limit himself to being just a sideman. He is an active clinician/ teacher, teaching privately at The New School University and out of his home studio in Queens, NY
Don't miss the great sounds of Ingrid Jensen and Jon Wikan as they headline Sunday Afternoon, (July 27th) on the Main Stage at the Rotary Pavilion from 12:30p.m. to 2p.m.
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Kelley Johnson & John Hansen Trio
Johnson graduated from the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and developed the first stages of a jazz career in Milwaukee. While in Seattle on vacation in the late 1980s, Kelley was hired to work with Seattle legends Buddy Catlett and Clarence Acox and the Roadside Attraction Big Band during the heyday of the city's old-school jazz club, Lofurno's. In such great company, she chose to make the city her home. Kelley met and forged a lasting musical relationship with pianist John Hansen, and through the collaboration with the John Hansen Trio (with bassist Paul Gabrielson and drummer Jon Wikan) she found the sound and the camaraderie she was looking for. As a result, Kelley's artistry bloomed, as did her arranging and lyric writing.
As a performer and a teacher Kelley Johnson has lived the adage that music is the universal language. She won the opportunity to tour Japan in 2005 for the Kobe-Seattle Sister City Association where she and the Japanese audiences had a foot-stomping good time. One highlight was having 400 people clapping in perfect time to her up-tempo version of "Tea For Two" in Nagoya on a memorable summer night! For the U.S. State Department in 2004, she and her now husband, pianist John Hansen, bassist Nathan Peck, and drummer Jon Wikan took a quartet to Central Asia, playing 40 concerts in six weeks in seven former Soviet countries, under the auspices of the State Department's Jazz Ambassadors program. As Wynton Marsalis says, "Swing is a natural agent of diplomacy". Apparently he felt that Kelley and her trio were delivering the goods as his panel of Lincoln Center judges picked them for the 2007 American Music Abroad tour this year. Their travel dates and destinations are not yet determined. Feline Fan
Johnson is adjunct professor at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and Musicworks Northwest in Bellevue. In the summers, she conducts and co-arranges the Seattle Metropolitan Urban League's Kid's Jazz Chorus. She and John Hansen live in Madison Valley in Seattle where they provide a home for Nana, the cutest kitty on earth.
John Hansen is one of the finest and most sought after jazz pianists in the Pacific Northwest. With a natural lyricism and fluent, flexible approach, he is called on to perform and record in a variety of styles and is a featured artist in many of the region's finest ensembles. Besides leading his own trio, the list of people with whom John has performed includes the Woody Herman Orchestra, Bud Shank, Bobby Shew, Pete Christlieb, Ernestine Anderson, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Bob Moses, Eric Alexander, Jay Thomas, Rick Margitza, Monica Mancini, Kelley Johnson, Jon Fedchock and more.
Paul Garielson: Bass
Jose Martinez: Drums
Mellow out to Kelley Johnson & John Hansen Trio on Saturday night (July 26th) at the Rodeo City BBQ from 8:30p.m. to 11:30p.m. |
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Little Bill & the Bluenotes
Little Bill has performed with BB King, Albert Collins, James Cotton and more. He has gathered numerous awards including Washington Blue Society Entertainer of the Year in 1996, WBS best bass, best band and best CD in 1998, the same year he was presented with a lifetime achievement award. Engelhart's originals are sharp. ''Next Stop, Bakersfield'' could pass for a roadhouse rocker or a country boogie. The excellent "What I'm Doin' Wrong" is a swampy, apparently autobiographical song about trying to catch a break in the music business, as (in its way) is "Never Been to Mississippi" Engelhart's trenchant announcement that he doesn't intend to justify his blues.
Drummer Tom Morgan tends to get busier as beats per minute or syncopations increase, but his presence is never overpowering - he has a good handle on dynamics and brushwork. Acoustic guitarist/mandolinist Mark Riley plays open-tuned slide and rubbery single-note parts.
Though the three play hard at times, the session sounds naturally acoustic rather than merely "unplugged." The band covers a variety of music: B.B. King's slow blues "It's My Own Fault" becomes a chooglin' slide guitar tune. Engelhart effectively tackles Ray Charles' gospelized blues "Hard Times" and reworks Louis Jordan's "Early in the Morning" into a more introspective piece that features a delicate, jazzy solo from Riley.
The "Blues" doesn't get much better!....See Little Bill & the Bluenotes .....Saturday afternoon (July 26th), at 5 p.m. on the Main Stage at the Rotary Pavilion ...and later that night at the Moose Lodge from 8:30p.m. to 11:30p.m. |
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Mel Brown: An Oregon icon, Mel has been labeled the "Gentleman of Jazz" with a career spanning over forty years. The City of Portland proclaimed June 22, 1989, "Mel Brown Day" in recognition of his achievements as a musician and educator, and Mel received the Governors's Arts Award in 2002. Mel first made his mark as a Motown staff drummer, recording and touring with the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, and many others. He subsequently spent ten years working with Diana Ross and other pop artists before giving up the road in 1991 and returnoing home to his first love: jazz.
Mel Brown and his B3 Quartet will "Blow your socks off!" .... Friday night, (July 25th) from 9:30p.m. to 12:30a.m. at the Lily's Cantina .
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PDXV the Portland Jazz Quintet
Dick Titterington - trumpet
Rob Davis - sax Rob is a graduate of the University of Washington with degrees in music performance and education. Over the years he has crafted many influences into a uniquely identifiable sound and style. While living in Seattle he performed and recorded with the likes of Jay Thomas, the Jim Knapp Orchestra, the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra and Matthew Jorgensen +451. Currently Rob resides in Portland where his tenor sax can be heard to full advantage with guitarist John Stowell, various ensembles of bassist David Friesen, the Bobby Torres Ensemble and on recordings by Randy Porter and Alan Jones. Rob has also been heard at Northwest festivals and concerts playing with orchestras led by Ray Charles, Bob Florence and Gerald Wilson.
Greg Goebel - piano
Throughout his high school and college careers, Greg has received numerous awards for excellence in musicianship and composition. Upon graduation he received the University's award for Outstanding Undergraduate Performer in Music. The University said of his achievements, "...[he] has personally done more to elevate the performance level of our jazz students than any other person, graduate or undergraduate, who has attended the U of O in at least the last fifteen years." Greg has been recognized in Down Beat magazine with an award for Outstanding Original Composition. He has consistently been given top honors at music festivals including, most recently, Best Overall College Performer and three time Best Overall College Pianist at the Reno International Jazz Festival. The Oregonian mentioned Greg as one of Portlands up-and-coming pianists.
Dave Captein - bass
He has worked with many well known jazz artists, and is currently working with Tom Grant. He freelances in the Portland area, and is a very active member of the music community there, frequently appearing in the city's many clubs and concert venues, as well as recording studios. He is a favorite choice for the region's many bandleaders and always in demand for his solid sound, time and feel, as well as his soloing abilities. He has played on numerous local artists' CD's, as well as nationally distributed releases by Tom Grant and Jessica Williams. He has also been a long time instructor, having taught at the University of Oregon for 10 years, he now teaches privately from his home in S.E. Portland.
Todd Strait - drums
Todd's role as an educator and clinician is very much rooted in the fact that he, too, has been a dedicated student. His teachers have included such respected drummers as Ed Soph, Gary Chester, Joe Morello, John Riley. Over the years Todd has been a featured clinician at the Missouri Music Educators Association's annual convention, the University of Kansas Summer Jazz Camp, Great Plains Jazz Camp in Emporia, KS, the UMKC Jazz Camp, the Stamford (CT) Young Artists Jazz Camp, Iowa State University and many other high schools and colleges throughout the midwest and Hawaii. He currently holds an adjunct position at Mount Hood Community College in Portland, OR.
You can experience the The PDXV Portland Jazz Quintet at Gallery One, Friday night (July 25th) from 9:00p.m. to Midnight |
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Tyler Leavitt: Bass
Stefan Clemente: Keyboards
Dan Leavitt: Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals
Dale Sweet: Guitar & Vocals
Rob Fraser: Drums
Rhythm Junction will be performing Saturday night (July 26th) at theKV Realty from 9p.m. to midnight.
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Kolvane
Great songs, gritty vocals, innovative guitar, rollicking piano, and a powerful rhythm section are the hallmarks of Kolvane/ Rose City Kings. The band is infectious and youthful, and well known for its entertaining, take-no-prisoners live performances. Their legions of fans continue to grow ... through word of mouth, touring, and marketing efforts. The band has been busy since its 2002 inception and continues to grow and develop musically, consisting of top-notch players from around the country, making it an even more formidable force and tour ready.
Rose City Kings released their first critically acclaimed record Delta Hop in the spring of 2003 and broke into the scene in Portland, Oregon. Many successful gigs later, including a blistering performance at the Waterfront Blues Festival, Rose City Kings won the Cascade Blues Association Muddy Award for "Best New Act" in the fall of 2003. Recordings continue to receive airplay nationwide and in Europe on blues and mixed genre stations.
Kolvane: Vocals/Guitar
Thom Sullivan: Drums
Curtis Christian: Bass
Steve Kerin: Piano
Move to the sounds of the Rose City Kings ..... Friday night (July 25th) at the Moose Lodge from 8:30p.m. to 11:30p.m.
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A native of Onion Creek, Washington, Saul Cline began playing the saxaphone at age 11. While attending Colville High School he studied privately with Steve Barranco at Gonzaga University. After high school he continued his eduction on scholarship at the Berklee College of Music where he studied with Joe Viola and Geroge Garzone. After two years of touring in the early nineties, Saul returned to Washingto to pursue a Masters Degree in classical saxaphone at Central Washington University. After receiving his degree in 1998, Cline moved to Tacoma Washington and now performs frequently throughout the Northwest in a wide variety of contexts and styles, including: swing; dance trios; circus bands; ballets orchestras; saxophone quartets; vaudeville/novelty groups; blues bands; roaming Dixieland quintets; pit orchestras; rhythm and blues cover bands; improvisational ambient electronic conglomerates; and modern modal/free jazz trios.
Chris Spencer: Guitar Jon Hamar: Bass Brad Boal: Drums
You can enjoy the sounds of the Saul Cline Combination on Friday night (July 25th) from 9:30p.m. to 12:30a.m. at Bailey's Bibliomania .
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Scott Cossu
Well known as one of Windham Hill's founders, Cossu is recognized as one of the first new-age artists to transform his sound by intermingling contemporary jazz textures into his mix. Cossu has produced many successful albums and has given more than 1000 concerts all over the world. His latest recording projects include a fusion of classical and jazz styles. Scott's work also includes scores for the acclaimed PBS series Nova, film documentaries and nature videos.
Enjoy an evening of mellow jazz with Scott Cossu.......Friday night (July 25th) at the Rodeo City BBQ from 8:30p.m. to 11:30p.m.
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Karl Walterskirchen, from Pasco plays the banjo and is the leader of the band. Walterskirchen formed the Sidewalk Stompers when he moved to Tri-Cities from San Francisco. In California he played in several Dixieland and New Orleans style jazz bands including Professor Plum's Jazz Band, the Magnolia Jazz Band and the Zenith Jazz Band.
John Boland on clarinet and curved soprano sax, is from Kennewick by way of San Francisco where he played in several bands of the style of Turk Murphy and Lu Waters. He has played with several Northwest jazz bands including Uptown Lowdown, Stumptown, Three Rivers and Ernie Carson.
Bert Barr, on cornet, is the lead horn player and is on loan form the Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band for Seattle, one of the premier traditional jazz bands in the United States. Barr has played with Sidewalk Stompers on several occasions in the past including two of the last three Jazz in the Valley festivals. Bert has lead the Uptown Lowdown Jazz Band for the past 25 years and brought his band to Jazz in the Valley three years ago.
Jack Wadsworth provides the bass sound for the group with his big bass saxophone, an unusually large and seldom heard instrument. He also performs superb solos adding to the cornet and clarinet with melody and harmony. Wadsworth is a Californian, born and raised in the Los Angeles area and worked at the Disney Studios until retiring to Naches, WA. He has played with such greats as Pete Daley, Bob Havens, and Molly Ringwald (vocalist as well as movie star) and played with George Probert's Great Pacific Jazz Band for the more than twenty years.
The Sidewalk Stompers will be wandering in downtown Ellensburg during the 2007 Jazz in the Valley festival, providing sidewalk sounds to make you smile.
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Total Experience Gospel Choir
Total Experience Gospel Choir was organized in September 1973 at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Seattle. The core group represented members of the "Black Experience Gospel Choir" of Roosevelt High School and the Franklin High School Gospel Choir of Seattle. United, the choir became known as "Total Experience Gospel Choir". When the choirs merged, the community's children were also invited to participate. And, participate - they did! The choir's numbers grew to 108 within the first two months, with the youngest person being 8 years old. Today the choir's ages range from 6 to 65. Since their inception, MUCH history has taken place. The choir has become known nationally and internationally. Their travels have taken them to 36 contiguous states as well as Hawaii and Alaska - for a total of 38 states. They have performed on 4 continents and in 22 countries.
Total Experience Gospel Choir has over 150 awards and recognitions locally, statewide, nationally and internationally. They have performed on the same billing with the late Dr. James Cleveland, founder of the 60,000 strong Gospel Music Workshop of America; Quincy Jones; Ray Charles; the Hawkins Family of "Oh Happy Day" fame; Take Six - award winning acapella group; Mormon Tabernacle Choir; Winans; Michael Bolton; Sweet Honey in the Rock; The Judds; Charlie Daniel; Pete Seeger; Steely Dan; Olympia Dukakis; Chuck Mangione; and many others.
Total Experience Gospel Choir is a regular performer of the National Anthem at many professional sports events as well as halftime activities. They have been the featured group for seven seasons of Langston Hughes' play "Black Nativity" at Seattle's Intiman Theater. Each performance is SRO for 25-30 shows per season (month of December). They are the featured voices of many local and some national commercials as well.
This extra-ordinary singing group can be experienced Sunday Morning, July 27th at 10:30 a.m. until noon on the Main Stage at the Rotary Pavilion.
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Way ahead of her time, Alice Stuart blazed the trail for women in rock and roll as one of the only females in the country to write her own music, front a male band, and play lead guitar on national and international circuits. Blues Hall of Fame inductee, Dick Waterman, once remarked, "There would be no Bonnie Raitt without Alice Stuart."
Chambers Brothers. In 1966, Alice joined forces with Frank Zappa during the formation of the Mothers of Invention. In 1970 Alice formed her first all electric band, "Snake," which included Bob Jones (We Five, Southern Comfort) and Karl Sevareid (Robert Cray). 
Coming from a musically infused childhood, the ever-versatile Arturo Rodriguez shares his passion for percussion with the Pacific Northwest and beyond. An accomplished musician, author, and teacher, Rodriguez has performed worldwide, sharing the stage with music legends that include Tito Puente, Dave Valentin, Paul Horn, and Pete Escovido. "It is an honor and a privilege to even have my name appear in the same sentence with these great musicians."
Luther Hughes tells how the Cannonball / Coltrane Project came about and where it is going: 
"Everyone was as interested in this idea as I was, so we all did our homework on our individual parts,We played our first gig on June 20, 2002 in Southern California and the audience response was overwhelming. After a couple of gigs doing just the original material, the question was, "Where do we go from here?" After that original `59 LP and their stint with Miles, Cannonball and Trane went on to develop their own identities even more. Cannonball got funky and played some of the first "fusion." Trane went on to write his famous "Giant Steps," then explored other directions, incorporating his spiritual side and avant garde. These different directions opened up so many possibilities for us. We had their entire musical lives to draw upon for inspiration, both in the writing of our own compositions and in the selection and arranging of classic jazz standards identified in some way with Cannonball or Coltrane. Our only limit was our imaginations (which we let run wild) and our two CDs are the result. (I'm already looking forward to our next CD. I can't wait to see where our imaginations take us next!)"
Portland-based Dylan-Thomas Vance's lap slide guitar playing and proficiency with a heartbroken, drink-nursing lyric has been called everything from innovative to masterful. His command of the traditional Americana roots style is apparent, but his noted specialty is taking that tradition and tweaking it ever so slightly and respectfully, infusing his bluesy sound with a subtle jazz undercurrent.
Vance made his first real move into music as a guitarist for the Portland rock band Tao Jones in the early nineties. The band carved out a large niche following in the Northwest at the height of the Grunge epidemic; managing a few tour, releasing a CD on Elemental Records, and headlining at La Luna, Satyricon, and the infamous X-Ray Café. However, rock and roll did not feel like home to him. Jazz came next. While working as guitarist for The Sweet Honey Dijon Bad Ass Jazz Quartet at the 1201 club, and Jimmy Maks Club, Vance was also majoring in music at Portland State University. Jimmy Maks love of acid jazz helped spawn his next group, The Groove Revelation. The group tried to be a funk, acid-jazz band but ended up closer to jazz-fusion. Although the band was successful, he left is 1998 after feeling a strong sense of disconnect with music and the life of a musician.
Ellen Whyte is the "Neon Blonde of the Blues". Whyte is an accomplished singer/songwriter who plays guitar (and!) accordion. She has tremendous stage presence, with vocals that range from soft and cool, to blasts of furnace-tempered blues.
Seattle native Greta Matassa is one of the Northwest's most talented and popular singers. With hints of Ella, Sarah, Billie and Carmen, Greta is increasingly recognized as a unique voice in jazz. Her rapport with an audience, lively, spontaneous and humorous one moment and touchingly introspective the next, consistently wins praise from fans and critics alike.
Jim Wilke, the Seattle jazz maven and host of the syndicated "
Wildly popular with swing dancers and lounge lizards alike, H.B. Radke and the Jet City Swingers are traditionalists who take timeless tunes and add their own spin, mixed with a healthy dose of good humor.
Raised in Oregon but based out of Seattle for most of his playing years, Henry Cooper has blues in his soul. An award-winning guitarist, his music has been called "some of the most lowdown and dirty blues you're gonna hear this side of the Mississippi River".
's first solo album "Baby Please" in 1998. The CD won several awards from Real Blues magazine. "Slide Man" was released in 1999 and showcases Cooper's unique guitar sound, a cross between picking and sliding.
Hot Club Sandwich brings its' unique character to the acoustic swing and Gypsy jazz pioneered by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli's Quintet of the Hot Club of France. Adding original compositions, light hearted vocal numbers, clever arrangements and elements of Latin American acoustic music, HCS creates its own voice. Collectively and individually, Hot Club Sandwich draws from a diverse musical background encompassing many parts of the acoustic music globe. 
The Javatown Swing Band is a much sought-after party band that offers up retro swing and jazz with flair. Led by jazz vocalist and professional trumpeter Jake Bergevin, the group is popular with folks who want to let their feet move. 
RJ Whitlow: bass
Ingrid Jensen:
Her performances as a leader and as a featured soloist have taken her around the world from Canada to Japan, Australia, South America, the Caribbean and to almost every country in Europe and Scandinavia.
Jon Wikan:
Kelley Johnson and her band recently were chosen by Wynton Marsalis and Lincoln Center in 2007, and the J.F.Kennedy Center in 2004 for lengthy solo tours under the auspices of the U.S. State Department. Johnson is the 1st place winner of the International Jazzconnect Jazz Vocal Competition, and the Jazz Education Journal listed her Live at Birdland as a top vocal CD of 2004. Johnson is known for soulfulness, sublety and swing. She features excellent soloists and arrangements that rework standards to update their stories and create modern jazz. Her new release “Home” will be out in August 2008.
John Hansen: Piano
A Northwest blues icon, bassist Little Bill Engelhart has been wowing music fans since the 1950s with his relaxed sound that is both soulful and raspy. Reviewers have called his voice "sugar and gravel" and his original tunes a wide range from "roadhouse rock" to "country boogie."
"If this band appeared int New York City, they'd be a sensation!"....that was guitar great George Benson's reaction after hearing the Mel Brown B3 Organ Group open for him in September, 2003 at Oregon's Britt Festival. In fact, each member of this "all-star" band is widely viewed as tops in the Northwest on his instrument....whose resume reads like a "Who's who" fo jazz, blues and soul. this group has the talent and confidence to be completely spontaneous.
Louis Pain: Hammond Organ
Dan Balmer: Guitar
Renato Coranto: Soprano Saxophonist 
Amy Gibson: Vocals & Percussion
Saul Cline: Saxophone & Clarinet
Musician, composer and recording artist Scott Cossu is hard to catagorize. His background in jazz and rhythm and blues, combined with his years of classical training and his study of ethnic music from Sudan, Thailand, China, Rumania and Ecuador result in a unique music that has been performed in concerts worldwide and recorded since 1981.
Sidewalk Stompers' traditional jazz band was formed in early 1997 in Tri-Cities. The band is a small acoustic street band able to play anywhere without a piano or drums and small enough to move from spot to spot - wherever there's a need for some hot jazz. Mission | Board of Directors | Education | Volunteers | Sponsors | Schedule | Artists | Activities | Tickets | Lodgings | Directions | Booking Info
For further information on tickets and lodging
Call: Ellensburg Chamber of Commerce
509-925-2002 or 888-925-2204
Send email to:
jazzinfo@jazzinthevalley.com
Write: Jazz in the Valley, P.O. Box 214, Ellensburg, WA 98926
Jazz in the Valley is a program of the
Laughing Horse Arts Foundation, Ellensburg WA.
a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization