PREVIEW

Take a walk on the jazzy side

By Paul de Barros, Seattle Times

Regional talent tends to get whisked away in a whirlwind of marquee names during the Earshot Jazz Festival, but this year a lot of Northwest artists are highlighted.

Tuesday night's Ballard Avenue Jazz Walk, organized by Seattle's feisty independent label, Origin Records, is highly recommended.

Five groups play five venues along the lively Ballard strip, in what should make for a truly festive Mardi Gras atmosphere (minus plastic drink cups on the sidewalk, of course).

At the Tractor Tavern, the jokingly named Origin Uber Band holds forth with an all-star lineup — John Bishop (drums), Rich Cole (saxophone), Rick Mandyck (saxophone), Dave Peterson (guitar) and Dave Captein (bass). Peterson is bluesy with a glowing tone; he doesn't play out enough, but he is sounding great these days. And so is Mandyck.

The always flexible, fluid and creative Jeff Johnson Trio, with Johnson (bass), the brilliant Hans Teuber (saxophone) and Billy Mintz (drums), plays the Old Town Ale House.

Matt Jorgensen, a drummer who plays with rare East Coast fire, ignites the normally Celtic environs of Conor Byrne, with his aptly named band +451 (that's the Fahrenheit temperature at which paper burns, you'll recall from the famous Ray Bradbury novel). The band features hot saxophonist Mark Taylor, Phil Sparks (bass) and Marc Seales (piano).

Another guy you have to hear is Eric Likell, a remarkable clarinetist who raised eyebrows with a couple of sparkling guest tracks on vibist Ben Thomas' excellent album "The Mystagogue."

Likell and Thomas play with Brazilian pianist Jovino Santos Neto at the Black Lab.

And finally, the harmonically ingenious, misty-toned guitarist John Stowell brings his trio — Reade Whitwell (drums), Paul Gabrielson (bass) — to the Lock & Keel.

Though you can see many of these players from time to time in Seattle clubs, getting a big dose of them all at once is a great way to soak up what Origin has quietly been asserting — namely, that a semi-free and fluid, independent Northwest jazz "sound" has evolved.

A $10 joint cover charge gets you in to all the shows, which hit at 8 p.m.