Benny Carter's Kansas City Suite

SRJO is very pleased to announce the release of our latest CD, "Kansas City Suite!" The recording features narrations from Artistic Director Clarence Acox, and a performance by the late, great and much-missed Hadley Caliman.

We are grateful for the support of Kickstarter and our project backers.

Jimmy Heath: The Endless Search

​We are pleased to present "The Endless Search," featuring special guest composer and saxophonist Jimmy Heath. Tracks include the premiere recording of Heath's "The Endless Search Suite"and "Sleeves," as well as "Passage Noir" by saxophonist and arranger Michael Brockman, "Haitian Fight Song" by Charles Mingus, and "Creole Love Call" by Duke Ellington.

 

Published on Seattle's award-winning record label, Origin Records, this recording includes a 12-page booklet featuring photos of the recording, plus an interview with Jimmy Heath and SRJO artistic directors Michael Brockman and Clarence Acox.

SRJO Live

The SRJO performs songs by Count Basie, Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Jimmie Lunceford and others. Performers on this CD include Mark Taylor, Michael Brockman, Don Lanphere, Floyd Standifer and Bill Ramsay. You'll love their performance of "Jumpin' at the Woodside" and "Blue and Sentimental." This album has received stellar reviews across the country.

The Sacred Music of Duke Ellington

"Every man prays in his own language, and there is no language that God does not understand." - Duke Ellington



The two-CD set is a collection of the SRJO's best recordings made at concerts between 2001 and 2005 in performance at the annual Duke Ellington Sacred Music Concert presented each year by Earshot Jazz.



The three Sacred Music Concerts that Ellington premiered in 1965, 1968, and 1973, and were the culmination of the last, liturgical phase of his life's work. Highlights include the epic pieces "Praise God and Dance" and "In the Beginning God," the spirited "Ninety-Nine Percent" and "Don't Get Down on Your Knees to Pray Until You Have Forgiven Everyone," and the stirring ballads "Heaven" and "Too Good to Title."



Special guests on the SRJO recording include internationally renowned jazz singer Dee Daniels, Seattle vocal stars James Caddell and Nichol Eskridge, and the award winning Oregon Repertory Singers. Also featured are SRJO soloists, including pianist Larry Fuller, trumpeters Jay Thomas and Thomas Marriott, saxophonists Hadley Caliman, Bill Ramsay and Mark Taylor, and bassist Phil Sparks, plus the SRJO's two artistic directors, saxophonist Michael Brockman and drummer Clarence Acox.