History Cafe - Seattle Jazz Pioneer

Join us on the 3rd Thursday of the month at the MOHAI Compass Café for a lively discussion about history. Each café features a different topic, and invites history enthusiasts to come together and share what you know. Grab a cup of coffee – or glass of wine – and enjoy learning about the past! History Café is co-presented by MOHAI, The Seattle Public Library, and HistoryLink.org.

Syncopated Classic – Rediscovering the Compositions of an early Seattle Jazz Pioneer 

In 1924, Seattle Jazz pioneer Frank D. Waldron created 9 original compositions for his saxophone tutorial book Syncopated Classic.  Obscured by time, these works are the earliest archived compositions by a Seattle jazz musician.  Seattle jazz musician Greg Ruby has unearthed this rare archive and will be performing Waldron’s work and lecturing on his life, times and importance to Seattle Jazz history.

About Frank D. Waldron:

Saxophonist, cornetist, composer, bandleader and teacher. Frank D. Waldron is one of the most important figures in early Seattle jazz.  From his studio at 1142 Jackson Street, Waldron not only tutored the major figures who emerged from that sizzling after-hours district during the 1940s – Quincy Jones, Buddy Catlett and others – his reach extended back another generation.  In the 1920s he fronted the Odean Jazz Orchestra at the Nanking Café in downtown Seattle, leading a racially integrated jazz band at a time when this was unheard of.  In 1924 he self published a method book for budding young jazz saxophone players titled, Frank D. Waldron’s Syncopated Classic.

Cost: Free (Does not include admission to museum galleries)