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20 Seattle Jazz Musicians You Should Know: Chuck Deardorf

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By Paul Rauch
June 8, 2020
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As a bassist, you're singing, but you're also hanging on to the groove.
—Chuck Deardorf

The city of Seattle has a jazz history that dates back to the very beginnings of the form. It was home to the first integrated club scene in America on Jackson St in the 1920's and '30s. It saw a young

Ray Charles

piano and vocals
1930 - 2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Ray Charles arrive as a teenager to escape the nightmare of Jim Crow in the south. It has produced such historical jazz icons as

Quincy Jones

arranger
1933 - 2024

" data-original-title="" title="">Quincy Jones and

Ernestine Anderson

vocals
1928 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Ernestine Anderson. In many instances it has acted as a temporary repose for greats such as

Jelly Roll Morton

piano
1890 - 1941

" data-original-title="" title="">Jelly Roll Morton,

Joe Venuti

violin
1903 - 1978

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Venuti, the aforementioned Charles,

Larry Coryell

guitar
1943 - 2017

" data-original-title="" title="">Larry Coryell,

Julian Priester

trombone
b.1935

" data-original-title="" title="">Julian Priester and

Randy Brecker

trumpet
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Randy Brecker to mention but a few.

With this series of features, I will introduce you to twenty jazz musicians currently living and working in Seattle. It is not to be seen as any sort of ranking, it has no positional value in that regard. It is simply an effort to introduce the jazz world at large to the vibrancy and innovative nature of the jazz scene in and around the jewel city of Seattle, Washington.

11. Chuck Deardorf

The first time a jazz fan in Seattle would have chanced upon bassist

Chuck Deardorf

bass
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Chuck Deardorf, would likely be in the confines of Jazz Alley on University Way, a club Deardorf fondly refers to as his "graduate school." The small bistro in the University District neighborhood of Seattle was at the time a 100-seat club that presented touring artists, often accompanied by top end local players. Despite a notable jazz history, Seattle remained a bit of an outpost even then, in the mid-seventies, when Deardorf began to make his mark.

At Jazz Alley, and other clubs such as Parnell's in Pioneer Square, Deardorf became the first call bassist, setting the standard on his instrument, in his city, that exists to this day. Over time, one would see him performing with the likes of

Chet Baker

trumpet and vocals
1929 - 1988

" data-original-title="" title="">Chet Baker,

Zoot Sims

saxophone, tenor
1925 - 1985

" data-original-title="" title="">Zoot Sims,

Art Farmer

flugelhorn
1928 - 1999

" data-original-title="" title="">Art Farmer,

Monty Alexander

piano
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">Monty Alexander,

Kenny Burrell

guitar, electric
b.1931

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Burrell,

Marian McPartland

piano
1918 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Marian McPartland,

Mel Lewis

drums
1929 - 1990

" data-original-title="" title="">Mel Lewis,

Joe Williams

vocals
1918 - 1999

" data-original-title="" title="">Joe Williams,

Kenny Werner

piano
b.1951

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Werner and

Tal Farlow

guitar
1921 - 1998

" data-original-title="" title="">Tal Farlow. He has since gone on to record and tour with

Don Lanphere

saxophone
1928 - 2003

" data-original-title="" title="">Don Lanphere,

George Cables

piano
b.1944

" data-original-title="" title="">George Cables,

Kenny Barron

piano
b.1943

" data-original-title="" title="">Kenny Barron and Larry Coryell.

" It started with Parnell's actually. It was the first jazz club in Seattle that I worked in. I was working a lot with

Denny Goodhew

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Denny Goodhew, and

Barney McClure

" data-original-title="" title="">Barney McClure at that time. Barney was getting gigs there at the time with his own band, and backing up people like Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Chet Baker, Zoot Sims, Monty Alexander, just a whole bunch of people like that. Playing gigs like that at Parnell's and then at Jazz Alley was my graduate school. I never went to graduate school, but that was it. For a while, Jazz Alley went down to just piano and bass. I got to do two weeks with Kenny Barron, two weeks with Alexander, Kenny Burrell. That's where I met George Cables. Finally he brought drums in and Dean Hodges would be on the gig. It was a fun time, I learned a lot," he recalls.

Deardorf is largely self-taught, and at first played primarily electric. By 1975 he had pulled the frets off his Fender bass, and begun learning upright. His education on the bandstand became a profound influence on his approach to education when he began teaching at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle in 1979, ascending to full professor and Director of Jazz Studies. In an art form that increasingly is influenced by institutions of higher learning, Deardorf offered the grounding wisdom of his experience playing with artists of the highest caliber.

"I was the Jazz Program director at Cornish. Being self taught, I learned all of the pitfalls of that. At the same time, I learned that if you're determined enough you can learn how to do stuff. Do the work, not just the schoolwork. Do your own independent digging down to learning your instrument, listening, transcribing, taking the time to get good at what you're doing," he says.

The question then arises concerning being a musician performing with a wide variety of original voices. How then, does an ultimate sideman such as Deardorf find his own original voice within the music of others, and the expectations of groove that come with being a bassist?

" I think it's imperative. You do it through other people, it doesn't happen in a vacuum. Part of what I do as an improviser comes from being a trombone player. I could play lines, I already had that in my head. When you're a bassist, everyone is pounding it in your head to play the root. When it's time to solo, play what's in your head. You have to find a way to just sing. As a bassist, you're singing, but you're also hanging on to the groove," says Deardorf.

Deardorf's recent solo release Perception (Origin, 2019) features covers from composers as diverse as

Keith Jarrett

piano
b.1945

" data-original-title="" title="">Keith Jarrett and Steve Winwood. The album is divided between two bands of his closest musical associations. The opening quartet of Deardorf, pianist

Dawn Clement

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Dawn Clement, saxophonist

Hans Teuber

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Hans Teuber and drummer

Matt Wilson

drums
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Matt Wilson, have a lengthy history together as colleagues at Jazz Port Townsend. Pianist

Marc Seales

piano
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Marc Seales, drummer

Gary Hobbs

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Hobbs, trumpeter

Thomas Marriott

trumpet
b.1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Thomas Marriott and multi-instrumentalist

Jay Thomas

saxophone, tenor
b.1949

" data-original-title="" title="">Jay Thomas fill out a roster of the best the vibrant jazz scene in Seattle has to offer. Rising to the surface through it all is the elegance of Deardorf's playing plotting the direction the music takes, moment by moment. He is a stylist in the true sense of the word, employing the groove with grace and innovation.

Deardorf's time at Cornish, and in Seattle, has placed him in a veritable incubator of forward thinking musical souls. He cites a long list of colleagues that he has worked side by side with, performed and recorded with, and just plain had the good fortune to befriend. Among them are two historic bassists of very different accord from whom he benefited.

"

Gary Peacock

bass, acoustic
1935 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Peacock was teaching at Cornish when I first arrived. I started teaching there because Gary didn't want to teach the electric bass students. Jim Knapp hired me. I never studied with Gary, but I got to observe him a lot. He was, and is, an amazing artist," he recalls. He adds, "Buddy Catlett was a great guy. I loved hearing him play because he played who he was. He didn't try to sound like anybody but him. He took his time during a solo, he was melodic, and played time. I learned a lot from him. Don't try to play like anybody else, play who you are."

Deardorf can be heard performing regularly in the quintet of celebrated Brazilian pianist

Jovino Santos Neto

piano
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Jovino Santos Neto. Between the energetic virtuosity of Santos Neto, the one mind percussion of Jeff Busch and Mark Ivester, and the eclectic interactions of vibraphonist Ben Thomas, Deardorf creates a foundation rooted in the jazz tradition. He seems to be the conduit through which the energy of the band flows, leaving room within the groove for innovative, original thought. In many ways it typifies what jazz fans in Seattle, and around the world have seen and heard from Deardorf for more than four decades in terms of virtuosity delivered with elegance. At the same time, he has set a standard of professionalism that has been, and continues to be, hugely influential on the scene in his home city of Seattle.

Photo Credit: Michelle Smith-Lewis

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