Routes Back Home

On Jan. 3, Portland jazz pianist and educator Kerry Politzer and The Kerry Politzer Quartet celebrate her latest album, Alternate Routes, at The Jazz Station. Politzer recorded the album in a marathon 24-hour session in New York, and it features acclaimed jazz guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jaleel Shaw on alto and soprano saxophone, Alexander Claffy on bass and George Colligan on drums. For Politzer, working with Rosenwinkel in particular achieved a longtime goal. The opportunity to feature him on her compositions, like the impressionistic “Watercolor,” helped bring her out of what she calls a “musical funk. I had always heard him on that track,” Politzer says. “It was great to have him on the album.” The album was released in November on Whirlwind Recordings. In Eugene, she’ll be joined on stage by local jazz musician and educator Joe Manis on saxophone, Colligan — who is also Politzer’s husband — and Portland’s Patrick Goličnik on bass. Politzer grew up playing classical music, but discovered jazz in college after tendonitis sidelined her playing. “I heard a lot of really great jazz pianists for the first time,” Politzer says. “And I was kind of like, ‘Hmm, maybe this is what I should be doing instead.’ So I took a year to just listen.” Since we’re still in the holiday season, Eugene Weekly asked if she’d settle whether or not Vince Guaraldi’s jazz piano-based “Linus and Lucy” — a stylistic cousin to Politzer’s music — is a Christmas song. “That’s tough,” she says. “Well, I think people really associate Charlie Brown with Christmas. So I guess it depends on how strong that association is for you.”

The Kerry Politzer Quartet performs 7:30 pm Saturday, Jan. 3, at The Jazz Station, 124 West Broadway. Tickets are $25 and are available at TheJazzStation.org. The show is all ages. Alternate Routes is available now at KerryPolitzer-Whirlwind.Bandcamp.com.

A Note From the Publisher

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