Marc Seales, jazz piano

A noted pianist and composer who has shared stages with many of the great players of the last two decades, Marc Seales is a key member of two of the Northwest's leading jazz groups. Co-leader of the highly acclaimed trio, New Stories, which regularly tops critics' best-of-the-year lists, Seales also is a mainstay in the bands of bop legend Don Lanphere, with whom he has toured of Europe and recorded half a dozen albums, several featuring Seales' compositions.

He has performed at such hallowed venues as the Netherlands' North Sea Jazz Festival, where he played with flutist James Newton and also with Don Lanphere. He also has worked with Benny Carter, Benny Golson, Slide Hampton, Herb Ellis, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Henderson, Larry Coryell, Frank Morgan, Julian Priester, Art Farmer, Buddy DeFranco, Art Pepper, Jackie McLean, Clark Terry, Ernie Watts, Mark Murphy (his recording “Song for the Geese,” nominated for a 1998 Grammy in Jazz Vocals, featured Marc Seales as piano accompanist and soloist), and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson.

Winner of numerous Earshot awards (most recently Instrumentalist of the Year in 1999 and Acoustic Jazz Group in 2000 and 2001), Seales is today promoting jazz awareness and molding young talents as a Professor of Music at the University of Washington. He teaches an array of courses, including History of Jazz, Jazz Piano, and Beginning and Advanced Improvisation, as well as leading various workshops and ensembles.

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