Eric Olson

2 weeks ago | seattlemet.com | Eric Olson

On a cloudless Friday, some three blocks uphill from the eastern sweep of Seattle’s Green Lake, a gleeful postwork throng descends on Latona Pub to let off some early weekend steam. The bar dates to 1987, when Bob Brenlin—still an owner—bought an old “boarded-up tavern” and gave it the first of many remodels. Today the floor-to-ceiling windows and plush color palette make it one of Seattle’s hush-hush gems. Of course, you wouldn’t call the Friday scene hush-hush. It’s more like a malty beehive.

2 weeks ago | seattletimes.com | Eric Olson

“The upside of small towns,” says Matthew Sullivan, the Anacortes-based author of “Midnight in Soap Lake” (out April 15 from Hanover Square Press), “is a kind of simplicity and intimacy, a communal nature that can really bring comfort. But it can also be a trap. People can be trapped in all kinds of ways.”Sullivan chooses these last words carefully. He knows small town life inside and out, and doesn’t wish to offend. “Sometimes personal history becomes public history in a small town,” he continues.

4 weeks ago | seattletimes.com | Eric Olson

In 1992, saxophonist Michael Brockman and drummer Clarence Acox led a “pickup group” of Seattle jazz musicians through some of Duke Ellington’s deep catalog at the University of Washington’s Meany Hall. They’d been staging an annual Ellington concert for three years.

1 month ago | seattletimes.com | Eric Olson

It may not be common knowledge, but for some years a titan of American bluegrass has resided in Seattle’s backyard. David “Dawg” Grisman, a mandolinist and composer whose improvisatory licks have made a lasting mark on the American music tradition, lives a quiet, art-oriented existence in Port Townsend with his wife, Tracy Bigelow Grisman. Grisman no longer hits the road like he did for most of his career.

1 month ago | seattletimes.com | Eric Olson

Going on 10 years as the host of NPR’s “Jazz Night in America,” bassist Christian McBride has transcended his place on the bandstand to become America’s de facto jazz historian. And for a national figure, he gives the Pacific Northwest scene frequent attention.