JOE KOPLIN JAZZ QUINTET

Lawyer by day (Moschetto & Koplin), jazz denizen by night, Joe Koplin describes playing jazz with his quintet as “even more fun than my day gig.” The Joe Koplin Jazz Quintet is the realization of a dream to play jazz in the hard-bop style of the 1950s and early 1960s pioneered by some of the great players of that era: Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Art Blakey, Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson, and the list goes on and on.

Growing up in his hometown of Philly, Joe was exposed early and often to jazz with an east coast “edge,” and his love of the music hasn’t diminished since leaving the east coast for the Pacific Northwest over 25 years ago. After a lengthy layoff, Joe picked up the horn again in the 1990’s, studied for several years with the late, great tenor saxophonist Don Lanphere, and honed his chops playing with Roadside Attraction, MOJO, and other local big bands, before starting his own quintet and sextet.

The Joe Koplin Jazz Quintet is not so much a singular band as it is a collective composed of some of Seattle’s first call players, including John Hansen, Bill Anschell, Darin Clendenin (and the late Bob Nixon) on keyboard; Carl Staaf, Dan Blunck and Dan Greenblatt (now residing in the Big Apple but known to still pop in for the occasional gig) on tenor sax; Steve Bentley, Phil Parisot and Mark Ivester on drums; and Chuck Kistler and Mike Barnett on bass. This band features a deep book of rarely-heard classic hard bop tunes, and the band is all about having fun on the gig.

For reservations, please call Tula's at 206-443-4221.

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