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From Bellingham, Nuages transports listeners around the world

Ensemble goes beyond jazz basics

The Bellingham-based band Nuages are known for playing Manouche jazz
The Bellingham-based band Nuages are known for playing Manouche jazz (Photo courtesy of Peter James)
By Jesse Stanton CDN Contributor

The band Nuages is Northwest Washington’s leading proponent of the distinctive style known as Manouche jazz. For the last 10 years, bandleader Michael-Paul Gurule and a rotating cast of collaborators have brought this sweet genre, rooted in the innovations of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, to audiences around the region. 

Along the way they’ve incorporated a range of other styles like samba and tango, and put out three albums. They’ll be celebrating their anniversary and their new lineup with a show at the Blue Room Friday, May 12.

While this style is typically pretty guitar-centric, one thing setting Nuages apart a bit is that they’re a little heavier on the sax, since that’s Gurule’s instrument. Nick Sokol plays mandolin and sax, new member Marceline Keene plays guitar and Sarah Yates is on bass. (She’s also a member of The Unknowns, who are the other band performing that night.)

For a while, the ensemble hosted a concert series called Manouche NW, and they were also a sort of house band for Uisce, performing at that much-missed pub every month. If you’re looking for the sort of jazz that transports you around the world, this might be the show for you. 

That’s not all the jazz news this week. The 13th and final installment of the Jazz Celebration Concert series is at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 13, at First Baptist Church. Organizer Bob Storms has been putting these on for 13 years now and has put together quite the lineup for the finale. He’s also celebrating achieving the goal he set long ago of creating 2,000 songs. The featured band is the Swing Connection big band, but the Jud Sherwood Trio, Stormy Sea & The Gales and the Bellingham Dixieland All-Stars will all be appearing, as well as numerous other special guests. 

New venue alert: The Corner Taphouse in Fairhaven (not to be confused with the Corner Pub in Bow) looks like they’re going to be having some occasional live music. There will be jazz with Dry Martini there on Friday, May 12. (Read more about the venue in Brandon Fralic’s Drink Cascadia column this week.) 

One new album to tell you about that’s not exactly a local release, but pretty close. Portland singer-songwriter Leigh Jones performs as Eugenia Riot. Her new album, “Can’t Wait to Miss You,” was recorded in Bellingham with some high-quality local musicians including Jeremy Elliott and Aaron Guest. They’re doing two weekends of shows around the northwest and will be celebrating the release on Sunday, May 14, at the Blue Room, along with Devin Champlin. Expect beautiful folk/pop with some surprising twists and turns.

For something completely different, let me just finish by recommending that if you prefer dark, discordant rock, you are going to want to check out the new EP by Fog Bodies, on Bandcamp now.  

Live music listings

Tuesday, May 9

Archer: 7 p.m., The Piper’s Despair (Irish folk)
Aslan: 8 p.m., Jazz Night
Blue Room: 6 p.m., Open Mic; 8 p.m., Jam:30 (open jam)
Boundary: 6 p.m., Paul Klein on piano
Culture Cafe: 7 p.m., Open Mic
Greene’s Corner: 6:30 p.m., Old-Time Fiddle Jam
Horseshoe: 9 p.m., Michael Dayvid
Menace: 7 p.m., Invitational Blues Jam


Wednesday, May 10

Boundary: 6 p.m., Aaron Guest on piano
FireHouse: 6:30 p.m., Cyrus Nabipoor Quartet (jazz)
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Open Mic
Rockfish: 6 p.m., Newton’s Law (jazz fusion)
Stones Throw: 6 p.m., Badd Dogg Blues Society
Underground Coffeehouse: 7 p.m., WWU Jazz combos
Wild Buffalo: 8 p.m., Bellingham Idol auditions

Thursday, May 11

Brown Lantern: 8:30 p.m., Open Mic
Farmstrong: 6 p.m., Mike Bonds
FireHouse: 6:30 p.m., Geof Morgan (singer-songwriter)
Greene’s Corner: 6 p.m., Yankee Drivers (bluegrass)
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Mr. Sam (singer-songwriter)
Lincoln Theatre: 7:30 p.m., Rodney Crowell (country/Americana)
Shakedown: 9 p.m., Ringo Deathstarr, Pleasure Venom, Girls Know (noise pop/indie)
Skagit River Brewery: 6 p.m., Tenderpile’s Smile Aisle (jazz)
Thirsty Badger: 7 p.m., Open Mic
That’s What I Like: 6 p.m., J.P. Falcon and Friends (folk/rock)
Zeeks: 7 p.m., Cardova (R&B/soul)
Wild Buffalo: 9 p.m., Salleymane, KraymerGdot

Friday, May 12

Aslan: 8 p.m., Brad Parsons (singer-songwriter)
Beach at Birch Bay: 6 p.m., Lost at Last (classic rock)
Big Stick: 5 p.m., Michael Dayvid
Birdsview: 6 p.m., Ray Neyens
Blue Room: 8 p.m., The Unknowns, Nuages (jazz)
Boundary: 4 p.m., CraigO’s Planet Groove (psychedelic rock)
Corner Taphouse (Fairhaven): 6 p.m., Dry Martini (jazz)
Fireside: 7 p.m., Carr Parker (acoustic covers)
Greene’s Corner: 6 p.m., Heron & Crow (bluegrass)
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., Bob Paltrow (singer-songwriter)
Littlefield Celtic Center: 7 p.m., Daimh (traditional Scottish)
Make.Shift: 8 p.m., Spider Cult, Dead End Rhythm Section, Jules Austin and the Glowing Foghorns (rock)
Shakedown: 9 p.m., Nox Novacula, Sacred Skin, Gallowmaker (death rock)
Skagit Cellars: 5 p.m., Jamie Reynolds
Skylark’s: 8 p.m., Marley Dzis (jazz/bossa nova)
Vault: 7 p.m., Plan B
Wild Buffalo: 7 p.m., Bonnie Prince Billy, Patricia Wolf

Saturday, May 13

Beach at Birch Bay: 4 p.m., Midlife Crisis (blues/rock)
Beach Store Cafe: 5:30 p.m., Chuck and Carr (acoustic covers)
Birdsview: 6 p.m., Nick Anthony
Blue Room: 9 p.m., Hot Damn Scandal, Three for Silver
Boundary: 6 p.m., SpaceBand (R&B/hip-hop covers)
Brown Lantern: 9 p.m., Tenderpile’s Smile Aisle (jazz)
Conway Muse: 8 p.m., Russell Bartlett (singer-songwriter)
DownTime Taps: 7 p.m., Silent Cowboy (acoustic rock)
Fireside 4 p.m., Singers’ Saturday
Greene’s Corner: 6 p.m., June Star (Americana)
Guemes Island General Store: 6:30 p.m., Nathaniel Talbot Electric Trio (jazz/rock)
Honey Moon: 8 p.m., The McHughs (folk)
Make.Shift: 8 p.m., Open Mic
Menace: 3 p.m., Folk Second Saturday ft. Rosin & Reed
Rockfish: 7:30 p.m., Billy Appleton Band (classic rock)
Shakedown: 9 p.m., Thoughts for the Builders, Wyoming Young and Strong, Monstress (hard rock)
Skylark’s: 8 p.m., JP Falcon Grady
Stones Throw: 6 p.m., Penny Stinkers (classic rock)
Wild Buffalo: 8 p.m., Gary Numan, A Place to Bury Strangers (sold out)

Sunday, May 14

Blue Room: 8 p.m., Devin Champlin, Eugenia Riot
Kulshan: 5 p.m., Odd Mood Jam Band
Main Street: 6 p.m., Open Mic
Menace: 5 p.m., Michael Dayvid
Old Edison: 5:30 p.m., The Everlovers
Shakedown: 8 p.m., Supersuckers, The Hangmen, Los Bongquistadors (rock and roll)

Monday, May 15

Blue Room: 8 p.m., Gary Stivers Quintet (jazz)
Kulshan: 6 p.m., Quickdraw String Band

Tuesday, May 16

Archer: 7 p.m., The Piper’s Despair (Irish folk)
Aslan: 8 p.m., Jazz Night
Boundary: 6 p.m., Paul Klein on piano
Culture Cafe: 7 p.m., Open Mic
Greene’s Corner: 6 p.m., Open Mic
Menace: 7 p.m., Invitational Blues Jam

Before heading out to listen to live music, check with individual venues to make sure the event is still taking place as scheduled. 

Jesse Stanton’s music column, The Beat Goes On, runs Tuesdays. Email: jsbhammusic@gmail.com or Twitter: @JSBhamMusic.

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