Article by Todd Matthews

A little less than a decade ago, jazz fans checking the local performance calendar were sure to see the Marriott brothers listed. The Seattle duo was among the busiest local musicians on the scene, and northwest jazz audiences were eagerly showing support. Earshot Jazz magazine readers voted Best Emerging Group of 1997 the Marriott Jazz Quintet -- co-led by trumpeter Thomas Marriott and trombonist David Marriott. Also that year, the quintet (which included Thomas on trumpet, David on trombone, Robert Davis on tenor saxophone, Joe Doria on piano, Geoff Harper on bass, and John Wicks on drums) released its first album, Open. The album received kudos from KPLU, Seattle's leading jazz radio station.

In 1999, Earshot readers again pointed to the Marriotts, this time voting the quintet the Best Northwest Acoustic Band. Also that year, David recorded an album as leader (the seven-track Septology, which included the quintet personnel, along with Mark Taylor on saxophone; Thomas also appeared on trumpet for one track.

And in 2000, the quintet released its second album, High Country, which included Thomas on trumpet, David on trombone, John Hansen on piano, Geoff Harper on bass, Jon Wikan on drums, and Jay Thomas on soprano saxophone.

The Marriotts had established enviable careers in the Pacific Northwest. They were busy nearly every night, and working with the area's top jazz musicians. Their quintet performed at the DuMaurier Jazz Festival in Vancouver B.C., the Centrum Port Townsend Jazz Festival, Portland, Oregon's first annual Jazz Festival, the Earshot Jazz Festival, Bumbershoot, and the Seattle Art Museum's Art of Jazz series.

In spring 2000, however, the Marriott name disappeared from the jazz calendars. The brothers moved to New York City.

When the Marriott Quintet popped up on the jazz calendar last month, surely it must have been a mistake. Not so. The Marriotts had returned (Thomas permanently -- he moved back to Seattle last June; David temporarily – he still lives in New York), and jazz audiences took notice. Their booking at Tula's last month was the first in a series of homecoming-like performances around town. The performance at Tula's was sold-out. The Marriotts' hard-swinging, high-energy style was in top form. The evening's two sets included tunes by Woody Shaw ("Sweet Love of Mine") and Dave Brubeck ("In Your Own Sweet Way), in addition to original compositions ("Individuation," written by Thomas, who performed the tune on flugelhorn, was a stand-out tune). The group included Geoff Harper on bass, Byron Vannoy on drums, and Tim Collins, the vibraphone player from New York.

Two days after the performance, over coffee at a neighborhood café with the Marriott brothers, Thomas was raving about his return to the Northwest. "[Seattle] is awesome," he exclaimed. "I was driving up to a gig in Volunteer Park yesterday, and there was an artist on the overpass, painting. The mountains were out. It was killer. Why would you want to leave this?"

Thomas and David have always had strong jazz ties to the city. Their father was a local jazz DJ. They attended Washington and Garfield high schools (Thomas graduated in 1994, David graduated in 1992), and participated in that school's jazz program during its early stages. "The big band program at Garfield was somewhat acclaimed, but not nearly the way that it would become in the subsequent years," David recalled. "Literally, from my sophomore year until the time I graduated was sort of the first long dynasty of wins. We didn't lose a single festival in those couple of years."

It was an amazing feat, considering that the program had yet to receive the attention or resources that it does today. "They didn't have private funding like they do now," Thomas added. "When I was a freshman, my mom was one of the instrumental people in starting the jazz band fundraising thing. [Our band] raised enough money for the whole band to go to Europe and then have spending money, too."

"I feel proud to have contributed to the success of that band at that time," David said. "[Everybody in that band] helped create some interest in the program. We had something special. To this day, I've played in big bands where they don't nearly feel as fun as it felt to play in that band then."

After high school, Thomas and David attended the University of Washington and earned Bachelor's Degrees from the Music Department. They settled into Seattle's jazz scene, and began recording and performing at an aggressive pace. With a number of albums and awards behind them, why did the Marriotts leave Seattle?

For David, the decision centered on college. He was looking at East Coast schools for continuing education. He was accepted to the Manhattan School of Music, and moved to New York City in 2000.

For Thomas, he was looking to New York City as an opportunity to work with veteran musicians, improve as a performer, and take advantage of some opportunities that could only be had in New York. When Thomas arrived, he found a remarkably different scene than Seattle. The community environment he experienced in Seattle was replaced by a competitive mood. "Out there, a lot of guys are playing gigs and taking gigs from a political mind-set. ‘Well, if I play this way on this guy's gig, it might be able to lead into this,'" Tomas explained. "Instead of just playing music to play the best music you can." And the veteran musicians he was hoping to perform with in New York City had all but disappeared. "The scene in New York had kind of changed while I was living there," he said. "Some of the older guys that you used to see on the scene and hang with and learn from and maybe hopefully get a chance to play with were not out and about as much anymore. The scene was [filled with] young musicians, and a lot of them competing for gigs that really don't pay any money. The guys that were established didn't want to go out and play a fifty dollar gig. They couldn't be bothered to do it, understandably so."

To be sure, the move to New York City was a learning experience for Thomas. Both brothers are quick to point out that some memorable moments took place there.

David received a call to substitute in the New Jazz Composers Octet with Freddie Hubbard, Joe Chambers and Billy Drummond. Thomas received a call to play with the Brian Lynch Big Band, the Tito Puente Orchestra, and the Chico O'Farrill Orchestra. Both brothers remember heading down to the meatpacking district on a Sunday afternoon, paying a five-dollar cover charge, and listening to Jeff ‘Tain' Watts, Joe Lock, and Mark Egan.

"That doesn't exist anywhere except [New York City]," said David. "That's the whole thing about living there: you get exposed to tons of everything."

"After four years," Thomas added, "I sort of plateaued in terms of the work I was going to get in New York, and the kinds of stuff I could or wanted to do. And there's still a scene of musicians [in Seattle] that are seasoned veterans I can learn from. The only way to really get better is to be playing with musicians that are a lot better than you. To me, they are more accessible here than they may be in New York. I mean, they certainly are there, but you have to be awfully diligent to get access to those guys. It was time to come back to Seattle."

David remains in New York City. He has one more year before completing his Doctorate in Music Arts. He is also teaching students in New York City, and performing in a number of small clubs in New York City.

Thomas is heading into the studio in September to record an album entitled Individuation. The personnel will include Thomas on trumpet, Jeff Johnson on bass, John Bishop on drums, Joe Lock on vibraphone, David Budway on piano, and Rick Mandyck on saxophone. The album is tentatively scheduled for September 2004 release.

The move back to Seattle was the right decision for Thomas. He's fitting back into the scene he left four years ago. "I moved back and I'm playing with the same people, but they're much better musicians," he said. "And I have time to write music, rehearse and just be a musician."

This article originally appeared in Earshot Jazz magazine.