Pax Wallace Quintet Feat. Kelley Johnson & Steve Treseler

Pianist and composer Pax Wallace brings his quintet to Ott & Hunter’s cabaret room for a must‑see evening of original, harmonically ambitious jazz. Joined by vocalist Kelley Johnson, saxophonist Steve Treseler, bassist Scott Swanberg, and drummer George Bullis, the program blends intricate composition with spirited improvisation for a compelling modern jazz experience.

Kelley Johnson is an international award winning jazz vocalist who is known and respected as an arranger, poet and lyricist with a personal body of recordings. Kelley’s lithe velvety voice mixes with a dynamic delivery and tricky colorful arrangements to showcase her interpretive finesse and inspired soloists. An organic groovy singer with a direct approach, Kelley reaches her audience with storytelling, subtlety, soulfulness and swing.

"Johnson has an uplifting brightness in her vocal delivery... Her lovely voice stands out for it's emphatic clarity and for it's direct approach. She pulls the blues out of thin air. It’s genuine. Johnson is a true communicator."

- Jim Santella, All About Jazz

https://kelleyjohnson.com/

Steve Treseler is an award-winning Seattle-based saxophonist, composer, and innovative leader in teaching improvised music. Hailed by Earshot as a "firebrand of the tenor saxophone,” DownBeat calls his music “beautifully crafted...whether free, through-composed, or somewhere in between.” Steve performs and leads improvisation workshops throughout North America and Europe, performing at Birdland, Blue Note Hawaii, and live on NPR’s Jazz Night in America. Treseler is embedded in the jazz and creative music scene in the Pacific Northwest, performing with the Jim Knapp Orchestra, Johnaye Kendrick, Jay Thomas, and as a leader in his own notable groups. Treseler’s projects as a leader include collaborations with the lauded trumpeter Ingrid Jensen: Center Song, which reached #53 on the JazzWeek Radio Charts, and Invisible Sounds: For Kenny Wheeler on Whirlwind Recordings, which was named one of DownBeat's best albums of 2019 and praised by the New York Times as "lyrical and songlike, whether moving at a quick clip or drifting as slowly as cloud cover. . .a standout album." His latest release is The Grind with In Motion Quartet (2025).

https://www.stevetres.com/

Steve “Pax” Wallace is a composer, pianist, and an intrepid musical adventurer. Inspired by the likes of Wayne Shorter, Ralph Towner, Kenny Wheeler, Keith Jarrett, and Chick Corea, Wallace marries influence and curiosity into his compositions. “A lot of my music sounds like it’s written by different people because every composition has its own individual identity. I try to be of service to that composition. Sometimes I don’t have an adequate vocabulary to complete a composition, so I table it and come back to it later, sometimes years later. Composition is an act of musical inquiry.” While being aware of and loving the traditions of his predecessors, he doesn’t feel a strong desire to replicate them in his compositions. “I have always been drawn into a set of personal aesthetics and criterion drawn from odd sources.”

https://www.paxwallacejazz.com/home