As the City of Subdued Excitement, Bellingham has inspired excitement with an understatedly influential music scene. Local bands Nuages, The Unknowns, and Aperatonic Trio all have members in common and combine jazz with an eclectic range of styles.
Nuages draws influence primarily from Django Reinhardt and takes its name from one of his songs. It features Michael-Paul Gurule on vocals, Nick Sokol on mandolin and tenor saxophone, Marceline Keene on guitar, and Sarah Yates on bass. They have performed for over a decade, combining Manouche jazz, American jazz, Brazilian samba, Argentinian tango, French chanson, and other styles.
The Unknowns started in 2018, combining jazz, blues, and soul with influences such as “R&B, Motown, Broadway ballads and swing,” according to their website. The group features Kim Bowman on vocals and piano, Caitie Bowell on vocals and guitar, Allison Bowman on vocals and ukulele, Sarah Yates on acoustic bass, and Melanie Sehman on drums.
Aperatonic Trio recently started hosting joint shows with the other two bands. It features Marceline Keene on guitar, Sarah Yates on bass, and Melanie Sehman on drums.
Musical Influences, Influencing Music
The bands combine members’ musical influences with technical knowledge in booking shows and making albums.
“We also pull in everyone’s unique backgrounds,” says bassist Sarah Yates. “Nick has a lot of background in folk music and bluegrass. Michael has a degree in jazz. He has this story about this mixtape he had of all these different saxophone players from different ages, including some smooth jazz and a lot of world music. He’s played with some musicians who are also Roma, and some are from Romania, so Eastern European influences.”
The bands also combine original compositions with improvisation.
“I played in jazz band in middle school and high school and things like that,” Yates says. “But as far as the kind of music that I really like to listen to and bring things from, I like Gregorian chants. I like folk music from different cultures. I like Greek folk music. And Marceline has a background in big band and is inspired by Julian Lage.”
Sharing World Music
Nuages and Aperatonic Trio have mainly played in Northwest Washington, while The Unknowns have toured nationally and even internationally.
“We’ve played all over Washington. We’ve done a tour in Eastern Washington and Idaho,” Yates says. “We play in Seattle a lot. And then this last summer, we went on a tour in Montreal, France, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway.”
Locally, the bands have shared favorite venues.
“Nuages has played at the Blue Room quite a lot and we like to play at that venue,” Yates says. “Aslan Depot, The Unknowns and Aperatonic Trio have played there. There’s a winery on Whidbey Island called Dancing Fish Vineyards and The Unknowns and Nuages played there a lot. And that’s my favorite place to play, and Nuages, for a long time, had a standing Friday night gig at the whole location.”
Making More Music
Even as Nuages members live in separate states or provinces, they continue to organize new work together.
“I think for Nuages, the biggest impact that it’s had has been reaching people who are looking for something a little bit different,” Yates says. “The music is very accessible and inviting, so people who have a hard time going to a jazz show and feel like they understand what’s going on can come to a new show, and it feels a little bit more accessible. And it also pulls in a lot of the influences from other musical genres.”
The Unknowns and Aperatonic Trio have also made their mark over a shorter timeline.
“It’s a little bit different with The Unknowns,” Yates says. “It makes you want to get up and dance. But something that we’ve seen a lot when we’ve gone places is that since it is an all-women’s group, a lot of women come up to us and say how awesome it is to see women represented in jazz. And we often play in venues where a lot of the bands are usually all men, and to have just something different come in, people say it’s really encouraging to them.”
Through their overlapping influences, bandmates have remained strong collaborators and friends.
“The most rewarding thing has just been the relationships that I’ve formed with my bandmates, as well as the connections I’ve made with other musicians and just other people in general,” Yates says. “It’s fun to play music with people and have good chemistry that way. But then, at the end of the day, when you know that you can call them and talk to them about anything, and they can talk to you about anything, you can spend 17 days together on a trip and get along.”
You can follow Nuages on Facebook, Spotify, and YouTube. The Unknowns are on Facebook and Instagram, and Aperatonic Trio is on YouTube, Instagram, and SoundCloud.
