Biography
Formed in 1988, the Seattle-based jazz trio New Stories concentrates on post-bop and features pianist Marc Seales, bassist Doug Miller, and drummer John Bishop. Widely viewed as the Pacific Northwest’s foremost jazz trio after capturing Earshot Jazz awards for Best Acoustic Group on three occasions, the group apportions its schedule evenly between ensemble dates and separate pursuits. Marc Seales received the Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Award for Best Instrumentalist in 1999, belongs to additional units including Milo Peterson’s Jazz Disciples and the Marc Seales Quartet, and leads the Jazz Studies department at the University of Washington. Doug Miller emerged from the Count Basie and Mercer Ellington big bands and remains one of Seattle’s “first call” bassists. John Bishop appears with roughly 40 artists each year and contributes to instructional videos plus PBS documentaries. Collectively, New Stories has issued three albums on Origin Arts and backed numerous artists, most prominently supplying accompaniment for vocalist Mark Murphy on the Grammy-nominated Song for Geese. In 1993 the trio became the first American jazz group to perform in Eastern Russia, appearing at the JVC Jazz Festival in Vladivostock. They maintain a regular presence on Seattle stages and while touring.
Albums