Tandem

Dawn brings both her brilliance and her depth to everything she touches. From her gorgeous original compositions, to her 'always lifting' spirit that she pours into every side project she plays or sings on. Dawn is an eternal gift to the music.
Ingrid Jensen

On Tandem, pianist Dawn Clement explores the magic of musical pairs with some of her closest musical colleagues from the past 20 years. In duets with the legendary trombonist Julian Priester, drummer Matt Wilson, vocalist Johnaye Kendrick and others, Clement enjoys intimate conversations through jazz compositions by Monk & Tristano, her own originals, and classics such as "My Ideal," "In the Wee Small Hours," and "I Think of You." The result is a collection so fresh and raw it's as if the listener has eaves-dropped on these musician's most guarded secrets. It's Clement's unique ability to tap into that vulnerability that makes her music so relevant and resonant.

Production Info:

Produced by Dawn Clement & Johnaye Kendrick
Recorded by Robb Davidson & Charlie Smith
at Avast Recording, Seattle, WA, July 6 & 21, 2017
Mixed by Robb Davidson at Nels Motel, Seattle, WA
Mastered by Ed Brooks at Resonant Mastering, Seattle, WA
Photography by Jennifer Kienzle
Cover design & layout by John Bishop

Reviews of Tandem

All About Jazz (Dan Bilawsky)
It only takes one listen to Tandem to understand that pianist-vocalist Dawn Clement is a people person with a penchant for trying different things. That openness to various individuals and action points shows itself to be the heart of this collection of duo performances. Despite being a prominent presence on the Seattle scene, working with high ...

Midwest Record (Chris Spector)
A real piano left fielder, Clement teams up for duets in various formats with real hitter pals of hers she admires. Even the chestnuts on parade take on a new life for the left leaning ears. Not for the feint of heart, this is one of those excursions where so little can say so much. ...

Rifftides (Doug Ramsey)
Dawn Clement's recording history includes piano collaborations with saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and trombonist Julian Priester, among other prominent colleagues. The Seattle Times has called her, "The leading Seattle keyboardist of her generation." Trumpeter Ingrid Jensen calls her "…an eternal gift to the music." Clement's discography as a leader ...

Downbeat (Paul de Barros)
Last fall, when Seattle's Earshot Jazz Festival invited pianist/vocalist Dawn Clement to serve as artist-in-residence, she knew immediately what she wanted to do. "How about some duos?" she asked. The result was a dazzling series of duets with vocalist (and fellow Cornish College of the Arts instructor) Johnaye Kendrick; saxophonist Mark Tayl ...

KUCI - Irvine, CA (Hobart Taylor)
Seattle's Clement is a pianist/composer/and singer who is so much her own self in her music that one can forget that one is listening and just sort of feel good all over for no apparent reason. Slyly humorous akimbo riffs cascade and gambol occasionally supplanted by dreamy interludes of charmed reflection. Each selection on this release is a duet. ...

Jazz Weekly (George W. Harris)
Dawn Clement both sings and plays a Monk styled piano on this post-bop session with a rotating team of Matt Wilson/dr, Michael Glynn/b, Julian Priester/tb, Jonaye Kendrick/voc-harm, and Mark Wilson/as. She gets nice and quirky with Priester on "Blues for Wayne" and a free form "Improvisation #3" while Taylor's sax gets angular on "Ablution." As fa ...

Earshot (Paul Rauch)
On her latest release, Tandem, Seattle-based pianist Dawn Clement explores the on-the-edge vulnerability of the duo, in intimate conversations with some of her closest musical allies over the past 20 years. She is joined by legendary trombonist Julian Priester, saxophonist Mark Taylor, drummer extraordinaire Matt Wilson, bassist Michael Glynn, and ...

New York City Jazz Record (Tyran Grillo)
Pianist/singer Dawn Clement adapts to any musical situation in which she finds herself. On her latest effort she carves out attentive improvisational spaces for a range of high-profile colleagues, content in leading and following in equal measure across an eclectic terrain of 10 tunes. Clement's welcoming spirit is more alive than ever, as demonst ...

Jazziz (James Rozzi)
On her fifth CD as leader, Seattle-based pianist and vocalist Dawn Clement gives credence to the notion that good music often defies categorization. Ten songs, nine of which are duets, cover a broad range of musical genres, oft conveying several within a single tune. Clement's vocals are as rural folksy as her piano playing is urban jazzy. The b ...

Cadence (Robert Iannapollo)
Northwest-based pianist / vocalist Dawn Clement has been making quite a name for herself. In addition to releasing several albums under her own name since 2003, she has also made substantial pianistic contributions to others' works. Recently she's been appearing on albums by soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom. (That's the first place I heard her.) ...

JazzTimes (Thomas Conrad)
Dawn Clement, extroverted pianist and introverted vocalist, has been embedded in the Seattle jazz scene for 20 years. Tandem, her fifth recording as a leader, is the kind of necessarily discontinuous project that often doesn't work as an album. Clement plays nine duets with five very different musicians, all based in Seattle except A-list New York ...