Jill Urbach, singing from time to time with SJJQ since 2008, trained as an actress and singer.  Her first paid singing gig was as a school chorus member on the NBC TV series Saved By the Bell.  Jill first got the bug to sing in a band somewhere around her twenty-first birthday when the singer in a San Francisco nightclub didn’t show due to illness and Jill talked her way into singing with the band.  Motherhood and a few careers later, Jill finally got her wish after relocating to the San Juans.

 
 
 
 

The San Juan Jazz Quintet


SJJQ, based in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, Washington State, formed in the early ’90’s plays Jazz standards galore, and bebop, Latin, swing, and original tunes by band member Rich Barker.  Jill Urbach adds her inimitable vocals to many great jazz standards.  We highlight compositions of Cannonball and Nat Adderley, Count Basie, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Benny Golson, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Charlie Parker, Billy Strayhorn, and lately The Crusaders, and Steely Dan.  SJJQ music is for listening, dancing, and background.  Don't miss it.... it'll cure what ails you.


To contact SJJQ, call Rich Barker at 360 378 9474, (cell) 298 1968 or email Rich at rdb275@rockisland.com or Dennis at dwillows@u.washington.edu or 360 317 7131.

 

We enjoy playing for all sorts of private events..... parties, dances, wedding receptions, anniversaries, birthdays ... any excuse for a good time will do.


Most often SJJQ plays in the San Juan Islands but for the right offer, the band might even come to America or Canada!


 

If you are looking for music for listening, dancing, or mood setting background, SJJQ might be just what you need.  Check out our music samples, or purchase one of our CDs online.


SJJQ’s latest is “San Juan Jazz Quintet - Lite House” recorded live at the RUMOR MILL in Friday Harbor, Washington.  Produced in June, 2012 by Rob Simpson, the CD includes tunes by Horace Silver, Sonny Rollins, Monk, Shearing, Jobim and several others.


A few copies of an earlier SJJQ CD are still available, "San Juan Jazz Quintet +1 - JAZZ LIVE at Bella Luna in Friday Harbor"  recorded with guest John Bringetto on trumpet, by Robert Rich of Soundscape Productions in July 2007. 


For either of these CDs ($10. + shipping), contact Thor@rockisland.com.  While you are at it, you could ask Thor, who plays bass on the CD, about his latest book, “Feathers - The Evolution of a Natural Miracle” (Reviewed in NYTimes, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Nature Magazine, and awarded the John Burroughs Medal for 2013).  See also www.ThorHanson.net.