Cornish grad gets Young Jazz Composer award

A recent graduate of Seattle's Cornish College received a prestigious award last week from the ASCAP Foundation, the charitable arm of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Saxophonist Chris Blacker, 25, was one of 23 musicians honored with a Young Jazz Composers Awards.

"It took a moment to sink in," said Blacker, whose quartet plays Monday nights at Wasabi, in Belltown. "It was a nice bit of something to reinvigorate my desire to write music and perform it."

Blacker's winning composition, "Tidal," will eventually be released on CD, he said.

Blacker was born in New Orleans and grew up in a variety of places, graduating from high school in Caracas, Venezuela. He moved to Seattle five years ago.

Before attending Cornish, he was a student at the Mannes School of Music, in New York, and at Oberlin College.

Paul de Barros: 206-464-3247

or pdebarros@seattletimes.com