I’m always amazed at just how many Seattleites have never been to the Pink Door; notwithstanding a steady stream of tourists, for city residents, it’s a chronically overlooked institution kind of like the Statue of Liberty is for New Yorkers. Its dimly lit interior, rich food and craft cocktails, dangling trapeze artists, and half-crazed waitstaff in tandem with a rotation of house bands provide an evening’s entertainment like none other. For a swinging, Prohibition era jazz fix, Casey MacGill's Blue 4 Trio is just the thing: drawing on influences from Fats Waller to Billie Holiday, the trio (there were originally four members) lays down luscious three-part harmonies and feel-good, uptempo jazz melodies as if Squirrel Nut Zippers met Django Reinhardt in a speakeasy. And watching bandleader Casey MacGill—who has a pencil-thin-mustache-John-Waters thing going on—surrounded by free-flowing booze and gorgeous hipsters, makes you think you might actually be in one. GWENDOLYN ELLIOTT
