Seattle's Best Soul Food & Soul Music

The Seattle's Best Soul Night Event will be held at the Royal Esquire Club. Grab your bowties, put on your best seersucker, and support this unique event!

Enjoy delicious ‘Northwest soul’ prepared by popular restaurants including Ms. Helen's Bistro, Taste of the Caribbean, Jones's Original Bar-B-Que, Safari Njema Restaurant, Jackson's Catfish Corner, Kaffa Coffee & Wine Bar, and other popular Northwest Soul food restaurants. Also on the menu are succulent dishes prepared by the Esquires. All your favorite southern dishes will be prepared with a southern flair by each chef.

Bid on amazing artwork, trips, and other valuable items during our silent auction. Enjoy live entertainment from three Northwest sultry-soul songstresses: Debbie Cavitt, Josephine Howell, and Eugenie Jones. Full bar will be also available. Very limited seating.

The event program kicks-off with a Social Hour at 6:00 pm, food is served at 7:00 pm, and following up the program is an evening of dancing at 9:00 pm. Throughout the evening the featured singers will provide entertainment as a stellar program has been prepared to delight all of your entertainment senses. Tickets can be purchased from Esquire members and through our club offices, call (206) 723-2811 to reserve yours today.

For additional information on this event benefiting the Royal Esquire Club and its scholarship fund, please check back soon.

Eugenie Jones

Eugenie Jones is described as a performer that makes audiences feel jazz. Vocally described as possessing “A voice that covers words like pieces of silk covering precious stones,” Jones is an emotive, engaging song stylist that entertains and captivates discriminating audiences.
Winner of the coveted Earshot Jazz NW Vocalist of the Year award and the NW Recording of the Year award, Jones’ style is reminiscent of the sophistication of iconic vocalists/composers of times past. She performs classic mainstream jazz and also pulls listeners inside a landscape of contemporary themes with her original straight-ahead jazz numbers that have earned her international recognition as a cleverly gifted lyricist.
As a national recording artist, Jones’ albums have made it onto Jazz Week Review’s Top-50 list, been favorably reviewed by industry archetype, Down Beat Magazine and numerous industry critics while laying a foundation for sold out performances from Washington, DC to Seattle, WA.

REVIEWS
“ ...brimming with confidence and authority; impressive,” Kirk Silsbee/Down Beat

“...composer, arranger, a lady of many talents with an easy to love vocal style,” Mark Holsten/Jazziz

“ ...4 stars. Full of passion & raw emotion, a rare breed of artist,” Brent Black/Critical Jazz

"..Eugenie Jones, a local singer, has a voice that covers words like pieces of silk covering precious stones.” Charles Mudede, The Stranger Arts & Performance

"In that overcrowded arena known as “female jazz singers”, Seattle-based Eugenie Jones manages to stand apart from the crowd. Where many will make a passing nod to jazz and then run to the relative safety of R&B and Pop; Ms. Jones has planted herself firmly as a jazz singer. While most will also stick to the safety of covering well-worn standards, Ms. Jones has filled both of her outstanding albums with her own engaging compositions. This fact alone differs differentiates Eugenie, as she is one of the very few African-American women singer-songwriters in jazz today. And finally, the lady can sing as well as she can write, which makes the deeply personal Come Out Swingin’, a refreshing slice of adult oriented mind candy. Eugenie Jones has released two first-rate albums in the last three years and she is an intelligent, thoughtful composer in the tradition of Abbey Lincoln and Nina Simone. Fans of true jazz singing, it’s time for you to sit up and take notice." Curt's Jazz/Curtis Davenport

Follow Eugenie on Facebook at: EugenieJonesJazz

Josephine Howell

Josephine Howell was born in Chicago, IL. She has always been fascinated with music and the arts, captivating family and friends at an early age with her amazing gifts.

“Josie” possesses a God-given endowment for the arts. She first explored her interest and abilities for singing in the children’s choir at her childhood church, The True Right M. B. Church. It was the beginning of the foundation that would sustain her through a life filled with the type of experiences that inspire every song, every word, and every moment she is on stage.

Josie is always exploring new avenues of expression. Her range of talent extends from singing, dancing and acting to the very production and direction of the arts. The experiences of her performances reflect the spirituality, love, struggles and victories of one who tells a story of triumph where there was no hope.

The passion, inspiration and melodious sound you savor when you have the privilege of experiencing one of her breathtaking performances is birthed from a life of challenging struggles and immense victories. Her voice alone, tells a story in every song. When she is singing about love, you can feel the passion in the eyes of one newly in love. When she is singing about having fun, it makes you want to run, like a child, to the playground of your youth. And when she is singing about the One who has given her new life, you feel the healing of her wounded heart and you know that Jesus lives!

Because Josephine recognizes the importance of each hand, helping another, she participates often in many local community events, performing, entertaining, but also sometimes speaking very candidly to those who need to hear from someone who's walked in their shoes. She is active in not only local affairs, but has also committed her time and talent to speak to our government about the plight of the homeless, a place she once knew firsthand. She believes that is important not just to entertain, but to use her gifts, her singing, her speaking, her acting, her directing to better the community, city and country in which she lives.

Josie attributes her success to her mother, Alberta Tucker, for instilling in her a spiritual foundation based on a personal relationship with God. But she recognizes God as her ultimate reason for her gifts, her will and her determination.

Follow Josephine on Facebook at: josephine.howell.54

Debbie Cavitt

All the way from Dallas, Texas, Debbie Cavitt is the new girl on the block in Seattle's Jazz Community. Rooted in gospel, she's quickly and effectively crossed over into jazz and blues and with a smile she'll tell you she's a little bit country too!

She's sung backup for Kenny Loggins on a recent West Coast tour; vocalized at Seattle's Bumbershoot Music Festival and also has joined Seattle Men’s' Chorus in their performances.

As a teacher, Debbie was a Golden Apple Award nominee in 2011, an honor presented by Public Broadcasting for outstanding educational practices.
Debbie Cavitt is the voice of the King County Metro "I'll Take You There" commercial. She has performed at the Scarlet Tree and is a regular at Seattle Jazz Offering’s Series of First Sunday Concerts at Tula’s Jazz Club.

A professional music artist, Debbie's currently the Angel Choir Director at First African Methodist Episcopal 'FAME' church and also leads the Hawthorne Elementary School Choir.

Of the many vocalist on the West Coast and especially in the Pacific Northwest, you will find none more enthusiastic or as moving as Debbie Cavitt.

Follow Debbie on Facebook at: Debbie Cavitt @ facebook