Chad McCullough & Brian Weitjers Quartet

media release: Presented by BlueStem Jazz. $20. 

A quartet split between American and Belgian musicians, it's strangely logical that trumpeter Chad McCullough and pianist Bram Weijters first met in Banff, Canada about a decade ago. It's been a long-distance relationship made in heaven ever since. Both co-leaders say the collaborations have many side benefits beyond their music. They're able to coordinate tours of the US and Europe with an adopted home base, and they can market their music from two locations as well. Musically, the McCullough/Weijters quartet is a tasty blend where classical melodies meet bluesy tradition and post-bop complexity. Each man composes for the band, and in our Seattle studios we heard wonderful examples of both