The First Sundays at the Commons concert series continues with Seattle jazz pianist Dawn Clement, performing 4 p.m. Feb. 19. The concert was postponed from the “real” first Sunday due to the Superbowl.

Clement didn’t start out as a jazz pianist. Her early training included the traditional classical music compositions, but she dabbled in ragtime at the age of 10 before reverting to classical, a move that would prove fateful.

In Vancouver, Wash., she played in the high school jazz band, but auditioned with a piece by Mozart. As a teenager she sat in on sessions with jazz musicians in Portland and took lessons from local jazz pianists.

She entered Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle in 1996, intending to study classical piano, but by then it was too late. Jazz had a hold on her.

As she told Earshot Jazz reporter Peter Monaghan, “Jazz is so free and you can be what you want to be, and you can have fun doing it, and it’s not about competition. It’s just a whole other vibe.”

She graduated from Cornish in 2000 and joined the teaching staff as an adjunct instructor, teaching piano.

Clement has thrown herself into jazz, touring the United States with the Sabella Consort and the Rubin/Clement Piano Dialogues, as well as performing with a constellation of jazz greats, from Chuck Deardorf to Pharaoh Sanders.

Her 2003 recording of “In Deep End Dance” with trombonist Julian Preister earned the Best Album of the Year Award from Earshot Jazz, and her 2004 solo debut album, “Hush,” was nominated for Earshot Jazz Record of the Year.

Clement was one of the featured performers at the Bloedel Reserve summer concert series in 2004, and can frequently be found playing at clubs and venues around the Sound.

Clement puts a fresh new face on the Puget Sound jazz scene.

Catch Clement with Jon Hamar on bass and Jose Martinez on drums, 4 p.m. Feb. 19 at the Bainbridge Commons, 402 Brien Drive, Bainbridge Island.

Admission at the door is $15 adults, $10 students. wu