Live Studio Sessions

We were lucky to get a visit from Southern Avenue, one of the hottest new blues acts on the national scene. They have only been together a couple of years and it was their first visit to the Pacific Northwest. Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee and with a debut CD on that city’s legendary soul label Stax Records, Southern Avenue has a fresh take on blues and soul.

Celebrating the release of their CD “Sinatra & Jobim @ 50,” this duo brought the warmth and charm of the beloved Brazilian songwriter Antonio Carlos Jobim to the KNKX studios.

While Laura was still a student at King's High School in Shoreline, she was a guest vocalist for Lance Buller’s group that came in for a studio session a few years back. 

In 2014, Laura was named the winner of the high school division in the Seattle-Kobe Female Jazz Vocalist competition, and in 2015, Downbeat Magazine named her the national winner of their 38th annual Student Music Awards in the high school vocal jazz soloist category.

Seattle Kobe female jazz vocalist of the year Leah Natale and local group Ambience are fond of the oldies -- the really old, oldies. The newest song they played for us when they dropped by for a performance in the KNKX studios was from 1953 - ("Baubles Bangles and Beads" written for the 1953 musical "Kismet" by Robert Wright and George Forrest.) Natale's very favorite type of  singing involves big band jazz. Her clear tone and voice lends to a smaller group like Ambience beautifully however.

After more than a quarter century, that Mighty Engine of Rhythm still swings like mad. Pearl Django’s KNKX studio session hit the ground running with Floyd Hoyt Rides Again, from their new CD With Friends Like These. 

Written by Pearl Django guitarist Tim Lerch, it’s named for one of the many noms de jazz of founding member Dudley Hill.

Fiddler Michael Gray says some of Dudley’s other aliases were The New Johnny Sands, and Michael’s personal favorite, H. Burnell Delahoopay. 

Blending the rhythms of Brazil, the Caribbean, Africa and Latin America into a groovy gumbo, Seattle's Duende Libre landed in the KNKX studios to celebrate with an exclusive performance of three songs from their new self-titled album live on 88.5.

The trio are well-traveled, keys player Alex Chadsey has spent time playing music in Mexico, drummer Jeff Busch lived in Brazil for a short spell, and bassist Farko Dosumov hails from the Central Asian country of Uzbekistan.

New Orleans is so full of incredibly gifted drummers, bassists and pianists, it would probably be impossible to pick one three-piece rhythm section and call it ‘the best.’  But when you’re talking about drummer Stanton Moore, bassist James Singleton and pianist David Torkanowsky, you could make a pretty good case that these guys rule the roost in The City That Care Forgot.  However you’d rate ‘em, though, they sure are funky.

Doug Macleod is a modern renaissance blues man. An award-winning musician and songwriter, he is also a columnist, radio host and teacher. As a sideman in the 1960s and 1970s he played with legends Big Mama Thornton, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and Lowell Fulson among many others.

Boston native LaVon Hardison has enchanted the South Sound with her warm, lively voice and personality.   Utilizing her background in lyric opera and musical theatre, she goes deep into a song to tell its story. 

LaVon’s most recent CD, “Come Together,” showcases her creative connection with some of the Northwest’s finest musicians, and their performance at KNKX was a delight from start to finish. 

World, meet the LaVon Hardison Quartet!

The Greyhounds first came to national attention with the release of their 2016 album "Change of Pace," which features lush, yet airy psychedelic production, heart-wrenching songwriting and Stax-worthy soulful vocals. 

A duo out of Austin, Texas, the Greyhounds distinguish themselves with artful use of  loops and studio expertise that supports their mellow vibe. The uplifting spirit of their music is reminiscent of the soul era of the 1960s, but their grooves are 21st century Southern soul.

His band's work supporting David Bowie on his final album, "Blackstar," has moved saxophonist and composer Donny McCaslin's Group into the spotlight in the last couple years, and the pride of Santa Cruz, California is ready for it.

On the afternoon of day three of this year's Ballard Jazz Festival, the 10-clubs-for-one-cover Jazz Walk, KNKX welcomed a trio of Northwest jazz all-stars that reminded us how lucky jazz fans are in this corner of the world.

Raised in the Midwest, one of pianist Larry Fuller's first jobs in jazz was here in Seattle, backing up iconic jazz singer Ernestine Anderson. So his debut performance live on 88.5 felt like a homecoming.

His career has been spent mostly as a sideman, but in the shadows of some of the world's best jazz musicians life can be pretty great. After a few years with Miss Ernestine, Fuller began working with the great California drummer Jeff Hamilton's trio, which led to a dream job in bassist Ray Brown's threesome in the late '90s.

 The vocal trio Duchess came into being almost by accident.  A couple of years ago, New York-based singer Amy Cervini, decided to do something special for one of her regular gigs at New York’s 55 Bar.  She wanted to do one set of music as a tribute to the great vocal groups of the swing era, such as the Boswell Sisters and the Andrew Sisters.   Amy enlisted the aid of two other New York singers, Hilary Gardner (a one-time resident of Seattle) and Melissa Stylianou.  They learned one set’s worth of songs and performed them as planned at the 55 Bar.

For her third appearance in the KNKX studios, Anat Cohen brought along Trio Brasileiro, the group that presents the very popular spring choro workshops at Centrum in Port Townsend. 

Brazilian choro music is a cousin of jazz, mixing European melodic and harmonic traditions with African rhythms and sensibilities.  The word choro means “cry” or “lament,” but much of the music sounds bright and peppy.  There’s a very subtle touch of sadness and longing, which Brazilians call “saudade.”

Growing up in upstate New York, you might expect a young jazz talent to head for the Big Apple, the legendary "jazz center of the world," but trumpeter Samantha Boshnack came to Seattle. She'll tell you it was a great decision.

Sam is a dedicated composer as well as player, and she told us about working with her large ensemble, the B'shnorchestra, that working with those she admires as players and people is what she loves about jazz.

Live in the KNKX studios, it was obvious that her band loves playing her music with her.

In 2013, Juan de Marcos and the Afro-Cuban All-Stars performed at KCTS9 television for our first “remote” Studio Session.  This time, KNKX took over the Moore Theatre in Seattle for the afternoon with this multi-faceted and most talented band. 

The Afro-Cuban All-Stars include Juan de Marcos’ accomplished daughters Gliceria (vibes and keyboards) and Laura (clarinets), as well as his wife and band manager Gliceria on percussion. 

On her debut album as a leader, trombone player, composer and producer Naomi Moon Siegel utilizes the talents of 13 of her musical friends, but live in the KNKX studios, she treated us to an intimate version with her trombone and sparse electric keys alongside guitarist Sean Woolstenhulme's delicate and ethereal playing. The result was a distillation, a close-up, of the beautiful music on "Shoebox View."

If you were to take a look at Grace Kelly’s resume, you might assume she’s in her fifties or sixties. To her credit, she has 10 album releases (including the recently released "Trying To Figure It Out"), several awards, performances with the Boston Pops, a performance for President Obama, and collaborations with dozens of top flight musicians. But she has done all of this by age 24.

Jazz fans talk often about the need to introduce the music to younger fans. Live in the KNKX studios, drummer Sammy Miller and his band of 20-somethings are getting their attention by having fun.

Their just-released debut "The Mixtape" is a solid document, but the real fun is in seeing this group in action live.

Goodness knows how he finds the time - Robert Glasper has released three albums over the past couple of years, toured the world with his band, produced records for others, and still made it out to mentor a select group of young Northwest musicians for the 16th annual More Music @ the Moore concert, March 25.

When The James Hunter 6 invaded the KNKX studios, we surrendered without a fight.  We surrendered to their high spirits, their musicianship and their great R&B grooves.

British singer/guitarist, James Hunter became known to American blues lovers in 2006 with his release, “People Gonna Talk.”  People certainly did talk and word quickly got around that James and his band were the real deal, playing wall-to-wall soul music and putting on great shows. 

It was a little early for guitarist Jimmy James, and he told his band mates he was feeling cranky. But having just come off a pair of road trip Northwest tours, it was all in the family with Delvon Lamarr and drummer David McGraw (co-founder with James of the hot Seattle soul group The True Loves) pushing their friend's buttons until everyone was laughing.

This good-time feeling filled our studios as the DLO3 gave us three cool groovers soaked in the '60s and '70s traditions of funky organ, guitar and drum trios of Jimmy Smith, Big John Patton, Jack McDuff and others.

We were delighted to welcome pianist Jovino Santos Neto back to our studios for a live Jazz Caliente studio session, this time with his Quarteto:  Chuck Deardorff on bass, Jeff Busch on drums and percussion, and Ben Thomas on vibes and bandoneon (aka “squeezebox”). 

This collection of outstanding musicians and respected music educators gave us a glimpse of beautiful Brazil, and we discussed, among other things, the diversity of musical styles in that country.

From the moment he peeped into the orchestra pit at the Pacific Northwest Ballet's annual "Nutcracker" performance, Eric Verlinde has been driven with the desire to play music. These days, he's doing just that — and lots of it.

Boasting one of the busiest gigs calendars in town, you'll find Eric working Sunday nights at El Gaucho with singer Josephine Howell, Monday nights on the same stage playing solo, and every Tuesday night he leads one of the city's favorite jam sessions at the Owl & Thistle pub downtown.

The Phil Sparks/Adam Kessler band has been playing live jazz at the Barca Lounge on Capitol Hill for more than 10 years now, and just released "Live at Barca, Vol 1" to celebrate.

The album features live recordings from Kessler and bassist Phil Sparks, along with lots of their friends who join them on this long running regular Thursday-night gig.

Tim Kennedy is one of the shining stars of the current Northwest jazz scene, and jazz is just the beginning. You’ll find him playing classic rock in the group Hot Rod, electric keys in the modern jazz trio Gravity, doing solo gigs as pianist, guitarist and/or singer, and often embracing electronic dance music as his alter ego Richie Aldente.

Singer Nancy Erickson recently received her masters in music education, but live in the knkx studios, she was anything but a reserved academic. She told us about singing in her early days, taking time off to raise a family, and a return to form inspired by audiences in a Woodinville club that led her back to a life in jazz. Thanks, Woodinville!

Starting her session with her own tune, "New Years Eve" - a song written for her parents' anniversary transformed into jazzy pop magic - then into Duke Ellington's beautiful and challenging "Prelude to a Kiss".

The KNKX studios got a Danish treat when we welcomed singer Sinne Eeg and her pianist friend Jacob Christoffersen. Traveling through the Seattle area for a third time for a series of intimate house concerts, Sinne told us she enjoys an intimate concert setting, and shared a funny story about primitive conditions at a remote Chinese jazz club she worked early in her career.

No wonder they do a lot of wedding gigs - Sundae + Mr. Goessl (the stage act name for singer Kate Voss and her guitarist/songwriter husband Jason Goessl) have a natural romantic chemistry that comes through in the throw-back songs of a time long past. In fact, we learned in our interview that it was their considerable musical talent that first attracted them to each other.