The New West Guitar Group is one of the most eclectic guitar ensembles you’ll ever hear. This trio mixes the sound of electric and acoustic guitars as they search all genres of music for great songs to play, as well as writing many of their own. Founded more than 10 years ago by guitarists Perry […]

As part of the KPLU School Of Jazz project, we present regional high school jazz bands in our Studio Sessions.  The bands, under the direction of their faculty band-director perform 3 songs, as well as getting the chance to talk about what jazz means to them. The second group to participate in this project comes […]

    Yes, in this live solo studio session, British jazz superstar  Jamie Cullum does, indeed, play the entire piano. In ‘Please Don’t Stop The Music,’ he plays the keyboard with one hand while beating out a rhythm on the piano’s cabinet with the other.  As you might guess from that, a studio session with […]

Since the mid-1970s, Marcia Ball has been doing her part to turn the world into a party with her blues and boogie-woogie piano playing and singing, so we were overjoyed to welcome her back to the KPLU performance studio. Sure enough, she turned it into a party. Again. As she told KPLU’s Abe Beeson, she […]

Celebrated jazz saxophonist Zane Musa died Monday in Florida, at the young age of 36, according to news reports. Musa’s cause of death was not known, but trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, in a tweet, said Musa had been involved in a “terrible accident”: I’m so sad and devastated about a terrible accident of my dear friend […]

One of Portland, Oregon’s best known jazz group is Trio Subtonic.  They’ve made their mark on the Northwest independent and jazz music scenes, crafting three albums worth of original compositions by the band members: on keys, Galen Clark; on bass, Bill Athens; and on drums, Russ Kleimer. On a quick zoom through Seattle (they were […]

Drummer Stanton Moore is one of the busiest drummers in New Orleans.  Everybody wants to work with him.  Likewise with the other members of his trio, David Torkanowsky (piano) and James Singleton (bass).  These three guys are among the most sought-after musicians in a city brimming with great players. So it was a true delight […]

In 2015 the ongoing KPLU School Of Jazz program expanded its opportunities for high school jazz bands by beginning to feature them in our series of live Studio Sessions from our Seattle studios. The first group is this sextet from the Mercer Island High School Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Mr. David Bentley.   […]

KPLU rang in the new year of 2015 with a studio session featuring some old friends of the station who are also some of Seattle’s finest jazz musicians—Pearl Django and Gail Pettis. Pearl Django has long been regarded as one of America’s finest gypsy jazz bands.  Gail is a two-time recipient of the Earshot Jazz […]

It sure was hard to pick just five, but here are the best live KPLU studio sessions of the year. Industrial Revelation This was the year for long-percolating Seattle jazz band Industrial Revelation. Nearly a decade after their first rehearsal together, Industrial Revelation was packing clubs full of young music fans, solidifying a sound blending modern […]