Tenor saxophonist Walter Blanding has been a member of the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra (directed by Wynton Marsalis) since 1998. One of the things that got him there was a great jazz education. Walter attended LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts, followed by more study at the New School of Social Research. And now Walter Blanding is ‘giving back,’ by providing mentorship to many young musicians, including the four members of The Future Jazz Head All-Stars, who are

The Pacific Northwest has played a big part in the evolution of vocal jazz. The first attempt to transcribe Big Band instrumental music for a vocal choir was done in 1967 by Portland’s Hal Malcomb. Malcomb’s group, Genesis, began hosting what is now the oldest vocal jazz festival in the country, The Northwest Vocal Jazz Festival. Carrying on that tradition is the Bellevue High School vocal ensemble, The Bellairs—8 fine young singers, accompanied by piano, bass and drums and mentored by Kirk

Note: Each month, KPLU invites a teen guest DJ to play his or her favorite pieces on the air. The program is part of KPLU's School of Jazz . Sam Brink from Stadium High School is the Student DJ for the month of April. Sam's hour aired from 8 to 9 p.m. on April 7. To get to know her better we asked Sam to answer a few questions about jazz:

The renowned jazz vocalist Ernestine Anderson, whose career spanned six decades, has died at the age of 87. According to the Seattle Times , Anderson attended Garfield High School and came up in Seattle’s jazz scene in the mid-1940s. She found success in Los Angeles and on the road — then at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and so many other places. She was nominated for a Grammy four times. Jim Wilke is the host of ‘Jazz Northwest’ on KPLU every Sunday. He first started listening to Anderson

Note: Each month, KPLU invites a teen guest DJ to play his or her favorite pieces on the air. The program is part of KPLU's School of Jazz . Jungwoo Lee from Bellevue High School is the Student DJ for the month of March. Jungwoo's hour aired from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on March 3. To get to know him better we asked Jungwoo to answer a few questions about jazz: Which instrument do you play and why? I play the clarinet. I was more or less “tricked” into playing the clarinet at first, but as I got better

At the end of January, 2016, the University of Washington presented its 1 st Annual Jazz Festival for High School Jazz Ensembles and Combos. To help draw attention to this first festival a jazz quartet called The Intension came to KPLU for a live studio session. The members of the band are all U-W seniors in the Jazz Studies Program and they did more than draw attention to the event. They set the bar for excellence—for that festival and all the U-W festivals that will follow. Prepare to be

This quartet is made up of female high-school jazz students from all over the region. They met through their work with Seattle Jazz Ed, a non-profit provider of year-round jazz classes and activities for young jazz musicians, no matter where the go to school or what their financial circumstances are. The 10:00 Quartet is just one example of the great benefit Seattle Jazz Ed provides when it comes to helping young players expand their social/musical networks creatively cross-pollinate with like