Since he was a teenager, guitarist Lee Ritenour has been proud to call Dave Grusin his friend. While in Seattle for a stretch of nights at Jazz Alley, Lee and Dave returned to the KNKX studios to play together and for each other.

A true icon of Northwest jazz stopped by the KNKX studios recently. Singer, songwriter, educator, bandleader Greta Matassa has been a professional musician since her teen years, and was recently inducted into the Earshot Jazz Hall of Fame. With her long-running band, Matassa gave an appreciative studio audience a thrilling taste of her new album, Portrait . Featuring a portrait of Greta's mother painted by Greta's father, Portrait gets the CD release party treatment at Egan's in Ballard on June

Before starting our studio session with Brooklyn-based guitarist Will Bernard, with Seattle favorites Joe Doria and Tarik Abouzied on organ and drums, I told him most of the interview would focus on "the out-of-towner." Will said, "wait, I'm here all the time!"

Performing in the KNKX studios, young jazz upstarts Dylan Hayes (keyboards) and Xavier Lecouturier compose intricate jazz with improvisational energy. It's a tricky balancing act that these two Californians continue to refine, made easier by their relatively longtime working relationship.

Seattle Rep’s show “Nina Simone Four Women” plays through June 2. It’s not a biography and it’s not a musical review. This “play with music” imagines Nina Simone in the 16 th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, just after the 1963 bombing that killed four young girls.

Vocalist LaVon Hardison joined KNKX Public Radio for a fun-filled studio session. She kicked off with a playful version of “Should I Stay or Should I Go” by The Clash. Hardison says she chooses songs based on interesting or beautiful melody, or a lyric that tells a story.

There are only a handful of artists who have performed more than twice on our live KNKX Studio Sessions. We’re thrilled that The Rumba Kings have hit the mark!

It seems the timing was just right for Catherine Russell’s third KNKX studio session. Her new album, Alone Together , had risen to the top of the jazz charts. Also, the just-ended fund drive had all of us in the mood to celebrate.

The all-star jazz ensemble from Monroe High School, calling themselves Kelsey and the Boys, showed their love of jazz in the KNKX studios. The session provided a good reminder that as the Northwest grows, the once-small-town of Monroe is growing an impressive jazz program.

The message of Transparent Water is to heed nature’s warnings and protect our most important resource. Pianist Omar Sosa travels the world, looking to make musical connections. His Afro-Cuban heritage blends magically with the other members of this trio.