Following by ten years his original Contraband project, tenor sax player Cliff Colon has reformed the group to create more compelling modern jazz drawn from the melodies of late 80s video games. Whatever that looks like on paper to you, in practice Contraband Reloaded sounds like a genius. Colon says he remembers hearing rock bands cover these musical themes, but the world of modern jazz is a perfect setting to turn acorns of 8-bit melodies into mighty oak trees of creativity. A repetitive

Alto and soprano sax player Brent Jensen says no matter which horn he plays, people often tell him he sounds like Paul Desmond. That's a high compliment indeed, but live in the KNKX studios Jensen showed he's no imitator. You've probably heard Brent Jensen playing around the Northwest, or from his hit debut album on Seattle's Origin Records, The Sound of a Dry Martini: Remembering Paul Desmond from 2002. But he's only just recently moved to the Puget Sound region about a year ago and says he

Based in New York City and featuring two graduates of Seattle's legendary Roosevelt High School jazz program, the trio Mughal Muesli returned to the West Coast for a tour supporting their debut album Imperial Cereal. We're tracking down carpenters now because they nearly blew the roof off the place. Live in our studios, Mughal Muesli performed three new compositions that ebbed and flowed with intense grooves, aggressive and muscular sax and bass, and exotic melodies that reflected their musical

"It's not loud, it's more... dynamic" percussionist Ricardo Guity told our studio audience as The New Triumph prepared to launch into their soulful, rhythm-heavy live session. It wasn't loud, but it was passionate and dynamic. The Seattle septet pulses with the universal rhythms found in Latin, African and American soul music. Camilo Estrada, the band's leader, and main songwriter came to jazz later in life, with a youthful love of funk obviously contributing to his music today. Estrada guides a

A Seattle native who's been soaking in the energy of New York City for the past half dozen years, Jessica Lurie has released the first new album from her ensemble in nearly as long ago as her relocation. It was worth the wait. Long Haul is a diverse collection of all the style that Lurie has shown since her youthful days in legendary Seattle groups The Billy Tipton Memorial Saxophone Quartet and The Living Daylights. At times playful, frantic, mesmerizing, funky, mysterious and downright

Now in his second year at the University of Northern Colorado's highly regarded jazz program, drummer Ryan Leppich returned home to Puget Sound with a pair of college friends to play a few shows around town. We were lucky enough to host them for an energetic set of clever original songs live in the KNKX studios. Recent graduate Tom Amend showed off his well-honed piano chops alongside talented bass player Seth Lewis, and they both seemed right at home in the pocket of rhythm provided by Leppich.

He's known as one of the top trumpet players in jazz for the past quarter century, and returned to the KNKX studios with a fantastic new song for the city Roy says has always inspired him. "The Seattle Vibe" was so new, his quintet hadn't heard it until they arrived in town for their stay at Jazz Alley. There wasn't much time to chat with the band before our live broadcast, Roy was guiding them through the soulful changes and groovy tempo of his latest song. If you don't catch Hargrove in live

Seattle's 45th St Brass find plenty of funky fun in the tradition of New Orleans brass bands, but they also take the opportunity to stretch the possibilities of this classic lineup of horns and drums. Led by the baritone sax of Peter Daniel, forming a tight rhythm section with Nelson Bell on tuba and D'Vonne Lewis (playing on half of the new album) drumming for this performance. The trombones of Jason Cressey and David Marriott play with and against each other, and trumpeter Shawn Mickelson

On the first snowy day in the Puget Sound region, a group formed in sunny California warmed up our airwaves with a studio session filled with joy and beauty. The New West Guitar Group formed about ten years ago by students at the USC jazz program. With Will Brahm joining founding members John Storie and Perry Smith on guitars, they added their college friend, singer Sara Gazarek for their concert at the Kirkland Performance Center. Sara, a proud graduate of Roosevelt High School's legendary jazz

Hilary Gardner and Ehud Asherie have a new release out called “The Late Set’ and we were treated to a lovely afternoon performance at our studios in Seattle. The two met while both studying classical music together in Brooklyn, NY and quickly transitioned to jazz while playing the after hours set at Mezzrow Jazz Club in Greenwich Village. Those late night performances were the impetus for this new release. They kicked off their performance with the 1930’s song ‘Sweet And Slow’ by Harry Warren.