KNKX Studio Sessions

Establishing a monthly residency at Tula's jazz club in Seattle on the 2nd Thursday of each month, we put the trio disORGANized to the test with a live studio session on a Monday afternoon. They passed with flying colors. Spanning a good piece of Puget Sound, Seattle-based guitarist Cole Schuster teams up with Tacoma's Delvon Lamarr on Hammond organ, and Olympia drummer Alek Gayton for a classic organ trio sound that will remind listeners of 50s and 60s greats like Big John Patton, Grant Green,

322 brought their youthful energy and exuberance back to the KNKX studios this month with an electrifying set of neo-instrumental jazz. Their new CD is out September 8th and it’s loaded with originals.

Seafair's big Fleet Week celebrations include plenty of sailors at work and at ease around Puget Sound, and a special visit to the KNKX studios from the Navy Band's Brass Band, an almost entirely new group from their visit last year, with a fresh, funky sound. Clad in their sparkling clean dress whites, we heard two trombones, two saxophones, and trumpet with drums - and a warning to our Leadership Circle studio audience: this is going to be loud. They were that, especially with the low end

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. Guitarist Ori Naftaly first came to Memphis from his home in Israel to compete in the International Blues Competition (IBC) in 2013. He

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. Laura is on summer break from the Frost School of Music at

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. In this session,

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. However, it's the

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 . Stanton Moore—Drums David Torkanowsky—Piano James Singleton—Bass