Named for their practice room at Pacific Lutheran University, 322 brought 4 of their 5 band members to the knkx studios for an afternoon of cool tunes they wrote themselves. Drawing on their jazz education in standards to the wide variety of music available to college kids, the band clearly finds as much inspiration from modern rock 'n' soul as they do the Great American Songbook.

Note: Each month, knkx invites a teen guest DJ to play his or her favorite pieces on the air. The program is part of knkx's School of Jazz . Dimitrio Nero from Mountlake Terrace High School is the Student DJ for the month of September. Dimitrio's hour aired from 8 to 9 p.m. on Sept. 8. To get to know him better, we asked Dimitrio to answer a few questions about jazz: Which instrument do you play and why?

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 . Brad Bjorn from Tahoma High School is the Student DJ for the month of August. Brad's hour aired from 8 to 9 p.m. on August 4th. To get to know him better, we asked Brad to answer a few questions about jazz: Which instrument do you play and why?

Puget Sound Community School is a private school with just 53 students. So the school’s excellent jazz studies program only has a few participants. So few, in fact, that the instructors often have to serve as performers, just to round things out. But don’t let numbers fool you. The group is small but mighty. For this studio session, the all-star trio enlisted D’Vonne Lewis, one of the West Coast’s hottest jazz drummers, as their mentor and drummer. The result was stunning. From the hypnotic

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 . Anton Bingham from Shorecrest High School is the Student DJ for the month of July. Anton's hour aired from 8 to 9 p.m. on July 7. To get to know him better, we asked Anton to answer a few questions about jazz: Which instrument do you play and why?

The all-stars from the Mountlake Terrace High School jazz band were well-prepared for their live session in the KPLU studios, so well prepared, in fact, that their mentor, Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra saxophonist Travis Ranney, said all he had to do was show up. Swinging through a pair of standards, the septet of kids also brought an arrangement of the very cool modern jazz tune, “Tall & Lanky” by Jeff Coffin to show off their own two-sax and a trombone front line. It was a fantastic

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 . Rose Reed from Kent-Meridian High School is the Student DJ for the month of June. Rose's hour aired from 8 to 9 p.m. on June 2. To get to know her better, we asked Rose to answer a few questions about jazz: Which instrument do you play and why?

When this Central Washington University combo made the trip from Ellensburg to the 88.5 F-M performance studio, it was a first. For us, anyway. The group is the first Eastern Washington jazz band we’ve hosted, and we hope it’s the first of many to come. Of course, it didn’t hurt their cause when they enlisted their mentor, trumpeter Thomas Marriott, to join the festivities. Check it out—three delightful arrangements from a group of young musicians on their way up. https://youtu.be/Il5CZbkrWQQ

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 . Lane Wilkinson from Glacier Peak High School is the Student DJ for the month of May. Lane's hour aired from 8 to 9 p.m. on May 5. To get to know him better we asked Sam to answer a few questions about jazz: Which instrument do you play and why?

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