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Since 2005, KNKX's School of Jazz has provided mentorship, learning and performance opportunities to Western Washington middle school, high school and college jazz students. A cornerstone of the station's signature community outreach program, it has directly impacted thousands of jazz students, band directors and professional musicians. School of Jazz is sponsored by BECU.

Young Ladies And Gentlemen Of Northwest Jazz

Parker Miles Blohm
/
KNKX

When the teenage all-stars of Five Feet Up came to play live on 88.5 recently, we were excited to see three old/young friends: Bell Thompson and Margaux Bouchegnies on trumpet and bass had performed in our studios as half of the 10 O'Clock Quartet. Guitarist Julia Tanner had played live on 88.5 with her bandmates from the Melba Liston All-Star Combo.

Both groups were comprised entirely of female musicians, but for this visit the ladies brought a pair of talented young men. Drummer Henry Mohr told us that male or female, he's just interested in playing with as many talented musicians as he can. This was certainly a display of talent, with Aiden Siemann shining on saxophone alongside Thompson's trumpet.

Make no mistake, though she'd probably shy away from the spotlight, Bell Thompson is the band's leader. She put the quintet together and also hustles to get the group gigs, and told us that playing jazz has made her more confident and assertive as a person. Thompson is also smart enough to let her band mates show off their personalities as well.

Fantastic solos abound in this session. Smart, up-tempo performances made old standards sound fresher than ever, and Five Feet Up had us feeling young again.

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Band:

Bell Thompson (trumpet), Aiden Siemann (saxophone), Julia Tanner (guitar), Margaux Bouchegnies (bass), Henry Mohr (drums)

Abe grew up in Western Washington, a 3rd generation Seattle/Tacoma kid. It was as a student at Pacific Lutheran University that Abe landed his first job at KNKX, editing and producing audio for news stories. It was a Christmas Day shift no one else wanted that gave Abe his first on-air experience which led to overnights, then Saturday afternoons, and started hosting Evening Jazz in 1998.