After a lifetime spent on the road and in the studio supporting other musicians, bassist and producer Kazlo Johns (aka John Kessler) released his first-ever solo music project ALTER EGO on May 22, 2024. You're invited to an album release event on January 21, 7:30 p.m. at Seamonster Lounge in Seattle.

As music director and bassist of the Mountain Stage radio show from 1983-1997, Kazlo accompanied hundreds of performers including Dr. John, Sarah McClachlan, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, and Sonny Landreth. Kazlo toured constantly, with Steve Ferguson from NRBQ, and with Julie Adams from Mountain Stage among many others.

Along the way he became interested in the art of recording music and learned the ins and outs of engineering, leading to having his own recording studio and producing albums from punk- rock to opera. “It started with me having some recording gear in my apartment and turned into me having a bed in a recording studio”.

The musical alter-ego of long-time music host John Kessler (88.5 KNKX/Tacoma Seattle NPR), Kazlo Johns is the result, in part, of the pandemic, and the need to continue creatively in a time of no gigs or recording sessions. As a bassist without a band, Kazlo was compelled to find ways to make the bass be the focus of his musical energy. He learned some classical music, and studied jazz with bass master Osama Afifi.

Still hungering for more bass, Kazlo started developing his own style of bass tapping. “One day I realized that all those notes were there on the bass, just like they are on the piano. And so I began to explore what I could do to use those notes in tapping figures. I’m never going to play like Victor Wooten or Dave LaRue. But I can come up with cool riffs and turn those into fun little digressions to amuse myself.”