Community Calendar

KNKX and Tacoma Arts Live present a free event in conjunction with The Walk Home podcast at Theater on the Square. The Walk Home is a co-production of KNKX and The Seattle Times. KNKX’s South Sound reporter Kari Plog, Special Projects reporters/producers Mayowa Aina and Will James, The Seattle Times’ Senior Investigative Reporter Patrick Malone and musician Marcel E.C. Augustin will go behind the scenes of the podcast, adding new details and insights to Manuel Ellis’ story and previewing the final episodes. The event includes an audience Q&A. KNKX will record and videotape the event. Tickets for this free event are required. Walk-ups are welcome if space is available. Doors open at 6 p.m.

About The Walk Home Podcast
KNKX’s Special Projects Team and The Seattle Times investigative team have created The Walk Home, a multi-part podcast chronicling the life and death of Manuel Ellis — and the revelations that came to light afterward.

The Walk Home unfolds across eight episodes. The podcast marshals The Seattle Times’ investigative heft and KNKX’s storytelling prowess to give a national audience a close-up, emotional, fresh, and insightful view of policing, race, and poverty in America — ahead of what promises to be one of the highest-profile trials in Pacific Northwest history.

From the team that brought you Outsiders, The Walk Home podcast stands out from other audio documentaries on police violence by exploring not only the actions of individual officers over a few minutes, but also decades of macro forces that contributed to Ellis dying on a darkened residential street. Subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts. Support for The Walk Home is provided by NPR, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, movetotacoma.com, Group Health Foundation, and Heartfelt Mental Health.

National Hispanic Heritage Month is organized by The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to pay tribute to the generations of Hispanic Americans who have positively influenced and enriched our nation and society. The celebration is Sept. 15 through Oct. 15.

Also referred to as Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month, the celebration highlights the history and cultures of Hispanic or Latinx people who came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

The Pacific Northwest benefits from a rich history of Hispanic and Latinx peoples making their mark on the region's cultural fabric and boasts many communities with strong Latinx roots. South Park and nearby White Center have long served as home to many Latinx families and businesses. SeaTac and Burien are also emerging as centers of Latinx culture in Seattle.

Check out a list of regional events celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month here.

KNKX is a media partner for the South Seattle Emerald 2022 Electoral Debate, bringing candidates for the 37th Legislative District together in front of a live audience in Rainier Arts Center's auditorium, and streamed live. Moderator Crystal Fincher will ask candidates community-submitted questions. (You can submit your questions here.)

Confirmed Candidates: Emijah Smith and Chipalo Street, candidates for State Representative for the 37th Legislative District, Position 2. Attend live or tune in to the livestream on our Facebook page. RSVP required for live attendance! Masks required. Proof of vaccination or negative rapid test (provided) required.

The Emerald would like to thank our media partners: Real Change News, Hacks & Wonks, KNKX, and KVRU and our community partner, League of Women Voters.

This candidate forum was funded in part by a Voter Education Fund grant from King County Elections and the Seattle Foundation.

Read more information here.

Presented by the City of Tumwater and Olympia Tumwater Foundation with cooperation from Copper Wolf Tattoo Studio and Art Gallery. Celebrating Tumwater Falls as a sacred and historically-significant place in our community.

Join us for a day of celebrating the transformative effect of water as a place of healing and community. Grab a cup of coffee and take a stroll through the luminous park grounds, soaking in the fall color as an Olympia Symphony Ensemble plays, or bring the entire family – there are activities for all! Kids are invited to join a printmaking workshop, and have their faces painted. All ages are welcome to attend an educational talk by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife about the return of salmon or watch a stone carving demonstration. The event will also feature local artists, makers, food vendors, and a Stream Team scavenger hunt.

Salmon Days Grand Parade, 10 a.m. on Saturday. The new parade route kicks off at the Community Center Stage and travels north up Rainier Boulevard, through the Foods from Around the World and into the Field of Fun.

Activities include Salmon Art Walking Tour, Hatchery Tours, Kiwanus Club World Famous Salmon BBQ, Dockdogs, Live Entertainment on the Community Center Stage, Streaming Live Lounge featuring Kaleidoscope School of Music, Food, Arts and Crafts...

Seattle Center is presenting Festál 2022, a series of 24 free cultural festivals from February to November. 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of Festál, with each festival showcasing the unique heritage, traditions, richness and identity of diverse ethnic communities from across the Pacific Northwest. Festál is "Where the World Gathers" through in-person and streamed visual and performing arts, food and activities, guest speakers, presentations and more.

Seattle Center Festál presents CroatiaFest. The festival presents Croatian culture through music and dance performances by the finest Croatian musicians, singers and dance ensembles from the Pacific Northwest, Canada and beyond. Museum quality exhibits tell the story of the Croatian American immigrant experience through historical photos, artifacts, traditional costumes and folk instruments. Attendees can enjoy cooking demonstrations of traditional foods by Croatian chefs. The office of the Croatian Consulate assists with passports, visas and official government documents.

Presented by KNKX. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Grace Kelly has announced a new U.S. tour supporting her upcoming album and 14th release, All That I Need.

The album will be available online at the end of October, but audiences who see her live on this tour will have the opportunity to hear it first and get their hands on the physical CD. The album took Kelly on a journey of self-discovery and was influenced by written works by amazing female authors, including one of the tracks, "We Will Rise," inspired by Maya Angelou's poem "And Still I Rise." This upcoming album, which is her first in three years, includes songs that reflect on different aspects of courage. She said in a statement about the new music, "This album was inspired by the different emotions that embody the courageous spirit. I found myself on a real journey thinking about what the courageous spirit feels and looks like to me. It took me for a ride bringing up many memories and stories."

Kelly's honors include multiple ASCAP Composer Awards, “Song of the Year” in the 2018 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, and has been named nine times consecutively in the Annual Downbeat Magazines Critics Poll “Rising Star Alto Saxophone” from the age of 17 in 2009 and winning the poll in 2017 (Youngest ever named to Downbeat critics poll in 2009). She has played in the house band for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and was featured in Amazon's Emmy-nominated series Bosch.

Grammy and Academy Award winner and bandleader for The Late Show with Steven Colbert, Jon Batiste has called Grace Kelly a performer with "electric charisma." In a statement, Kelly remarked how live performance is one of her favorite things to do and that connecting with her audience is a special experience.

SIFF’s DocFest, a celebration of all films documentary, with stories of people you know, stories that will floor you, and stories that will make you look outside yourself. Moving from the thought provoking to the tenacious, with stops at tearful and tense, DocFest returns with our celebration of documentary films from around the world. Attend in-person; there will also be limited streaming options.

As part of DocFest, KNKX's Abe Beeson hosts a screening of the new documentary, Hargrove on October 11 at 7 p.m. Abe will talk with the film's director, Eliane Henri, after the screening. Widely considered the best trumpet player of his generation, jazz legend Roy Hargrove galvanized audiences with his incisive playing and virtuosity. A charismatic and combustible performer, rumors of his precocious talent began to spread while he was still a teenager, and soon he began to ascend the ranks of jazz royalty, leading combos of every size, while also collaborating with everyone from Christian McBride to Herbie Hancock to Sonny Rollins. Not content to only reinvigorate jazz, Hargrove also was an indispensable presence in the Neo-soul movement, collaborating with Hip Hop and R&B trailblazers including Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, and The Roots. Capturing Hargrove in surprisingly unguarded moments—from giddy shopping excursions to heated arguments to transfixing hotel room improvisations—director Henri interlaces them with revealing archival footage and candid interviews with his many admirers and collaborators who collectively reflect back on both Roy's career and the challenges of being a Black jazz artist in America.

KNKX 88.5 FM Presents The Rumba Kings featuring Arcobaleno Strings and special guest performers! Get dressed-up ready for two nights of the most passionate Mediterranean-inspired music imaginable, accompanied by a live performance that is the talk of the Pacific Northwest! Catch the band in our intimate theater before they ascend to international status! Seattle's KNKX has been a proud supporter of their live shows and music from the beginning.

The show features mostly instrumental nylon-guitar driven music, influenced by such artists as the Gipsy Kings and Yanni. For this special performance, The Rumba Kings will be accompanied by a string quartet on several songs, elevating this concert to an entirely different level than previous concerts. The band is thrilled to have one of the most respected string quartets in the Northwest performing with them, Arcobaleno Strings. The quartet will accompany the band on approx. eleven songs. Also one of the Northwest’s top Saxophonist, Jory Tindall, will be joining the band on a couple of songs, as well as the very talented, Rachel Nesvig, on first violin. Rachel will be performing several Mediterranean-inspired songs with the band solo as well. Guest vocalists will also be making special guest appearances in some special segments in the show.

Sponsored by KNKX. BIMA’s highly anticipated Within/Earshot Jazz Festival returns to the Frank Buxton Auditorium this October with an exciting lineup of live music, film, and presentations. Travel from New Orleans to Barcelona, Brazil to Newport, Seattle to… outer space!

CONCERTS:
October 8 7pm - Opening Night with Reception
EntreMundos

October 14 7pm
Duo Viaolo + One

October 15 7pm
Eugenie Jones

October 23 7pm
Marina Albero Trio w/ Jeff Johnson & Anil Prasad in Concert - world premiere

October 29 7pm
Folks Project

LECTURES:
October 6
Jazz with Jim: Fundamentals of Jazz - Jim Cauter brings the history of jazz to life, with an evening that blends jazz history, music selections, and photos.

October 13
Jazz with Jim: Future of Jazz - Jim Cauter brings the history of jazz to life, with an evening that blends jazz history, music selections, and photos.

October 20
America’s Music: A Panel on Race and Jazz
An exploration of the impacts of race in the development, shaping, acceptance, and future of Jazz. How does race manifest in the history of Jazz? Was Jazz a factor in past and current struggles for civil rights and social justice? Our invited panelists bring their experience to bear on these and other questions as we delve into the social structures surrounding the music. Featuring musician, filmmaker, and composer Aham Oluo, Rainier Avenue Radio DJ and Jazz aficionado Kevin “Big Poppy” Callahan, and education director at Seattle JazzED, Kelly Clingan.

FILMS
October 4
Thin Skin
Thin Skin is a music-infused drama about keeping it together when you're falling apart, starring Ahamefule J. Oluo. This story is loosely based on the award-winning Off-Broadway show "Now I'm Fine" and the This American Life story “The Wedding Crasher”.

October 11
Pepper's Pow Wow
Pepper's Pow Wow is the debut album led by Native American saxophonist and composer Jim Pepper recorded in 1971 and first released on Herbie Mann's Embryo label.

October 18
Space is the Place
Space Is the Place is an 85-minute Afrofuturist science fiction film released in 1974. It was directed by John Coney, written by legendary artist Sun Ra and Joshua Smith, and features Sun Ra and his free jazz ensemble Arkestra.

October 25
Jazz on a Summer's Day
This documentary concert film captures the sounds and performances of some of the major jazz artists at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. Unlike earlier jazz movies that had been filmed in smoky black and white, this is shot in vibrant color. While musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Anita O’Day and Mahalia Jackson perform, images of beaches, sailboats on water, dancing couples and the faces of joyful audience members are intercut into the proceedings.

Additional Programs
Ongoing in October
The Art of Jazz - an exhibition of modern album cover art, representing extraordinary graphic design to match works by some extraordinary jazz greats over the years, curated from the collection of Raymond Gendreaux of BackStreet Beats.

Ongoing in October
Curated Play Lists - Jazz artists, activists and scenesters share their playlists for must-hear music

Sponsored by KNKX. The Headhunters show features Bill Summers, Mike Clark, Donald Harrison, Kyle Roussel and Chris Severin, touring in support of The Headhunters' new release, "Speakers in the House" on Ropeadope Records. This is a 21+ show.

Kept alive and thriving by Bill Summers and Mike Clark decades, The Headhunters continue to bring dynamic new music to the world.

Mike Clark and Bill Summers are two of a kind - they share a love for music that never dies. The pair kept The Headhunters alive, releasing two albums in “Survival of the Fittest” in 1975 and “Straight From The Gate” in 1977 with Herbie as featured guest. The chemistry between them is undeniable: They have persevered for over 40 years through industry setbacks, the death of band members, and more, to stay true to their mission with the same energy and zeal that the music demands.

Eleven years after their last release, The Headhunters are set to release “Speakers In The House,” a new full length album featuring Summers, Clark, NEA Jazz master Donald Harrison, Stephen Gordon, bassist Reggie Washington, and organist Jerry Z. The album also features Scott Roberts and Fode Sissoko on kora. The Headhunters spirit is alive and well on the album, which fuses the band’s African and New Orleans influences with their ever-present technical jazz-funk, rooted in music history and growing in the present moment.

Sponsored by KNKX. The 34th Annual Earshot Jazz Festival presents jazz performances from all around Seattle as well as video streaming around the world!

Join us for a celebration of the artistic edge and the rich history of jazz. The festival includes a respected series of concerts, films on the art form, commissions, social justice forums, artist panels, residencies, and educational programs. Come together with real people and jazz greats from around the world in creative collaboration while also recognizing Seattle’s place and artists in the world of jazz.

Preceding the Festival, Earshot Jazz brings these artists to Seattle: Artemis on September 22 at Town Hall Seattle’s Great Hall, Shai Maestro Quartet on September 26 at Town Hall Seattle’s Forum, and Eric Vloeimans & Will Holshouser on October 2 at the Royal Room.

Special events:

October 8, 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall Seattle’s Great Hall - We will be remembering Overton Berry with Diane Schuur and the Garfield High School Jazz Band. Cherished vocalist Diane Schuur and many Seattle musicians celebrate the late Overton Berry— friend, mentor, and role model to many. Bassist Bruce Phares arranges groupings featuring Diane Schuur and the multi-prizewinning Garfield band.

October 27, 6 p.m. at Town Hall Seattle’s Forum - Through thoughtful community dialogue we will discuss education spaces, jam session culture, the performance stage, and beyond. Join us for the Jazz and Social Justice Panel with Darrell Grant. The popular Portland jazz pianist will be opening with this community conversation before a performance at 7:30 p.m. PDT with the MJ New Quartet, also led by Darrell Grant.

Get the complete lineup at the Earshot Jazz website.

Presented by NWAA, KNKX, and The Stranger. In its review of David Sedaris’ new book, Happy-Go-Lucky, the Washington Post said “David Sedaris is a singularly talented humorist who lands acerbic zingers with the calculating precision of a kamikaze pilot… He’s maintained league-of-his-own status by staying light on his feet: Just when you’re expecting a wry jab, he clocks you with a poignant gut punch.”

Following its publication in May, Happy-Go-Lucky debuted at the #1 spot on The New York Times bestseller list and now he returns to Seattle for his annual reading and signing at Benaroya Hall. With wickedly funny irreverence and occasional potty humor, David will once again delight the audience as he shares both published stories and works-in-progress.