Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
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.

KNKX Student DJ Evan DeTurk

Evan DeTurk is a sixteen year old student and Alto Sax player at Garfield High School. He shares an hour of his favorite jazz with Abe Beeson on Thursday, November 2 at 8:00-9:00 pm. 

Which instrument do you play and why? I started on the alto sax in fourth grade. At my elementary school, saxophone was  the only instrument that wasn’t offered every year due to lower rental availability. I was drawn to it because of the exclusivity at the time and because I liked the overall look and sound of the instrument.

What’s your all-time favorite jazz piece? I love Ecculsiastics from the Mingus ’93 record. They really put a lot of soul into the playing of the song, and it has a unique style and form.

Who is your jazz hero? There are lots of jazz musicians that I try to emulate, but the person who I would want to model my whole self after would have to be Clifford Brown. I hate to admit that it’s a trumpet player. He was an amazing musician and innovator who died too young, and didn’t do drugs.

Why jazz? Jazz has always seemed to me to be a style of music that could be as simple as complex as you wanted it to be. This applies to both the musicians playing the music and the listeners who hear or listen to the music. I feel that there are lots of ways to approach any certain thing in jazz music. You can take a simple progression and play all kinds of complicated ideas, and vice versa. As a listener, you can choose what you hear. There are many “levels” of listening, and no matter how many or few people are playing at a time, you can always notice something different about someone’s playing.

Evan's playlist for November 2, 8:00-9:00 pm:

"THE STARS FELL ON ALABAMA" CANNONBALL ADDERLY (Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago)

"ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET" LOUIS ARMSTRONG (This is Jazz Louis Armstrong Sings)

"STRENGTH AND COURAGE" JOE LOVANO (Sounds of Joy)

"AS THIS MOMENT SLIPS AWAY" JOSHUA REDMAN (The Bad Plus Joshua Redman

"REMEMBER" HANK MOBLEY (Soul Station)

"BROTHER OF MAN" CLARK TERRY (The Oscar Peterson Trio Plus One)