Abe Beeson
New Cool & Jazz HostAbe 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.
At the end of 2015, just as the campaign to save 88.5 began, Abe debuted his modern jazz show The New Cool. Saturday afternoons from 3 to 5 p.m., you can hear 21st-century jazz inspired and informed by the sounds of today: hip-hop, & funk, Electronic music and punk rock — the future of jazz has arrived.
His most memorable KNKX radio moments include introducing Dave Brubeck, Ray Charles, Oscar Peterson, and other greats; attending jazz festivals in Spain and Argentina with groups of KNKX jazz fans; and locking himself out of the station on a particularly cold winter night.
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Top modern jazz musicians, vibraphonist Joel Ross and the drums-keyboards team Amendola Vs. Blades are both performing in Seattle soon. -
Hear the music of Chick Corea from the globally inspired Seattle trio Duende Libre in this KNKX studio session.
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Trumpeter Charlie Porter recently moved back to New York after spending six years in Portland, Oregon. He's back in the Northwest for a short tour and a musical adventure for his audience.
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KNKX presents a School of Jazz studio session with the Edmonds Woodway High School jazz ensemble at Boxley's in North Bend
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Curtis Stigers performs an exclusive KNKX studio session to celebrate his new album This Life.
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The two-trumpet, two-trombone quartet The Westerlies are throwing their first Westerlies Fest in two years next week in Seattle.
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Trombonist, composer and arranger Greg Kramer offers a new solo release featuring Roxy Coss. Named for his new home in Edmonds, Wash., "93rd Pl W" builds on his experience in the Garfield High School jazz program, recording with hip hop star Macklemore and as a member of the horn-powered funk band the True Loves.
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New Cool host Abe Beeson connected with multi-instrumentalist and producer Dae Han to talk about his debut album, his family's intervention after he became addicted to opiates, and how he discovered jazz and his musical destiny in Honolulu.
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Pianist Joey Alexander played an exclusive trio of original songs with his trio at Jazz Alley, celebrating his new album Origin.
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Keyboard player and composer Peter Adams releases his quartet album "Refuge" on Friday, recorded while battling cancer through the pandemic years.
