Abe Beeson
New Cool & Jazz HostAbe grew up in Western Washington, a third 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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Seattle's iconic organ trio McTuff — Joe Doria, guitarist Andy Coe, drummer D'Vonne Lewis — brings soulful sounds to the KNKX studios. -
The Italian-born pianist, now living on Washington's Kitsap Peninsula, has found his musical home in the Pacific Northwest, where's he retired to focus on music-making. -
With guidance from saxophonist mentor Kandin Neri, student jazz musicians from Mount Si High School demonstrated how early exposure to jazz can pay off. -
A guitarist with the Bishop Blanchett High School jazz band, high school senior Zandy Owens shares an hour of his favorite jazz tunes with KNKX. -
In the KNKX studios in 2014, Carter explored her family heritage, uncovered early American field recordings, and highlighted how ancestry to shapes our lives today. -
On his new album Scenes from Above, guitarist Julian Lage makes magic with iconic keyboard player John Medeski, as well as superlative bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Kenny Wollesen. -
John Pizzarelli, skilled guitarist and vocalist, has collaborated with pop icons like James Taylor, blending timeless jazz standards and modern popular song. -
A rebellious decision to ditch music school and tour with a saxophone legend was the catalyst for trumpeter Terell Stafford's illustrious career in jazz. -
Leading harpist in jazz today, Brandee Younger, is carrying on trailblazer Dorothy Ashby's legacy as she ushers the tradition of jazz harp forward. -
Cytrus, a Lynnwood, Wash.-based fusion group, blends funk, rock, psychedelia and the language of jazz.
