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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Galen Clark of Portland's Trio Subtonic plus Andy Coe and D'Vonne Lewis of McTuff equals Patterns Fly on a brief Northwest tour.
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Jazz-adjacent modern ensemble Butcher Brown stopped by the KNKX studios for a brief session on their swing through Seattle.
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Senior guitarist at Mt. Si High School, Lance Taber offers an hour of his favorite jazz on KNKX.
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Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt brought his band for one night at Jazz Alley, KNKX took the opportunity to record a studio session with his band.
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Listen for new modern jazz recordings of holiday classics from Laila Biali and Tacoma's Velocity on The New Cool Friday night.
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Seattle-based pianist and composer Matt Williams' electric Multiplayer project is just part of his musical versatility.
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Singer Curtis Stigers returned to KNKX for his fourth studio session and checked out our new Studio X in Seattle.
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An accomplished vocalist and educator, Johnaye Kendrick is excited about Tacoma's music scene and inspired by the hard working folks fighting for jazz education.
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Bassist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader Richard Bona recorded an exclusive KNKX studio session with his trio.
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Listen to a pair of songs and conversation with the vocal quartet säje: Sara Gazarek, Amanda Taylor, Johnaye Kendrick and Erin Bentlage.