Jim Wilke
Jazz Northwest HostJim has been a fixture on Seattle radio since 1961. He was the host of Jazz After Hours on Public Radio International from 1984-2014. Currently Jim has been producing Jazz Northwest for KNKX since 1988. This weekly program focuses on the regional jazz scene and frequently includes performances Jim records on location for Jazz Northwest.
His most memorable KNKX moment was hosting the 20th Anniversary Live at Jazz Alley show, two hours of live music. He is also a recording engineer and writer. Jim has been named one of the top jazz radio producers nationally by JazzTimes and the Jazz Journalists Association. He is in the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame and several musicians have composed songs in his honor.
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It's past being controversial by now, but the first "Jazz and Strings" albums were not always warmly received. Some regarded it as "selling out" to commercial interests, but in many cases, it was the artists themselves who fought for the opportunity to record with a string orchestra - think Nat King Cole, Charlie Parker, and Billie Holiday.
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Portland based Owen Broder brings his group to the Earshot Jazz Festival next Thursday at The Royal Room. The Portland-based Broder teaches at Portland State University and Pacific University. His new album celebrating Ellington's great lead altoist Johnny Hodges will be featured in two selections on this episode of Jazz Northwest.
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Diachun hails from Nelson, British Columbia and is often heard performing in Vancouver, B.C. and Victoria, B.C. The new album features twelve songs by Sting and was recorded this earlier this year in Vancouver. "Russians," dating from the Cold War years, is included for its sense of timeliness again.
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Chuck Deardorf passed last Sunday at the age of 68 cue to complications from COVID-19. He was an active and versatile bassist as well as an educator and administrator. He had headed the jazz program at Cornish College and was on the faculty of Jazz Port Townsend workshops.
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Jim Wilke debuts singer and songwriter Casey MacGill's new album "Love Letters." We also hear a selection of the Earshot Jazz Festival featuring artists Alex Dugdale, Johnaye Kendrick and Kurt Rosenwinkel.
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Pianist Overton Berry was a popular figure on the Seattle music scene for over 50 years. Diane Schuur, Bruce Phares and other friends pay tribute to the late pianist in the opening concert of this year's Earshot Jazz Festival.
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The concluding evening concert from this year's Jazz Port Townsend will air this week on Jazz Northwest. This concert brought together eight renown jazz musicians who were also on the faculty of the Jazz Workshop which preceded the festival the last week of July.
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Also on this week's show, a modern classic from Ralph Towner and Denney Goodhew to mark the last weekend of Summer. Songs featuring singers Kelley Johnson, Nancy Erickson and more.
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Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon is a popular favorite at Jazz Port Townsend, and this year's concert added to his legacy.
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Flugelhorn player Dmitri Matheny's excellent "Cascadia" opens the show, followed by Vancouver bassist John Lee's CD "The Artist" and a young sextet called Meridian Odyssey playing original music on the CD "Earthshine."