John Kessler
All Blues HostJohn has worked as a professional bassist for 20 years, including a 15 year stint as Musical Director of the Mountain Stage radio program. John has been at KNKX since 1999 where he hosts “All Blues”, is producer of the BirdNote radio program, and co-hosts “Record Bin Roulette”. John is also the recording engineer for KNKX “In-Studio Performances”. Not surprisingly, John's main musical interests are jazz and blues, and he is still performing around Seattle.
His most memorable and satisfying KNKX radio moment was getting an email from Jimmy Lane, a bluesman and the son of blues legend Jimmy Rogers, who said something like “You’re playing the good stuff, keep it up!”
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Blues queen Ruthie Foster stopped by the KNKX studios to sing and play, and talk with KNKX All Blues host John Kessler.
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Mavis Staples started singing with her family, the Staples Singers, in the '50s. With a voice that belied her tiny size, she eventually became the center of attention of the group.
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The Wood Brothers, bassist Chris Wood and guitarist Oliver Wood, celebrate their latest album Heart is the Hero in a KNKX studio session.
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Harmonica master and band leader Lee Oskar brought his band to the KNKX studios to perform for our listeners.
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One of the best-selling recording artists of her time, Tina Turner, passed away at 83. Turner's career spanned more than five decades.
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Guitarist Jeff Beck died in January at age 78. He was a pioneer of psychedelic rock, jazz, fusion and even trance blues.
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Guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson passed away in August at age 80. His career helped define Americana music.
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Some songs are on this list because of their poetry and imagery, some for their unique musicality. Whatever it is, they all have that thing that makes a song memorable long after the sound has faded.
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Guitarist, singer, songwriter Doug MacLeod performed a moving solo session in KNKX's Studio X hosted by John Kessler.
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Singer Lady Blackbird joined multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Chris Seefried for this KNKX studio session hosted by John Kessler.