John Kessler honors the lives of artists we lost in 2018

KNKX Public Radio | By John Kessler,

Kari Plog

Published January 16, 2019 at 12:30 PM PST

Aretha Franklin performs at the NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE on Wednesday July 25, 2012, in Los Angeles.

We may have left 2018 behind, but we will always remember the musical greats we lost last year. John Kessler marked the end of the year with a two-hour special honoring the lives of those artists. (This show originally aired Dec. 29, 2018.)

Among them: Aretha Franklin (1942-2018), Otis Rush (1934-2018), Tony Joe White (1943-2018), Denise LaSalle (1939-2018) and Terry Evans (1937-2018).

Part2BluesObitsFINAL.mp3

Part 2

Kessler shares obituaries for each artist highlighted, as well as information about how they influenced their craft. Listen to the full show, parts one and two, above.

Music

John Kessler

John 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.

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Kari Plog

Kari Plog is a former KNKX reporter who covered the people and systems in Pierce, Thurston and Kitsap counties, with an emphasis on police accountability.

See stories by Kari Plog