Get To Know: The Cole Porter Songbook Everybody loves Cole Porter. But most jazz musicians really love Cole Porter. Singers love his lyrics, which contain great wit, amazing rhymes and beautiful imagery. Instrumentalists love his elegant melodies and sophisticated song structures.
Beyond The Blues: The Blues Harmonica In Jazz In the mid-1800s, a German harmonica manufacturer named Hohner started exporting his product to North America. Being relatively inexpensive, relatively easy to play and extremely portable, the harmonica (commonly called a "harp") was the perfect instrument for a nation on the move.
Slide Guitar, Past and Present In American music, slide guitar (also known as bottleneck guitar) is a technique
employed primarily by blues guitarists. It involves the use of a smooth cylinder that can fit over a player's finger, which is then moved up and down the neck of the guitar, raising and lowering the pitch of the strings without ever putting the strings in contact with the fretboard.
KPLU was lucky enough to have Esperanza Spalding visit
our performance studio for a session with jazz host, Abe Beeson.
Because of her rigorous touring schedule, Esperanza decided to give her
band the afternoon off and showed up at the studio all by herself, with
just her bass…and her voice. As you’ll hear, that was enough.
Groove Notes with Kevin Kniestedt provides the opportunity to examine and discuss all things jazz. It will offer a perspective on recordings new and old, artist information, concert happenings, and any other jazz related topics big or small.
Several of Western Washington’s finest high school bands and jazz professionals
are showcased on KPLU School of Jazz-Volume 4, the result of this
year’s mentoring project. Click here for more information
Top Ten Blues Releases 2009
Several of Western Washington’s finest high school bands and jazz professionals
are showcased on KPLU School of Jazz-Volume 4, the result of this
year’s mentoring project. 
