Abe Beeson
 JazzHost
Evening Jazz host Abe Beeson was born in the Eastern Washington town of Ellensburg but has spent most of his life in the Western Washington. A 1993 graduate of Pacific Lutheran University, home to KPLU, Abe graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Communications.

Abe was hired in 1989 as a news production assistant, and worked his way through the ranks, hosting his first jazz program on Christmas Day of 1990.

Abe's interest in radio goes back to his childhood listening to the CBS Mystery Theater. His interest in music came from his parents interests in the Beatles and artists, including Jimi Hendrix, CSNY, Stevie Wonder, and Manhattan Transfer.

Beeson is a dedicated fan of nearly all styles of music, from hip-hop to punk rock to country and (of course) jazz. His favorite jazz musicians include Thelonious Monk, Gene Harris, Ben Webster, and Miles Davis to name only a few.

Abe's hobbies include sailing, skiing, bicycling, and what he refers to as the "greatest game ever invented" - basketball.

E-mail Abe at abeeson@kplu.org

Ruby Brown
Jazz Host
Ruby Brown began her career in radio late in life- only after returning to school in her mid-thirties for a second more 'relevant' degree.  A career in health care felt unfulfilling so Ruby decided to pursue her true dream (at the age of 9  she is known to have said, "I want to be a DJ!")~radio has been calling as long as she can recall.

A communications student, Ruby worked for almost 5 years at KAOS in Olympia~ as on-air host, world music director and student program director.  She was hired right after graduation at a large AAA station in Seattle where she stayed for close to 5 years.  Listening to commercials has never been Ruby's 'cup of tea', so she badgered poor Joey Cohn (Program Director at KPLU) to give her a chance on the KPLU airwaves.  Ruby currently hosts Jazz Sunday Side Up (9am-1pm Sundays) and occasionally fills in on other jazz shows at KPLU.

E-mail Ruby at rbrown@kplu.org

Nick Francis
Music Director
Nick Francis has been named Music Director at 88.5 KPLU "NPR News and All That Jazz". He assumes his new position November 16, 2005.

Francis began his radio career in 1983 at KLSK-FM, an eclectic-based jazz station in Santa Fe, New Mexico. For the last 20+ years, he has hosted and programmed jazz radio, including Music Director at KKSF-FM/San Francisco, Program Director at KKNW-FM/Seattle and Program Director at WJZZ-FM/Atlanta. During his six years as Program Director at KYOT-FM/Phoenix, he helped it become the first jazz station in America to achieve number-one status. Since 1999, Francis has produced and hosted "Quietmusic", a weekly nationally-syndicated radio program which airs in 75 markets and is distributed by WestStar Radio Network. He also has wide-ranging experience in radio promotion, research and consulting.

In 1999, Francis produced the techno-jazz themed Smoke N Function CD on Atlantic Records. Currently, he hosts a jazz website at www.quietfm.com, and produces a music blog, Jazz and Conversation, which currently receives over 30,000 visits a month. With his extensive knowledge of web-based technology, Francis' influence on the evolving sound of KPLU's world-class jazz webstream at www.kplu.org will be integral.

E-mail Nick at nfrancis@kplu.org

Paige Hansen
Fill-in Jazz Host

John Kessler
All Blues Host
KPLU is a natural fit for John Kessler. Jazz Musician, recording engineer and producer, he has also been associated with Public Radio since 1983.

After growing up in Manhattan and Chicago, Kessler became a full-time musician, playing the East Coast, and settling in Charleston, WV. About that time he became involved with a fledgling Public Radio show called "Mountain Stage", which was just going into production. The weekly 2 hour live music show quickly became popular, and achieved national syndication through American Public Radio (Now PRI) in the mid 80's.

Kessler was Musical Director and bassist of the 7 piece Mountain Stage Band, working and recording with literally hundreds of national acts, including Dr. John, Mose Allison, Sarah MacLachlan, Gatemouth Brown and Pinetop Perkins.

Along the way John continued an active touring schedule, and also operated a commercial recording studio for 2 years.

In 1998 John moved to Seattle, seeking a more urban environment, and quickly became involved with the local music scene, forming the jazz quartet "4 Out Of 5 Doctors".

John married Lisabeth Sterling in Winter of 2001, and they live in Ballard with Lisabeth's daughter. Lisabeth is a well known glass artist whose work is shown in several galleries around the country. When he's not immersed in some home renovation project, or a musical endeavor in his home studio, John can be spotted cycling the Burke-Gilman trail.

E-mail John at jkessler@kplu.org

Kevin began his radio career in 1999 as the host of multiple programs on KWRS 90.3 in Spokane, including a jazz and classic rock program. In 2000, he joined on with the NPR affiliate in Spokane, KPBX 91.1. He soon became the Associate Producer of a weekly arts program, Art a la Carte, where he and the other team members of Art a la Carte received a prestigious PRNDI award. Kevin can now be heard hosting Jazz on the Grooveyard, as well as subbing as Weekend Edition host and producing the occasional news feature. He has also had the opportunity to interview some of the best musicians in jazz, including Clark Terry, Michael Brecker, Jane Monheit, Terrance Blanchard, Maynard Ferguson, and Jacqui Naylor.

Kevin has played the trumpet since he was ten, and began playing jazz when he was fourteen. While involved with Whitworth College's prestigious jazz program, Kevin performed with multiple school bands, and was the leader of a charity big band called CJO. Kevin was also the trumpet player for the short-lived but well-liked Spokane jazz group Epistrophy from 1999-2001. Kevin also loves tennis and coaches every summer. He lives with his roomate and his cat, Stella, in Tacoma.