Jazz and Blues

Known as the "First Lady of Jazz" singer Ella Fitzgerald was born April 25, 1917, in Newport News, Virginia.

From rather humble beginnings Fitzgerald and her smooth, silky voice climbed to the top of the jazz world, reports Biography.com. During her long career she worked with greats from Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong to Dizzy Gillespie and Frank Sinatra. In all Ella recorded over 200 albums and around 2,000 songs in her lifetime. She died on June 15, 1996.

Here’s five videos celebrating the great singers career:

The New Works Ensemble is one of five jazz ensembles operated by Seattle JazzED to provide jazz education for students who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to study and play jazz. The groups range from introductory, through beginning and intermediate to advanced plus The New Works Ensemble plays mostly original music.

We'll have a double feature on this week's show.  First, we'll review and sample music by some of the winners of Golden Ear Awards presented by Earshot Jazz on Wednesday. This the annual celebration of notable achievements by Seattle musicians in the past year.

In the second part of the show we'll preview the 10th Annual Ballard Jazz Festival which takes place in multiple locations around Ballard next week, April 18-21.  We'll also be there recording for future Jazz Northwest shows.

More info -

Because of their skill and versatility, a lot of jazz-trained musicians occasionally find themselves playing wedding gigs. But what happens when jazz musicians themselves get hitched? How do they decide who, among their many musician friends, gets the gig?

The trumpeter Ingrid Jensen is married to drummer Jon Wikan. Weeks before their 2004 wedding, NPR's Weekend Edition interviewed Jensen. Naturally, the subject came up:

In the first generation of be-bop musicians, Ray Brown was King of the Jazz Bass.  Today, the ‘go-to’ jazz bassist is Christian McBride, so we felt quite lucky when he said he had the time to stop into to KPLU studios for a performance with pianist, Peter Martin.

Originally, a limited vinyl release by the National Press Club in 1972, one of the last recordings of Louis Armstrong will be available widely for the first time via Smithsonian Folkways Recordings on April 24th as part of the Smithsonian’s celebration of the 11th annual Jazz Appreciation Month.

Armstrong often signed letters “Red Beans and Rice-ly Yours,” which makes for an apt title for the recording especially since his favorite recipes ― everything from Louisiana Caviar to the Sazerac ― are included in the liner notes, as they were in the original pressing.

Read more on Groove Notes.

Highlights from a recent concert by The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra will air on Jazz Northwest from 88.5 KPLU on Sunday, April 8 at 1 PM PDT.  The concert features music by jazz great Benny Carter and the centerpiece is "The Peaceful Warrior Suite" - a Tribute to the Rev. Dr.Martin Luther King.  The five-movement suite includes excerpts from Rev.King's speeches, bass-baritone Everett Greene and a small string section with The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, co-directed by Clarence Acox and Michael Brockman.

Every so often, a barrage of articles and blog posts come out claiming that jazz has found the musician or musicians that are going to “save” jazz. More often than not, these musicians are achieving some current commercial success and popularity among a broad audience outside of the typical “jazz head” community.

But what would it mean to "save jazz"? And, what exactly does it need "saving" from?

Read more on Groove Notes.

As another successful pledge drive ends this season we hope you will continue to enjoy the commercial-free programming on KPLU, especially knowing you did your part to make it happen.

If you missed the pledge drive and would like to support KPLU, you can still be counted through April 9th!

We would also like to thank the various businesses who supported our volunteers and staff during the Spring Pledge Drive