KPLU Adds Jazz Night in America to its Friday Night Programming

(Seattle-Tacoma, WA) KPLU is excited to announce a new addition to its Friday night lineup beginning February 26.

(From 7:30 to 8 p.m., Abe Beeson hosts KPLU’s Evening Jazz as per usual.) Then from 8 to 9 p.m., KPLU will air NPR’s Jazz Night in America.  The show features storytelling with concert performances, connecting jazz enthusiasts and potential new fans with artists and venues—and each other—through radio broadcasts, an array of live signature videocasts, and on-demand video of jazz events from today's great artists and venues, hosted by jazz bassist Christian McBride.  Over the last year, KPLU partnered with Jazz Night on bringing two Northwest performances to the fore: trumpeter Ingrid Jensen and saxophonist Steve Treseler’s tribute to jazz composer Kenny Wheeler at the Royal Room in March 2015; and pianist/composer Wayne Horvitz’s paean to poet Richard Hugo during the 2015 Earshot Jazz Festival.

“I’ve been listening to and watching NPR’s Jazz Night in America for many months now,” said KPLU Director of Content Matt Martinez,”and I think it’s the perfect show to put on our schedule: a mix of live jazz performances and rich storytelling.”

February 26’s show puts the spotlight on jazz-fusion stars and Grammy Award winners Snarky Puppy.  The show teams up with the band’s bassist and bandleader Michael League for an exclusive conversation about his compositional process, and features a live hometown concert at The Prophet Bar in Dallas.

KPLU's Evening Jazz will continue from 9 p.m. to midnight.

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Pacific Public Media broadens the international content of KPLU to include all forms of listener-supported media including KPLU FM's "NPR News and All That Jazz" and its all-jazz webstream, Jazz24.org.  Ranked as one of the most popular public radio stations in the nation, KPLU provides local and National Public Radio news, and jazz and blues on 88.5 in Seattle/Tacoma, 89.3 in Port Angeles/Victoria, 88.9 in Sedro-Woolley and 90.1 in Olympia.  At www.kplu.org, the station provides a live stream of NPR News and All That Jazz, which is also available on HD Radio.  Jazz24 is one of the most listened-to webstreams in the world and is available at www.Jazz24.org and on KPLU's HD2 channel.