Jim Knapp Orchestra

Dylan Hayes and Jay Thomas will be leading the legendary Jim Knapp Orchestra on January 14th at The Royal Room. They are more than excited to get the band reunited after a long hiatus due to the pandemic.

Jim Knapp was an iconic Seattle composer and arranger, band leader, jazz theorist, and teacher to countless musicians throughout Seattle. He started one of the first college jazz programs at Cornish College of the Arts in 1971. In 1995, the Jim Knapp Orchestra was founded and won the Earshot “Best Acoustic Jazz Group” award that same year. Their CD, Things For Now, received the Earshot “Jazz Record Of The Year” award in 1999.

In the past, the Jim Knapp Orchestra has collaborated with Lee Konitz, Jay Clayton, Jay Thomas, Jon Wikan, and Ingred Jensen to name a few of the many accomplished musicians.

Big band composer, Maria Schneider, said it best when she stated that “Knapp’s music is among the best of orchestral jazz being written these days,” and my main goal is to help the world recognize Jim Knapp for the genius he is, whether it be for his theory book that so many jazz musicians swear by, or for his incredibly moving arrangements and compositions. Another well known big band composer, Jim McNeely, went to college with Jim Knapp, and said that he “was writing some gorgeous music for big band, both original compositions and arrangements of standards.” McNeely stated that he was “so intimidated by Knapp that he didn’t write a [single] note until [Knapp] got his degree and left for Seattle.”

Because of some serious medical issues at the end of Jim’s life, he passed the baton to Dylan Hayes and Jay Thomas in order to continue the legacy of the Jim Knapp Orchestra.