Paul Rucker Photo by Wendy Johnson
Paul Rucker Named 2018 Arts Innovator Awardee
Musician, composer, and visual artist Paul Rucker was recently named a recipient of the 2018 Arts Innovator Award by Artist Trust, along with poet and educator Quenton Baker. Funded by The Dale and Leslie Chihuly Foundation, the AIA comprises two unrestricted awards of $25,000 that recognize Washington State artists of all disciplines who demonstrate innovation in their practice.
Both Rucker and Baker create work that draws heavily on research, bringing historical and contemporary socio-cultural issues and narratives of the Black American experience sharply into focus. Themes embedded in their art making align with the critical thinking and activist movements that have been amplified by the current political climate, while adding to the larger discourse that critiques the idea of a post-racial America.
First presented in 2010, the Arts Innovator Award is given to artists who are originating new work, experimenting with new ideas, taking risks, and pushing the boundaries in their respective fields.
“Every Artist Trust grant has been a major contributor to where I am now,” says Rucker. “As I continue to create more ambitious work through more challenging projects, unrestricted support from organizations like Artist Trust is invaluable.”
Jazz Radio
88.5 KNKX hosts Saturday Jazz Matinee, Jazz Sunday Side Up, Ken Wiley’s the Art of Jazz, and Jazz Northwest, in addition to its weekday NPR and late-night and prime-time jazz programs. Full schedule and info at knkx.org.
Abe Beeson hosts The New Cool, Saturdays, 3pm, featuring 21st century jazz inspired and informed by the sounds of today, hip-hop, funk, electronic & punk rock, followed by Robin Lloyd’s Jazz Caliente, 5pm, where jazz meets Latin rhythms.
Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest, Sundays, 2pm, features the artists and events of the regional jazz scene. For JazzNW podcasts of archived programs, see jazznw.org.
90.3 KEXP, late-night Sundays, features Jazz Theater with John Gilbreath, 1am. Full schedule information is available at kexp.org.
91.3 KBCS, features creative and improvised music on Flotation Device with John Seman and Jonathan Lawson, Sundays at 10pm. The Monday night lineup includes The Caravan with John Gilbreath at 7pm, Straight No Chaser with David Utevsky at 9pm, Giant Steps with John Pai at 11pm, and The Shape of Modern Jazz with Gordon Todd at 1am Tuesdays. Shows can be streamed anytime at kbcs.fm.
91.7 KSVR Mount Vernon, Doctor Dee hosts two nights of jazz, Fourth Corner Jazz, featuring recordings of live performance in Northwest Washington, Sundays, 6-7pm, and The Doctor’s Den, Mondays, 8-10pm.
102.9 KLOI-LP Lopez Island, Mondays & Fridays, 3pm, Joy Spring with Gary Alexander, classic jazz and the Great American Songbook.
Hollow Earth Radio, hollowearthradio.org, Fridays at 6pm, biweekly, Black Roots Radio, hosted by Jordan Leonard, promotes jazz as a dynamic genre rooted in the Black American experience.
Hollow Earth Radio is Seattle’s freeform online radio station that supports the local music communities in the greater Pacific Northwest and tries to create an open, encouraging stage for underrepresented voices. More at facebook.com/blackrootsradiojl and hollowearthradio.org.
In One Ear News
Email news about Seattle-area jazz artists, for In One Ear, to editor@earshot.org.
