James Donald Knapp, Jr. (July 28, 1939 - November 13, 2021) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

trumpeter, composer, and educator. He taught at

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914. History Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of pi ...

in Seattle for 45 years.

Biography

Jim Knapp was born on July 28, 1939, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

He studied piano at age six and took up trumpet at age twelve. He studied music composition at the

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

with

Kenneth Gaburo Kenneth Louis Gaburo (July 5, 1926 – January 26, 1993) was an American composer. Life Gaburo was born in Somerville, New Jersey. He served as a professor of music at the University of Illinois, the University of California, San Diego, and the Un ...

and received a Bachelor of Music from the University of Illinois in 1962. Drafted into the US Army, he was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany from 1962 to 1964. He returned to the

, studied composition with

Salvatore Martirano Salvatore Giovanni Martirano (January 12, 1927 – November 17, 1995) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Born in Yonkers, New York, he taught for many years at the University of Illinois. He also worked in electronic music a ...

and composed for the college jazz band led by violist John Garvey. In 1968, Knapp's rotary-valve flugelhorn solos and composition "Medley" were noted at the Collegiate Jazz Festival (CJF). In 1969, Knapp was awarded "Best Composer" by the CJF. He completed his Master of Music in Composition in 1969. Knapp married dancer Joan Skinner in 1969. Skinner created the

Skinner Releasing Technique Skinner Releasing Technique (SRT) created by Joan Skinner (USA) is practised and taught worldwide. Emslie, M.A. (2021) describes it as "a somatic movement, dance and creative practice with a core underlying principle of releasing blocked energy, ...

. Knapp began teaching at

in Seattle, Washington in 1971, replacing Floyd Standifer who left to teach at Olympic College. Knapp joined Joe Field's chamber jazz ensemble Matrix. In 1977, when Joe Field left Seattle, Knapp renamed the group the Composers and Improvisors Orchestra (CIO) and made it the Cornish group-in-residence for eight years. Guest artists included

Gil Evans Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian–American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role ...

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' ...

, Sam Rivers, and

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chica ...

. Cornish gained full accreditation in 1977 and Knapp assembled a jazz faculty that included bassist

Gary Peacock Gary George Peacock (May 12, 1935September 4, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist. He recorded a dozen albums under his own name, and also performed and recorded with major jazz figures such as avant garde saxophonist Albert Ayler, pianist ...

, vocalist Jay Clayton, drummer

Jerry Granelli Gerald John Granelli (December 30, 1940July 20, 2021) was an American-Canadian jazz drummer. He was best known for playing drums on the soundtrack '' A Charlie Brown Christmas'' with the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Early life Granelli was born to Jack ...

, saxophonist Denney Goodhew, and trombonist

Julian Priester Julian Priester (born June 29, 1935) is an American jazz trombonist and occasional euphoniumist. He is sometimes credited "Julian Priester Pepo Mtoto". He has played with Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock. Bio ...

. Knapp retired from Cornish in 2016. Knapp performed "Atlas Eclipticalis" and "Winter Music" with composer John Cage in 1983. Knapp won a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts to compose for the CIO in 1984. Knapp recorded free improvisations on an ECM record titled ''First Avenue''.

Selected discography

With Jim Knapp Orchestra * ''On Going Home'', (SeaBreeze Jazz, 1996) * ''Things for Now'', (A-Records, 1999) * ''Secular Breathing'', (

Origin Records Origin Records is a jazz and classical music record label founded by drummer John Bishop in 1997.de Barros, Paul (July 2, 2002)Small label, big noise: Ballard's Origin Records drumming up national interest Seattle Times. With the help of drummer M ...

, 2003) * ''It's not Business, It's Personal'', (

, 2021) With Scrape * ''Approaching Vyones'', (Origin Classical, 2013)

References

External links

* . Jim Knapp Oral History, June 23, 2016, at

Seattle Public Library The Seattle Public Library (SPL) is the public library system serving the city of Seattle, Washington. Efforts to start a Seattle library had commenced as early as 1868, with the system eventually being established by the city in 1890. The syste ...

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp, Jim 1939 births 2021 deaths American jazz trumpeters Musicians from Chicago