There are two kinds of jazz listeners. Those who recognize Jim Knapp as a profound large-ensemble composer and arranger of uncommon imagination, depth, and expression—and those who have yet to hear his music.
Knapp, who died November 13 at age 82, was a revered bandleader, composer, arranger, trumpeter, and teacher in the Pacific Northwest. He taught for decades at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and worked in myriad idioms: big bands, free improvisation, chamber orchestra, collaborations with dancers. But he operated below the radar of the national jazz media and outside professional networks in New York and Los Angeles. Even musicians well-versed in big-band
