A concert in Seattle this week will kick off a fund-raising effort to benefit the composer, arranger and bandleader Jim Knapp. In a recent 
operation, Knapp lost his right foot and part of his lower leg to diabetes. His insurance doesn’t come close to covering his expenses. A group of musicians and Knapp admirers spearheaded by saxophonist and composer Steve Griggs has organized a campaign to ease Knapp’s financial burden. Their goal is $30,000. The concert Wednesday evening will be at the Triple Door in downtown Seattle as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival. The fund-raising sponsors have also set up a donation website.
Knapp’s musical activities have been concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, but the influence of three brilliant albums has reached far beyond that region to affect other composers and arrangers, including Jim McNeely and Myra Melford. He established the music program at Seattle’s Cornish College of the Arts 40 years ago and continues to teach there. Among his latest projects is Scrape, a string orchestra co-led with violinist Eyvind Kang. “Just A Moment†is one of Knapp’s compositions for that group.
For a Rifftides review of a concert by The Jim Knapp Orchestra, click here.