Jim Knapp

Professor

Trumpet, Jazz Composition

jknapp2@cornish.edu

Jim Knapp is a trumpet player, composer, and bandleader. Born in Chicago, Knapp received B.A. and M.A. degrees in Music Composition from the University of Illinois where he studied with Kenneth Gaburo and Salvatore Martirano, among others. For the past thirty–eight years he has made Seattle his home, where he has led the Composers and Improvisors Orchestra, various small jazz ensembles, and more recently, the Jim Knapp Orchestra.

Knapp has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Seattle Arts Commission, King County Arts Commission, Meet the Composer, and Artist Trust. In November 2006, he was honored by Cornish College of the Arts with a special award recognizing his “35 Years of Jazz.” In 2007, he was inducted into the Earshot Jazz Hall of Fame.

The Jim Knapp Orchestra has recorded three CDs: Things for Now on A–Records, On Going Home on Seabreeze, and Secular Breathing on the Origin label. As a composer and performer Knapp has recorded for the ECM, A–Records, Origin, Pony Boy, Seabreeze, Flying Fish, Catalyst, and Mode record labels.