Rhapsody Project Songsters explore the roots of American music in the KNKX studios

Curiosity filled the air when the Rhapsody Songsters visited KNKX’s Seattle studios. After a carefully crafted rehearsal, the group of young adults served up jazz standards from the 1930s and 1940s, filling KNKX’s Studio X with classical and manouche jazz, just one slice of their repertoire.

Through music, education and community activism, The Rhapsody Project's Songster program serves Seattle youth ages 12 - 22 who want to play music in social and performance settings. They carry the tradition as “songsters,” master musicians who specialize in a variety of genres and music including blues, spirituals, waltz and manouche jazz.

Mariah Roberson, Fredy Andres Pesante-Castro and Neige Kisenga have been with the Rhapsody Songsters for several years and continue to hone their craft as songsters. These young musicians have a unique enthusiasm for classical genres. They have developed a community of open-minded musicians and are breaking the mold for a new generation of Pacific Northwest artists.

“I find that being a songster, for me, is just about being in community with others,” Andres said.

True to the theme of community, the Rhapsody Project has a new workshop space alongside other arts nonprofits at Seattle's King Street Station . The new space opened in October and is a hub for music programming, but also a space where Roberson repairs instruments and youth can listen to a recently donated record collection.

Enjoy the fresh energy the Rhapsody Songsters bring to these well-traveled tunes, and don't miss hearing from the musicians themselves to learn more about the Rhapsody Project, local music education and their thriving music community.

Musicians:

• Mariah Roberson - guitar, piano, vocals
• Fredy Andres Pesante - Castro-bass
• Neige Kisenga - violin, vocals
• Joe Seamons - guitar, vocals (mentor)
  

Songs:

1. I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire (The Ink Spots)
2. Up a Lazy River (Hoagy Carmichael and Sidney Arodin)
3. Sweet Sue (Django Reinhardt)