Show Preview: Leo Kottke to Play Jazz Alley, Years After One Fan’s Unforgettable First Encounter
Show Preview
Leo Kottke @ Dimitrou’s Jazz Alley
July 8 and 9, 2025
Guitar virtuoso Leo Kottke will play Seattle’s Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley on July 8 and 9.
This excites me personally, because I’ve only seen Leo Kottke perform live one time before. And that one time was at his dad’s funeral.
Wait. Let me step back.
In high school, I worked at an assisted living home in the dining room (which, weird for a teenager, I know).
Two of the residents there were a couple named Dorothy and Larry. Not only did they happen to be amazing people who were fun to talk to, they also happened to be Leo Kottke’s parents.
In the three years I worked at this assisted living home, probably 70 of the residents passed away. This kind of went with the territory—they were in an assisted living home because they were near the end of their insanely cool lives.
And no matter how cool they were, everyone’s time is finite.
But of those 70 people, I only went to one resident’s funeral. I only went to Larry’s funeral.
As the son of Larry Kottke, of course Leo went to that funeral as well. I’ll never forget the eulogy he gave. Leo concluded by asking if anyone else had anything to say, which they didn’t, before saying, “This is a song my dad always liked, and, since nobody else has anything to say, I’m going to play it now.”
The world-renowned guitarist pulled out his guitar and launched into a solo where he strummed his acoustic while simultaneously picking at the strings.
This experience rang bizarre for teenaged me for so many reasons. On the one hand, I was sad to see Larry go, but on the other hand, Leo’s guitar work was amazing. I hadn’t heard the name “Leo Kottke” before starting at the assisted living home, and I realized I was a fool for not knowing the acclaimed musician’s influence.
I’ll always remember the funeral of Larry Kottke. And I’ll always remember the guitar solo by his son.
My interactions with his parents are equally memorable. I remember squirreling away slices of pecan pie (both Larry and Dorothy’s favorite!) to make sure other servers didn’t steal it from them.
Heck, during Leo’s eulogy, even he mentioned “If there’s one thing that could be said about my dad,
it’s that he… loved… pie.” Which made my pecan pie theft for Larry ring out in my heart.
I remember one night when Larry was sitting alone by himself in the dining room. I brought him coffee and some pie (naturally).
I could tell that he just wanted to chat with someone. Since I was ahead of schedule, I had no issue sitting down and talking.
“Do you know Leo?” he asked me.
And I did. Because of Dorothy and Larry.
Larry then talked about how proud he was. He didn’t outright say that Leo does stuff with a guitar that shouldn’t be doable, but he reminisced about his son’s upbringing and how he played. To hear this from his own dad is something I will always cherish.
Leo plays in a cool, unique style rooted in instrumental fingerpicking. He sings, occasionally, but that’s never his focus. He even describes his baritone as sounding like “geese farts on a muggy day,” which is something fans accept and love since this laidback assessment complements his guitar playing.
Leo Kottke’s career-encompassing set at Dimitriou’s on July 8 and 9 promises to encompass everything
from his major label debut Mudlark to his latest album Noon, a release that he collaborated on
with Phish’s Mike Gordon.
Most people don’t have this same connection to Leo Kottke. To Dorothy. To Larry. To the experience of attending Larry’s funeral. But everything circles back to one thing: Leo Kottke is an amazing guitarist. And these shows promise to be amazing.