Short List with host Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
Cats on the Keys: Shelly Berg
Pianist Shelly Berg’s greatest accomplishments lie in jazz education, not necessarily on stage. Berg was a top-ranked educator for over thirty years, teaching at the University of California’s Thornton School of Music and the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. His recordings over the past ten or fifteen years for Concord, Summit, and Decca comprise a small but tasty output. His arrangements and sideman work is a long and varied list.
Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler
Thelonious Monk – The Early Years
For this year’s annual celebration of Thelonious Monk, we’ll survey his earliest recordings … from 1941 to 1955. We’ll hear Monk in the company of Charlie Christian, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Guy, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, as well as his famous Blue Note sessions, his Prestige recordings, and other tasty offerings. This is very important music regarding the development of modern jazz, and it provides insight into the development of Monk’s art!
Jazz Profiles with host Nancy Wilson
Wes Montgomery – The Unmistakable Jazz Guitar
Wes Montgomery created the first new sound on jazz guitar since Charlie Christian revolutionized the instrument in the late ’30s. His innovations such as his celebrated octaves and his style of playing with his thumb rather than a pick continue to have an influence today. Wes also became a popular musician, whose later recordings sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
Wednesday Night Special
6:00 PM
Kevin BF Burt at Jazz Under The Stars 2018
Kevin “BF” Burt has been an Iowa blues legend for decades. He and his band, the Instigators, constantly toured and won over legions of fans with their soul-tinged blues and roots. Kevin recently conquered the International Blues Challenge, proving that Iowa does have some deep blues roots. For 2018’s Jazz Under the Stars, Kevin put together an all-star “Blues Summit” to electrify the Noelridge Park crowd on a perfect August evening.
Jazz Night in America with host Christian McBride
Thursday at 11:00 PM
Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life
Billy Strayhorn led a complex and often vice-driven life. While composing some of the most harmonically rich jazz of its time, often in the shadow of Duke Ellington, Strayhorn was an outlier in that he led an openly gay life as a black man in the homophobic 1940s. This episode of Jazz Night in America features interviews with family Strayhorn family members, Strayhorn’s biographer, and rare archival tape of Strayhorn himself. Pianist and vocalist Johnny O’Neal joins the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to present the music of Billy Strayhorn.
Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Great Bands of the 70’s – Weather Report, Part One
Craig takes a loving look at one of the more prominent bands of the fusion era. Weather Report, was formed in 1971 by Austrian keyboard master, Josef Zawinul, top-ranked saxophonist and extraordinary composer, Wayne Shorter, and the cutting edge Czech bassist and composer, Miroslav Vitous. Craig will talk some history of the band, as well as spin some choice selections from 16 of their US recordings.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at: