Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
The Short List: Jazz Clubs Live – Bradley’s (NYC) 
Bradley’s is a small, friendly jazz club in New York. It was owned by Bradley Cunningham, who was a fair modern pianist himself, so the club would feature piano and bass duos over the years. Bradley’s was opened in 1969 by Cunningham and would close 26 years later, seven years after his death. [His wife carried on the tradition.] Early on, the pianists were Hank Jones and Dave Frishberg; later came Kenny Barron and Kirk Lightsy. But all the great New York modern pianists flourished there.
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 6:00 PM
Duke Ellington, The Overview Part 1
Duke Ellington
Composer and educator Gunther Schuller is unequivocal: “Duke Ellington is of course the absolutely greatest composer in the history of jazz.” Showman, composer, performer, and ambassador, Duke Ellington (1899-1974) turned jazz it into a sophisticated international art form, in practically ALL forms. Duke put his stamp on popular songs, serious works, musicals, “sacred concerts,” and even extended symphonic suites. He also created history’s finest and most successful jazz orchestra, which he toured around the world for more than a half century. This overview takes measure of the jazz royalty that was The Duke.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)
“Contemporary Records – 1955”
Craig travels back 60 years to look in on the beginnings of Lester Koenig’s CONTEMPORARY RECORDS in 1955 (and earlier!). 1955 was the first big year for Contemporary, with Koenig having recorded some 28 different sessions for the label that year, from “west coast jazz” artists like Hampton Hawes, Lennie Niehaus, Howard Rumsey, Barney Kessel, Lyle Murphy, Shelly Manne, and others. We’ll also look at a handful of west coast sessions that Koenig recorded from July, 1952 through December, 1954. CONTEMPORARY RECORDS will always be known as one of the premier “west coast jazz” record labels!
New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire
Tuesday at 6:00 PM
“Rhythm Pilgrimage”
Clarinetist Ben Schenck leads the Panorama Jazz Band of New Orleans
Ben Schenck arrived in New Orleans in 1988 with a clarinet, a bicycle, and $100 in his pocket, on a pilgrimage to live within the music of the city. And over three decades his fascination with New Orleans and Caribbean rhythms combined with his forays into music from Eastern Europe and beyond, creating a mix of styles that’s still rooted in New Orleans jazz. In this episode of New Orleans Calling, Ben sits down on his porch with our host George Ingmire, and demonstrates these fascinating and related rhythms from around the world — followed by a special exclusive live performance, of Ben’s Panorama Jazz Band recorded at the historic Basin Street Station.
Ben described hearing the Young Tuxedo Brass Band in Washington DC in the 1980s, and feeling the pull of their New Orleans sound and rhythm.
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Wednesday at 6:00 PM
Upcomers and Upstarts: Jazz at Lincoln Center
Michael Mwenso
There’s a scene and community that’s developed around after hours at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, the club environment that’s part of Jazz at Lincoln Center. It’s driven by the programming of JALC’s Michael Mwenso (a vocalist himself), listening sessions and hangs late into the night, and the mutual experience of being young and eager (and talented). Jazz Night in America wanted to know what drives these guys, posing as a fly on the wall as they listen to records, and catching some of them as they get a rare opportunity to present their own music at Dizzy’s.
Wednesday Night Special
7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)
Iowa City Jazz Festival 2015: James Dreier and ¡RIMTOMCANO!
James Dreier (in white shirt and hat) leads ¡RIMTOMCANO! at the 2015 Iowa City Jazz Festival
¡RIMTOMCANO! is a 6 – 7 piece Latin jazz group from Iowa City led by percussionist James Dreier (formerly of Orquesta Alto Maiz) that features some of the best jazz musicians in the Midwest. ¡RIMTOMCANO! plays many styles from various regions of Latin jazz, including mambo, cha cha chá, rumba and bembé from Cuba, samba, bassa nova and maracatú from Brazil, merengue, calypso form the Caribbean and much more. Of course, American jazz elements also play an important part of this energetic and entertaining genre.
Dreier was a founding member of Orquesta Alto Maiz from 1986 until 2012. Dreier has long had a dream of forming a more jazz-oriented Latin group. ¡RIMTOMCANO! is the realization of that dream. Although born and raised in Iowa, Dreier has been a life-long student of Latin music, studying it at Berklee College of Music in Boston, traveling to Cuban and Brazil numerous times and of course, playing and touring for 26 years with Orquesta Alto Maiz. The formation of ¡RIMTOMCANO! is simply the latest path on this long road of discovery.
Members of ¡RITMOCANO! are drawn from the highest ranks of Iowa’s jazz musicians, including Rich Medd (trombone), Greg Mazunik (bass), Steve Shanley (piano) and others.
Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland
Thursday at 6:00 PM
Patricia Barber
Patricia Barber
Patricia Barber is a pianist and singer solidly grounded in the jazz idiom while eclectic in her style. She recorded a series of albums, each establishing a wider audience for her music. In 2002 she released her album Verse to much critical acclaim. That year, she was also McPartland’s guest on Piano Jazz. In this session, Barber performs her original song “If I Were Blue,” and McPartland joins her for “Autumn Leaves.”
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
“The Birthdate Anniversary Celebration for Tenor Sax Great, Coleman Randolph Hawkins”
Coleman Hawkins
Craig celebrates the 111th anniversary of the birth of the “father of the jazz tenor saxophone”, Coleman Hawkins (11/21/1904 to 5/19/1969), with a survey of “Hawk’s” pioneering career. We’ll hear him performing with Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds way back in 1921, all the way up to his final recordings in 1967. Craig will spin classic discs that feature Hawkins as a leader, as well as side-man performances with jazz giants like Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, Kenny Burrell, Randy Weston, and many others. Don’t miss it!!
Riverwalk Jazz
Sunday at 5:00 PM
Sage Hen Strut with Frim Fram Sauce and Other Jazz Delicacies
Milt Hinton
The Jim Cullum Jazz Band and friends serve up a banquet of jazz tunes for the season of feasting. Savor the Thanksgiving holiday with their concert of cuisine-inspired jazz tunes. Also on the menu, stories about the ‘sweet spot’ where food and jazz come together and performances by bass legend Milt Hinton and banjo man Danny Barker.
Tropical Heat with Kpoti Accoh
Sunday, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Featured Album: “Perlas Cubanas: Compay Segundo” by Compay Segundo
Compay Segundo
http://www.last.fm/music/Compay+Segundo
Overview: Compay (meaning compadre) Segundo, so called because he was always second voice in his musical partnerships, was born Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz in Siboney, Cuba, and moved to Santiago de Cuba at the age of nine. His first engagement was in the Municipal Band of Santiago de Cuba, directed by his teacher, Enrique Bueno. After a spell in a quintet, in 1934 he moved to Havana, where he also played in the Municipal Band, on the clarinet. He also learned to play the guitar and the tres: these became his usual instruments. Compay Segundo was also the inventor of the armónico, a seven-stringed guitar-like instrument, created to eliminate a harmonic jump in the Spanish guitar and the tres.[1] In the 1950s he became well known as the second voice and tres player in Los Compadres, a duo he formed with Lorenzo Hierrezuelo in 1947.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at: