Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
The Short List: Vocal Short List 14 (Gregory Porter)
Gregory Porter
If you are in the mood for a modern-day male jazz singer, look no further than Gregory Porter who won the 2014 Grammy for the best jazz vocal album, Liquid Spirit. He is exceptionally popular in England, but not so much here in the States, but he should be. Earlier this year he put in an appearance at Drake University in Des Moines. Some say he is the next great male jazz vocalist, and he topped the DownBeat magazine list of best male vocalist a year ago. It was his mother’s dying wish that he become a professional singer — and he has.
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 6:00 PM
Gil Evans: Distinction in Arranging
Gil Evans with Miles Davis
His most famous work was with Miles Davis in the mid-’50s with the celebrated albums Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, and Sketches of Spain. But there’s much more to Gil Evans’ (1912-1988) story. In a career spanning more than 50 years – from the early ’30s until his death – the legendary “arranger’s arranger” created his music using a diverse palette of musical colors, both within jazz and beyond. Evans’ music reflects an insatiable appetite for new sounds. Yet every arrangement bears his unique signature and one of the most distinctive orchestral writing styles in jazz.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)
“Blue Note Records in 1956”
Craig travels back 60 years to look in on the operations and output of Alfred Lion’s superlative jazz record label, BLUE NOTE RECORDS in 1956. We’ll hear a number of very special items from top-notch jazz artists like Thad Jones, Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Smith, Herbie Nichols, Johnny Griffin, Lee Morgan, and many others.
New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire
Tuesday at 6:00 PM
“On Jackson Square and Royal Street”
Street musicians on Jackson Square in New Orleans
Just like on the music clubs and concert stages of New Orleans, there are great performers on the city’s streets. Some of the city’s most legendary musicians perform for audiences around the world, but still choose to connect with New Orleans by performing on the streets — on Royal Street, Frenchman Street, and on Jackson Square. Many of the most famous names in New Orleans music spent their early years playing there. It’s a tradition that goes back hundreds of years, of buskers mentoring younger generations, who then become mentors themselves — passing down more than just music, in this integral part of the city’s culture.
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Wednesday at 6:00 PM
The Making of Marquis Hill
Marquis Hill
Trumpeter Marquis Hill has shot to international renown recently, especially after winning the Thelonious Monk Competition — a sort of international Heisman Trophy for young jazz artists. But it takes a village to raise a musician. Jazz Night in America caught up with Hill when he returned to his native Chicago for a string of shows, touring his old South Side haunts, interviewing his former teachers, and catching a rehearsal. Then we got to see it all come together at the Jazz Showcase downtown in a performance by Hill’s tight working band, the Blacktet.
Wednesday Night Special
7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)
Student Jazz Bands for Jazz Appreciation Month: UI’s Jazz Repertory Ensemble at The Mill (2015)
UI’s Jazz Repertory Ensemble at The Mill (April, 2015)
The UI Jazz Repertory Ensemble is a big band devoted to performing the works of the jazz mainstream. This ensemble covers the range between swing and progressive jazz. Students learn the conventions of performance practice for each era and the skills for stylistic improvisations. Members of JRE are selected by audition in the fall of each academic year.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
“The State of The Instrument – Part 7….The Organists”
Akiko Tsuruga
Craig continues the ‘State of” series with a look at 4 hip and happening jazz organists. We’ll hear choice offerings from some of the current “cream of the crop”….BRIAN CHARETTE (Connecticut born New Yorker), LARRY GOLDINGS (from Boston), AKIKO TSURUGA (from Osaka, Japan), and Connecticut born GARY VERSACE…..four of the really good ones who are keeping the jazz organ tradition alive!
Tropical Heat with Kpoti Accoh
Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Featured Album: “Live In Concert” by Manu Katché 
https://www.actmusic.com/en/Artists/Manu-Katche/Live-in-concert/Live-in-concert-CD
For the first time, world famous drummer-bandleader Manu Katché (Sting, Peter Gabriel, Jan Garbarek) presents his strongly groove and melody-based compositions on a live album, recorded at the legendary Paris ‘New Morning’ jazz club. Both as a live and studio musician Manu Katché is regarded one of the greatest drummers of our time. He has worked with pop greats such as Peter Gabriel, Sting and Dire Straights as well as great improvisers such as Jan Garbarek, Jeff Beck and Pino Palladino. Manu Katchè’s work as a composer and bandleader is an integral part of his career. He has released seven internationally acclaimed and hugely successful albums as a leader. Manu Katché live At New Morning is the first live recording of Katché’s own music ever featuring his long running quartet with Jim Watson (organ and piano), Luca Aquino (trumpet) and Tore Brunborg (saxophone).
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at: