Saxophonist Chris Potter, who has been featured on several ECM albums by his mentor Dave Holland as well as a collaboration with Paul Motian and Jason Moran, makes his ECM debut as a leader with “The Sirens.” The disc features a cycle of original compositions by Potter inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey. “I’d re-read The …
Category: KCCK Blog
Shorter Returns to Blue Note; New Work from Green – Bob Stewart
Legendary saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter makes his triumphant return to Blue Note Records after 43 years with the release of “Without a Net” — joined by his long-running quartet featuring pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade. Shorter first recorded for Blue Note in 1959 as the precocious 26-year-old tenor saxophonist …
Corridor Jazz Project Cover Art Winner!
Jingyu “Lucy” Liu, a sophomore at Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids, has been chosen as the winner of the Corridor Jazz Project CD Cover design. Liu will receive a $100 cash prize from KCCK-FM and her design will adorn the cover of the “The Corridor Jazz Project VI”, a compilation of recordings from the …
Money Jungle Redux; Organissimo Dedicated – Bob Stewart
In 1962, Duke Ellington recorded a trio date with bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach that is today considered one of the pivotal jazz recordings of the ’60s. The resulting disc was, among other things, a commentary on the perennial tug-of-war between art and commerce. In some ways, the songs were intended as a …
Wednesday Night Special – Gordon
Hot Latin Jazz for a Cold January Night: Orquesta Alto Maiz at KCCK’s Jazz Under the Stars 2012 Orquesta Alto Maiz is something of a musical enigma. It is a popular eleven-piece Latin-jazz-dance band made up of musicians now living in the “heartland” of America. Alto Maiz has been performing regionally and internationally since …
Sound the Trumpets – Bob Stewart
It was only after Michael Jackson’s death that Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava gradually became aware that he had for many years been ignoring, in his words, “one of the great protagonists of 20th century music and dance. A total artist. A perfectionist. A genius. I felt the need to delve more deeply into Michael’s world. …
Special Live Broadcast: SFJAZZ Center Grand Opening – Gordon
KCCK is delighted to offer this special live broadcast Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 10 p.m. of the Grand Opening Concert from the San Francisco Jazz Center – conceived as the first stand-alone building in the U.S. designed specifically for jazz performance. The show has been sold out for months, and the list of artists for …
Hatfield Honors Hughes; Texas Tenor Carr – Bob Stewart
A supremely lyrical guitarist and award-winning composer with a deep love of literature, Ken Hatfield is always on the lookout for texts ripe for musical interpretation. He found an ideal muse in poet Langston Hughes (1902-1967), whose rhythmically agile verse, marked by penetrating observations about love, life and politics, takes flight on “For Langston.” A …