Hey, Jazz fans, tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of composer Irving Berlin, singer Maxine Sullivan, trombonist J.C. Higginbotham, saxophonist Marshall Royal, pianist Red Garland and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of The Miles Davis Quintet’s “Relaxin’/Steamin’/Workin’” (1956), Charles Minus’ “Mingus Ah Um” (1959), Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers’ …
Jazz Corner of the World Saturdays at 12:00 Noon Richie Beirach’s Piano Artistry Host Craig Kessler takes a detailed listen to pianist Richie Beirach. We’ll hear Richie from his first recordings in 1974 in a variety of solo settings, with guitarist John Abercrombie, and with reedman Dave Liebman. Tune in for a masterful display …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify On “Glass Spheres,” 24-year-old Nashville bassist and composer Chris Mondak looks to the future while showing a deep reverence for the jazz tradition’s rich past. Mondak, who was born in Venezuela, is a 2020 graduate of the New England Conservatory, where he trained with jazz legends Cecil McBee, …
Jazz Corner of the World Encore Mondays at 6:00 PM More Bitches Brew Descendants It’s always fun to see important releases inspire great new art! Host Craig Kessler plays “new” music made possible by Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew. This landmark set inspired not only the jazz fusion and progressive rock sound of the 70s, …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Trumpeter, composer and author Jeremy Pelt has certainly never shied away from themed albums, so one might expect something cinematic from the enigmatically-titled “Soundtrack.” However, as Pelt himself explains, “I’ve certainly done plenty of conceptual albums, but in this case there’s nothing I’m on a soapbox about. It’s …
Jazz Corner of the World Encore Mondays at 6:00 PM Mingus Centennial, Part 2 Host Craig Kessler continues his celebration of Mingus at 100! Again, we’ll hear more classic Mingus material – this time from the later years of his career. Tune in for some amazing material from 1962 thru 1977 from Atlantic, Impulse, Columbia and other …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Regarded as one of Africa’s first international superstars, Zenzile Miriam Makeba elevated the spirit of a continent, including her native South Africa. Her courage, however, was met with three decades of political exile from her homeland followed by blacklisting in the U.S. after her marriage to …
Jazz Corner of the World Encore Mondays at 6:00 PM Mingus Centennial Show, Part 1 Host Craig Kessler celebrates the life and legacy of Charles Mingus. In this episode we’ll hear very important American music from early in his career, beginning with his early west coast days in the 1940s. We’ll also take a listen …
