Category: KCCK Blog

This Week In Jazz May 3 thru May 9

Hey, Jazz fans!!! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of cornetist Red Nichols, pianists Mary Lou Williams, John Lewis, Don Friedman and Keith Jarrett, trumpeters Maynard Ferguson and Richard Williams, singer Teresa Brewer and more!!! We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Billy Taylor’s “Cross Section” (1953), Miles Davis’ …

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Special Programs for May 4 – May 9

Short List with host Bob Naujoks    Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturdays at 7 AM Vocal Short List: Morgana King Vocalist Morgana King began singing in nightclubs at the age of 16. Her 1964 album, “A Taste of Honey” was well received. Following the death of her husband, trombonist Willie Dennis, she …

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This Week In Jazz April 26 thru May 2

Hey, Jazz fans!!! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of pianist/composer/bandleader Duke Ellington, harmonica player Toots Thielemanns, drummers Connie Kay and Denzil Best, singers Bing Crosby, Blossom Dearie, Shirley Horn and Willie Nelson, reedmen Jimmy Giuffre, Teddy Edwards and Big Jay McNeely and more!!! We’ll also mark the recording …

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Special Programs for April 26 thru May 2

Short List with host Bob Naujoks    Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturdays at 7 AM Vocal Short List: Leo Watson Scat vocalist Leo Watson not widely known now, but his work influenced virtually all scatting jazz singers in the modern era – Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter and Mel Torme among them. Watson …

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New Music Monday for April 27, 2020

    Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Duchess’s embrace of merriment is not merely a by-product of the group’s natural joie de vivre; their commitment to joy stems from a deeply rooted belief that in troubled times, sharing and spreading happiness is a necessary act. On its third full-length release, “Live at Jazz Standard,” the …

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Chris Merz – While We Wait

Chris Merz, Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Iowa, has just released the second Christopher’s Very Happy. Band. collection, “While We Wait.” Dennis Green talked with Chris about the new project, how he is handling his teaching duties during social distancing, and also some thoughts about Lee Konitz, who recently passed away. …

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This Week In Jazz April 19 thru April 25

Hey, Jazz fans!!! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays drummers Tommy Benford and Carl Allen, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton, trombonist Slide Hampton, guitarist/composer Mundell Lowe, bandleader/multi-instrumentalist Tito Puente, saxmen Johnny Griffin and Joe Henderson, bassists Charles Mingus and Paul Chambers, singers Ella Fitzgerald and Madeleine Peyroux and more!!! We’ll also …

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New Music Monday for April 20, 2020

    Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify The dynamic young saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin presents “Pursuance: The Coltranes,” paying homage to two of the greatest musical innovators of the 20th century, John and Alice Coltrane. Under the tutelage of jazz luminary and co-producer Reggie Workman, whose supple bass lines underscored countless of the Coltranes’ recordings, Benjamin …

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