The KCCK Featured CD for January is “Iowa Friends Cuban Music” from James Dreier and Ritmocano. Since hearing his first Santana record in 1968, the drummer has had a passion for Latin music. James was a member of the Iowa-based Latin jazz group Orquesta Alto Maiz for 26 years and has been on the jazz …
The KCCK Featured CD for December is “Have Yourself an Alto Madness Christmas” by Richie Cole. The veteran saxophonist developed his Alto Madness concept back in the Seventies with the idea that any tune, no matter how unlikely its source, could be turned into exuberant bop. The source in this instance is the standard Christmas …
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify. Singer-songwriter Rachael Price and composer, singer, and guitarist Vilray first met in 2003 as students at the New England Conservatory of Music. Vilray formed a couple of bands with Price’s soon-to-be bandmates in Lake Street Dive. Even then, Price remembers, he had a nimble mind and quick …
The KCCK Featured CD for November is “Blue World”, a previously unreleased album from John Coltrane and his classic quartet. Early in 1964, Coltrane was approached to record a soundtrack for a French Canadian film whose director was a die-hard fan. Amazingly, Coltrane agreed, revisiting and recording some of his earlier works. Only about ten …
The KCCK Featured CD for October is “BFFs” from saxophonist Chad Eby and pianist Ariel Pocock. Chad is a Newhall, Iowa, native and is now a professor in the Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. His good friend Ariel has headlined both the Iowa City Jazz Festival and KCCK’s Jazz …
The KCCK Featured CD for September is “Wareika Hill: Rastamonk Vibrations” by Monty Alexander. The title refers to the neighborhood in Kingston, Jamaica, where Monty heard the reggae music of Rastafarian musicians as a child, and where he was introduced to the music of Thelonious Monk as a teenager. The pianist has now combined these …
The KCCK Featured CD for August is “Unknown Dameron” from saxophonist Paul Combs. A biographer of Tadd Dameron, Combs uncovered many more works by the composer, tucked away in various libraries, then those for which he’s generally known. Combs organized a quintet devoted to playing the music and presented it live in San Diego on …
The KCCK Featured CD for July is “Essence” by Michel Camilo. For his landmark 25th album as a leader, the iconic pianist, composer and bandleader reconvened his all-star big band for the first time is a quarter century. The music is drawn from key points along Camilo’s 40-year career, most of which has only been …
