The KCCK Featured CD for November is “The Candy Men” by Harry Allen’s All-Star New York Saxophone Band. The disc harks back to Woody Herman’s Four Brothers band of the late-1940s which featured multiple tenor saxophones harmonizing together with a baritone sax. That tradition now continues with Allen arranging a program of originals and standards …
The KCCK Featured CD for October is “Ready Take One” by Erroll Garner. One of the great American jazz pianists and composers of the 20th century, Garner was among the most popular, successful and influential jazz artists of his era. The disc features fourteen previously unreleased studio performances recorded during an especially prolific creative period …
The KCCK Featured CD for September is “Monk’estra Volume One” by John Beasley. The pianist, composer and arranger has shared stages with some of the most important names in jazz during his three decade career, from Freddie Hubbard’s quintet and Miles Davis’ last touring bands to his role as music director for the Thelonious Monk …
The KCCK Featured CD for August is “Twenty” by Metalwood. This Juno Award-winning Canadian-based quartet formed in 1997 to pay homage to the pioneers of jazz fusion, releasing a half-dozen well-received recordings of original material. All leaders in their own right, the members decided to go their separate ways in 2003. After thirteen years apart, …
The KCCK Featured CD for July is “American Tunes” by Allen Toussaint, whose work as a composer, producer, arranger, and performer, especially in the 1960s and ’70s, helped shape the sound of R&B, soul and funk as we know it today. The program is comprised of solo performances of Professor Longhair tunes and band arrangements …
The KCCK Featured CD for June is “Beginning of a Memory” by Matt’s Wilson’s Big Happy Family. Returning to the studio for the first time since his wife Felicia lost her battle with leukemia in 2014, Wilson convenes the closest members of his extended musical family, including all the members, past and present, of the …
The KCCK Featured CD for May is “Culcha Vulcha” by Snarky Puppy, their first true studio album in eight years. Groove reigns supreme for the Texas-bred, Brooklyn-based collective, showcasing intricate melodies and fluid counterpoint while proving why Rolling Stone magazine calls them “one of the more versatile groups on the planet right now.” Influenced by the travels …
The KCCK Featured CD for April is “A Tribute to Herbie Plus One” by the Dick Oatts/Mats Holmquist New York Jazz Orchestra. One of the most distinguished saxophonists in the world of big band, Des Moines native Dick Oatts, teams with co-leader Mats Holmquist of Sweden and his stunning arrangements of some of Herbie Hancock’s …
