The KCCK Featured Album for May is “D-Day” by Monty Alexander. June 6, 2024 will mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings of World War II. It’s also the day Monty turns 80-years-old! It’s a highly symbolic historical concordance which the great Jamaican musician naturally embraces, since the name he was given pays homage …
The KCCK Featured Album for April is KCCK’s Corridor Jazz Project Volume 17. In honor of JazAppreciation Month, we feature students from twenty of Eastern Iowa’s high school jazz bands. Each band is paired up with a professional guest artist who mentors the students during rehearsals and professional recording sessions. The experience culminates with concerts …
The KCCK Featured Album for March is “Lotta Livin’” froBetty Bryant. The Kansas City-born vocalist, pianist and songwriter was dubbed ‘Cool Miss B’ by her fellow musicians. Ms. Bryant began her career in her hometown where she was mentored by the great Jay McShann. She moved to the west coast in 1955 and quickly became …
The KCCK Featured Album for February is “Tell the Birds I Said Hello” from bassist Ben Allison, guitarist Steve Cardenas and saxophonist Ted Nash. The fourth album by this trio focuses its attention on the ever-surprising music of the under-recognized pianist and composer Herbie Nichols. The trio puts its own spin on a set of …
The KCCK Featured Album for January is “Hot House: The Complete Jazz at Massey Hall Recordings.” On May 15, 1953, five of jazz’s most influential musicians–Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus and Max Roach–gathered at Toronto’s Massey Hall for what would result in their first and only known recording as a quintet. This …
The KCCK Featured Album for December is “A Guaraldi Holiday” by Isaiah J. Thompson. The acclaimed young pianist pays tribute to the eclectic music of Vince Guaraldi, work which served as both an introduction to jazz, and as a childhood soundtrack for generations of music lovers, Thompson included. Produced by John Pizzarelli, the disc offers …
The KCCK Featured Album for November is “Live from the Northwest, 1959” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. This remarkable concert recording, captured by groundbreaking audio engineer Wally Heider, took place at two venues in Portland, Oregon in April of 1959. The band was playing-in some of the repertoire from the upcoming “Gone With the Wind” …
The KCCK Featured Album for October is “New Juju” from Christopher Merz and Shorter Stories. The saxophonist, composer and arranger, who directs the Jazz Studies program at U.N.I., began this project in tribute to one of his idols and main influences, the legendary Wayne Shorter. Mr. Merz created sparkling new arrangements for a set of …
