Category: News

This Week In Jazz May 19 thru May 25

Jazz fans, be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of pianist/arranger/composer Fats Waller, pianist/bandleaders Sun Ra and Bob Florence, singers Rosemary Clooney and Jackie Cain, bagpiper Rufus Harley, drummer Lawrence Marable, pianist Christian Sands and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Sonny Rollins’ “Tenor Madness” (1956), Grant Green’s …

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2024 Guest Djs – Linn Mar

Sutra Iyer, Zach Kendrick, and Augie Ketels from the Linn-Mar Colton Center Jazz Ensemble conclude the 2024 Guest DJ season with a bang. Linn-Mar had a stellar year, that included a 3rd place Jazz Championships finish, just behind rival Prairie. But the Lions will have a chance at revenge when they take on the Prairie …

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Big Mo Pod Show 010 – “Music Changes Context”

Another edition of the weekly podcast rolls out with your hosts John and Noah discussing deep cut blues from John’s most recent show. This week’s songs cover a wide range of topics and eras, with one track in particular by Blues Traveler sparking a conversation about how the power of music can change the tone …

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Big Mo Pod Show 008 – “Blues In The Schools”

On this special episode John goes solo and tells the story of how Kirkwood’s Blues In The Schools program got started, as well as the how’s and why’s of its production. Listen in to discover where the program came from and why its important to Iowa’s blues community! 

Big Mo Pod Show 009 – “Do What You Love And Do It Well”

In another special episode this week John interviews local music legend Dan “DJ” Johnson, a musical polymath who’s dabbled in songwriting, bass playing, and signing over a fifty year career that’s still ongoing! Tune in to this episode to learn a little about how he plays and the ethos that goes behind his performances.  

Culture Crawl 922 “Shocked I’d Never Heard of Him”

  Some people have a second act, but UI alum Harold Bradley had at least four. Collegiate, military, and NFL football standout, artist, musician, and activist. University of Iowa Chief Innovation Officer Jon Darsee began to dig into Bradley’s background after appreciating four paintings of Iowa Black leaders Bradley painted back in the Seventies. Those …

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Culture Crawl 921 “Any Job-Better Job-Career Job”

Culture Crawl 921 “Any Job-Better Job-Career Job” Inside Out Reentry Community serves people returning to Johnson County after incarceration, and to educate the public to help the formerly incarcerated achieve success in the community. Inside Out will host “Be An Instrument For Change” Sunday, May 19 at 3pm in Chauncey Swan Park, to celebrate music, …

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Culture Crawl 920 “Good ‘Ol Days in the Frat at the Heidelberg”

Culture Crawl 920 “Good ‘Ol Days in the Frat at the Heidelberg” Orchestra Iowa closes its Masterworks season with the landmark piece for orchestra and chorus, “Carmina Burana.” Tim Hankewich says Orff’s landmark work is much more than its best-known segment, “O Fortuna.” Also on the program is Samuel Barber’s Symphony No. 1, which the …

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