Very early in her career, Marilyn Monroe’s vocal coach insisted that she study Ella Fitzgerald’s singing. Rumor has it that the coach ordered Monroe to buy all of Fitzgerald’s records, and listen to them 100 times in a row. This made Monroe not only a pretty solid singer, but it was the beginning of a …
MUSIC. CULTURE. EXPERIENCE. Cuba – January 15-21, 2019 Discover Cuba with KCCK! Download the brochure. Six Nights/Seven Days exploring the music and art of Havana, Trinidad and Cienfuegos. Includes All-Access Havana Jazz Fest pass! Highlights • Melia Cohiba (or like property) closeto Jazz Festival and clubs.• Old Havana Walking Tour UNESCO• Plaza …
Fill out the form below to make a memorial donation in Gordon’s name, or call 319.398.5446. If you prefer to mail a check, instructions are at the bottom of the form. Or mail a check to: KCCK-FM Gordon Paulsen Memorial Fund 6301 Kirkwood Blvd. SW Cedar Rapids, IA 52404.
They crowned Jack Johnson the first Black heavyweight champion in 1908, but the fight had just begun. The Black community was overjoyed, seeing Johnson’s title as a major step toward equality. Whites in America, however, were often near panic. Even the New York Times wrote that “thousands of his ignorant brothers will misinterpret [Johnson’s] victory …
Singer Dinah Washington and her seventh husband, football legend Dick “Night Train” Lane, were an unlikely pair. She wasn’t a fan of football, but she was madly in love with Night Train. They each fought bigotry in their own ways – Washington by challenging segregation in the music industry, Lane by changing the perception of …
The year was 1948, and the DuMont company had recently created a TV network to help build demand for their line of television sets. Actress and singer Amanda Randolph was the first African-American woman to star in a network television show. The program was The Laytons, and Randolph was one of the stars. It only …
On Sunday, September 15, 1963, four Klansmen planted dynamite under the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The explosion killed four young girls and injured many others. History records this incident as a turning point in the Civil Rights movement. Coltrane, his heart broken, was driven to tears, anger, and frustration. But instead of …
