Blizzard warnings blanketed Iowa over the weekend…there are concerns about how cold weather will affect tonight’s Iowa caucuces.
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This Week In Jazz January 14 thru January 20
Hey, Jazz fans! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of drummers Gene Krupa and Sid Catlett, singers Irene Kral, Eartha Kitt and Cheryl Bentyne, lyricist Irving Mills, pianists Cedar Walton, Horace Parlan, Cyrus Chestnut and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Benny Goodman’s Carnegie Hall Concert (1938), Milt Jackson & John Coltrane’s “Bags & Trane” (1959), Charles Mingus’ “The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady” (1963), Weather Report – Live in Tokyo (1972), Joshua Breakstone Quartet feat. Kenny Barron’s “Self-Portrait in Swing” (1989), James Dreier & Ritmocano’s “Familia” (2013) and many others, Mondays thru Fridays at noon on Jazz Masters on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Special Programs January15 thru January 21
Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler
Mondays at 6:00pm
A Salute to Les McCann
Craig tips his hat to the 68-plus year career of this master of “soul jazz” by spinning a variety of fine releases dating back to 1960. We’ll hear great music from Pacific Jazz, Atlantic, Limelight, and other fine jazz record labels.
The Wednesday Night Special
Wednesdays at 6:00pm
Kid Logic at First Friday Jazz
Kid Logic, featuring five Eastern Iowa jazz veterans with a love of 70s and 80s fusion, played the greatest from Weather Report to Steely Dan to the Crusaders for a sold-out 2022 First Friday Jazz at the Opus Concert Café.
Jazz Night in America
Thursdays at 11:00pm
The Movement Revisited
Former All Things Considered correspondent Audie Cornish guest hosts this week as host Christian McBride – Grammy Award winning bassist and composer – talks about and performs his suite, The Movement Revisited, inspired by the words of Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The performance was captured live at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, McBride’s hometown.
Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler
Saturdays from 12 noon to 4:00pm
Blue Note 85th Anniversary Collection, Part 1
Craig spins more from the unusual and obscure side of the label, and includes bonus material from his curriculum for his University of Iowa Senior College class on Blue Note Records.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
Every Night at Midnight
Each night, KCCK lets you hear a new CD played start-to-finish.
A Lovesome Thing by Geri Allen & Kurt Rosenwinkel on Monday; Swing & Soul by Blue Moods on Tuesday; On a Misty Night by The Reid Hoyson Project on Wednesday; Bizet: Carmen in Jazz by the John Ellis Quartet on Thursday; Thank You Brother Bill: A Tribute to Bill Withers by Kevin Burt & Big Medicine on Friday; The Hard Line by Chris O’Leary on Saturday; Coincidental Moment by Lisa Hilton on Sunday.
New Music Monday for January 15, 2024
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Generation Y is a band concept that was conceived in 2019 with the goal of promoting the next generation of dynamic talent from the top conservatories in New York City and beyond. The group is led by Grammy-winning drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr., who has served in the role of Small Ensemble Director within the jazz department at the Julliard School for the last eight years. The band is an updated model of the Jazz Messengers, and many of its members also perform in Ulysses’ big band. Their album “A New Beat” is a culmination of repertoire that’s been performed by Generation Y around the world for the last four years.
Over his vast and varied 40-year career, Bill Anschell has released six recordings under his own name, all being jazz projects featuring him solely on acoustic piano. “Improbable Solutions” changes all of that as Anschell blends the sounds of the acoustic jazz trio with layered electronics, creating unique and spacious soundscapes. His nine original compositions have an open sensibility, driven by memorable melodies and evocative grooves. Along with his long-time trio mates Chris Symer on bass and Jose Martinez on drums, special guests include the stellar and searing guitarist Brian Monroney and percussionist Jeff Busch.
Also this week, saxophonist Bob Mintzer joins up with good friend Dave Stryker and his trio on “Groove Street”; award-winning pianist and composer Marius Van Den Brink’s new album, “New York Knock,” features a supergroup of musicians including Sean Jones, Stacy Dillard, Matt Penman and Willie Jones III; and Seattle-based Italian pianist and composer Francesco Crosara selected 10 of his compositions from the last 40 years for “Circular Motion,” with the idea of highlighting the nexus between early work, with its simplicity and youthful appeal, to later works where he expressed richer harmonic textures and possibilities.
Culture Crawl 887 “The Caitlin Clark of Jazz”
Mike Conrad, founder and director of The Iowa Jazz Composers Orchestra, talks about some of his experiences as a renowned composer and gets us excited for upcoming IJCO gig at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts on Jan 21 at 2pm.
Tickets at www.coralvillearts.org.
More info on the band at www.iowajazzcomposersorchestra.com.
Subscribe to The Culture Crawl at www.kcck.org/culture or search “Culture Crawl” in your favorite podcast player. Listen Live at 10:30am most weekdays on Iowa’s Jazz station. 88.3 FM or www.kcck.org/listen.
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News Digest 1-12-24
Iowa is bracing for blizzard conditions…the U.S. and Britain have bombed Houthi sites in Yemen.
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Two Art Winners!
KENNEDY STUDENT WINS CORRIDOR JAZZ ART
Jazz Duo – by Amari Jacobo
CONTEST
Mt. Vernon Entry To Be Featured at Taste of Jazz Fundraiser
For the first time in the nearly twenty-year history of KCCK’s Corridor Jazz Project, two winners have been crowned in the high school art contest.
“Jazz Duo,” from Amari Jacobo, a senior at Kennedy High School, has been chosen as the cover design for the “The Corridor Jazz Project XVII”, a compilation of recordings produced by Iowa’s Jazz Station. The album features the top jazz bands from Jefferson, Kennedy, Prairie, Xavier and Washington High Schools in Cedar Rapids, Linn-Mar and Marion in Marion; City High and West High in Iowa City, Anamosa, Center-Point Urbana, Clear Creek-Amana, Independence, Liberty, Lisbon, Mid-Prairie, Solon, West Branch, and Williamsburg. Independence and Williamsburg are new to the program in 2024.
Moonlight Jazz – Kaylee Gates
But, there’s more! “Moonlight Jazz,” created by Kaylee Gates from Mt. Vernon High School, also impressed the jury panel, who recommended it as the graphic design for KCCK’s Taste of Jazz, a fundraiser held each spring that supports the station’s jazz education programs, including the Corridor Jazz Project.
“The jury was even more impressed than usual with this year’s submissions,” says KCCK general manager Dennis Green. “One panel member remarked there were at least a half-dozen entries that could have won in past years. We’re thrilled that we can honor two outstanding young visual artists this year.”
Amari and Kaylee will each receive a $100 cash prize from KCCK-FM.
Receiving Honorable Mention in the contest were these students:
- Collin Clark, Mt. Vernon
- Raelyn FitzGerald, Linn-Mar
- Lillian Marchbanks, Kennedy
- Sydney Mave, Mt. Vernon
- Alyssa Newport, Linn-Mar
- Alex Potts, Kennedy
- Amanda Speidel, Kennedy
- Raelene Swore, Kennedy
- Colin Thornton, Mr. Vernon
Amari and Kaylee’s original pieces, as well as those receiving Honorable Mention will be exhibited during the Corridor Jazz Project concerts, March 4 at the Paramount Theatre, and March 5 at Voxman Hall of Music, University of Iowa.
The Corridor Jazz Project is a jazz education and mentoring program created by KCCK-FM. The program matches each high school’s top jazz band with a professional jazz player, who performs as a guest soloist with the band. The subsequent recordings have been collected and will be released as a downloadable album and CD.
Support for the Corridor Jazz Project comes from ACT, Hills Bank, Orchestra Iowa, Van Meter, and West Music.
News Digest 1-11-24
House Republicans are moving forward with impeachment proceedings against the Homeland Security Secretary…Haley and DeSantis debate in Des Moines ahead of next week’s Iowa caucuses.
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