Culture Crawl 964 “There Is A List”

Orchestra Iowa opens its 2024-25 season with “A Night on the Town,” which will also kick off the 50th anniversary celebration of Iowa’s Jazz Station. Befitting the partnership between KCCK and Orchestra Iowa, the orchestra will perform the first composition to marry jazz and classical, George Gershwin’s landmark piece “Rhapsody in Blue.”

In celebration of KCCK’s 50th, the Orchestra is offering 50% off tickets with the discount code SAVE50.

Special guests will include the UI’s William Menefield and Damani Phillips leading a quartet to perform another of Gershwin’s best-known works, “I Got Rhythm.”

KCCK’s Dennis Green co-hosts the concert, which will also featuring the title piece by Leonard Bernstein, as well as William Grant Stills, regarded as the first African American composer to to break the color barrier in classical music.

Sept. 14 at the Paramount and Sept. 15 at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts. Info at www.orchestraiowa.org.

Subscribe to The Culture Crawl at 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 kcck.org/listen.

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This Week’s Shows September 9 thru September 15

Booker Ervin – Groovin' High (1966, Vinyl) - DiscogsJazz Corner of the World  (Encore)

Mondays at 6:00pm

Jaki Byard as a Sideman

Craig gives us a listen to a variety of recordings by Eric Dolphy, Chris Connor, Charles Mingus, Eric Kloss, Booker Ervin, Roland Kirk, and a host of others. Each of these records feature the piano genius of John Arthur “Jaki” Byard.

 

 

 

 

 

May be an image of 4 people, clarinet, speaker, trumpet, accordion and saxophoneWednesday Night Special

Wednesdays at 6:00pm

Jazz Fest Side Stage:
MJ Group & Jackson Churchill

We continue our listen to the outstanding music from this year’s Iowa City Jazz Festival side stage. Marvin Truong and Jerome Gillespie II led their MJ Group through new works and favorite charts. Plus, trombonist Jackson Churchill & Good Question gave a thundering set of originals and new arrangements of classics.

 

 

 

Pillar Vinyl LPJazz Night in America

Thursdays at 11:00pm

Jonathan Scales on Pans

Host Christian McBride meets Jonathan Scales, a steel pan master that knocked him out of his shoes. With his Fourchestra, the pannist provides new angles to hear and appreciate his enigmatic instrument.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the WorldBooker Ervin – Groovin' High (1966, Vinyl) - Discogs

Saturdays from 12:00 noon to 4:00pm

Jazz in Movie Soundtracks

Craig spins a number of terrific jazz recordings featured in some wonderful film soundtracks down through the years. We’ll hear from Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Bud Shank, Neil Hefti, Sonny Rollins, Shorty Rogers, and many others.

 

 

 

 

 

KCCK’s Midnight CD

Every Night at Midnight Each night, KCCK lets you hear a new CD played start-to-finish.

Everything You Could Be by Christopher Parnis on Monday; Sun Prints by Matt Booth on Tuesday; Vibe Provider by Emmet Cohen on Wednesday; Alternate Summer by Tom Harrell on Thursday; Mystic Chiefs by Johnny Ray Jones on Friday; Revelation by Piper & the Hard Times on Saturday; Tributes by Antonio Farao on Sunday.

This Week In Jazz June 9 thru June 15

Hey, Jazz fans! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of trumpeters Doc Cheatham, Marcus Belgrave and Alex Sipiagin, guitarists Joe Negri, Joao Gilberto, Jonathan Kreisberg, bassists Charnett Moffett and Chuck Berghofer, pianists Chick Corea, Geri Allen and Harold Danko and more.

We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries ofBennie Green’s “Bennie Green Blows His Horn” (1955), Frank Sinatra/Count Basie & His Orchestra’s “It Might As Well Be Swing” (1964), Hampton Hawes’ “Live At The Jazz Showcase in Chicago, Vol. 1” (1973), Dizzy Gillespie and the United Nation Orchestra’s “Live at the Royal Festival Hall” (1989), Lionel Hampton & the Golden Men of Jazz’ “Live at the Blue Note” (1991), Gary Burton/Pat Metheny/Steve Swallow/Antonio Sanchez “Quartet Live” (2007) Catherine Russell’s “Send For Me” (2021) and many others, Mondays thru Fridays at noon on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.

Culture Crawl 963 “If There’s an Ocarina, I’m There”

Brucemore begins a new series this fall, “Music at the Big House.” The opening performance is directed by Lincoln Ginsberg, a performer and composer who works on the Brucemore Artisan Studio team, along with Dylan Rairdin, called “Themes of the Digital Age,” which presents new arrangements of music from video games.

The show will feature songs that range from the simple melodies of the very first video games, which were listed to the memory capacities of primitive game cartridges to the fully-orchestrated compositions we’ve hear in hit games like The Last of Us, Uncharted, and more.

Sept. 13 & 14, visit brucemore.org for tickets and info.

Subscribe to The Culture Crawl at 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 kcck.org/listen.

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Culture Crawl 962 “We Are Different, We Are One”

Riverside Theatre opens its 44th season with perhaps their most unique production, the operatic comedy “Scalia-Ginsburg.” It’s the tale of these two jurists, at opposite ends of the political spectrum, who came together over their love of opera.

Mary Jane Knight, who sings the Ginsburg role, says that wrapping her head and lips around various legal and judicial terms (composer Derrick Wang is also a constitutional lawyer, so he knows his Latin) was in its own way, almost as challenging as singing in a different language. But the opera is sung in English (except for the Latin legalese).

Sept. 5-15 at Riverside Theatre, with a talkback featuring the performers and scholar Miriam Gilbert on Sept. 8. Tickets and more info at riversidetheatre.org.

Subscribe to The Culture Crawl at 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 kcck.org/listen.

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Talking Pictures 9-4-24

“Afraid” (2024) and “Slingshot” (2024) with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Monica Schmidt.

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Culture Crawl 961 “True Personal Narratives”

 

Matthew 25 teams up with acclaimed artist Akwi Nji for the first “Storytellers of Cedar Rapids,” a new series that will feature local storytellers, some open mic slots, and music. Performing for this first event are Akwi, Matthew 25 founder Courtney Ball, Jason Edwards, Eric Gutschmidt, and Ruth Morrow on the theme of “What Are You Good At?”

Plus, live music with Kevin “BF” Burt!

September 11, 7:30pm at Groundswell Cafe on 3rd Ave. SW. Tickets at Matthew-25.org.

And as if this wasn’t enough, this show marks the debut of the brand new Culture Crawl Theme, composed by Vivian Shanley, and performed by Vivian, Lydia Kilgore, Sam Ross, Ana Koch, and Lewis Kleman.

Subscribe to The Culture Crawl at 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 kcck.org/listen.

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New Music Monday for September 2, 2024

  Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify 

Critically acclaimed pianist, composer band bandleader Emmet Cohen has traveled the world with his sold-out performances, created and hosted one of the most highly watched regular online jazz shows in the world, and has earned a reputation for cultivating an atmosphere with his musicality for generations of musicians to find new inspiration. However, it’s his friendship with jazz legend Michael Funmi Ononaiye that has profoundly shaped his journey since 2012. On “Vibe Provider,” Cohen presents a masterful blend of originals compositions and beloved classics, dedicated to his friend and mentor, who was a master DJ, percussionist, former A&R executive, and chief programmer for Jazz at Lincoln Center.

 

For several years now, bassist Christopher Parnis has been making a name for himself on the Canadian jazz scene as both an elevating sideman and a driven bandleader. In 2019, he began assembling a quintet of his own to develop and perform his original music. He started with his oldest musical colleague, fellow Peterborough, Ontario born musician Aaron Blewett on drums. He then added Zimbabwean guitarist Matt Greenwood, Toronto-based trumpeter Christian Antonacci, and acclaimed Canadian pianist and two-time JUNO Award-winner Brian Dickinson. It is with this band that Christopher recorded his debut album, “Everything You Could Be,” a dynamic recording that chronicles his journey to Toronto to pursue his art.

 

                                                                            

Also this week, bassist and composer Matt Booth, a ubiquitous performer on the New Orleans jazz scene, releases his first album of all original music, “Sun Prints”; veteran trumpet player, bandleader, composer and arranger Tom Harrell offers up yet another ambitious, hard-to-resist album, ”Alternate Summer”; and Milan-based pianist and composer Antonio Farao unveils his sixth trio album, “Tributes,” featuring bassist John Patitucci and drummer Jeff Ballard