Hiya, Jazz Fans!!! Jazz birthdays we’ll be celebrating this week include those of drummers Kenny Clarke, Max Roach and Osie Johnson, singers Betty Roche, Ruth Brown and Jay McShann, trombonist/arranger/bandleader Melba Liston, saxophonists Jane Ira Bloom and more. We’ll also salute the recording anniversaries of Harold Land’s “Harold in the Land of Jazz” (1958), McCoy Tyner’s “Inception” (1962), Weather Report “Live In Tokyo” (1972), Jon Faddis’ “Youngblood” (1976), Miles Davis’ “You’re Under Arrest” (1985) and many more. Listen for us to feature these artists and other recordings throughout the week, and on Jazz Masters with Hollis Monroe weekdays at noon on Jazz 88.3 KCCK!
This Week in Jazz January 8 thru January 14
Culture Crawl 783 “We Are SO Homies”
It’s Opera Week on the Culture Crawl, as we talk to the casts of two different Cedar Rapids Opera productions happening in the coming days.
Cedar Rapids elementary students get a rare treat over the next few weeks, as they’ll see the world premiere of a new opera for children, commissioned by Cedar Rapids Opera.
We talk to the cast members of “Charlie and the Wolf,” a fanciful tale that imagines Wolfgang Mozart and Charlie Parker as musical buddies who explain to the audience that while their styles are different, all music is made with the same notes.
The opera will travel to various schools in mid-January. Learn more at www.cropera.org.
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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New Music Monday for January 9, 2023
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Fiercely swinging on purpose, with purpose, the 3D Jazz Trio plays original, traditional and contemporary standards from all genres of music. Their unique style and innovative arrangements are always supercharged by their boundless musical joy and gratitude. Drummer Sherrie Maricle, bassist Amy Shook, and pianist Jackie Warren met in 2014 as members of the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, and have since performed at many of the world’s most prestigious venues and festivals. Their fourth release, “9 to 5,” includes arrangements they’ve had in their library for years and some created especially for this recording.
Pianist, composer, producer and arranger Demetrius Nabors is well known and in demand in the Detroit area and on the national contemporary jazz scene, having worked with Althea Rene, Tim Bowman and Willie Bradley. His new recording, “Evolution,” was birthed from his educational experience while attending the University of Michigan, where he was blessed to study for four years with the amazing jazz pianist Geri Allen. The compositions expand his creativity in composing, arranging and improvisation.
Also this week, Something Blue is the newest ‘supergroup’ put together from the stable of players and composers from Posi-Tone Records, featuring a program of new charts on the CD, “Personal Preference”;
award-winning Canadian vocalist, Caity Gyorgy showcases her elegant yet witty writing and arranging style on her debut disc, “Featuring”;
and pianist and composer Lisa Hilton’s twenty-sixth recording, “Paradise Cove,” introduces her dynamic new quartet with trumpeter Igmar Thomas, bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Obed Calvaire.
2023 Corridor Jazz Art Winner!
KENNEDY STUDENT WINS CORRIDOR JAZZ ART CONTEST
McKenzie Hitzel, a junior at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, has been chosen as the winner of the 2023 Corridor Jazz Project Art design. She will receive a $100 cash prize from KCCK-FM.
Her design will serve as the cover of the “The Corridor Jazz Project XVI”, a compilation of recordings from 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, Liberty, Lisbon, Mid-Prairie, Solon, and West Branch.
Receiving Honorable Mention in the contest were these students:
- Kassy Conway, North Linn
- Meg Düster, Solon
- Wyatt Hyde, Mt. Vernon
- Chloe Flender, CR Kennedy
- Kayleigh Jordon, Mt. Vernon
- Kaci Miller, CR Kennedy
- Kylie Pyatt, Mt. Vernon (2 entries)
- Cora Smith, Mt. Vernson
McKenzie’s original piece and those receiving Honorable Mention will all be exhibited during the Corridor Jazz Project concert, March 7 at the Paramount Theatre.
The Corridor Jazz Project is a jazz education and mentoring program for jazz band students in Eastern Iowa. 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/or CD.
Support for the Corridor Jazz Project comes from MidWestOne Bank, Orchestra Iowa, Hills Bank, Orchestra Iowa, and West Music.
Jazz 88.3 KCCK is the public radio station operated as a part of the community outreach of Kirkwood Community College.
Culture Crawl 782 “Shoulder Pads – How Big?”
It’s Opera Week on the Culture Crawl, as we talk to the casts of two different Cedar Rapids Opera productions happening in the coming days.
First up, the MainStage production of Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte,” a famous comedy of love and mistaken identity, but this show has a twist – it takes place on the set of an 80s soap opera, complete with big hair, puffy shirts, and lots of mugging to the “camera.”
There is even a red carpet premiere with paparazzi, hosted by KCCK’s Dennis Green.
Jan. 20 and 22 at the Paramount Theatre. Tickets and info at www.cropera.org.
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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Talking Pictures 1-4-23
Phil Brown, Scott Chrisman and Monica Schmidt rank their Top 5 best movies of 2022…and list a few stinkers as well. With host Hollis Monroe.
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KCCK’s Featured Album for January 2023
The KCCK Featured Album for January is “On a Clear Day” from the Oscar Peterson Trio. In 1971, the ensemble was in transition. It was the beginning of a long musical partnership and close personal friendship between Oscar and bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen, and the continuation of his years working with drummer Louis Hayes, which had begun in 1965. As heard in a never-before-released live recording from Zurich, Switzerland, the group melds their individual gifts into one glorious outpouring of musical expression. “On a Clear Day” is on Mack Avenue Records. Purchase.
Kirkwood Board of Trustees to meet January 12, 2023
The regular meeting of the Kirkwood Board of Trustees will take place January 12, 2023. Time, place, and meeting agenda can be found at this link.