Culture Crawl 1103 “Horns Hitting and Kicking Behind You”

The second week of KCCK’s 50th Anniversary Jazz Under the Stars concerts is upon us with “Funk Legends,” a double header concert featuring Funk Daddies and Funk Stop. Musicians Ken Duncan (Funk Daddies), John Reasoner (Funk Daddies/Funk Stop), and Bob Manson (Funk Stop) are in the studio to talk everything Funk before taking the stage. 

Given the double header, the Young Artist group, the David Donald Trio, will start their set at 6pm with Funk Stop set to play at 6:30 and Funk Daddies closing. 

It’s “Funk Legends” Thurs, Aug 14, with an early start time of 6pm at Noelridge Park. 

For more info visit kcck.org/juts.

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 1101 “Remembered it from Barbershop Choir”

Deb Kennedy, Layton White, and Jeff Roush are in the studio ahead of TKM Productions upcoming show, “Pump Boys & Dinettes” Aug 22-24, Fri & Sat at 7:30pm and Sun at 3pm at The Amana Performing Arts Center. This country-western musical heavily features the musicians and is an all-around crowd-pleasing show. 

For tickets and more info visit tkmtheatricalproductions.com.

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 August 4 thru August 10

SteepleChase Records – Eligo Audio CultureJazz Corner of the World (Encore)

Mondays at 6:00pm

Steeplechase Records, Part Seven 

Craig presents another terrific sampling of jazz from this remarkable Danish record label. Founded by Nils Winther, there are over 1,000 top-notch releases from some of the biggest names in jazz. We’ll hear from artists Frank Foster, Hal Galper, Larry Schneider, Dexter Gordon, Gary Versace, Archie Shepp, Rich Perry, the Ferre Brothers, and many more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Night Special

Wednesdays at 6:00pm

Confluence at First Friday Jazz

As the name suggests, Confluence is a delightful blend of jazz styles and genres, and the coming together of five veteran Iowa jazz masters. Keyboardist Denny Redmond, Pat Smith on guitar, Peter Hart on saxophone, bassist John Hall, and drummer John O’Connell played to a packed Opus Concert Cafe at First Friday Jazz.

 

 

 

 

At NewportJazz Night In America  

Thursdays at 11:00pm

More Classics From Newport

It’s another treat as we hear historic music from the Newport Jazz Festival, handpicked by Christian McBride. Tune in to rare sets from Ray Charles, Cannonball Adderley, Sarah Vaughan, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World

Saturdays from 12:00 noon to 4:00pm

Jack DeJohnette’s 83rd Birthday 

Craig helps celebrate Jack’s birthday – born in 1942 – by presenting an array of music from the celebrated DeJohnette whose recordings date back to 1965. We’ll hear his drum and percussion work with Jackie  McLean, Miroslav Vitous, Keith Jarrett, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, Charles Lloyd, Miles Davis, and many others.

 

 

 

 

KCCK’s Midnight CD

KCCK features a new album every night, played from start-to-finish.

Carnaval by Antonio Adolfo on Monday; We Insist 2025! by Terri Lyn Carrington & Christie Dashiell on Tuesday; Words Fall Short by Joshua Redman on Wednesday; Pretzel Letters by the Mike Conrad Trio on Thursday; Songs From My Soul  by Forest McDonald on Friday; Live to Be This by The Boneshakers on Saturday; The Dreamworld of Paul Motian by Anat Fort on Sunday.

 

This Week In Jazz August 3 thru August 9

Hey, Jazz fans! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of trumpeter/singer Louis Armstrong, Jazz Impresario Norman Granz, trombonist Vic Dickenson, guitarists Herb Ellis and George Van Eps, saxmen Benny Carter, Buddy Collette, and Rickey Woodard, singers Jeri Southern and Abbey Lincoln, drummers Chuck Riggs and Jeff Hamilton, violinist Regina Carter and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Jimmy Smith “Live at the Club Baby Grand, Vol. 2” (1956), Sarah Vaughan’s “The Benny Carter Sessions” (1962), Art Pepper’s “San Francisco Samba: Live at Keystone Korner” (1977), Kenny Burrell Quartet’s “Guiding Spirit” (1989), Joe Wilder’s “Alone With Just My Dreams” (1991), Jovino Santos Neto’s “Roda Carioca” (2005) and many others Mondays thru Fridays and at noon on JAZZ MASTERS on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.

 

Big Mo Pod Show 072 – “The Yellow Butane Curse”

Welcome back folks! On this week’s episode we take another look at some of Friday night’s tracks and discuss the artists and culture behind each one, as well as discussing some of the superstitious traditions that permeate the blues! Songs featured in the episode: 

  1. Kentucky Headhunters – “Stumblin” 
  2. Damon Fowler – “Fast Driving Woman” 
  3. Devon Allman – “Blues is a Feeling” 
  4.  Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia – “Help Yourself” 
  5. Maria Muldaur and Elvin Bishop – “What Makes You Act Like That”

Listen to ‘da Friday Blues with Big Mo each week at 6pm, and catch the podcast for a behind the scenes look at the show!

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This Week In Jazz July 27 thru August 2

Hey, Jazz fans, be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of saxmen Corky Corcoran and David Sanborn, singers Nneena Freelon, Ellyn Rucker and Kevin Mahogany, pianists Hank Jones, and Gap Magione, guitarists Kenny Burrell and Stanley Jordan, bassist Gerald Veasley and more! We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Glenn Miller and His Orchestra’s “In the Mood” (1939), Miles Davis’s “Porgy and Bess” (1958), Milt Jackson Quintet feat. Ray Brown’s “That’s the Way It Is” (1969), Herb Ellis/Joe Pass’s “Seven, Come Eleven” (1973), Tommy Flanagan Trio’s “Lady Be Good… For Ella” (1983), Davis Matthews & The Manhattan Jazz Orchestra’s “Hey Duke!” (1999), Vincent Herring’s “Preaching to the Choir” (2020) and many others Monday thru Friday and at noon on JAZZ MASTERS on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.

Kirkwood Board of Trustees to meet August 14, 2025

The regular meeting of the Kirkwood Board of Trustees will take place August 14, 2025.  Time, place, and meeting agenda can be found at this link.

New Music Monday for August 4, 2025

Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
A steadfast figure in modern straight-ahead jazz and one of the genre’s most respected drummers, Joe Farnsworth has built his name playing with legends like Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders, Benny Golson, and Cedar Walton, among many others. In recent years, Farnsworth has stepped beyond the traditionalist’s lane, working with boundary-pushers like Kurt Elling and Immanuel Wilkins. On his new album, “The Big Room,” he leads a dynamic, intergenerational  all-star sextet featuring rising stars and inspiring forward-thinking voices in jazz: trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, saxophonist Sarah Hanahan, vibraphonist Joel Ross, pianist Emmett Cohen, and bassist Yasushi Nakamura.

Grammy-nominated saxophonist and composer Jimmy Greene presents “As We Are Now,” a deeply personal album addressing his emotional journey more than twelve years after his daughter Ana’s life was taken at Sandy Hook School. At the album’s core is a powerful suite of songs commissioned by Chamber Music America reflecting Greene’s experience that there isn’t a straight line from tragedy to triumph, but rather a spectrum of emotions between great joy and deep sorrow. Green reunites with his core quintet of longtime collaborators: pianist Aaron Goldberg, guitarist Mike Moreno, bassist Dezron Douglas, and drummer Jonathan Barber.

                                                            

Also this week, “Circles in a Yellow Room” is the new disc from the Mike Freeman Zonavibe featuring compositions written by the vibraphonist that came out of a particularly creative period during the pandemic; “My Ideal” is powerhouse saxophonist Sam Dillon’s second quartet album, recorded at the Van Gelder Studios, with a combination of originals and standards; and for Gregory Tardy’s new project, “Abide in Love,” the saxophonist and composer reunites with his 2022 quintet including trumpeter Marcus Printup, pianist Keith Brown, bassist Sean Conly and drummer Willie Jones III.