Soundtrack to the Struggle 4: Ella and Marilyn

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 strange and beautiful friendship.

By the 1950’s, Ella Fitzgerald was jazz royalty. And yet, even she couldn’t sing in America’s biggest nightclubs. Prejudice kept her and countless other jazz legends relegated to smaller venues, and forced them to enter through the kitchen. Even Fitzgerald’s agent, Norman Granz, who insisted that all his clients be treated equally, couldn’t get her into some of the best venues.
One of those venues was Hollywood’s Mocambo Club. Sinatra made his LA debut there. Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Lana Turner had reserved tables. But Ella wasn’t allowed through the door. Until, that is, an unlikely friend made a phone call. “I owe Marilyn Monroe a real debt,” said Ella. “She personally called the Mocambo’s owner and told him she wanted me booked immediately. The owner said yes. And Marilyn was there, front table, every night. After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again.”

Here is Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe, each singing, “Heatwave”

“Soundtrack to the Struggle” is written and produced by Ron Adkins.  Executive Producer Dennis Green. Host: Hollis Monroe.

Podcast (soundtrack): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Soundtrack to the Struggle 3 : Charles Mingus “Fables of Faubus”

In 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus defied a presidential order and blocked the integration of the Little Rock school district. Bassist Charles Mingus, an outspoken civil rights advocate, i

mmediately wrote one of the greatest jazz protest songs of all time.

“Fables of Faubus” was set for release on his 1959 landmark album, “Mingus Ah Um.” Columbia Records, however, refused to allow the caustic vocal version to be included. Record execs were keenly aware of the growing volatility in American society and worried about taking a match to a powder keg. The full version, with lyrics, was finally recorded in 1960 for “Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus.”

As one music reviewer wrote, “the fact that the song caused such controversy shows what turbulent times these were and what touchy issues race relations were.” Other critics have gone so far as to proclaim “Fables of Faubus” the perfect jazz protest song and Charles Mingus’s defining contribution to the Civil Rights Movement. It is part lampoon of Orval Faubus as a fool, as Mingus calls him, and part a dissonant, sometimes atonal, reflection of the times and growing cultural tensions in America.

With the original lyrics, Here is Charles Mingus with “the Original Faubus Fables” from Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus.

“Soundtrack to the Struggle” is written and produced by Ron Adkins.  Executive Producer Dennis Green. Host: Hollis Monroe.

 

Podcast (soundtrack): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Talking Pictures 1-19-22

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021) and Playing God (2021) with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Scott Chrisman. 

Podcast (talkingpics): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Culture Crawl 684 “It’s The Chad Show!”

Zoom somehow pinned only Chad Sonka’s video and kept it up for this entire interview, so you get to see him listening thoughtfully to Dennis’s questions, instead of the picture switching between them, but Goldie B. Locks sounds like so much fun we’re not going to let that keep us from sharing the video.

Goldie B. Locks is a 45-minute production for all ages from Cedar Rapids Opera, with the story changed to Goldie B. Locks and the Three SINGING Bears, set to familiar music from Mozart and Offenbach.

The show is free for any class, group, or family to stream, with an opportunity to sign up for live Zoom talkbacks to get to know the cast, too.

Free registration at www.cropera.org/goldie-b-locks.

Podcast (culturecrawl): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

This Week In Jazz January 16 thru January 22


Hey, Jazz fans! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of drummers Sid Catlett, Jimmy Cobb and Jeff “Tain” Watts, singers Eartha Kitt, Irene Kral and Cheryl Bentyne, pianists Cedar Walton, Horace Parlan and Cyrus Chestnut, saxophonist Steve Grossman and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Benny Goodman’s Carnegie Hall Concert (1938), Miles Davis’ “Birth of the Cool” (1949), Jackie McLean’s “Jackie’s Bag” (1959), Barry Harris Trio’s “Preminado (1961), Eddie Lockjaw Davis’ “The Heavy Hitter” (1979), James Dreier & Ritmocano’s “Familia” (2013) and many others Mondays thru Fridays at noon on JAZZ MASTERS ‘on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.

New Music Monday January 17, 2021

    Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
 Iconic pianist/composer Fred Hersch was an early adopter of new technologies and new ways forward when the pandemic hit in early 2020. But he’s also been among the most eager to return to live performance and collaboration now that life has begun to resume some semblance of normality. His newest project is one of his most ambitious to date: “Breath by Breath,” his first album ever pairing jazz rhythm section with string quartet. It draws inspiration from the pianist’s longtime practice of mindful meditation, centered on the new eight-movement “Sati Suite.”

 

 

 

 

     In 2019, when saxophonist/composer Remy Le Boeuf released his first large-ensemble album, it was clear his 20-piece orchestra would last beyond just one album. Lauded by the Brooklyn Rail for its ‘cinematic majesty,’ the Assembly of Shadows orchestra now returns on “Architecture of Storms,” adding another riveting chapter to Le Boeuf’s innovative vision as a jazz orchestra composer. The ensemble performs with gripping virtuosity on a richly varied program of original pieces.

 

 

 

 

                         

Also this week, “The Dark Fire Sessions” is the sophomore release as a bandleader from pianist Alex Brown, an electrifying rising artist in the New York jazz scene, whose vision, musicality, and abilities as both a pianist and composer have aptly lauded him praise from Downbeat and the New York Times;

 

 

 

 

 

                  

  “Myth & Wisdom” is the first in a series of releases by Blue Moods on Posi-Tone Records to highlight the overlooked compositions of jazz masters, in this instance Charles Mingus;

 

 

 

 

 

 

        

     and Spokane, Washington-based trumpeter and composer Jared Hall is joined by saxophonist Vincent Herring on his second release as a leader, “Seen on the Scene.”

 

 

 

 

Special Programs for January 17 thru January 23

Jazz Corner of the World Encore  

Mondays at 6:00 PM

A Listen to the Mainstream Label     

Host Craig Kessler presents a variety of jazz recordings from the 15-years of Mainstream Records. This interesting label was operated by Bob Shad from 1964 to 1978. We’ll hear Sarah Vaughan, Harold Land, Hadley Caliman, Charles Kynard, Blue Mitchell, and many others. Join Craig for an impressive array of tasty records!

 

 

 

 

 

The Wednesday Night Special

Wednesdays at 6:00 PM

Euforquestra at Jazz Under the Stars

Eastern Iowa’s world music masters, Euforquestra, turn the heat up this January with one of their standout shows from Jazz Under The Stars. From Cuban dance to Nigerian Afrobeat, these incredible musicians take us around the world while keeping us firmly rooted in American groove.

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Night in America

Thursdays at 11:00 PM

Hanging with Camille Thurman

Host Christian McBride hangs with Camille Thurman, the celebrated saxophonist, vocalist, composer, and educator. We’ll hear live performances from work with the Jazz at Lincoln Center, as well as tour her hometown, Queens.

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World  

Saturdays at 12:00 Noon

West Coast Jazz #1  

Join host Craig Kessler as he begins a four-week series on the phenomenon of “West Coast Jazz.” We’ll take a closer look at music from Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, and other artists involved in the beginnings of the Pacific Jazz record label. We’ll also explore early Dave Brubeck and the Fantasy label, among others topics. 

 

 

 

KCCK’s Midnight CD

Every Night at Midnight

Each night, KCCK gives you the chance to hear a new CD played start-to-finish.

As We Are by Dave Stryker on Monday; Live at Dizzy’s by Romero Lubambo on Tuesday; Your Move by the Reid Hoyson Project on Wednesday; Feel Like Making Live! by the Bob James Trio on Thursday; Devil May Care by Tinsley Ellis on Friday; What Happens Next by Davy Knowles on Saturday; Baden by Gui Duvignau on Sunday

Talking Pictures 1-12-22

Antlers (2021) and Godzilla (1954) with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Ron Adkins. 

Podcast (talkingpics): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS