Orchestra Iowa (almost) closes this season out with “Masterworks VI: A Booming Finale” coming up Saturday, May 17, 7:30 pm at Paramount Theatre & Sunday, May 18, 2pm at Coralville Center for Performing Arts. Insights held in the Encore Lounge at 6:45pm Saturday night and 1:00pm at West Music Sunday afternoon. Tim Hankewich also hints at an exciting, very Iowan event coming up in June…
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.
Adam Springer & Drew Hurn from the Wonderful Smiths along with Nick Dusil from Iowa Giving Crew are in the studio ahead of a benefit concert coming up May 17, 7pm at the Ideal Theater with Wonderful Smiths and The Mamiltons. All proceeds will go towards Iowa Giving Crew.
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.
Dr. Gerry Kreitzer is back in the studio ahead of the Cedar Rapids Concert Chorale’s season finale, “Music That Touched Our Souls” coming up Sunday, May 18, 2:30pm at First Lutheran Church.
For tickets and more information visit crchorale.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.
2025 was the first year for West Liberty Varsity Jazz in the Corridor Jazz Project. Maddie Christensen, Alyssa Stagg, and Jacob Zeman brought new energy and another first. We don’t think the hard-rock band Cake has ever appeared on Iowa’s Jazz Station before, but it definitely worked!
Maddie, Alyssa, and Jacob’s Playlist:
Ray Charles, “What’d I Say, Parts 1&2”
Cake, “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps”
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, “Cheek to Cheek”
Ella Fitzgerald, “Lullaby of Birdland”
Fiona Apple, “I Walk a Little Faster”
Ray Charles, “Georgia On My Mind”
West Liberty Varsity Jazz featuring Cory Schmitt, “Wah Wah”
Joe Lock and Stacie Eastman from the Eastern Iowa Health Center are in the studio today ahead of “Just For the Health of It” coming up Sunday, May 18, 2-5pm at Big Grove Brewery Cedar Rapids. Funds raised during this event will go towards a new pharmacy servicing members of the community and other community centered efforts.
To purchase tickets for the May 18 fundraising event visit justforthehealth.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.
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify Known for his rich, full tone and polished improvisations, saxophonist and composer Jed Levy has earned the sobriquet of modern master. A mainstay on the New York City jazz scene for 40 years, he has played with a who’s who of jazz, including long standing working relationships with Jaki Byard, Don Patterson, and Jack McDuff. Levy has 10 previous recordings under his own name and has appeared on over 40 recordings as a sideman. His compositional talents are prominently featured on his new CD, “Faces and Places,” drawn from his 500+ original works.
During his last years, Wes Montgomery and his commercially savvy producer, Creed Taylor, employed a number of legendary arrangers to propel the guitarist to larger audiences. The legendary orchestrators he hired, including Oliver Nelson, Don Sebesky, and Johnny Pate, had as much to do with his increased accessibility as the songs he chose to play. “More Amor: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery,” recorded by the Chicago Jazz Orchestrafeaturing Bobby Broom, is as much a tribute to those gentlemen as it is to Montgomery. With those arrangers’ historic musical footprints as a guide, what emerges is the voice of a band, its soloists, and three highly original arrangers: Alex Brown, Tom Garling and Charley Harrison.
Also this week, jazz pianist par excellence, Cyrus Chestnut, returns to the High Note label with a superb new quartet recording, “Rhythm, Melody and Harmony,” showcasing his rhythmic precision, emotive touch, and improvisational flair; saxophonist Diego Rivera delivers a powerful and deeply personal statement, channeling his emotions into a poignant new quartet recording, “West Circle”; and pianist and composer Dave Bass seamlessly melds bebop, classical, Latin, and pop to create richly textured, high-energy music that takes the listener on a surprising journey on “Trio Nuevo Vol. 2.”
Craig celebrates the 80th birthday of pianist Keith Jarrett by sampling some gems from Keith’s career. We’ll begin with his days with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis, and play classic recordings through 2015.
Wednesday Night Special
Wednesdays at 6:00pm
10 of Soul at Taste of Jazz
KCCK’s Taste of Jazz 2024 capped off the night with a supercharged set from Ten of Soul. Guests on hand to support Iowa’s Jazz Station filled the dance floor as Eastern Iowa’s hot funk and soul ensemble played classic groove tunes into the night.
Jazz Night In America
Thursdays at 11:00pm
Theo Croker in Jacksonville
Christian McBride hangs with trumpeter Theo Croker in Jacksonville, Florida, where he spent his teenage years, to revisit old mentors. We’ll also hear a set by his band at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival.
Jazz Corner of the World
Saturdays from 12:00 noon to 4:00pm
A Loving Look at Impulse!
Craig celebrates the important Impulse! Jazz label by presenting some great material from a variety of artists. We’ll hear classics from John Coltrane, Pharaoh Sanders, Milt Jackson, Howard Roberts, McCoy Tyner, Gabor Szabo, and a host of others.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
KCCK features a new album every night, played from start-to-finish.
Touch by Bill O’Connell on Monday;Live at the Village Vanguard by Bill Stewart on Tuesday; Screen Time by Thomas Marriott on Wednesday; Live at the Belly Up Tavern by Poncho Sanchez & His Latin Jazz Band on Thursday; Keep Your Head Up by Tony Holiday on Friday; Look Out Highway by Charlie Musselwhite on Saturday;Be Cool by Nancy Kelly on Sunday.
Listen to this week’s playlist on 
![Keith Jarrett [Album Covers]](https://www.davegott.com/music/images/keith_jarrett-facing_you.jpg)
Jazz Corner of the World (Encore)
