Hey, Jazz fans! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of pianist/composer Jelly Roll Morton, trumpeters Johnny Best, Ray Linn, Don Rader and trumpeter/composer/bandleader Dizzy Gillespie, saxmen Sonny Criss, Eddie Harris, Ernie Watts and Jerry Bergonzi, flutist Ali Ryerson, singer Dianne Reeves and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Count Basie’s “The Atomic Basie” (1957), Sonny Criss’ “This Is Criss!” (1966), Ron Carter’s “All Blues” (1973), Harry “Sweets” Edison’s “There Will Never Be Another You” (1986), Terence Blanchard’s “The Billie Holiday Songbook” (1993), Mose Allison’s “American Legend: Live in California” (2006) and many others, Mondays thru Fridays and at noon on JAZZ MASTERS on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
This Week In Jazz October 19 thru October 25
Big Mo Pod Show 080 – “The Dark Side of Legacy”
With another week passing by another episode of the pod show comes by! This week’s show includes discissions on a multitude of artists across blues history and the impact their legacies have had on future generations, both good and bad. Tune in to learn more! Songs featured in the episode:
- Samantha Fish – “Dead Armadillo”
- Cold Stares – “Evil Eye”
- Mud Morganfield – “Big Frame Woman”
- Earl Hooker – “Blue Guitar”
- Sleepy John Estes – “Floating Bridge”
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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New Music Monday for October 20, 2025
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Celebrating more than twenty-five years together as jazz’s preeminent organ group, Mike LeDonne’s Groover Quartet’s broad repertoire choice, swinging ethos, and dynamic performance style has helped establish them as peerless in their standard bearing of this classic jazz style. Featuring LeDonne on Hammond B3 organ, Eric Alexander on tenor saxophone, Peter Bernstein on guitar and Joe Farnsworth on drums, the quartet arrived at the wonderfully intimate club, The Side Door, last year to record a new live album, “Turn It Up.” As ever, the band members showed their virtuosity and unique styles, whilst proving once again that the Groover Quartet in full flow is something to behold.
“For Dinah” is a deeply personal tribute from Grammy-winning vocalist Ledisi to her lifelong hero, the legendary but too often overlooked Dinah Washington. Produced and arranged by Christian McBride, the album blends Ledisi’s signature soul with Washington’s bold spirit, reclaiming space for a pioneer who made it possible for women like her to thrive. Standout collaborations include a duet with Grammy-winning vocalist Gregory Porter and appearances by top-tier musicians like Paul Jackson, Jr. and rising star Michael King.
Also this week, tenor saxophonist JD Allen sets aside his recent modernist experiments and heads straight to the heart with an album made up entirely of ballads from the Great American Songbook on “Love Letters”; Chicago and Milwaukee-based Affinity Trio, consisting of trumpeter Eric Jacobson, pianist Pamela York and bassist Clay Schaub, presents a set of six classics and three originals with the sophisticated and absorbing “New Outlook”; and the Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet celebrates two decades together with “El Muki,” standing as a testament of the profound essence of Afro-Peruvian jazz.
Culture Crawl 1127 “Music Bends Time”
Nneena Freelon, 7X Grammy nominee, author, and podcaster (to name a few) chats with Dennis over zoom ahead of the release of her new book, “Beneath the Skin of Sorrow: Improvisations on Loss.” The book comes after her latest album release, “Beneath the Skin,” and offers intimate insights and guidance on navigating grief in the wake of her own grief journey after losing her husband Phil and sister Debbie. Nneena also talks about her podcast, “Great Grief,” which combines storytelling with music to address and discuss the vast landscape that is grief.
The book drops Oct. 21 and is available now for pre-order.
For more information, visit nnenna.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.
Talking Pictures 10-15-25
“Him” (2025 horror drama) and “Häxan” (1922 silent movie also known as “Witchcraft Through the Ages”) with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Ron Adkins.
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Off To A Good Start
Thanks to everyone who has donated during our Fall Fund Drive. More than 800 donors have helped raise nearly $150,000! That’s a KCCK fund drive record, and means that we can put $50,000 towards filling the budget gap created by the elimination of federal funding.
A special welcome to more than 100 new members, another record! If you haven’t donated yet, save us a phone call or letter and give now. Play It Forward when you give to Iowa’s Jazz Station.
Culture Crawl 1126 “They Need to Just Play”
Kirkwood band director, Chris Navarette, is in the studio as the jazz band gears up for a joint concert with a few CR Opera vocalists for a free-to-the public jazz concert. It’s Kirkwood Jazz at The Yard, Wed, Oct. 15, 6pm at Kingston Yard in Cedar Rapids (between Pickle Palace and Big Grove).
More info at www.facebook.com/KirkwoodVisualAndPerformingArts/
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.
Culture Crawl 1124 “You’re Going To Have A Split Mind”
Leroy Troy is an old-time banjo specialist whose first music experience came from watching country legends like Roy Acuff and Bill Monroe at jam sessions in his home town in Tennessee. He’s gone on to perform on Her Haw, at the Grand Ole Opry, and tour all over the country. He was named National Old-Time Banjo Champion in 1996.
Leroy and his son Cash perform at Coe College, Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7pm. Tickets and more information at www.coeboxoffice.ludus.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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