Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Chris Potter’s “Alive with Ghosts Today” brings together Bill Frisell, Nate Smith and Burniss Travis with Rane Moore (clarinet), Zekkereye El-Magharbel (trombone) and Sara Caswell (violin) in a deliberately off-center ensemble that places Potter’s tenor and soprano inside a textural, human-scale sound world. Written around the story of abolitionist John Brown and the 1859 raid on Harper’s Ferry, the album confronts a moment that exposed deep fractures at the heart of the American narrative. “It’s a story that holds the complexity and tragedy of America in one moment,” Potter says. “It felt important to engage with it now.”
For decades, vocalist and drummer David Basse has been at the forefront of the Kansas City music scene. His singing has been compared to Mel Torme, Jon Hendriks and Al Jarreau. In 1997, his City Lights Orchestra performed at the inaugural gala for President Clinton. David is also an award-winning radio programmer, winning a Kansas Association of Broadcasters Award for his program, “The Jazz Scene,” which he has hosted for over twenty-five years. His new release, “The War Within,” was recorded live in North Hollywood at Kulak’s Woodshed.
Also this week, Juno Award-winning trumpeter and singer Bria Skonberg focuses on the horn on her new disc, “Brass,” celebrating her favorite elements of playing the trumpet; composer, arranger and guitarist Russ Spiegel continues his run of outstanding releases with “Timepieces,” his fourth as a leader; and Oakland-based guitarist Ray Obiedo brews a rhythmic, energetic soundscape on “Slight Accent,” revealing his passion for the diverse flavors of his Bay Area home.
After more than 25 years at KCCK, John Heim, aka “Big Mo” is hanging up the headphones. May 15 will be his last show.
Taking over the show is another Eastern Iowa music stalwart, Ed “Unka Led” English. And, coincidentally, like Big Mo, also a bass player! An original member of Kevin Burt’s Blues Instigators, Ed is a founding member of the Beaker Brothers, and also performs with Johnny Kilowatt and the Tanya English Band.
Jazz Corner of the World
Hey, Jazz fans! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays drummers Denzil Best and Connie Kay, singers Blossom Dearie and Shirley Horn, harmonica player Toots Thielemans, bassists Percy Heath and Martin Wind, flautists Dave Valentin and James Newton, percussionist Ray Barretto and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Peggy Lee with George Shearing’s “Beauty and the Beat” (1959), Pat Martino’s “El Hombre” (1967), Jimmy Rushing’s “The You and Me That Used to Be” (1971), Arnett Cobb/Jimmy Heath/Joe Henderson’s “Tenor Tribute” (1988), “McCoy Tyner w/Stanley Clarke and Al Foster” (1999), Charnett Moffett’s “Music from Our Soul” (2015) and many others, Mondays thru Fridays and at noon on JAZZ MASTERS on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.