Hey, Jazz fans!!! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of pianist/composer/singer Earl “Fatha” Hines, bassist Al McKibben, vibist Milt Jackson, singer Susannah McCorkle and more!!! We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Jean “Toots” Thielemans’ “Man Bites Harmonica!” (1957), Milt Jackson’s “Bags Opus” (1958), Bill Evans Trio’s “Portraits in Jazz” (1959), Branford Marsalis’ “Renaissance” (1986), Chick Corea & Origin ” “Live at the Blue Note” (1997) and many others throughout the week and Mondays thru Fridays at noon on our ‘MASTERS’ program on Jazz 88.3 KCCK!!!

Short List with host Bob Naujoks

Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturdays at 7 AM

Short List: “The Hits”

The Short List continues its series about jazz tunes that became popular hits. There have been a number of significant jazz artists who have charted well. This week it is a look back to some number one hits of the 1950s and 1960s — Herb Alpert’s “Rise,” Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife,” Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” “Morris Stoloff’s “Picnic” and “Moonglow,” and Ray Charles’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler 

Mondays at 6:00 PM

Jazz in 1970

Craig looks at a wide variety of jazz goodies in all styles, that were recorded 50 years ago, during the year 1970.  We’ll hear all sorts of great examples from folks like Miles, Chick, Herbie, McCoy, Alice Coltrane, and a throng of other jazz greats. Be There!

The Wednesday Night Special

Wednesdays at 6:00 PM

Vincent Herring at the Iowa City Jazz Festival

We continue our look back at the standout performances from 2018’s Iowa City Jazz Festival. This week, it’s the Vincent Herring Quartet.  Fresh from recording his latest CD, Hard Times, the veteran reedman brought his quartet to the main stage for set of soul-jazz and hardbop that energized the Pentacrest crowd.   

Toast of the Nation New Year’s Eve Celebration

Join KCCK as Jazz Night In America host Christian McBride rings in the New Year with incredible swing. Featured this year are the SF Jazz Collective, Wynton Marsalis, Dee Alexander, Jon Batiste, Carlos Henriquez, and many others.

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler 

Saturdays at 12:00 Noon

Six More Who Have Left Us

Craig salutes six jazz artists who have recently passed on. We’ll spin tasty items and tell a few tales about pianists Richard Wyands, Mike Longo, and Ellis Marsalis … saxophonists Hal Singer and Lennie Niehaus … and trumpeter Eddie Gale. We’ll hear a variety of styles and genres devoted to saluting some very well-deserving jazz artists!  May they all rest in peace!

KCCK’s Midnight CD

Every Night at Midnight

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

Child’s Play by David Childs on Monday;Fortune Teller by the Tom Keenlyside Quartet on Tuesday; In a Big City by Igor Kogon on Wednesday; Enjoy “Toast of the Nation” on Thursday; Live at the Isabel by Miss Emily on Friday; Rise Above by Billy J on Saturday; Reincarnated by Hazar on Sunday

Gregory Porter’s  “All Rise” was the Number-1 album in KCCK’s Top 88 jazz releases of 2020.   Nubya Garcia’s  “Source”  was Number-88.  Here’s the list of everything else in between. 

  1. Gregory Porter “All Rise” (Blue Note)
  2. Artemis “Artemis” (Blue Note)
  3. Carl Saunders “Carl Saunders, Jazz Trumpet” (Summit)
  4. Leni Stern ”4” (Leni Stern)
  5. John DiMartino “Passion Flower: The Music of Billy Strayhorn” (Sunnyside)
  6. Erik Jekabson Sextet “One Note at a Time” (Wide Hive)
  7. Pat Metheny “From This Place” (Nonesuch)
  8. James Dreier & Ritmocano “Iowa Friends, Cuban Music” (James Dreier)
  9. Dick Hyman & Ken Peplowski “Counterpoint: Lerner & Loewe” (Arbors Jazz)
10. Dena DeRose “Ode to the Road” (High Note)
11. Randy Brecker & Eric Marienthal “Double Dealin’” (Shanachie)
12. Al Di Meola “Across the Universe” (Ear Music)
13. Lolly Allen “Coming Home” (OA2)
14. John Scofield “Swallow Tales” (ECM)
15. Christopher’s Very Happy Band “While We Wait” (Chris Merz)
16. Kat Edmondson “Dreamers Do” (Mri)
17. Eddie Daniels “Night Kisses: A Tribute to Ivan Lins” (Resonance)
18. Bill Frisell “Valentine” (Blue Note)
19. Pearl Django “Simplicity” (Modern Hot)
20. Spyro Gyra “Vinyl Tap” (Amherst)
21. Alain Mallet “A Wake of Sorrow Engulfed in Rage” (Origin)
22. Delfeayo Marsalis Uptown Jazz Orchestra “Jazz Party” (Troubador Jass)
23. Christian McBride Big Band “For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver” (Mack Avenue)
24. Ian Shaw “What’s New” (Silent Wish)
25. Big Band of Brothers “A Jazz Celebration of the Allman Brothers” (New West)
26. Lakecia Benjamin “Pursuance: The Coltranes” (Rope A Dope)
27. Ernesto Cervini “Tetrahedron” (Anzic)
28. Christian Sands “Be Water” (Mack Avenue)
29. Theo Hill “Reality Check” (Posi-Tone)
30. Michael Wolff “Bounce” (Sunnyside)
31. Sinne Eeg “We’ve Just Begun” (BFM)
32. Roberto Fonseca “Yesun” (Mack Avenue)
33. Gilfema “Three” (Sounderscore)
34. Airmen of Note “Air Power” (U.S. Air Force)
35. Joey Alexander “Warna” (Verve)
36. Fahir Atakoglu “For Love” (Far & Here)
37. Gogo Penguin “Gogo Penguin” (Blue Note)
38. Kenny Washington “What’s the Hurry” (Lower 9th)
39. Maceo Parker “Soul Food: Cooking with Maceo” (Mascot)
40. Jan Harbeck Quartet “The Sound the Rhythm” (Stunt)
41. Eric Alexander “Eric Alexander with Strings” (High Note)
42. Jimmy Cobb “Remembering U” (Jimmy Cobb World)
43. Aaron Diehl “The Vagabond” (Mack Avenue)
44. Albare “Albare Plays Jobim” (Alfi)
45. Christopher Hollyday “Dialogue” (Jazzbeat)
46. Christian Tamburr “The Awakening” (Christian Tamburr)
47. Posi-Tone Swingtet “One for 25” (Posi-Tone)
48. Alexa Tarantino “Clarity” (Posi-Tone)
49. The Flying Horse Big Band “Florida Rays” (Flying Horse)
50. Bobby Watson “Keepin’ It Real” (Smoke Sessions)
51. Kenny Barron & Dave Holland Trio “Without Deception” (Dare2)
52. Massimo Biolcati “Incontre” (Sounderscore)
53. Nick Finzer “Cast of Characters” (Outside In)
54. Vincent Herring, Bobby Watson & Gary Bartz “Bird at 100” (Smoke Sessions)
55. Jeremy Pelt “The Art of Intimacy, Vol. 1” (High Note)
56. Vanderlei Pereira & Blindfold Test “Vision for Rhythm” (Jazzheads)
57. Michael Olatuja “Lagos Pepper Soup” (Whirlwind)
58. Will Bernard “Freelance Subversive” (Rope-a-Dope)
59. Harold Lopez-Nussa “Te Lo Dije” (Mack Avenue)
60. Troy Roberts “Stuff I Heard” (Toy Robot)
61. South Florida Jazz Orchestra “Cheap Thrills: The Music of Rick Margitza” (Summit)
62. Jason Tiemann “T-Man” (T-Man)
63. Brian Andres Trio Latino “Mayan Suite” (Bacalao)
64. John Beasley “MONKestra Plays John Beasley” (Mack Avenue)
65. Tower of Power “Step Up” (Artistry)
66. Eddie Henderson “Shuffle and Deal” (Smoke Sessions)
67. Monika Herzig “Eternal Dance” (Savant)
68. Snorre Kirk Quartet “Tangerine Rhapsody” (Stunt)
69. Carmen Lundy “Modern Ancestors” (Afrasia)
70. Jake Reed “Reed Between the Lines” (Real & Imagined)
71. Cory Weeds Quartet “Day by Day” (Cellar)
72. Karrin Allyson “Shoulder to Shoulder” (eOne)
73. Dave Askren and Jeff Benedict “Paraphernalia” (Tapestry)
74. Frank Basile/Sam Dillon Quintet “Two Part Solution” (Cellar)
75. Joe Farnsworth “Time to Swing” (Smoke Sessions)
76. Harold Mabern “Mabern Plays Mabern” (Smoke Sessions)
77. Dan McCarthy “City Abstract” (Origin)
78. Andy Milne & Unison “the reMission” (Sunnyside)
79. Shuffle Demons “Crazy Time” (Stubby)
80. Michael Zilber “East West: Music for Big Bands (Origin)
81. Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers “Just Coolin’” (Blue Note)
82. Bill Cunliffe Trio “Sunrise Over Molokai” (Metre)
83. Jose Rizo’s Mongorama “Mariposas Cantan” (Saungu)
84. Markus Rutz “Blueprints Figure One: Frameworks” (OA2)
85. John Stein “Watershed” (Whaling City Sound)
86. Dave Stryker with Bob Mintzer & the WDR Big Band “Blue Soul” (Srikezone)
87. Wayne Escoffery “The Humble Warrior” (Smoke Sessions)
88. Nubya Garcia “Source” (Concord)

Hey, Jazz fans!!! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of drummer/bandleader Panama Francis, saxmen Hank Crawford, Frank Morgan and Ronnie Cuber, and Ralph Moore, singers Esther Phillips, singer/bandleader Cab Calloway and more!!! We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of The Modern Jazz Quartet’s “Django” (1954), John Coltrane Quartet’s “Ballads” (1961), Lee Morgan’s“: The Sidewinder” (1963), David “Fathead” Newman’s “Fire” (1971) Patricia Barber’s “The Cole Porter Mix” (2007) and many others throughout the week and Mondays thru Fridays at noon on our ‘MASTERS’ program on Jazz 88.3 KCCK!!!

Short List with host Bob Naujoks

Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturdays at 7 AM

Short List: “The Hits”

The Short List begins a series about jazz tunes that became popular hits. There have been a number of significant jazz artists who have charted well. This week we look back at some Number One hits of the 1950s and 1960s – Acker Bilk’s “Stranger On the Shore,” Louis Armstrong’s “Hello Dolly,” Ray Charles’s “Georgia On My Mind” & “Hit the Road Jack,” and Herb Alpert’s “This Guy’s in Love With You.”

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler 

Mondays at 6:00 PM

Saturdays at 12:00 Noon

JCOTW’s 2020 Holiday Show

As we do every year, Craig spins all manner of jazz holiday goodies, including material from Duke Ellington, Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre, Kenny Burrell, and many others! You’ll hear some familiar favorites, as well as some beautiful mellow pieces designed to help bring down the levels of some of our holiday stress. We hope that you can join us.

The Wednesday Night Special

Wednesdays at 6:00 PM

A Dan Knight Christmas

KCCK presents a musical “Christmas card” to brighten the holiday season, as we present “A Dan Knight Christmas.” Pianist Dan Knight is joined by special guests for some seasonal favorites and new classics, full of heart, soul, and swing! Stoke the yule log, pour another mug of nog, and enjoy!  

KCCK’s Christmas Channel 

Enjoy the hippest Holiday music on KCCK’s Christmas Channel, Christmas Eve and all day Christmas Day.

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler

Saturdays at 12:00 Noon

Jazz in 1970

Craig looks at a wide variety of jazz goodies in all styles, that were recorded 50 years ago, during the year 1970.  We’ll hear all sorts of great examples from folks like Miles, Chick, Herbie, McCoy, Alice Coltrane, and a throng of other jazz greats. Be There!

KCCK’s Midnight CD

Every Night at Midnight

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

Cachai by Anibal Rojas on Monday;Volume 1 – To the Nth by The Nimmons Tribute on Tuesday; Straight Round by Four80East on Wednesday; Enjoy KCCK’s Christmas Channel on Thursday; So Much Trouble by the David Rotundo Band on Friday; Are You Ready? The Mississippi Sessions by Danny Brooks & Lil Miss Debi on Saturday; This Dream of You by Diana Krall on Sunday