Special Programs for September 20 thru September 26

Short List with host Bob Naujoks

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

Licorice Stick: Acker Bilk

Bernard Stanley “Acker” Bilk was considered by critics the “Great Master of the Clarinet” and known for his breathy, low-register vibrato. His 1962 recording, “Stranger on the Shore,” was the UK’s biggest-selling single of 1962, staying on the charts for over 50 weeks. In the United States, it was only the second Billboard Magazine Number One single by a British artist.

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler

Mondays at 6:00 PM

Tribute to Saxman Steve Grossman     

Steve Grossman first stepped into the limelight with Miles Davis, having followed Wayne Shorter in Miles’ band. He then played with Elvin Jones for about 5 years, and over the last 50 years, has made numerous recordings with a number of other big names, like McCoy Tyner, Johnny Griffin, and Tom Harrell. Tune in to hear fantastic examples of this amazing saxophonist’s work!

 

 

 

 

The Wednesday Night Special

Wednesdays at 6:00 PM

Dr. Z’s Experiment at Jazz Under The Stars

Dr. Z’s Experiment began in 1998 as a jazz trio at Kirkwood Community College. They’ve since grown into a 5-piece, and their sound has evolved into a funky, experimental fusion of rock, jazz, and reggae. As the 2002 Jazz Under the Stars crowd quickly discovered, Dr. Z’s Experiment serves up seamless improvisational jams, melding genres into blistering live performances.

 

 

 

 

Jazz Night In America with Host Christian McBride

Thursdays at 11:00 PM

NEA Jazz Masters, Class of 2020  

Jazz Night in America honors the 2020 NEA Jazz Masters: Roscoe Mitchell, Reggie Workman, Dorthaan Kirk and Bobby McFerrin. Four newly crowned masters, with plenty of music, stories, and memories.

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler

Saturdays at 12:00 Noon

Pacific Jazz Recordings, 1960 & 1961

As the decade of the 1950s came to a close and the brilliant lustre of “West Coast Jazz” began to fade, the foremost labels started to diversify. Pacific Jazz climbed on to the “soul jazz” wagon and began issuing records from organist Richard “Groove” Holmes, pianist Les McCann, Stanley Turrentine, The Mastersounds, and others. This week, Craig spotlights some of those earliest, new-styled recordings from 1960 and 1961.

 

 

 

KCCK’s Midnight CD

Every Night at Midnight

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

Harlem Stories: The Music of Thelonious Monk by Teodross Avery on Monday; Freelance Subversives by Will Bernard on Tuesday; Message from Groove & GW by Radam Schwartz Organ Big Band on Wednesday; Cheap Thrills: The Music of Rick Margitza by the South Florida Jazz Orchestra on Thursday; Johnny Iguana’s Chicago Spectacular by Johnny Iguana on Friday; The Good The Bad & The Bette by Bette Smith on Saturday; Something To Say by Matt Haviland on Sunday

This Week In Jazz September 20 thru September 26

Hey, Jazz fans!!! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of composer George Gershwin, bassists Slam Stewart and Jimmy Woode, singer/pianists Ray Charles and Les McCann,  trumpeter Fats Navarro, saxmen Frank Foster and Damani Phillips and more!!! We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of “Charlie Parker at Storyville” (1953), “Thelonious Monk & Sonny Rollins” (1954), “Bennie Green Blows His Horn” (1955), Coleman Hawkins’ “Supreme” (1966), “The Return on Tal Farlow” (1969), David Murray and Friends’ “MX: Dedicated to the Memory of Malcolm X” (1992) and many others throughout the week and Mondays thru Fridays at noon on our ‘JAZZ MASTERS’ program on Jazz 88.3 KCCK!!!

New Music Monday for September 21, 2020

     Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
For the past 17 years, the Grammy Award-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra has earned their reputation as today’s premiere salsa ensemble. Considered “the leading light of the salsa reconstruction movement” by Newsday, they have performed on the world’s top stages and at nearly every major jazz festival, including those in Newport, Montreal and Monterey. “The Latin Jazz Project” is a natural progression for the SHO as their artistic director, Oscar Hernandez, is considered one of the most important Latin jazz pianists of his generation. Hernandez has melded his Latin jazz expertise with Spanish Harlem Orchestra’s signature salsa dura sound to produce the ensemble’s first all-Latin jazz recording.

 

 

     “Data Lords” is a new double-album by Grammy Award-winning composer and bandleader Maria Schneider. Inspired by conflicting relationships between the digital and natural worlds, the recording features Schneider’s acclaimed orchestra of 18 world-class musicians. “As big data companies clamor for our attention, I know that I’m not alone in struggling to find space—to keep connected with my inner world, the natural world, and just the simpler things in life,” says Schneider. “Just as I feel myself ping ponging between a digital world and the real world, the same dichotomy is showing up I my music…it felt natural to make a two-album release reflecting these two polar extremes.”

 

               
Also this week, Mark Egan and Danny Gottlieb, long time band mates and highly acclaimed rhythm section, draw from their 49 years of playing experience with Pat Metheny, Gil Evans, Pat Martino, Larry Coryell and many other luminaries and explore their highly creative interplay and improvisational stylings on “Electric Blue”;

 

 

 

                  

Nigerian-born bassist, composer and arranger Michael Olatuja enlisted the talents of Dianne Reeves, Regina Carter, Joe Lovano, Lionel Louke and others to realize his vision of what he calls Cinematic Afrobeat on his second release, “Lagos Pepper Soup”;

 

 

 

             

       and Randy Brecker and Eric Marienthal team up for a new project, “Double Dealin’,” featuring John Patitucci and Dave Weckl.

 

 

 

Talking Pictures 9-16-20

The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019) and La Llorona (2019), with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Monica Schmidt.

 

Podcast (talkingpics): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Culture Crawl 589 “Excuse Me, You Have What?”

“The Parking Lot” is a new play written especially for the pandemic. Not because it deals with the virus, but because it was written to be performed by a couple, and presented outdoors in (surprise) a parking lot.

Mirrrorbox Theatre, whose mission is to bring new plays to Iowa, presents the show Sept. 18-26, with well-known Corridor performers Scot and Marcia Hughes in the roles of Terry and J. It’s the story of the couple’s relationship, told over 20 scenes, most of them connected to, or taking place in a parking lot.

The play will be staged in the CSPS parking lot for 22 carloads of patrons each night, who’ll watch the play enfold onstage and listen over a low-power FM transmitter. 

$40 per car. Tickets and more information at www.mirrorboxtheatre.com

Podcast (culturecrawl): Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

This Week In September 13 thru September 19

Hey, Jazz fans!!! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of singers Mel Torme, Charles Brown, Jon Hednricks and Giacomo Gates, Bluesman B.B. King, saxophonists Cannonball Adderley, Hamiet Bluiett, violinist Joe Venuti and more!!! We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Chet Baker & the Lighthouse All-Stars “Witch Doctor” (1953), John Coltrane’s “Blue Train” (1957), Art Farmer ‘s “Modern Art” (1958), Duke Ellington’s “Money Jungle” (1962), Shirley Horn’s “All of Me” (1986) and many others throughout the week and Mondays thru Fridays at noon on our ‘JAZZ MASTERS’ program on Jazz 88.3 KCCK!!!

Special Programs for September 13 thru September 19

Short List with host Bob Naujoks

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

B-3 Blitz: Charles Earland

The hard, simmering B-3 grooves of Charles Earland earned him the nickname “the Mighty Burner.” While keeping one foot squarely in jazz, Earland delighted in his experimentation with soul, R&B, and funk. His first successful band included Grover Washington, Jr., and he collaborated with such greats as Pat Martino, Lou Donaldson, and Houston Person.

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler

Mondays at 6:00 PM

The Art Ensemble of Chicago on ECM     

Craig spins some of the unique art from this pioneering group. We’ll hear from some 20 ECM records that feature this ensemble, as well as some related ensembles from the likes of Jack DeJohnette, Leo Smith, Lester Bowie, and others. Don’t miss this one!

 

 

 

 

The Wednesday Night Special

Wednesdays at 6:00 PM

Goosetown at Jazz Under The Stars

Goose Town brought the groove tunes to 2017’s Jazz Under the Stars with their high energy blend of jazz, R&B, and funk. Featuring vocalist Emily Snyder and bassist Blake Shaw, Goose Town puts the jammin’ horn section right out front for a night of power soul.

 

 

 

 

Jazz Night In America with Host Christian McBride

Thursdays at 11:00 PM

Baltimore’s Renaissance

Host Christian McBride leads the celebration of the renewal of jazz in Baltimore with trumpeter Sean Jones, NEA Jazz Master Todd Barkan and members of the Baltimore Jazz Collective — a new leaderless group featuring Charm City native, double bassist Kris Funn and community activist/bass clarinetist Todd Marcus.  This show was recorded and originally broadcast right before the pandemic began.

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler

Saturdays at 12:00 Noon

Tribute to Saxman Steve Grossman     

Steve Grossman first stepped into the limelight with Miles Davis, having followed Wayne Shorter in Miles’ band. He then played with Elvin Jones for about 5 years, and over the last 50 years, has made numerous recordings with a number of other big names, like McCoy Tyner, Johnny Griffin, and Tom Harrell. Tune in to hear fantastic examples of this amazing saxophonist’s work!

 

 

 

KCCK’s Midnight CD

Every Night at Midnight

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

The Real Jazz Whisperer by Paul Carr on Sunday; Emergency Vehicle Blues by Big Band Bones on Monday; Acceptance by Billy Childs on Tuesday; Te Lo Dije by Harold Lopez-Nussa on Wednesday; For Jimmy, Wes & Oliver by the Christian McBride Big Band on Thursday; From the Patio: Live at Poor House Bistro Vol. 1 by Ron Thompson on Friday; Below Sea Level by Eric Johanson on Saturday

New Music Monday for September 14, 2020

     Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
While a few organists have recorded with a big band (including Jimmy Smith with Oliver Nelson), Radam Schwartz remembers the Richard ‘Groove’ Holmes collaboration with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra on his new CD, “Message from Groove and GW.” Born and raised in New York City, Radam has worked with the likes of Eddie ‘Lockjaw’ Davis, Russell Malone, David ‘Fathead’ Newman and Cecil Brooks III, appearing on over 40 recordings as a sideman, as well as nine discs of his own. Joined by the Abel Mireles Jazz Exchange Orchestra, Radam has become the first organist to play all the bass lines through an entire big band album. In addition, he contributed three originals and five of the ten arrangements to the new project.

 

 

 

     “Harlem Stories: The Music of Thelonious Monk” is the latest from saxophonist Teodross Avery. His ninth release as a leader is less a tribute to Monk than a deep study of the music. “I wanted to make sure that we brought the feeling and the spirit of Harlem into the music,” Avery explains. “Harlem has always been the center of Black American urban culture since the 1920s and I just wanted to capture that feeling in the music.” He does that with two separate bands on the disc, including pianists Anthony Wonsey and D.D. Jackson and drummers Willie Jones III and Marvin ‘Bugalu’ Smith. Corcoran Holt is bassist for both bands.

 

 

 

                             

Also this week, the South Florida Jazz Orchestra celebrates its 15th anniversary with “Cheap Thrills: the Music of Rick Margitza,” featuring the compositions, arrangements and the playing of the saxophonist;

 

 

 

 

        

New York trombonist Matt Haviland features an all-star lineup on “Something to Say,” including saxophonist Vincent Herring, pianist David Kikoski, bassist Ugonna Okegwa, and drummer Johnathan Blake;

 

 

 

           

      and guitarist Will Bernard offers up his ninth release as a leader, “Freelance Subversives.”