The Cedar Rapids Municipal Band heads to McGrath Amphitheatre for the first time this season, to spread out on its large stage and feature special guest Saxophonist Rod Pierson, playing a selection written by Sammy Nestico. A long-time member and composer for the Count Basie Band, Nestico also wrote music for concert band, which you’ll hear, along with selections from “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and even a Louie Armstrong medley.
July 6 at McGrath, July 11 at Bever Park. Both concerts at 7:30. More info at www.crmuniband.org.
Hey, Jazz fans! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of drummer Louis Bellson, trumpeter/bandleader Doc Severinsen, vocalist Billy Eckstine, saxman Arthur Blythe, trumpeters Cootie Williams and Lee Morgan, bassist Major Holley and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of “Duke Ellington at Newport, 1956”, “Count Basie at Newport, 1957”, “Sonny Rollins on Impulse!” (1965), “Bobby Hutcherson & Harold Land, San Francisco” (1970), Kenny Barron Trio’s “Green Chimneys” (1983), Jessica Williams Live at Yoshi’s, Vol. 2” (2003) and many others throughout the week and Mondays thru Fridays at noon on our ‘JAZZ MASTERS’ program on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
On this special live broadcast Craig will spin classic selections from the great ECM record label. We’ll hear from the likes of Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Bennie Maupin, Gary Burton, Ralph Towner, and many others!
The Wednesday Night Special
Wednesdays at 6:00 PM
The Beaker Brothers at Jazz Under the Stars
The wait is almost over! We’re just a month away from the return of Jazz Under the Stars, KCCK’s last great party of the summer. To celebrate, we’re looking back at the great party bands who have graced our Noelridge Park stage. We start with the Beaker Brothers. This group of some of Eastern Iowa’s best takes us back to the days of classic jam bands and underground rock.
Jazz Night in America with host Christian McBride
Thursdays at 11:00 PM
Endea Owens Give Back
Host Christian McBride spotlights young bassist Endea Owens. We’ll hear her playing with such jazz legends as Wynton Marsalis and Jon Batiste. Owens and McBride sit down and talk about her deep Detroit roots, and how she’s giving back to her community with free meals and free concerts on the street.
Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler
Saturdays at 12:00 Noon
Strata-East Records, Part 2
Craig spins another batch of delights from the great, oft-overlooked jazz label Strata-East. We’ll hear goodies from a broad spectrum of Black artists from the early and mid 1970s, such as bassist Larry Ridley, sax man Cecil Payne, altoist Shamek Farrah, drummer Billy Parker, trumpeter John Gordon, and a host of others. Tune in for this extremely important music!
KCCK’s Midnight CD
Every Night at Midnight
Each night, KCCK gives you the chance to hear a new CD played start-to-finish.
New Love by Charnett Moffett on Monday;Fallen Heroes by Willie Jones III on Tuesday;The Bright Side by Joel Frahm on Wednesday; Too Close For Comfort by George Cables on Thursday; Soul Distancing by Adam Shultz on Friday; Let’s Have a Party! by Gerald McClendon on Saturday; Squint by Julian Lage on Sunday
Gilded Pear Gallery celebrates its 10th anniversary with a staff exhibition featuring the artwork of Suzy McGrane-Hopp, Lauren Tucci, and Linda Ge. Suzy will exhibit large, abstract paintings, Linda charcoal drawings and abstract sculptures, and Lauren household decor and functional objects.
All of the work will be on display beginning July 2, but mark your calendar for Gilded Pear’s 10th anniversary party and Artist Reception on July 16, where you will get the unusual experience of getting to hear the “Gilded Girls” talk not about other people’s work, but their own!
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify When pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Ben Street and drummer Billy Hart, three of the most admired and respected musicians in jazz, assembled on one of the darkest, coldest nights at the end of a difficult year of despair, they were merely together to perform for Smoke Jazz Club’s livestreaming concert series in celebration of Billy’s 80th birthday. What happened next was music of such illumination and joy, that it was quickly decided that the music should be preserved and shared as a recording. “All Things Are” is the result of those performances, capturing these three artists in peak form and reveling in the simple pleasure of making music together after so few opportunities in almost a year.
As chief conductor of the stellar WDR Big Band of Cologne, Germany, for the last six years, Bob Mintzer was ready to showcase his own material with the world-class large ensemble. An amalgam of moods, grooves and intricate textures, the new CD, “Soundscapes,” not only showcases Mintzer’s writing for the indelibly tight, universally esteemed ensemble, it also finds him doing double duty as principal soloist on tenor sax and EWI. He also provides a spotlight for such other outstanding soloists as longtime WDR members Paul Heller on tenor sax, Karolina Strassmayer and John Horlen on alto saxes, Ruud Breuls and Andy Haderer on trumpets and Andy Hunter on trombone.
Also this week, saxophonist Troy Roberts and guitarist Tim Jago, who were both born and raised in Australia and both initially re-located to the U.S. to undertake graduate studies at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, come together as “Best Buddies”;
The Mark Masters Ensemble featuring Art Baron and Tim Hagens interpret the music of Ellington’s Blanton-Webster Band on “Masters and Baron Meet Blanton & Webster”;
and veteran L.A.-based bass player Henry “Skipper” Franklin, who has played and recorded with the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Hampton Hawes and Count Basie, offers up “Showers of Blessings.”
The KCCK Featured Album for July is “Westward Bound” by Harold Land. The disc contains previously unissued live recordings by the legendary tenor saxophonist from the The Penthouse in Seattle between 1962 and 1965. Land is joined by stellar musicians including pianists Buddy Montgomery and Hampton Hawes, drummer Philly Joe Jones, bassist Monk Montgomery and trumpeter Carmell Jones. The remastered audio was captured from direct transfers of the original Penthouse’s tape reels. “Westward Bound” is on Reel to Real Records. Purchase the album. Purchase the album.
Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler 
Jazz Night in America with host Christian McBride
Listen to this week’s playlist on 
