Swiss Family Robinson (1940), The Beach House (2020) and Xala (1975) with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Denny Lynch.
Podcast (talkingpics): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Clean Up Your Act 8-11-20
Former Governor Chet Culver wants Iowa to become an energy efficiency leader.
Podcast (cuya): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Clean Up Your Act 8-10-20
The Nahant Marsh natural preserve in the Quad Cities is 20 years old.
Podcast (cuya): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Vote for the Best of Jazz Under the Stars!
We may be limited to one in-person Jazz Under the Stars concert this year on Aug. 27, we’re reserving Thursdays (and Wednesdays!) in August to remember some of our favorite evenings in Noelridge Park and McGrath Amphitheatre.
Use the form below to vote for a show you’d like to hear again. Vote as often as you like, but just one vote at a time, please.
This Week In Jazz July 12 thru July 18
Hey, jazz fans!!! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of composer of composer Earl Hagen, guitarists Phil Upchurch and Al Di Meola, singer Helen Merrill, trombonist Plas Johnson, pianists Sonny Clark and Al Haig, sax men Bill Perkins. Richie Kamuca and Junior Cook, organist Don Patterson and more!!! We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of “Chet Baker Sings” (1956), Abbey Lincoln’s “It’s Magic!” (1958), Wes Montgomery’s “Full House” (1962), John Coltrane “Live in Japan” (1966), Bobby Hutcherson’s “Oblique” (1967) 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 July 20 thru July 25
Short List with host Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturdays at 7 AM
B-3 Blitz: Shirley Scott
A major force in the 1950’s and 1960’s, Shirley Scott did much to elevate the organ as a respected jazz instrument. She was 22 years old when she began her long association with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, playing on his hit, “In the Kitchen.” At 24 she stepped out front as the leader of her own combos. She played soul jazz with then-husband Stanley Turrentine in the 60’s, and became a respected jazz educator when the B-3’s popularity waned.
Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler
Mondays at 6:00 PM
Herbie Hancock & the Mwandishi Era, Part 3
We hope you join us as Craig presents his 3rd show spotlighting this stunning jazz group that Herbie operated from 1969 into 1973. We’ll hear studio and live recordings from Herbie and his artistic cohorts, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Julian Priester, Bennie Maupin, Buster Williams, Billy Hart, and Dr. Patrick Gleeson. This material is some of the most overlooked and underrated music of the 20th century.
The Wednesday Night Special
Wednesdays at 6:00 PM
The Salsa Band at Jazz Under the Stars
Orquesta Alto Maiz, aka “The Salsa Band,” brings the party every place they play. KCCK has had the good fortune of hosting this legendary group of Eastern Iowa musicians several times – including a number of parties at Jazz Under the Stars parties in the park. We add some Latin heat to the summer with this 2012 celebration.
Jazz Night In America with Host Christian McBride
Thursdays at 11:00 PM
The Mighty Cannonball
Jazz Night In America honors the collaborative legacy of saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley with a deep dive into his later years, specifically his 1971 live taping at the Troubadour that became The Black Messiah album. This week’s main concert honors Cannonball at Jazz at Lincoln Center with a group of young all-stars led by saxophonist Patrick Bartley.
Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler
Saturdays at 12:00 Noon
Tribute to Reedman Eric Dolphy
Craig spins material from a number of the various Eric Dolphy tribute records made over the years, since Dolphy’s untimely death in 1964. We’ll hear from Silke Eberhard, Dave Hagedorn, Oliver Lake, Han Bennink, Jackie McLean, Ted Curson, Jerome Harris, Harold Danko, and many others.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
Every Night at Midnight
Each night, KCCK gives you the chance to hear a new CD played start-to-finish.
Blue Has a Range by Steve Cardenas on Monday; Night Talk: The Alec Wilder Songbook by Steve Fidyk on Tuesday; Catch Me If You Can by Jeff Hamilton Trio on Wednesday; Into the Shadows by John Fedchock NY Sextet on Thursday; Good Life by Hurricane Ruth on Friday; Soul Food: Cooking With Maceo by Maceo Parker on Saturday; A Sunday Kind of Love by Alex Levin Trio on Sunday
Culture Crawl 581 “Happy Birthday, Vince Guaraldi!”
It’s another in Dennis Green’s occasional series of special music interviews. July 17 is the birthday of pianist Vince Guaraldi, and we celebrate with a conversation with his biographer Derrick Bang.
You’ll hear how a radio DJ made “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” a hit, and the story of how Guaraldi got his most famous gig, scoring the Charlie Brown specials. And of course, some of Guaraldi’s most famous tunes.
Podcast (culturecrawl): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Podcast (specials): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
New Music Monday for July 20, 2020
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
Quiet as it’s kept, too many of today’s finest jazz artists are given short shrift by an industry that seems to value product of a fleeting nature over true craft and a reverence for the jazz legacy. This makes it particularly challenging for a talent like Adam Shulman to break through to a wider audience. A fixture on the Bay Area scene since 2002, the pianist has a knack for accompanying singers such as Paula West and often performs as a duo with bassist John Witala. The past three years he has enthralled SFJazz audiences with his adaptation of Vince Guaraldi’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” For his new project, “West Meets East,” an all-star crew from the East Coast, including trumpeter Joe Magnarelli and trombonist Steve Davis, mates with Shulman’s West Coast sensibilities.
Cross Coltrane with The Clash and it would resemble the departure point Throttle Elevator Music leaps from on “Emergency Exit.” Tenor saxophonist Kamasi Washington takes the lead and raises the bar of instrumental intensity on 16 original compositions, from shorter punk-minded 45-second flurries to thematic uptempo romps, and rounding out with a few expansionary journeys. Kamasi’s melodic tonality melds nicely into the electric undercurrent laid down by drummer/guitarist Mike Hughes, bassist/keyboardist/composer Matt Montgomery, composer/producer Gregory Howe and trumpeter Erik Jekabson.
Also this week, pianist and owner/operator of Smalls and Mezzrow jazz clubs Spike Wilner leads the SmallsLive All Stars, including trumpeter and Iowa native Ryan Kisor and saxophonist Joel Frahm, on “A Set of Originals”;
veteran drummer Berdard “Pretty” Purdie teams up with organist Ron Oswanski and bassist Christian Fabian for “Move On!”;
and saxophonist Grant Stewart recorded in the famous Rudy Van Gelder studio for his newest release, “Rise and Shine.”