Culture Crawl 624 “Local, Bingeable Playwriting”

City Circle Acting Company of Coralville presents “Acting Out While Staying In” – An Evening of Virtual Comedy, available to stream April 9-11.

It’s 3 brand new short plays, including a new piece from Chris Okiishi, with the… provocative title “Scandinavian Death Cleaning.” It stars Chris’s husband, Patrick Dulaney, on a break from his Broadway role in Harry Potter, along with Riverside Theatre founders Ron Clark and Jody Hovland. Also premiering are “Working For a Laugh,” by Paul Story and Janet Schlapkohl; and “…And Quarantine Makes Three,” by Brian Tanner.

Watch at your convenience anytime from Friday through Sunday. Tickets at www.coralvillearts.org.

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This Week In Jazz March 28 thru April 3


Hey, Jazz fans. Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of singers Astrud Gilberto, Frankie Laine and Doris Day, guitarists Remo Palmier, Freddie Green, Larry Coryell, and Dave Stryker, trumpeters Booker Little and Herb Alpert and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Kenny Dorham’s “Afro-Cuban” (1955), Art Pepper’s “The Art of Art Pepper” (1957), Bud Powell’s “The Complete Essen Concert” (1960), Donald Byrd’s “Black Byrd” (1972), Benny Golson Group’s “Remembering Clifford” (1997), Brent Jensen’s “The Sound of a Dry Martini: Remembering Paul Desmond” (2001) and many more throughout the week and Mondays thru Fridays at noon on our JAZZ MASTERS‘ program on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.

Special Programs for March 29 thru April 3

Short List with Host Bob Naujoks

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

Short List: The Final Series

The Short List continues its final series with pianist Horace Parlan. Another great jazzman to come out of Pittsburgh, Parlan worked with Sonny Stitt and later with Charles Mingus – collaborating with Mingus on the classic records Blues & Roots and Mingus Ah Um. He recorded for Blue Note in the 1960’s before making Copenhagen, Denmark his permanent home for the rest of his life.

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler

Mondays at 6:00 PM

Ben Webster’s Birthday Party

Craig celebrates the birth date anniversary of Benjamin Francis “Ben” Webster, who was born in Kansas City on March 27th, 1909. We’ll hear a variety of selections from this very influential tenorman … recordings with Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges, Art Tatum, Benny Carter, Oscar Peterson, and more. Don’t miss it!

 

 

 

 

The Wednesday Night Special

Wednesdays at 6:00 PM

Cyrille Aimee & the Surreal Band

Our month-long celebration of Women’s History Month concludes with French-born singer Cyrille Aimee and the Surreal Band. This critically-acclaimed chanteuse is a Grammy nominee, and a veteran of the Montreux Jazz Festival. Her sweet, articulate voice charmed the crowd at the 2012 Iowa City Jazz Festival.

 

 

 

Jazz Night in America with host Christian McBride

Thursdays at 11:00 PM

The Genius of Myra Melford

Host Christian McBride takes us on a “musical journey across the spectrum” with pianist and composer Myra Melford, who McBride considers a master improviser and “multi-dimensional musical force, eloquent in everything from avant-garde to the blues, from small groups to big bands.”

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler 

Saturdays at 12:00 Noon

Tribute to Chick Corea, Part 2   

In this second tribute show, covering September, 1968 to July 1969, Craig spins more of his favorites from the keyboard artistry of Chick Corea. We’ll hear some of Chick’s own bands and a bunch of work with one of Chick’s all-time heroes, Miles Davis. This music is surely the backbone of modern jazz from the 1960s and 1970s. Don’t miss it!!

 

 

 

KCCK’s Midnight CD

Every Night at Midnight

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

Sacred Hearts by Rick Marqitza on Monday; Luna by Mauricio Morales on Tuesday; Cleveland Time by Matthew Alec & the Soul Electric on Wednesday; The Latin Side of Wes Montgomery by Nelson Riveros on Thursday; You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught by Gary Negbaur on Friday; Express Connection by Tomislav Goluban on Saturday; Everybody Knows by the Brianna Thomas Band on Sunday

New Music Monday for March 29, 2021

     Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify      
With her recorded projects ranging from post-bop arrangements of Israeli songs from youth to commissioned new works for classical saxophone, Idit Shner has been a tireless advocate for ‘making things happen’ since receiving her DMA from the University of North Texas 15 years ago. On the faculty of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Idit continues to inspire others while using the city’s central jazz gathering, The Jazz Station, to workshop ideas and perform regularly with her quartet. Recorded in June of 2019, “Live at the Jazz Station” captures the joy and exuberance heard each night there, with a high-energy group of friends exploring a favorite standard or their own compositions.

 

 

 

 

     Not a stranger to the idea of infusing one’s art with examinations of societal conditions, Grammy-winning trumpeter Charlie Porter follows 2019’s “Immigration Nation” with thoughts of how we act in hindsight to deal with the collateral damage of ‘progress’ and the centuries-old struggles with racism, inequality and corruption Born during the upheavels of 2020, “Hindsight” reflects the tumult, uncertainty, and fiery emotions of the times, and thoughts on how we’re going to leave the planet for the next generation.

 

 

 

 

                      

Also this week, “The Remainder” is the third studio album from Brooklyn-based saxophonist and composer Jonathan Parker featuring his long-standing quintet from his days living in Washington, D.C.;

 

 

 

                        

the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio mixes in a big helping of ‘60s organ jazz stylings, a pinch of snappy soul strut, and sprinkles Motown, Stax, blues and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar into the mix on “I Told You So”;

 

 

 

 

 

       

and The Rooibos Quartet is one of the outstanding ensembles to emerge from Charleston, South Carolina’s  fertile jazz scene as they present their debut release, “Rooibos,” showcasing a particular blend of contemporary  and classic jazz styles with a laid-back Southern demeanor.

 

 

Bird In Words and Pictures

Book Review – Chasin’ The Bird

By Ron Adkins

If Charlie Parker were to be remembered solely for his saxophone virtuosity, that alone would be an incredible legacy. But Bird was so much more. He was a quixotic soul, as deeply troubled as he was introspective and wise. He was unique. There will never be another like him.

No one ever saw, nor fully comprehended, the whole Charlie Parker, but writer and artist Dave Chisholm, in his graphic novel, Chasin’ the Bird: Charlie Parker In California, offers us a good glimpse.

Chasin’ the Bird was published with the blessing of the Charlie Parker Estate as part of the Centennial celebration of his birth. The book is currently making the rounds of the KCCK staff, and we highly recommend it to any jazz lover and everyone interested in the life of this icon.

Author Chisholm takes the truth – that no one fully knew every facet of Parker – and turns it into a metaphor. We learn little bits about his infamous, mysterious two years in California through a “chorus” of voices – from best friend Dizzy Gillespie to jazz photographer William Claxton to a young John Coltrane to Dial Records founder Ross Russell. Each of these people, and others, found themselves briefly in orbit around Parker in California. Each one tells their piece of the tale, adding a little to the picture of Bird as a whole.

Central to each of their tales is the great mystery of his California odyssey. Why did Bird disappear for several months? Where did he go? What was he doing? Like everything about Charlie Parker’s life, no one knew the whole story, and we can only learn so much. Some of the legendary music composed during this time does offer some clues. He wrote “Moose the Mooche” about his Los Angeles dope dealer, for instance, and newcomers to Bird will enjoy the story behind “Relaxin’ at Camarillo.”

If you don’t think of yourself as a comics person, don’t let Chisholm’s chosen vehicle for this tale turn you away. The author’s storytelling in words and images is what makes Chasin’ the Bird so brilliant.

Chasin’ The Bird is available from Z2Comics and your favorite local bookstore.

Clean Up Your Act 4-14-21

Buffalo might someday roam over a bridge connecting the Iowa and Illinois Quad Cities.

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Talking Pictures 3-24-21

Promising Young Woman (2020) and Bridgerton (Netflix) with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Monica Schmidt.

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Clean Up Your Act 4-13-21

Climate change is changing things for some species in the Mississippi River watershed.

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