Hiya, Jazz Fans!!! Jazz birthdays we’ll be celebrating this week include those of drummers Buddy Rich, Victor Jones and Mike Clark, bassists Oscar Pettiford, Eddie Gomez, Curtis Lundy and Steve Swallow, saxmen Von Freeman and Ronnie Laws, violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and more! We’ll also salute the recording anniversaries of The Clifford Brown Sextet in Paris (1953), Johnny Smith and His New Quartet (1956), Booker Little 4 & Max Roach (1958), “In Person” by The Bobby Timmons Trio 1961), John Patton’s “Memphis to New York Spirit” (1970) and many more. Listen for us to feature these artists and other recordings throughout the week, and on Jazz Masters with Hollis Monroe weekdays at noon on Jazz 88.3 KCCK!
This Week in Jazz September 29 to October 5
Talking Pictures 9-26-19
Downton Abbey, IT Chapter Two and Ad Astra with Hollis Monroe, Denny Lynch and Phil Brown.
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Special Programs for September 23 thru September 28
Short List with host Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturdays at 7 AM
The Bass Players: Milt Hinton
Milt Hinton was not only a virtuoso bassist, adept at bowing, pizzicato, and slapping, but was also the ultimate sideman. He perfectly fit his considerable talent to accentuate whatever piece he played. His 15 years with Cab Calloway led to a 60-year career working with the premier names in jazz.
Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler
Mondays from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM
79th Birthday Party For Gary Bartz
Craig barely scratched the surface last year when he presented the 35+ recordings that Gary Bartz has made as a leader. Craig revisits Bartz’s prodigious output on the occasion of the saxman’s 79th birthday, presenting more tasty listening from the catalog of this under-rated and overlooked sax masters.
Wednesday Night Special
Wednesdays at 6:00 PM
Bob Sheppard with the Kirkwood Jazz Ensemble
Veteran reedman Bob Sheppard added the Kirkwood Big Band to his already impressive resume when he took the Ballantyne Auditorium stage for their 2009 Fall Concert. Sheppard, known for his improvisation skills and affinity for jazz fusion, jammed at Kirkwood on a repertoire of classic tunes and some of his original compositions.
Jazz Night In America with Host Christian McBride
Thursdays at 11:00 PM
Gregory Porter in St. Lucia
Gregory Porter, singer, songwriter, and longtime voice of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, talks with host Christian McBride on his philosophy of music and his approach to performance. We also get to hear his live set from the St. Lucia Jazz Festival.
Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler
Saturdays at Noon
50th Anniversary of ECM Records, Part 3
Craig looks at another batch of interesting material from the early years of the label (1969 to 1974). We’ll hear from Dave Holland, Barre Phillips, Keith Jarrett, Gary Burton, Chick Corea, and many others. With nearly 2000 titles in their impressive catalog, they are still going strong in this, their 50th year.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
Every Night at Midnight
Each night, KCCK gives you the chance to hear a new CD played start-to-finish. Tune in at Midnight for:
Quintet by Roxy Coss on Monday; Get Right! by Markus Howell on Tuesday; Sonero: the Music of Ismael Rivera by Miguel Zenon on Wednesday; Danish Ballads … and More by the Scott Hamilton Quartet on Thursday; The Preacher, the Politician, or the Pimp by Toronzo Cannon & the Chicago Way on Friday; Contemporary by Rick Estrin & the Nightcats on Saturday; I’m Just a Lucky So & So by Houston Person on Sunday.
Clean Up Your Act 10-9-19
The 2019 Iowa Climate Statement says the state is getting hotter and needs to address climate change now.
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New Music Monday for September 23, 2019
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Miles Davis shocked the music world in 1985 when he left Columbia Records after 30 years to join Warner Bros. Records. In October of that year, he began recording the album “Rubberband” in Los Angeles. The musical direction Davis was taking during the sessions marked a radical departure, with the inclusion of funk and soul grooves and plans to feature guest vocalists Al Jarreau and Chaka Khan. Eventually the album was shelved and Davis went on to record “Tutu,” leaving the “Rubberband” songs unheard and untouched for over 30 years. Now the entire 11-song album makes its debut, finished by the original producers with an original Davis painting as the cover art.
Throughout his career, master conguero Poncho Sanchez has held aloft the torch lit by such Latin jazz innovators as Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente and Cal Tjader, embraced by each of those icons and entrusted to carry forward the traditions of the music. But Sanchez’s influences are numerous, and John Coltrane looms large in his pantheon alongside those pioneers. On his first album in seven years, Poncho celebrates the life and music of the iconic saxophonist. “Trane’s Delight” pays tribute with Latin-tinged reimaginings of Coltrane’s classics as well as new pieces composed in honor of late jazz legend.
Also this week, Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, who delighted at this summer’s Iowa City Jazz Festival, offer up their exuberant blend of Afro-Cuban and jazz fusion on their third release, “On Firm Ground”.
Pianist/composer Masa Ishikawa, a native of Fukushima, Japan, and the newest addition to the University of Iowa jazz faculty, unveils his first jazz CD, “Dialogue”.
and vocalist Mark Winkler pays homage to one of America’s great tunesmiths and master lyricists with “I’m With You: Mark Winkler Sings Bobby Troup.”
This Week In Jazz September 22 thru September 28
Tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of saxmen John Coltrane, Frank Foster, Sam Rivers and Gary Bartz, singers Ray Charles, Marlena Shaw, Les McCann, Herb Jeffries Irene Reid and Rebecca Kilgore, composer George Gershwin, pianist/composers Bud Powell and Dan Knight 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), Sonny Rollins’ “Newk’s Time” (1957), Coleman Hawkins’ “Supreme” (1966), “The Return of Tal Farlow” (1969) and many others throughout the week and Mondays thru Fridays at noon on our ‘JAZZ MASTERS’ program on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Culture Crawl 499 “Ron on Didgeridoo”
Native American flute player Jonny Lipford welcomes indigenous performers from all over the country to Iowa each year for the Sweetgrass Flute and Nature Festival, held at Prairie Woods in Hiawatha, Sept. 27-29.
KCCK’s Ron Adkins is the Festival MC, and lets us in on who he is excited to see perform. And as always, Jonny brings in some of the flutes in his collection for a live demo.
Free admission. Information at www.sweetgrassfest.com.
Native American flute player Jonny Lipford welcomes indigenous performers from all over the country to Iowa each year for the Sweetgrass Flute and Nature Festival, held at Prairie Woods in Hiawatha, Sept. 27-29.
KCCK’s Ron Adkins is the Festival MC, and lets us in on who he is excited to see perform. And as always, Jonny brings in some of the flutes in his collection for a live demo.
Free admission. Information at www.sweetgrassfest.com.
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First Friday Jazz October 4
The Rod Pierson Quartet will perform at First Friday Jazz at the Opus Concert Cafe Friday, October 4, at 5 p.m. The first set will be broadcast live on KCCK. The First Friday Jazz Series features an eclectic mix of jazz, Latin, contemporary music and more in an intimate, upscale environment. For a $12 cover, enjoy live music and drink specials at the Opus Concert Café bar the first Friday of every month. Purchase tickets.