Xavier Junior Wins Corridor Jazz Art Contest

Allison Talyat, a junior at Xavier High School in Cedar Rapids, has been chosen as the winner of the 2019 Corridor Jazz Project CD Cover design. Allison will receive a $100 cash prize from KCCK-FM.

Her design will serve as the cover of the “The Corridor Jazz Project XIII”, a compilation of recordings from the top jazz bands from Jefferson, Kennedy, Prairie, Xavier and Washington High Schools in Cedar Rapids, Linn-Mar and Marion in Marion; City High, Liberty, Center Point Urbana, Solon, Mt. Vernon, and Lisbon.

Receiving Honorable Mention in the contest were eight other students:
Megan Bennett, CR Washington
Katy Hawkins, Marion
Andrew Galimowski, Marion
Lydia Johnston, Marion
Shelby LaMere, Marion
Katelyn Putz, Marion
Carl Steinlase, Marion
Dangelo Washpun, Marion

Allison’s original piece, and those receiving Honorable Mention will all be exhibited during the Corridor Jazz Project concert, March 10 at the Solon Center for Fine Arts.

The Corridor Jazz Project is a jazz education and mentoring program for jazz band students in Eastern Iowa. The program matches each high school’s top jazz band with a professional jazz player, who performs as a guest soloist with the band. The subsequent recordings have been collected and will be released on a compilation CD.

Support for the Corridor Jazz Project comes from MidWestOne Bank, Latta Harris, Orchestra Iowa, and West Music.

Special Programs for January 20 thru January 25

Short List with host Bob Naujoks    

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

Bob’s Baker’s Dozen: Sauter-Finegan Orchestra

An obscure big band from the 1950s. The Sauter-Finegan Orchestra had a nice five-year run with a dozen albums. Their Orchestra flirted with novelty effects, near modern classical compositions, and offered little improvisation. They hit the charts with “Doodletown Fifers,” and “The Moon Is Blue.” 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler

Mondays at 6:00 PM

Prestige Records in 1970, Part One

In this first of a 2-part set of shows, Craig presents selections from the first half of 1970.  We’ll hear from great jazz artists like Harold Mabern, Gene Ammons, Houston Person, Pat Martino, Dexter Gordon, and others.  Looking back 50 years, Prestige Records was still totally in the groove.

 

 


The Wednesday Night Special

Wednesdays at 6:00 PM

Ritmocano at ICJF 2015

With the recent release of their latest album, Iowa Friends, Cuban Music, now is a great time to revisit Ritmocano’s standout performance at the Iowa City Jazz Festival. Led by master percussionist James Dreier, this hot Latin music ensemble features a who’s who of Eastern Iowa talent. 

 

 

Jazz Night In America with Host Christian McBride

Thursdays at 11:00 PM

The Two Hemispheres of Mark Guiliana

Explore two sides of drummer Mark Guiliana’s creative brain featuring two different bands from two sides of the globe. The Mark Guiliana Jazz Quartet, his acclaimed acoustic ensemble, performs a lightning-rod set at the world famous Bimhuis in Amsterdam, followed by the premiere of the composer’s new look electric Beat Music project, captured at Rough Trade in Brooklyn.

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler

Saturdays at 12:00 Noon

John Coltrane in 1960

Craig travels back 60 years to look in on the recorded output of saxophonist John Coltrane in 1960. We’ll hear live material that features Coltrane in Miles’ band, as well as more studio material from Atlantic Records and Roulette Records.

 

 

 

 

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: 

Live In New York by Kurt Elling & James Morrison on Monday; Crazy Time by Shuffle Demons on Tuesday; Beast From The East by Wild Card on Wednesday; Sunrise Over Molokai by the Bill Cunliffe Trio on Thursday; Wayback Machine by Mark Hummel on Friday; Every Day of Your Life by Jimmy Johnson on Saturday; Brazilian Whispers by Andrea Brachfeld on Sunday. 

This Week In Jazz January 19 thru January 25

Tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of trombonists Juan Tizol and J.J. Johnson, drummers Jimmy Cobb and Jeff “Tain” Watts, singer Etta James and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of  Miles Davis’ “Birth of the Cool” (1949), “Clifford Brown with strings” (1955), Lee Morgan Quintet’s “Take Twelve” (1962) and many others through and out the week and Mondays thru Fridays at noon on our ‘JAZZ MASTERS’ program on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.

Culture Crawl 539 “It’s About Rights… They Didn’t Have Any”

Jessica Link of Cedar Rapids and Curtis Jackson of Chicago portray women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony and abolitionist Frederick Douglass in “The Agitators,” Jan. 24 – Feb. 16 at Riverside Theatre.

It’s an Iowa premiere of a play that tells the true story of the 40-year tempestuous friendship between these two icons of the fight for equal rights. In addition to the performances, there will be special talkbacks after the Sunday shows which will include playwright Mat Smart, as well as local scholars from the University of Iowa, African-American Museum of Iowa, and the League of Women Voters.

More information and tickets available at www.riversidetheatre.org.

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New Music Monday for January 20, 2020

     Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.

For the better part of a decade, acclaimed trombonist, producer and composer Delfeayo Marsalis has spent most Wednesday nights at the helm of his dynamic Uptown Jazz Orchestra’s residency at Snug Harbor in New Orleans. With “Jazz Party,” Marsalis’ seventh studio album as a leader, he delivers an original compositions-heavy set of music that showcases the same exuberant energy of those shows, complete with modernized twists on New Orleans songbook gems, and swinging, groove-infused homages to the contributions of modern jazz masters. “Jazz, the indigenous American music, is a music of celebration and optimism,” he explains. “The Uptown Jazz Orchestra is such a fun band that I wanted to capture its uniqueness…really capture the joy that is a central trademark of the band.”

 

 

 

 

After a long and storied career, saxophonist Brian Scanlon is releasing his debut CD, “Brain Scan.” Scanlon is a first-call studio musician who has worked on dozens of movies and television shows over the past 32 years. He’s also busy working as a sideman on recording projects for some of the top names in jazz. But he is perhaps best known for his work with Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, for which he holds the first tenor sax chair. Scanlon’s writing is stylistically diverse but he’s particularly drawn to Latin and funk grooves.

 

 

 

           

Also this week, Bay Area trumpeter Erik Jekabson, who has played with the likes of Galactic, John Mayer and Kamasi Washington, unveils his third album with his sextet, “One Note at a Time”;

 

 

 

 

 

 

                

renowned Russian pianist and composer Yelena Eckemoff focuses her music on “Nocturnal Animals” on her new disc, recorded in Norway;

 

 

 

 

 

     

and Omaha-based guitarist Aaron Stroessner digs into his love of jazz with his debut, “Haymarket Station.”

Culture Crawl 538 “Actor Nerd Shows”

Jason Alberty is the founder of the Foundry Performance Laboratory, a new theatre group in Cedar Rapids which has three focuses: Getting veterans involved in theatre, providing an entertainment outreach to cancer patients and their families, and producing shows that are high on “actor nerd” bucket lists, but perhaps not well-known to the public.

The Foundry presents “The Seafarer,” a tale about Irish brothers, their conflicts, cussing, and humor, Jan. 16-25 at The Shores Event Center.

Tickets at www.shoreseventcenter.com.

This Week In Jazz January 12 thru January 18

Hey, Jazz fans!!! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of pianist/bandleader Jay McShann, drummers Gene Krupa, Sid Atlett, Grady Tate and Gerry Gibbs, singers Eartha Kitt and Cheryl Bentyne and more!!! We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Dinah Washington’s :Dinah!” (1955), Hank Mobley & His Jazz All stars (1957), The Ahmad Jamal Trio “At the Pershing” (1958), Ornette Coleman’s “Tomorrow is the Question!” (1959), The Modern Jazz Quartet’s “Pyramid” (1960), Lee Morgan’s “Standards” (1967), Weather Report “Live in Tokyo” (1972),  John Hicks’ “Old Friends & New” (1992) The Roy Hargrove Quintet’s “With Tenors of Our Time” (1994) and many others through and out the week and Mondays thru Fridays at noon on our ‘JAZZ MASTERS’ program on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.

Special Programs for January 13 thru January 18

Short List with host Bob Naujoks    

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

Bob’s Baker’s Dozen: Cheryl Wheeler

This week’s Short List focuses on one of host Bob Naujoks’s favorite allied musical interests – folk singer Cheryl Wheeler. She’s not a huge name in the music world, but she delights smaller audiences at her gigs with well-crafted originals. Wheeler has performed many times at CSPS Hall in Cedar Rapids. She brought her excellent repertoire and her off-beat, quirky humor to full houses every time. One never knew what would come up when Cheryl was on stage.

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler

Mondays at 6:00 PM

Miles Davis in the 80’s

Although this material from Miles’ last decade is generally regarded as perhaps a step beneath the bulk of his stellar, nonpareil output from earlier years, there are still a number of overlooked surprises from the 1980’s.  Craig will spin some fine, underrated tunes from a dozen or so records.

 

 


The Wednesday Night Special

Wednesdays at 6:00 PM

Miguel Zenon Quartet at ICJF 2016

KCCK heats up the dead of Winter with some steamy Latin jazz, courtesy of the Iowa City Jazz Festival! This week, the Wednesday Night Special features the Miguel Zenon Quartet. A headliner at the 2016 ICJF, the alto saxophonist, composer, and jazz educator brought his four-piece to bring a little Puerto Rico to the Hawkeye state. 

 

 

Jazz Night In America with Host Christian McBride

Thursdays at 11:00 PM

Marilyn Maye, the Queen of Cabaret

Join host Christian McBride for an intimate performance with the Queen of Cabaret, Marilyn Maye. Just because she’s in her 90’s, Maye believes, that is no reason to slow down. In fact, Maye thinks she’s just hit her stride. Not only is she still singing, but singing better than ever.

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Host Craig Kessler

Saturdays at 12:00 Noon

Prestige Records in 1970, Part One

In this first of a 2-part set of shows, Craig presents selections from the first half of 1970.  We’ll hear from great jazz artists like Harold Mabern, Gene Ammons, Houston Person, Pat Martino, Dexter Gordon, and others.  Looking back 50 years, Prestige Records was still totally in the groove.

 

 

 

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: 

Coming Home by the Lolly Allen on Monday; Midnight Stroll by Joshua Jern Jazz Orchestra on Tuesday; Reach Within by Works For Me on Wednesday; Blueprints, Figure One: Frameworks by Markus Rutz on Thursday; Come On In by Thorbjorn Risager & the Black Tornado on Friday; Peace In Pieces by Betty Fox Band on Saturday; Chalkboard Destiny by Lisa Hilton on Sunday.