Special Programs – October 8 thru October 13

Short List with host Bob Naujoks    

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

Cats on the Keys: Shelly Berg 

Pianist Shelly Berg’s greatest accomplishments lie in jazz education, not necessarily on stage. Berg was a top-ranked educator for over thirty years, teaching at the University of California’s Thornton School of Music and the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music. His recordings over the past ten or fifteen years for Concord, Summit, and Decca comprise a small but tasty output. His arrangements and sideman work is a long and varied list.

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler

Thelonious Monk – The Early Years

For this year’s annual celebration of Thelonious Monk, we’ll survey his earliest recordings … from 1941 to 1955.  We’ll hear Monk in the company of Charlie Christian, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Guy, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, as well as his famous Blue Note sessions, his Prestige recordings, and other tasty offerings.  This is very important music regarding the development of modern jazz, and it provides insight into the development of Monk’s art!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Profiles with host Nancy Wilson

Monday at 11:00 PM 

Wes Montgomery – The Unmistakable Jazz Guitar

Wes Montgomery created the first new sound on jazz guitar since Charlie Christian revolutionized the instrument in the late ’30s. His innovations such as his celebrated octaves and his style of playing with his thumb rather than a pick continue to have an influence today. Wes also became a popular musician, whose later recordings sold hundreds of thousands of copies.

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Night Special

6:00 PM   

Kevin BF Burt at Jazz Under The Stars 2018 

Kevin “BF” Burt has been an Iowa blues legend for decades. He and his band, the Instigators, constantly toured and won over legions of fans with their soul-tinged blues and roots. Kevin recently conquered the International Blues Challenge, proving that Iowa does have some deep blues roots. For 2018’s Jazz Under the Stars, Kevin put together an all-star “Blues Summit” to electrify the Noelridge Park crowd on a perfect August evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Night in America with host Christian McBride

Thursday at 11:00 PM

Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life

Billy Strayhorn led a complex and often vice-driven life. While composing some of the most harmonically rich jazz of its time, often in the shadow of Duke Ellington, Strayhorn was an outlier in that he led an openly gay life as a black man in the homophobic 1940s. This episode of Jazz Night in America features interviews with family Strayhorn family members, Strayhorn’s biographer, and rare archival tape of Strayhorn himself. Pianist and vocalist Johnny O’Neal joins the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to present the music of Billy Strayhorn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler

Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Great Bands of the 70’s – Weather Report, Part One

Craig takes a loving look at one of the more prominent bands of the fusion era. Weather Report, was formed in 1971 by Austrian keyboard master, Josef Zawinul, top-ranked saxophonist and extraordinary composer, Wayne Shorter, and the cutting edge Czech bassist and composer, Miroslav Vitous.  Craig will talk some history of the band, as well as spin some choice selections from 16 of their US recordings.

 

 

KCCK’s Midnight CD

The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at: 

http://www.kcck.org/midnight-cd/

New Music Monday for October 8, 2018

   Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Guitarist John Scofield has been on serious roll since 2015, when his release, “Past Present,” earned a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Jazz Album. He followed that release with the 2016 album, “Country for Old Men,” which earned him two more Grammys. Last year, he joined forces with old pals Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier and John Medeski for the rural New York jazz band of the ages, Hudson, the quartet romping the world from Boise to Berlin and back again. Now, Scofield keeps his talent and his trusty Ibanez AS200 guitar burning brightly on “Combo 66,” which finds the New York native with a new quartet and fresh compositions in celebration of his 66th birthday.

 

 

 

 

 Madeleine Peyroux’s extraordinary journey is one of the music industry’s most compelling. Eight albums and 22 years since her debut, the singer-songwriter continues to challenge the confines of jazz, venturing into fertile fields of contemporary music with unfading curiosity. Peyroux’s new album, “Anthem,” came to life during the pivotal 2016 U.S. elections, with her and her co-writers Patrick Warren, Brian MacLeod and David Baerwald absorbing a “constant stream of news” over many months.  The “consciously not to preachy” songs fuse Madeleine’s at times political outlook with glimpses into her personal world, striking that perfect equilibrium of dark humor and compassion.

 

 

 

 

     

 Also this week, the young pianist Justin Kauflin ventures into new sonic territory, bringing in more modern influences of synths, electric guitar and bass on his third release, “Coming Home”;

 

 

 

 

 

              

 

Miami-based guitarist Lindsey Blair and his quartet pay tribute to the legendary Wes Montgomery with “All Wes All Day”;

 

 

 

 

 

 

             

…and conguero and composer Alberto Nacif leads his sizzling Detroit based Latin jazz septet Aguanko on their fourth release, “Pattern Recognition.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Culture Crawl 389 “Yeah, We Did The Snap-Snap”

The Addams Family has been a part of American pop culture for 80 years. Beginning as a New Yorker cartoon in the Thirties, then as a 60s TV show, movies in the 90s, and now onstage as a musical.

Marqueta Senters plays GrandMama in the Old Creamery Theatre production that opens October 11. She tells Dennis that all the characters you remember will be there: Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, and Lurch the butler. Sparks fly when daughter Wednesday brings her straight-laced boyfriend and his parents home to meet her decidedly eccentric family. Spooky fun for the whole family!

Tickets and information at www.oldcreamery.com.

The video is cut off because of a software issue. Hear the full audio version below.

Clean Up Your Act 10-16-18

The cost of wind-generated electricity continues to come down.

Talking Pictures 10-3-18

The Predator and The House with a Clock in Its Walls with Hollis Monroe, Denny Lynch and Phil Brown.

Culture Crawl 388 “8 Bands, 1 Stadium”

The 22nd annual Metro Marching Band Classic takes place Oct. 8, 6:30pm at Linn-Mar Stadium. It’s the only time this season you can see the bands from Jefferson, Kennedy, Washington, Prairie, Xavier, Linn-Mar, and Marion perform their shows on the same night in the same location. Special guest band will be the UI Hawkeye Marching Band.

Committee member Carol Vester tells Dennis that at marching band contests, the students rarely get to see each others’ shows, so this is their chance to watch and cheer for each other.

Tickets are just $9 at the gate. Rain date is Oct. 15.

Kirkwood Board of Trustees to meet October 11, 2018

The regular meeting of the Kirkwood Board of Trustees will take place October 11, 2018. Time, place, and meeting agenda can be found at this link.

Special Programs – October 1 thru October 6

Short List with host Bob Naujoks    

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

Cats on the Keys: Geoff Keezer 

This week’s Short List introduces listeners to Geoff Keezer’s rise to the top rank of today’s jazzmen. If the relatively young – fortyish – pianist Geoff Keezer from Eau Claire, Wisconsin is not a living legend, he should be. He is a true virtuoso and has played with the jazz giants like Art Blakey, Ray Brown, Art Farmer, and Wayne Shorter. He has issued a couple of dozen albums and traveled the world.

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler

Monday, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

The Compositions of Duke Pearson

Craig spins a sampling of the many Duke Pearson compositions. Featured are tunes that were recorded by other artists, as well as pieces recorded by Duke himself.  We’ll hear some very recognizable songs, such as “Jeanine,” Blues for Alvina,” “Christo Redentor,” dozens of fine tunes that will surprise you, and so many others. Tune in for the incredible compositions of Duke Pearson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Profiles with host Nancy Wilson

Monday at 11:00 PM 

Erroll Garner – The Joy of a Genius

Erroll Garner was one of the most original, intuitive, and purely exciting pianists to emerge during the modern jazz era. Although he is perhaps best known as the composer of “Misty,” Garner’s significance as a jazz innovator easily rivals his status as a successful songwriter. His approaches to melody, harmony, and especially rhythm are as fresh and inventive today as when he first introduced them in the mid ’40s. Interviewees include Steve Allen, Linton Garner, Martha Glaser, John Levy, Marian McPartland, and Dr. Billy Taylor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Night Special

6:00 PM   

The Jazz Standard at Jazz Under The Stars 2018 

The Jazz Standard kicked off the 31st year of KCCK’s free summer concerts. Gail and Paul Williams were joined onstage by Peter and Lynne Hart, Tim Crumley, and Dan Oline for a night of standards and selections from the Great American Songbook. The crowd of Noelridge Park had a wonderful time swinging to a night of great jazz on a hot August night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Night in America with host Christian McBride

Thursday at 11:00 PM

Up & Down the Mississippi with Bill Frisell

From 2013 – 2015, guitarist Bill Frisell curated Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Roots of Americana series.  For the final performance of the series, he takes us back to the Mississippi River Delta, the great incubator of American music, with a performance entitled Up and Down the Mississippi, Traveling Highway 61. Frisell explores music from New Orleans jazz to Delta blues and Bob Dylan to Bix Beiderbecke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler

Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Thelonious Monk – The Early Years

For this year’s annual celebration of Thelonious Monk, we’ll survey his earliest recordings … from 1941 to 1955.  We’ll hear Monk in the company of Charlie Christian, Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Guy, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, as well as his famous Blue Note sessions, his Prestige recordings, and other tasty offerings.  This is very important music regarding the development of modern jazz, and it provides insight into the development of Monk’s art!

 

 

 

KCCK’s Midnight CD

The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at: 

http://www.kcck.org/midnight-cd/