Non-Profit will perform at First Friday Jazz at the Opus Concert Cafe Friday, August 3, 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.
First Friday Jazz August 3
Talking Pictures 7-18-18
Skyscraper, Antman and the Wasp, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation and Won’t You Be My Neighbor with Hollis Monroe, Denny Lynch and Monica Schmidt.
Podcast (talkingpics): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
This Week’s Special Programs – July 16 thru July 21
Short List with host Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
Formidable Flutes: Hubert Laws
Hubert Laws built a nearly 50-year career on a solid reputation for genius. His mastery of both the flute and saxophone, and his virtuosity in not only jazz, but classical, pop, and rhythm-and-blues, has made him one of the most recognized and respected flautists in the history of jazz. He is also one of the most imitated.
Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler
Monday, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Riverside Records in 1958
Craig travels back 60 years to look in on the recording activities of Riverside Records in 1958. We’ll hear important recordings from great jazz artists like Wynton Kelly, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, Abbey Lincoln, Johnny Griffin, Cannonball Adderley, Bill Evans, and many others. This is the real deal!
Jazz Profiles with host Nancy Wilson
Monday at 11:00 PM
Sidney Bechet, the Tenor Sax King
Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) started playing the clarinet when he was 13 years old. By the time of his death, at age 62, he was considered one of the most innovative and original clarinetists and soprano saxophonists in jazz. He brought to the instrument an unequaled energy, clarity and verve and was best known for his heavy vibrato. Temperamental and creative, Bechet left a profound mark in the way the clarinet and the soprano saxophone is played today. His autobiography, “Treat It Gentle” is still considered one of the best personal accounts of the life and times of a jazzman. This show explores his legacy.
Wednesday Night Special
6:00 PM
Damani Phillips Trio at the 2017 Jazz Under the Stars
We continue our countdown to KCCK’s Jazz Under the Stars 2018 with another look back at the artists who made 2017’s Thursday night jams at Noelridge Park such a success. This week, we hear saxophonist Dr. Damani Phillips and his trio’s set of covers and crafted originals. It was a great night of stellar jazz. Join us for listen-back at the Damani Phillips Trio, live at Jazz Under the Stars 2017.
Jazz Night in America with host Christian McBride
Thursday at 11:00 PM
Miami’s GroundUP Festival
The Annual GroundUP Festival is unlike any other musical event. The lines blur between artist and fan, and spill onto Miami Beach. Music lovers of all ages and all genres crowd south Florida for this groundbreaking yearly celebration. On this week’s Jazz Night in America, host Christian McBride gives us a jazz sampler from the 2018 line-up.
Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
The Chronological Early Years of Chick Corea, Part 2
Craig continues his chronological survey of Chick’s early recordings, beginning where we left off in last month’s program – November 17, 1966. We’ll hear Chick working with Miles Davis, Blue Mitchell, Cal Tjader, Stan Getz, and others, as well as his first several recordings under his own leadership. This is historically interesting and very important music from one of today’s pillars of jazz!
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at:
New Music Monday for July 16, 2018
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Bassist/composer and New Zealand native Matt Penman has spent much of the past decade developing and presenting music for the illustrious SFJazz Collective and the fantastic James Farm collective. That had left a gap between solo recordings that he felt it was time to abate. The ensemble that Penman assembled for “Good Question” features regular collaborators and friends, including saxophonist Mark Turner, pianist Aaron Parks and drummer Obed Calvaire. There are also guest appearances by guitarist Nir Felder, saxophonist Will Vinson and percussionist Rogerio Boccato. “The music on this recording is a series of questions I posed to my bandmates over two days,” Penman explains, “that I might get their input on a range of subjects that interest me…I wrote these tunes in the hopes of starting a dialogue that could provoke reactions, new angles and corollaries that were unforeseen, yet welcome.”
A powerhouse player who is equally conversant in jazz and funk, Indianapolis-based saxophonist Rob Dixon joins forces with a couple of heavyweights in 7-string guitar marvel Charlie Hunter and drumming legend Mike Clark on “Coast to Crossroads.” This slamming affair finds the tenorist knee-deep in Clark’s signature Oakland funk beats and irrepressible Texas shuffles alongside Hunter’s grooving, syncopated bass lines and distinctive organ-styled comping on his hybrid axe. Trombonist Ernest Stuart, a former member of the Brooklyn-based bhangra party band Red Baraat, provides close harmonies on the front line, playing Fred Wesley to Dixon’s Pee Wee Ellis. “The album is called ‘Coast to Crossroads’ because I’m based in Indiana, the Crossroads state, but I also work a lot on the West Coast and East Coast,” says Dixon, who hails from Atlanta but settled in Indy in 2003 after spending several years on the New York City jazz scene.
Also this week, two-time Grammy winning composer and saxophonist Ted Nash releases his first concert recording in over 25 years, “Live at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola”.
Veteran trumpeter John Bailey, who has had tenures with Ray Charles, Buddy Rich, and Ray Barretto, unveils his debut release as a leader, “In Real Time”.
Reed masters Ken Peplowski and Adrian Cunningham join together for a “Duologue,” with
rhythm provided by Renee Rosnes, Martin Wind and Matt Wilson.
Culture Crawl 367 “Marching Band on Steroids”
Cedar Rapids has a long history in drum corps, fielding its own high energy show group, the Emerald Knights, for many years. Interest in drum corps remains strong in the community, which is why the Tournament of Drums has grown to become one of the leading drum corps competitions in the nation. Nancy Andreasen and Jenifer Vick tell Dennis that groups are coming not just from around the country, but from as far away as the Netherlands to compete on Aug. 3.
Tickets are $13 in advance, $15 at the gate. Advance tickets available at Hills Bank and West Music locations. More information at www.tournamentofdrums.com.
Podcast (culturecrawl): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
August Means Jazz Under the Stars
Noelridge Park and McGrath Amphitheatre will be the scene for great music again this year as KCCK’s Jazz Under the Stars returns for 2018.
Kevin “B.F.” Burt
One season highlight will certainly be a performance by 2018 International Blues Challenge winner Kevin “B.F.” Burt. Kevin’s talent is no secret here in the Corridor, but he took the annual Memphis competition by storm with a soulful rendition of “Eleanor Rigby” to beat out entrants from all over the world.
Coe professor and CR Municipal Band Director Steve Shanley directs an all-star big band who will accompany singers you’ve seen onstage and in sold-out cabaret shows.
Steve Shanley
Audience favorites The Funk Daddies return to Jazz Under the Stars after a 10-year absence, and The Jazz Standard, led by Cedar Rapids’ own Paul and Gail Williams, rounds out the series.
Funk Daddies
Music fans will also have the chance to add to their personal collections, as KCCK’s CD Sale will take place a the August 16th concert, thousands of CDs and vinyl records available for just a dollar a disc.
Here is the full concert schedule:
August 2 – The Jazz Standard (Paul & Gail Williams, Peter Hart, Dan Oline, Tim Crumley) at Noelridge Park
August 9 – Kevin “B.F.” Burt and the Corridor Blues All-Stars at Noelridge Park
August 16 – Funk Daddies at Noelridge Park
August 23 – Eastern Iowa All-Star Big Band with Singers (directed by Steve Shanley) at McGrath Amphitheatre.
All concerts begin at 7pm. In case of rain, listen to KCCK-FM for rain location or cancellation information.
Bring a picnic or enjoy one our terrific vendors:
Road Rooster
Major support for Jazz Under The Stars comes from
Additional support provided by Kirkwood Community College, Latta Harris CPA & Consultants,That Cellular Place, and West Music.
Each August KCCK sponsors four free Thursday night concerts in Cedar Rapids. The first three take place in Noelridge Park, the final one at the McGrath Ampitheatre.
Talking Pictures 7-11-18
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, The First Purge and Ant-Man and the Wasp with Hollis Monroe, Denny Lynch and Phil Brown
Podcast (talkingpics): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Culture Crawl 366 “Fabulous Flutes!”
The flute takes center stage this week with the Cedar Rapids Municipal Band, as director Steve Shanley tells Dennis that the program will include a feature from the Coe Youth Flute Ensemble, July 11 and 22. The July 18 & 29th concerts will be the band’s annual Czech and Bohemian music feature, including selections from “Rent,” which is based, of course, on “La Boheme.” (Get it?)
Full schedule and concert locations at www.crmuniband.org.
Podcast (culturecrawl): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS