Special Programs for the Week of April 9 – April 14

Short List with host Bob Naujoks    

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

Local Shortlist: Lynne and Peter Hart

This week spotlights husband-and-wife reed duo Lynne and Peter Hart. Both Lynne and Peter are well known in the Eastern Iowa jazz circuit and both currently teach at Luther College in Decorah. They first met at a gig in Walford, Iowa, but getting together took some time and the repair of a saxophone. 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler

Monday, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Birth Date Anniversary of Trumpet Master Freddie Hubbard      

Craig celebrates what would have been Freddie’s 80th birthday by spinning a tasty variety of modern jazz gems from his 50-year career.  We’ll hear material from Freddie’s sessions with top-notch record labels like Blue Note, CTI, Atlantic, Columbia, and others. Don’t miss this one!

 

 

 

Jazz Profiles with host Nancy Wilson    

Monday at 11:00 PM 

Milt Hinton: The “Ultimate Timekeeper”

Double bassist Milt Hinton built his reputation on being one of the most versatile and consistent players in jazz. Over a thousand recordings feature his rhythmic handiwork. He played with all the greats, including Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and the Count Basie Orchestra-and collected funny stories about every one of them. This program features vintage and contemporary recordings from Hinton’s prolific career and interviews with Clark Terry, Dick Hyman, Rufus Reid and David Berger.

 

 

 

Wednesday Night Special               

6:00 PM   

Double Feature: The U of I Jazz Repertory Ensemble & Johnson County Landmark

April is Jazz Appreciation Month, where we shine the spotlight on all the great jazz produced by our high school and college ensembles. Tonight, we present a double-feature … The U of I Jazz Repertory Ensemble, under the direction of Steve Grismore, and Johnson County Landmark, under the direction of John Rapson. Two amazing bands from the University of Iowa, recorded in 2017!

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Night in America with host Christian McBride

Thursday at 11:00 PM

Joshua Redman: New Dreams 

Joshua Redman has embraced a vibrant career for more than 25 years. Redman has paved his career with acrobatic hard-bop, groove-oriented funk and sensitive ballads. For the first time, the saxophonist confronting the music of his father, saxophonist Dewey Redman. On this episode of Jazz Night in America, Josh Redman and a group featuring Ron Miles (cornet); Scot Colley (bass); and Brian Blade (drums) play homage to Old and New Dreams — a band that featured Dewey Redman and other contemporaries of Ornette Coleman.

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with host Craig Kessler

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

Birth Date Anniversary of “Tenor Titan” Gene Ammons       

Craig celebrates what would have been Gene’s 93rd birthday by presenting some astonishing examples of top-flight tenor sax.  Eugene “Jug” Ammons’ life was cut short by cancer and other problems, but he still had a fruitful 31-year recording career, working with masters like John Coltrane, Sonny Stitt, Jack McDuff, Lou Donaldson, and many other jazz giants.  Tune in for 4 hours of first-rate soulful jazz!

 

 

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 April 9, 2018

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

Legendary Grammy Award winning guitarist and composer Al Di Meola is a pioneer of blending world music and jazz. Over the past four decades, he’s explored the rich influence of flamenco, tango, Middle Eastern, Brazilian and African music. And he has won more guitar awards from Guitar Player magazine than any other guitarist in history. His new CD, “Opus,” explores the 40-plus years of his celebrated career and makes a positive statement about his new-found outlook on life. “For the first time in my life, I have written music being happy, I’m in a wonderful relationship with my wife, I have a baby girl and a beautifarul family that inspires me every day,” Di Meola explains. “I believe it shows in the music.”

 

 

     The worth of a thing is not only to be found in its bottom-line value. That’s the idea at the heart of Canadian artist Emily Carr’s painting, “Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky,” which depicts a solitary tree, rejected by loggers who have clear-cut its neighbors, stretching improbably but majestically into the heavens. It’s a sentiment that resonates deeply with pianist/composer Renee Rosnes. On her new disc, “Beloved of the Sky”—which borrows its title and cover art from Carr’s painting—Renee explores the beauty and wonder to be found in life’s more elusive, intangible joys. The disc also celebrates the chemistry made possible by a band of truly remarkable musicians, each one a master of their instrument: saxophonist Chris Potter, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Lenny White.

 

 

Also this week, guitar virtuoso Adreas Varady, a discovery by legendary producer Quincy Jones, unveils his sophomore release, “The Quest”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saxophonist Sharel Cassity presents “Evolve,” her fourth album as a leader and first with her new band Elektra.

 

 

Pianist Roger Kellaway and his trio continue the series of discs featuring the music of Carl Saunders with “New Jazz Standards Vol. 3.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark Letteri and Jason “JT” Thomas

The Mark Letteri Trio was in Cedar Rapids for a show at Dick’s Tap & Shake Room April 5. Mark and Jason “JT” Thomas, who moonlight in another group you may have heard of, Snarky Puppy, stopped by KCCK to chat with Ron Adkins.
 
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Culture Crawl 338 “Remembrance”

April is Holocaust Remembrance Month, and in Cedar Rapids, the David and Joan Thaler Holocaust Remembrance fund brings a Holocaust speaker to the area each year.

This year, Michael Bornstein and his daughter Debbie Holenstat will give several presentations April 16-18. Bornstein survived the Auschwitz death camp while just a four year-old child. He and Debbie have written a book entitled “Survivors Club: The Story of a Very Young Auschwitz Survivor.”

You can view their speaking schedule at www.holocausteducate.org.

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Talking Pictures 4-4-18

Ready Player One, Sherlock Gnomes and Gotham by Gaslight with Hollis Monroe, Denny Lynch and Monica Schmidt.

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Culture Crawl 337 “Dancing with Wolves, only with Rock & Roll”

Riverside Theatre presents “Ears of a Beatle” April 13-29. Patrick Du Laney plays a veteran FBI agent tasked with figuring out a way to get outspoken ex-Beatle John Lennon out of the country before Richard Nixon runs for re-election. Helping, or perhaps hindering him is a new recruit, who has more in common with their target than his partner.

Director Sean Lewis says the show is based on actual FBI files declassified by the Freedom of Information Act.

Tickets and more information at www.riversidetheare.org.

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Clean Up Your Act 4-18-18

Conservationists are looking for farmer to increase habitat for Monarch butterflies in Iowa.

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KCCK’s Featured CD for April 2018

The KCCK Featured CD for April is “After the Fall” by Keith Jarrett and his Standards Trio with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. This previously unreleased live set from 1998 documents the first concert Keith played after a two year hiatus from the stage as he battled what was then called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It served as a precursor to the group’s distinguished second period, where they seemed to find new freedoms both inside and beyond the world of jazz standards. “After the Fall” is on ECM Records.  Purchase the CD.