Tanager Place presents “Summerfest” June 3 at Rockwell Collins, 3:30 to 8:30pm. It’s a huge day of family activities, most are free. There will be a car show, Bike Helmet Giveaway, a Make-Your-Own Cereal tent, and a Balloon Glow at dusk.
Information at www.tanagerplace.org.
Graduation, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, The Lovers with Dennis Green, Denny Lynch and Monica Schmidt.
The KCCK Featured CD for June is “Hudson” from Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier, John Medeski and John Scofield. On their own, the four can each boast careers that are stunning in their diversity and reach. Together they comprise the rare supergroup worthy of the name. What’s brought them together is a shared love for the scenery and spirit of New York’s idyllic Hudson River Valley, which all four call home, and has been a rich source of inspiration for many millennia They’ve collected a repertoire of regional materials from Bob Dylan and The Band to Joni Mitchell and Jimi Hendrix as well as originals inspired by the surroundings. “Hudson” is on Motema Records. Click here to purchase the CD.
2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival (Memorial Day Special)
Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom at the 2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival
Monday, May 29th 6:00 AM – 1:35 AM Tuesday, May 30th
Hear all the Main Stage performances from last summer’s festival plus KCCK’s exclusive, behind the scene, backstage interviews with each group’s leader! Our special holiday broadcast features the Akiko Tsuruga Trio with Jeff Hamilton, Marquis Hill Blacktet, Poncho Sanchez and His Latin Jazz Band, Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom, Miguel Zenon Quartet, the David Berkman Sextet, and several more including the student jazz bands United Jazz Ensemble and North Corridor All-Stars. For our complete broadcast schedule go to: https://www.kcck.org/blog/2016-iowa-city-jazz-festival-memorial-day-broadcast-schedule
Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
Short List: Jazz Women – The Instrumentalists (Carol Chaikin) 
Carol Chaikin is a lesser-known female saxophonist who nevertheless has excellent credentials and remains a fixture on the Los Angeles jazz scene. Chaikin graduated from the Berkelee College of Music and worked in New York for sixteen years, including a stint with the all-female big band, Diva. Several years ago she was part of the Johnny Mandel Orchestra and is a member of the York Quartet. She has only issued two albums, both in the smooth jazz vein.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
(pre-empted for Memorial Day Special: The 2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival Encore Broadcast)
Night Lights (Classic Jazz) with David Brent Johnson
Monday, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Corner the World)
(pre-empted for Memorial Day Special: The 2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival Encore Broadcast)
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 11:00 PM (follows Nightlights)
(pre-empted for Memorial Day Special: The 2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival Encore Broadcast)
Wednesday Night Special
6:00 PM
Highlights from the 2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival: Poncho Sanchez and His Latin Jazz Band
Poncho Sanchez and His Latin Jazz Band at the 2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival
In anticipation of the 2017 Iowa City Jazz Festival June 30 – July 2, we revisit one of the many wonderful Main Stage performances from last year’s festival.
For more than three decades as both a leader and a sideman, conguero Poncho Sanchez has stirred up a fiery stew of straight-ahead jazz, gritty soul music, and infectious melodies and rhythms from a variety of Latin American and South American sources. His influences are numerous, but among the more prominent figures that inform his music are two of the primary architects of Latin jazz – conga drummer and composer Chano Pozo and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
Sánchez developed as salsa’s elder statesman as a Chicano from Texas. He taught himself guitar and congas, and gained experience singing with a teen band, but faced discrimination when he tried to play with Cubans and Puerto Ricans, who considered themselves the sole heirs of salsa. At age 23 he found a mentor, vibraphonist Cal Tjader, and made his own way to the top of the Latin jazz community. His style has survived over three decades and countless trials because of its easygoing and inclusive feel. Sánchez became internationally acclaimed by percussionists and jazz aficionados as a leading player and producer of a consistent string of hit albums layering Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban, salsa, bop, funk, and rhythm and blues.
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Thursday at 11:00 PM
The Music of Trombonist J. J. Johnson
J. J. Johnson
Vincent Gardner
Jazz Night in America presents the music of trombonist J. J. Johnson curated by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra trombonist Vincent Gardner. Gardner invites his section parter Elliot Mason to tackle material from the “Jay and Kai”project, which featured trombonist Kai Winding. We hear from both Gardner and Mason about what made this project so special. Also, Jazz Night in America pulls back the curtain on Johnson, the composer, courtesy of archival interview tape provided by biographer Joshua Berrett and we learn about Johnson, the man, from Carolyn Johnson who was Johnson’s wife from 1992 until his death in 2001.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
“The Art of Miles Dewey Davis III — Studio Recordings 1969 – 1974, Part Two”
Craig continues his chronological examination of rarities and obscurities from Miles’ “fusion era” studio recordings. Last week we heard exceptional studio music from November, 1968 to August, 1969. This week, we take up our project again in August of 1969, and continue on into early 1970. I will again stress that this is arguably some of the most wondrous and incredible music to come out of the 20th century!! Join me for a truly ear-opening experience!
Tropical Heat (hosted by Kpoti Senam Accoh)
Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Featured Album: “Audio-Globine: 20 ans d’âge“ by Gnawa Diffusion 
http://www.rfimusic.com/artist/world-music/gnawa-diffusion/biography.html
Gnawa Diffusion is a band created in 1992 in Grenoble, France, around Amazigh Kateb, lead singer and son of Algerian writer Kateb Yacine. The political lyrics are sung in Arabic, French or English and the music is very mixed (chaabi, gnawa, rock, reggae, dub…). Other members are Mohammed Abdenour, Pierre Bonnet, Philippe Bonnet, Salah Meguiba, Pierre Feugier, Abdelaziz Maysour and Amar Chaoui. Main albums are Algeria (1997), Bab el Oued – Kingston (1999) Souk System (2003) and “ ” Cowboys (2006).
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at:
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
New York’s idyllic Hudson River Valley has been a rich source of inspiration for many millennia, from its rich sacred and artistic Native American heritage, to the rise of the 19th century Hudson River school of art, to the folk and rock movement that led to the era-defining Woodstock Festival in 1969. The next chapter in that remarkable history arrives in the form of “Hudson,” a new collective that brings together four of the world’s most influential jazz musicians. Drummer Jack DeJohnette, guitarist John Scofield, keyboardist John Medeski and bassist Larry Grenadier can each boast careers that are stunning in their diversity and reach. Their extraordinary debut as a group strikingly captures the atmosphere and beauty of the region while celebrating the extraordinary music that has emerged from it. It mixes original music with thrilling renditions of songs by the likes of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix and The Band.
Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as one of the “most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation, Bria Skonberg was recognized last summer as one of “25 for the Future” by Downbeat magazine, and Vanity Fair cited her as a Millennial “Shaking Up the Jazz World.” Coming off a recent Canadian Juno Award for her first collection on Okeh Records, Skonberg spins her cool and confident vocal style—and her sleek and timeless jazz chops on trumpet—on her new disc, “With a Twist,” deftly paying tribute to some great singers who influenced her.
Also this week, tromb
onist Steve Davis has assembled a stellar group of masters for his new CD, “Think Ahead,” including drummer Lewis Nash, bassist Peter Washington and pianist Larry Willis. Organist Akiko Tsuruga and her trio mates Jeff Hamilton and Graham Dechter, who appeared at the Iowa City Jazz Festival last summer, offer up “So Cute, So Bad”.
Saxophonist and composer Roxy Coss unveils her latest, “Chasing the Unicorn.”
By Jordan Maldonado, KCCK Programming Intern
Andrew Gilbert of The Boston Globe says The Cookers “embody the serious-as-death commitment that it took to thrive on the New York scene some four decades ago” (Andrew Gilbert, The Boston Globe)
“A dream team of forward-leaning hard-bop” Nate Chinen, NY Times.
Essentially the musical chemists of bebop and fusion, these gentlemen came from jazz backgrounds that were a musical uproar in history, working with artists such as Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Art Blakey, Max Roach, Miles Davis, and many more. This created an opportunity for these veteran jazzers to develop a post-bop original sound that brings the 60’s right to your ears.
The Cookers play at the Iowa City Jazz Festival on Saturday, July 1st at 9 p.m. on the main stage.
By Jordan Maldonado, KCCK Programming Intern
Donny McCaslin is a critically acclaimed saxophonist who is recently known for working with David Bowie on his album, “Blackstar.” McCaslin has created a bold, exploratory new sound in jazz, blasting out new styles of rhythms and arena-inspired rock sound with gusto while still keeping a loyal bond to improvisational jazz. At the Jazz Festival, he will be joined by Nate Wood on drums, Jason Lindner on keyboards, and Jonathan Maron on bass.
Currently, McCaslin and his group have been working on an album dedicated to David Bowie, “Beyond Now.”
“David Bowie was a visionary artist whose generosity, creative spirit, and fearlessness will stay with me the rest of my days. Beyond Now is dedicated to him and to all who loved him.” (Donny McCaslin)
The Donny McCaslin Group plays the festival at the main stage on Sunday, July 2nd at 6 p.m.
By Jordan Maldonado, KCCK Programming Intern
“Stacey Kent is a revelation. There is nobody singing today who can compare with her. She has the style of the greats, like Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. And she sings the words like Nat Cole – clean, clear and almost conversational with perfect phrasing. And that’s as good as it gets.” (Jay Livingston)
The story of Stacey Kent can surprise you. She was a language student in Europe studying for a degree in comparative literature, but then she found herself in London where she enrolled in a graduate music program at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and where she met her future husband and musical collaborator, Jim Tomlinson and later rose to become one of the most popular and critically acclaimed jazz vocalists of the modern era.
A key theme for Stacey Kent’s artistic center is romance. She writes timeless and beautiful rhythms and stories that mend with jazz so beautifully because of the poetic nature of romance.
Stacey Kent performs the festival on the main stage on Sunday, July 2nd at 8 p.m.
