Panama – January 2018

BOOKING CLOSED

Escape the Winter Blues with Iowa’s Jazz Station and experience music across two oceans in Panama!

Download the brochure.

 

 

We depart January 17 for a nine-day trip to Panama City and the luxurious resort community of Playa Blanca, including two days at the internationally-renown Panama City Jazz Festival!

Highlights

•Panama City Jazz Festival
•Panama Canal
•Panama Canal Transit Tour
•Gamboa Aerial Tram
•Emberas Community & Experience
•Playa Blanca
•Leisure day in Playa Blanca
•Panama City Tour
•La Vieja
•Casco Antigo
•Cathedral de Nuestra Senora

Inclusions

•Roundtrip Airfare – ORD
•Int’l Air Departure Taxes/Fuel Surcharges
•13 Meals:
8 – Breakfasts, 3 – Lunches & 4 – Dinners

•Professional Tour Director
•Motorcoach Transportation
•Hotel Transfers
•Admissions per Itinerary
•Baggage Handling

 Tour Rates

Booking Discount*: $3695 pp double *If make your final payment by check $75 days prior to departure
Regular Rate: $3795 pp double
Single Supplement: +$1000

*BOOKING DISCOUNT
Make your Final Payment by check prior to the Final Payment Due Date (75 days before departure) & receive $200 per couple/$100 per person Booking Discount!  See brochure for details.

Please contact Lisa Baum at 319.398.5421 or email lisa@kcck.org for more information.

Download the brochure.

 

 

 

Special Programs: Week of May 8 – 14

Short List with Bob Naujoks   

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

Short List: Jazz Women – The Instrumentalists (International Sweethearts of Rhythm)           

Even though they never quite got the respect they deserved, the all-female big band International Sweethearts of Rhythm continued to delighted big band audiences for the decade of the 1940s. The original group was formed in 1938 at the Piney Woods School in Mississippi. These poor and black students went on money-raising tours for a few years, but in 1941 turned into professional musicians and traveled the country playing mostly for black audiences. The women in the band put up with bigotry and indifference, but those in the know could tell the Sweethearts were a top-rank organization.         

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler

Monday, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

“Prestige Records In 1967”                            

Craig travels back 50 years to look in on the 45+ recording sessions that took place for PRESTIGE RECORDS in 1967. We’ll hear great selections from the likes of Pat Martino, Jaki Byard, Sonny Criss, Eric Kloss, Teddy Edwards, Don Patterson, and many more! This is a great opportunity to experience some fabulous material that is definitely not heard very often!         

 

Night Lights (Classic Jazz) with David Brent Johnson

Monday, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Corner the World) 

Night Lights, is a weekly one-hour jazz radio program hosted by David Brent Johnson, focusing on jazz from the 1945-1990 era—covering artists such as Jackie McLean, Charles Mingus, and Nina Simone and themes ranging from jazz recordings of spirituals to avant-garde interpretations of the Great American Songbook. Night Lights also features many lesser-known talents of post-1945 jazz. Every program is archived after broadcast for online listening. This week: “Post-War Prez – Lester Young 1945-1950”. www.indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/archives/2017

 

Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson    

Monday at 11:00 PM (follows Nightlights)

Fletcher Henderson: ‘Architect of Swing’         

Bandleader, arranger, and pianist Fletcher Henderson is one of the most influential yet least known masters in jazz. During his orchestra’s peak years in the ’20s and ’30s, he helped define the sound of big band jazz, pioneering musical devices such as the call and response between the brass and reeds. His bands featured a brilliant array of musicians including Louis Armstrong, saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, and many others.

 

Wednesday Night Special               

6:00 PM   

Highlights from the 2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival Mainstage: Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom 

Allison Miller’s Boom Tic Boom 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. NYC-based drummer/composer/teacher Allison Miller gathers inspiration from a wide array of genres. Coming from the Jazz tradition, she engages her deep roots in improvisation as a vehicle to explore all music. Described by critics as a charismatic and rhythmically propulsive drummer with melodic sensibility, Miller has been named “Rising Star Drummer” and “Top 20 Jazz Drummers” in Downbeat Magazine’s acclaimed Critics Poll. She is known for backing an array of artists like Ani DiFranco, Brandi Carlile, Natalie Merchant, and others. Recently, she has been a guest artist playing with NBC’s Late Night Seth Meyers house band, 8G. Miller knows how to stay busy, but she still finds the time to play with her own band Boom Tic Boom.

Boom Tic Boom, featuring pianist Myra Melford, violinist Jenny Scheinman, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, cornet player Kirk Knuffke, bassist Todd Sickafoose – all lauded band leaders in their own right – and Miller on drums and composition, is currently celebrating its fourth release, “Otis was a Polar Bear.” Of the preceding album, “No Morphine No Lilies,” the New Yorker writes, “No Morphine No Lilies demonstrates that her (Allison Miller) craftiness as a percussionist is met by her ingenuity as a composer and group conceptualist.”  

 

Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride

Thursday at 11:00 PM

Ibrahim Maalouf at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Ibrahim Maalouf

Still in his mid-30s, Ibrahim Maalouf has had a monumental career as a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and arranger, offering fresh musical perspectives as he blends jazz and European classical music with the sounds of his native Lebanon and long-time home in France. Maalouf’s masterful use of a custom four-valve, quarter-tone trumpet allows him to incorporate the Arabic melodic modes known as maqams into his genre-blending work.

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler     

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

“Birthdate Anniversary Celebration For Pianist Red Garland”                                    

Craig salutes William McKinley “Red” Garland, who was best known for his piano work as a sideman with Miles Davis and John Coltrane. We’ll hear from a tasty selection of the 44 recordings led by Red, and from the 20+ records that feature Red as a sideman. Wonderful material that displays the greatness of Mr. Garland!          

 

 

Tropical Heat (hosted by Kpoti Senam Accoh)

Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Featured Album: TBA   

 

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 May 8, 2017

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

A hundred years after her birth, the ever-eloquent Ella Fitzgerald continues to teach us lessons. Regina Carter has chosen this moment to celebrate the First Lady of Song’s infectious and inclusive artistry with unabashed joy. On “Ella: Accentuate the Positive,” the virtuoso violinist reveals the many faces of Ella that have influenced Carter’s own remarkable path in music. Apart from the title track, Regina resists the allure of the songstress’s most recognizable hits and mines tunes from deep within Ella’s bountiful catalog. To realize her vision, which transforms the songs through the lens of classic 1950’s-‘60s soul and blues, Carter calls on an impressive roster of musicians and arrangers, including bassists Chris Lightcap and Ben Williams, pianists Mike Wofford and Xavier Davis, guitarist Marvin Sewell, and vocalists Carla Cook and Charenee Wade.

 

 

     Before the Rolling Stones were a known entity in the early 1960s, drummer Charlie Watts had a day job that took him to Denmark. While he was there, he entrenched himself in the jazz and blues scene, sitting in with bands big and small, keeping his passion for the music alive while he earned his living. Fast forward fifty years to 2010: Charlie got together with the Danish Radio Big Band and rehearsed for four days, presenting a concert at the newly opened Concert Hall of Denmark in Copenhagen that was broadcast on Danish National Radio. The synergy between the big band and Watts and his childhood friend and bassist Dave Green was palpable, and a day or two after the broadcast it was clear that it would make a great live album. “Charlie Watts Meets the Danish Radio Big Band” is the resulting disc, featuring big band classics, originals and Rolling Stones covers.

 

 

                              

     Also this week, Diana Krall reteams with Tommy LiPuma, the producer of many of her most acclaimed albums, for “Turn Up the Quiet,” released just two months after LiPuma’s passing in March.

 

 

 

 

 

Pianist Joe Alterman returns to his native Georgia in both spirit and sound on his third album as a leader, “Comin’ Home to You”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uptown Jazz Tentet makes its debut on “There It Is.”

 

 

 

 

 

Talking Pictures 5-4-17

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, The Circle, Colossal with Hollis Monroe, Denny Lynch and Scott Chrisman.

Culture Crawl 249 “The Piano Should Be Rubble & Kindling By The Time We’re Finished”

Orchestra Iowa presents “1001 Arabian Nights” May 6 at the Paramount Theatre. Performing will be one of Tim Hankewich’s piano heroes, Andreas Klein, who will be featured on Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto #1, a challenging and entertaining piece. Also on the program will be Rimsk-Korsakob’s “Schererazade,” really a concerto for orchestra, as nearly every section of the ensemble gets a feature; and Prokofiev’s comedic “Lieutenant Kije Suite.”

One show only, Saturday May 6. Tickets and info at www.orchestraiowa.org.

KCCK’s Featured CD for May 2017

The KCCK Featured CD for May is “Wild and Free” from Mark Murphy. This previously unreleased live set was recorded in 1980 at San Francisco’s premiere jazz club, the Keystone Korner. The vocalese master was enjoying a pinnacle of acceptance at the time, much of it due to his 1978 “Stolen Moments” album, which earned him the first of his several Grammy nominations. And although Murphy had been living and working in the Bay area for several years, this historic engagement was his only performance at the legendary venue. “Wild and Free” is on High Note Records. Click here to purchase the CD.

Kirkwood Board of Trustees to meet May 11, 2017

The regular meeting of the Kirkwood Board of Trustees will take place May 11, 2017.

Time, place, and meeting agenda can be found at this link.

Special Programs: Week of May 1 – 7

Short List with Bob Naujoks   

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

Short List: Jazz Women – The Instrumentalists (Vi Redd)                                  

This week The Short List presents an overlooked and under-recorded jazz lady, Vi Redd. Though she only made two recordings under her own name, and a handful with the likes of Count Basie and Marian McPartland, Redd was an accomplished and exciting alto saxophonists. She grew up in Los Angeles and became a part of the historic Central Avenue jazz scene. She would earn a teaching degree from USC and spend a lot of time in the classroom mentoring young musicians.        

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler

Monday, 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM

“Horace Parlan Tribute”                            

Craig pays a loving tribute to the recently departed, superior pianist Horace Parlan (1/19/31 to 2/23/2017). We’ll hear from Parlan’s 2 dozen + releases as a leader, as well as performances as a sideman with greats like Charles Mingus, ‘Lockjaw’ Davis, Booker Ervin, Lou Donaldson, Stanley Turrentine, and others. Once again, some amazing material that is not to be missed!!

 

 Night Lights (Classic Jazz) with David Brent Johnson

Duke Ellington

Monday, 10:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Corner the World) 

Night Lights, is a weekly one-hour jazz radio program hosted by David Brent Johnson, focusing on jazz from the 1945-1990 era—covering artists such as Jackie McLean, Charles Mingus, and Nina Simone and themes ranging from jazz recordings of spirituals to avant-garde interpretations of the Great American Songbook. Night Lights also features many lesser-known talents of post-1945 jazz. Every program is archived after broadcast for online listening. This week: “Ellington Ending: Duke’s Twilight Years”. www.indianapublicmedia.org/nightlights/archives/2017

 

Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson    

Monday at 11:00 PM (follows Nightlights)

Carmen McRae: ‘Painter of Song’     

Carmen McRae was an outstanding song stylist whose great strength was in her phrasing and interpretation of lyrics. She was also an excellent pianist, whose personal approach and musicianship developed during her occasional performances at Minton’s Playhouse during the early years of bebop.                                                                      

Wednesday Night Special               

6:00 PM   

Highlights from the 2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival Mainstage: Akiko Tsuruga Trio featuring Jeff Hamilton & Graham Dechter

Akiko Tsuruga Trio with Jeff Hamilton (drums) & Graham Dechter (guitar) at the 2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival

In anticipation of the 2017 Iowa City Jazz Festival June 30 – July 2, we revisit the wonderful mainstage performances from last year’s festival.

Akiko Tsuruga has been a mainstay on the New York jazz scene since 2001. This talented Japanese musician began playing the organ at age three, and launched her career in jazz immediately after graduating from the Osaka College of Music. While living in Osaka, she had opportunities to play with world-renowned jazz musicians from the United States. Grady Tate, in particular, had the strongest influence on her professional career and convinced her to move to the U.S., and performed on her Japanese debut album. Dr. Lonnie Smith is one of Akiko’s greatest mentors, and she considers him as her biggest influence. Her talent also drew Lou Donaldson’s attention, and soon he chose her (2007) as his quartet’s organist.

Akiko has released five albums in Japan and four in the U.S. Her first two U.S. releases, “Sweet and Funky” and “Oriental Express” ranked within top 20 on the national jazz radio charts. Akiko has been regular on the DownBeat magazine critics poll since 2008. In 2012, she placed sixth in the Rising Star category and ranked in the readers poll. Her latest album, “Commencement”, released in 2014 ranked fourth in the Jazz Week Chart.

 

Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride

Thursday at 11:00 PM

Dee Dee Bridgewater: Jazz Master

Dee Dee Bridgewater

 Jazz Night in America spotlights Grammy and Tony Award-winning and superstar Dee Dee Bridgewater on a program featuring “Songs of Freedom” from Jazz at Lincoln Center. Dee Dee shares her memories of Abby Lincoln and Nina Simone.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler     

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

“Prestige Records In 1967”                             

Craig travels back 50 years to look in on the 45+ recording sessions that took place for PRESTIGE RECORDS in 1967. We’ll hear great selections from the likes of Pat Martino, Jaki Byard, Sonny Criss, Eric Kloss, Teddy Edwards, Don Patterson, and many more! This is a great opportunity to experience some fabulous material that is definitely not heard very often!      

 

 

Tropical Heat (hosted by Kpoti Senam Accoh)

Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Featured Album: “Residente” by Residente   

http://residente.com/en/   

Residente (born René Pérez Joglar; February 23, 1978) is a Puerto Rican rapper, writer, producer and founder of the alternative rap group Calle 13. Along with the group, he has won 24 Latin Grammy awards in total; making him the Latin artist who has won the most gold-plated gramophones. He studied art for 8 years and has directed some of his own musical videos. His lyrics have earned him the respect of many music colleagues and critics and have even been studied as part of school and university courses. He has been recognized for his social contributions and serves as the face of campaigns for UNICEF and Amnesty International. He has consistently defended education in Latin America and the rights of the natives. In 2009 he referred to the governor of Puerto Rico as an “SOB” for laying off more than 30,000 public employees.[1] In November 2015, Residente received a recognition award in Barcelona due to his commitment to social awareness and for promoting peace.     

 

KCCK’s Midnight CD

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

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