New Music Monday for September 19, 2016
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
“Great political speeches inspire us to believe we are capable of achieving great things together,” say Grammy-nominated composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Ted Nash. “I can’t think of a better time to release “Presidential Suite” than during this election season.” Subtitled “Eight Variations on Freedom,” the eight movement project for Nash’s big band transforms eight iconic political speeches of the 20th century from world leaders including Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Winston Churchill , Jawaharlal Nehru and Nelson Mandela. To create the music, Nash transcribed the actual pitches and rhythms of the speeches as they were spoken and then transformed them into original motifs, riffs and grooves, placing each into contexts that embrace the character, location and era of each leader via contemporary jazz. Important figures from the worlds of politics and the arts introduce each movement with an excerpt of the speech that inspired it, featuring readings by Joe Lieberman, Sam Waterston, Andrew Young, Deepak Chopra, Glenn Close and others.
The Bad Plus’ eleventh studio recording, “It’s Hard,” sees the trio—bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer David King—returning to the distinctive deconstruction of pop forms that drew their first international attention almost two decades ago. The band offers new perspectives on classic songs from the 1970s to the 2010s, including iconic covers of songs made famous by Peter Gabriel, Prince, Kraftwerk, Cyndi Lauper, Ornette Coleman, and Crowded House, among others. “After several years of focusing largely on original music,” says King,” we thought it would be creatively challenging to return to arranging music that’s not ours…to take another stab at it after 13 albums and 16 years together.”
Also this week, guitarist Dave Stryker reimagines another batch of classic pop tunes from the ‘70s and ‘80s with his working trio plus vibes on “Eight Track II”.
Saxophonist and composer Ben Wendel of the band Kneebody offers up his latest project apart from that band, “What We Bring,” featuring pianist Gerald Clayton.
Renowned German trumpeter Till Bronner revisits a selection of standards, all of which have made history through their vocal interpretations, on “The Good Life,” featuring guitarist Anthony Wilson, keyboardist Larry Goldings, bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton.
This Week’s Shows: Week of September 12 – 18
Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
The Short List: Cats On The Keys 3 (Dick Hyman)
Dick Hyman
On the Short List this week it’s the encyclopedic Dick Hyman. Hyman has been on the scene for over six decades, and has played all of the styles of jazz in that time—even a bit of avant-garde. But in the latter days of his career, he has concentrated on stride and swing. Marian McPartland credited Hyman with knowing more songs than any other musician she knew, and that intimate knowledge of jazz made Hyman the face of jazz on television—both CBS and NPR—for several decades. He’s a great player and will be a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters fellow in 2017.
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 6:00 PM
Al Grey: The Last Big Time Plunger
Al Grey
He was described as a “sterling trombonist whose humorous inflection and skill with the plunger have been balanced by his excellent facility and overall technique.” Grey performed to the end of his life with appearances at Basie Band reunions and sessions, as well as teaching young musicians the techniques he developed throughout the years. This program follows Grey’s prolific career as a trombonist in bands ranging from Count Basie’s to Lionel Hampton’s.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)
“Tribute To Bobby Hutcherson — Part Two – The Blue Note Years”
Craig continues his special tribute to the recently departed expert jazz marimbist and vibraphonist ROBERT “BOBBY” HUTCHERSON (1/27/41 TO 8/15/16). In this second show, Craig will spotlight classic music from Bobby’s 48 Blue Note label recording dates (27 sessions as a leader!, and 21 sessions as a sideman!). We’ll hear from his first Blue Note date, a famous Jackie McLean record called “One Step Beyond” (4/30/63), all the way up to his final “classic” Blue Note date as a leader, a record called “The View From Inside” (8/4-6/76). Hutch’s music will continue to offer inspiration to generations of vibes players to come!
New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire
Tuesday at 6:00 PM
“After The Flood,” An Untold Story of WWOZ
WWOZ’s George Ingmire
Ten years ago, there was a storm, and then there was a flood, and they changed New Orleans forever. Many stories from that time have been told, but not this one: how New Orleans radio station WWOZ, where New Orleans Calling is produced, went off the air and could have been lost forever, if not for the efforts of hundreds of different people who loved the music and culture of the Crescent City. And we’re letting some of those people tell the story themselves, on this special episode of New Orleans Calling.
In 2005, WWOZ’s studios had been in the “Treehouse” building in Armstrong Park in New Orleans for 21 years. It was right in the Treme neighborhood, the birthplace of jazz. The small community radio station had been on the air for 25 years, and had become a legend in New Orleans for its authenticity and its colorful personalities — and also around the world, due to the magic of Internet streaming. But when a Category 5 hurricane approached New Orleans and the station went off the air, and then the city flooded, nobody knew if WWOZ could ever return to the airwaves.
This episode of New Orleans Calling tells an untold story — how individuals across the country, determined to save this voice of New Orleans music and culture, brought WWOZ back to the Internet, and then back to the airwaves, and then home to New Orleans. Some parts of this story have been told before, but the whole story has never been, and not by so many voices of the people who made this happen.
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Wednesday at 6:00 PM
Duke, Dizzy, Mingus and ‘Trane
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis @ Davies Symphony Hall ©JamesKnox
We get to be tourists this week. The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra takes us to Latin America and Spain, through the work of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and John Coltrane. Excerpts from Tijuana Moods, Latin American Suite and Ole Coltrane take us to a Tijuana gift shop and a Spanish bullfight, but we’ll also get a look inside the heads of these 3 jazz greats, and learn what makes them some of the best storytellers jazz has ever known.
Wednesday Night Special
7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)
Chase Garrett’s 6th Annual Blues and Boogie Woogie Piano Stomp – Part 2
Chase Garrett (left) at his 6th Annual Blues and Boogie Woogie Piano Stomp
Chase Garrett’s 6th Annual Blues and Boogie Woogie Piano Stomp was back and bigger than ever last November at The Englert Theatre in Iowa City! Featuring four of the most demanded leaders in blues and boogie woogie piano from around the world today as well as local jazz big bands, national vintage jazz bands, special guest musicians and world champion boogie woogie dancers. Prepare to be blown away as Chase Garrett (USA), Daryl Davis (USA), Balázs Dániel (Hungary) and returning favorite Fabrice Eulry (France) hit the stage alongside the CR Jazz Big Band led by Al Naylor (USA), the Joe Smith & The Spicy Pickles Vintage Jazz Band (USA) and world champion boogie woogie dancers Rasmus & Tove Holmqvist (Sweden) to bring you the best blues and boogie woogie festival in Iowa!
Featuring a 17 piece big band, 6 piece vintage hot jazz band, 4 international pianists, 3 highly acclaimed rhythm section members and 2 world champion boogie woogie dancers, this two day festival at The Englert Theatre will become a veritable breeding ground for the high energy, rug-cutting showmanship, quality musicianship and authentic big band, blues and boogie woogie sound of the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s. When swing music was at an all-time high and America’s popular music was jazz!
The original concert on November 13th last year aired live on KCCK and this is our first encore broadcast.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
“Birth Date Anniversary Celebration For Organist, Jack Mcduff”
‘Brother’ Jack McDuff performs at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague, the Netherlands on 9th July 1988. (photo by Frans Schellekens/Redferns)
Craig salutes the birth date anniversary of great jazz organist, EUGENE MCDUFFY, or as we commonly know him, BROTHER JACK MCDUFF, by spinning an amazing array of groove tunes from record dates on several jazz record labels…PRESTIGE, BLUE NOTE, CADET, ATLANTIC, CONCORD, and others. This Champaign, IL born jazz great was born on this date…9/17 in1926, and passed 1/23 of 2001, leaving behind a rich jazz legacy of tunes primarily straight from the “soul jazz” genre. Don’t miss this one!
Tropical Heat (hosted by Kpoti Senam Accoh)
Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Featured Album: “Two Worlds” by Kiki Sanchez 
The Real Latin Piano authored by Kiki Sanchez teaches how to play the most important Latin rhythms on the piano such as: Salsa, Cumbia, Gaujira, Timba, Cumbia, Bolero and other styles. In addition the book explains clearly how to perform Latin piano grooves on clave 2-3 and 3-2 as well as showing the traditional Salsa arranging structure and how to perform piano montuno’s using American Jazz Harmonies. Sanchez’s vision is to expand your musical abilities and have a better understanding about how to play several Latin rhythms on the piano.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at:
http://www.kcck.org/midnight-cd/
Clean Up Your Act 9-8-16
Some shellfish are being relocated to make room for a Mississippi River bridge.
New Music Monday for September 12, 2016
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Even for a successful composer and arranger in Hollywood, Gordon Goodwin’s numbers are impressive: a 2006 Grammy Award for his work on the Pixar film “The Incredibles,” three Emmy Awards, thirteen Grammy nominations. Another impressive number: eighteen, as in the number of players in Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, one of the most exciting large ensembles on the planet. Populated by L.A.’s finest players, the Big Phat Band has taken the big band tradition into the new millennium with a contemporary, highly original sound featuring Goodwin’s witty, intricate and hard-swinging compositions in a veritable grab bag of styles: swing, Latin, blues, classical, rock and more. For his new project, “An Elusive Man,” he has pared down the big band to his Little Phat Band, featuring some the same players from the Big Phat Band, including Eric Marienthal, Wayne Bergeron and Andy Martin.
Pianist Mike Jone
s is one of the most adept keyboard practitioners of mainstream jazz. He has gained international attention for his work with Penn and Teller. Over the past fifteen years, millions of Las Vegas visitors have heard the versatile pianist play with the eminent magic team at the Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino. Jones is not only the opening act for the show, he is also the music director and composer for the production. His new CD, “Roaring,” was made while he was appearing in the sold out “Penn and Teller on Broadway” show. It brings sparkling new life to standards from the 1920s. Teaming up with marvelously sympathetic rhythm team of Katie Thiroux and bass and Matt Witek on drums, Jones fully displays the dexterous technique, style and taste that have brought him acclaim from both jazz cognoscenti and critics alike.
Also this week, pianist Tim Ray pays loving tribute to some of his heroes on “Windows,” including McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Duke Ellington and Horace Silver.
Singer Dia
ne Witherspoon is captured “Live” at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley.
Trumpeter Steffen Kuehn’s “Leap of Faith” captures a master of contemporary jazz at the top of his game with special guests Bob Mintzer and Mark Russo.