Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
The Short List: Cats On The Keys 3 (Boogie-Woogie)
Albert Ammons
Our summer Shortlist “Cats on the Keys” series 3 continues with a survey of the great Boogie-Woogie pianists who had their moment of fame in the Swing Era. Pinetop Smith, Jimmy Yancey, Pete Johnson, Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis all created great music with that rolling bass beat. It was a popular craze for a couple of years then Boogie faded, but even to this day that style is a crowd pleaser.
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 6:00 PM
Jimmy Smith: Organ Grinder Swing
Jimmy Smith
A critic once described organist Jimmy Smith as an “excitement merchant” creating a lush, soul-stirring sound that brings audiences to their feet. This tribute explores Smith’s early days in Philadelphia and shows how he brought the Hammond organ to the forefront of jazz. We’ll also explore his work with trios and big bands, and his work with jazz greats such as Wes Montgomery and Oliver Nelson. Interviewees include Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Mark Whitfield, and Kenny Burrell.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)
“The State of The Instrument – Part Ten: The Alto Saxophone”
Craig explores music from 4 top-notch current alto players. We’ll hear interesting selections from DAVID BINNEY, STEVE COLEMAN, RYAN SMITH, and DICK OATTS.
New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire
Tuesday at 6:00 PM
Allen Toussaint: Say Yes To Music (Part 1 of 2)
Allen Touissant
Allen Toussaint (1938-2015) was a huge figure in New Orleans music: a producer, songwriter, arranger, musician, and sharp-dressed man. To even begin to give a sense of who he was, we need more than just one hour. So, in this program, part one of a two-hour tribute special, we hear Allen Toussaint’s own voice, from interviews preserved at the Archive of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, as he talks about his early career, in the years leading up to his time in the Army in the mid-1960s.
And in this first part we’ll also hear an exclusive live performance of Allen Toussaint, recorded in 2005 at WWOZ Piano Night, an annual benefit for the radio station where this program is produced. Allen has been a supporter of WWOZ since its inception, and we’re proud to share this recording, which has not been heard in ten years.
As Allen Toussaint said: “Once you have said ‘yes’ to music, it says ‘yes’ back to you.”
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Wednesday at 6:00 PM
Wayne Shorter at Jazz at Lincoln Center
Wayne Shorter (tenor sax)
Wayne Shorter revisits some of his most career-defining work in this rare opportunity to hear a true jazz master exploring his back catalog. Joined by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Shorter touches on a lifetime of brilliance and trail-blazing in this special episode of Jazz Night In America.
Wednesday Night Special
7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)
KCCK’s Jazz Under the Stars 2015: The Beaker Brothers
The Beaker Brothers at KCCK’s Jazz Under the Stars 2015
To get you pumped-up for another exciting season of free summer concerts next month, we’ll revisit all four of our awesome Jazz Under the Stars performances from last August!
The Beaker Brothers play alternative, progressive and ‘underground’ rock that was the mainstay of Clyde Clifford’s late night Beaker Street on KAAY – the legendary clear channel AM station from Little Rock, Ark. The band members were all listening to Clyde and the music that came out of the Mighty 1090 when they should have been in bed asleep. They play the music of Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Santana, the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead. They go back to where the jam bands came from, to the time when rock, blues, jazz and Latin music met and grew into their inspiration. “The Beaker Brothers Band isn’t a nostalgia act or a tribute show. We’re playing music that has been in our heads and our hearts since we first heard it.” The Beaker Brothers are: Steve Grismore; guitar and vocals, James Dreier; drums and percussion, John Shultz; keyboards and vocals, Dan Hummel; drums and percussion, Ed “Uncle Ed” English; bass and vocals, Dan Bernstein; guitar and vocals.
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 The Renowned Soprano Saxophonist, Steve Lacy”
Steve Lacy
Craig celebrates the birthday, life, and career of Steven Norman Lackritz…best known as STEVE LACY (born 7/23/34 in NYC). We’ll hear Lacy from his earliest “dixieland” days, to his years with Cecil Taylor, Gil Evans, Miles Davis, etc., and right up to the end in the 1990s and 2000s. And we’ll pay special attention to Lacy’s work with the music of our greatest composers, such as Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Herbie Nichols. Essential listening!
Tropical Heat (hosted by Kpoti Senam Accoh)
Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
“Muzikr” by Carlou D 
http://www.last.fm/music/Carlou+D
Carlou D’s first global release is actually his follow-up to his Senegalese debut. He’s a child of the hip-hop generation having been in Positive Black Soul (arguably Africa’s biggest hip-hop band) before going solo. He’s an accomplished singer (and pretty fair guitar player) with a strong falsetto, with a mastery of several styles, including m’balax on “Il Touba,” and the softer ballad of “Goree,” where he’s given a helping hand by Youssou N’Dour, an imprimatur of greatness. The man’s hip-hop past breaks through in the rhythms of “Senegal” and also “Meun Nako Def.” What’s especially pleasing is the use of Senegalese percussion and kora among the instruments — the kora takes a stunning solo on “Yaaboyo” — keeping it all very rooted, and nowhere more so than on the percussion-heavy “Dieureudieufe Modou,” which even brings in a delicious little rap. Essentially, this is a showcase for Carlou D’s many talents. But as he’s extremely talented, it works exceedingly well.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at:
http://www.kcck.org/midnight-cd/
“Chemistry” is certainly an apt title for the latest Houston Person-Ron Carter duo album. Every tune is imbued with a rare sense of intimacy and almost telepathic sense of communication. Totally in their niche, the two men have selected a set list of favorite standards with which they are both amply familiar. Person, in the glow of his artistic maturity, sounds completely relaxed with his burnished tone superbly caught by legendary engineer Rudy Van Gelder. Carter, carrying the responsibility of time keeper, harmonist and unaccompanied soloist, relishes his role and responds with an easy virtuosity that only a master can supply. It’s music-making of the highest order.
Also this week, Luis Perdomo, who accompanied Miguel Zenon at this summer’s Iowa City Jazz Festival, unveils a new solo piano disc, “Montage”. Australian pianist Matt Baker releases “Almost Blue,” his fifth album as a leader and second since moving to New York City in 2010.
e Wilner leads his trio in an exploration of the hidden nature of love on “Koan.”
