Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
The Short List: Vocal Short List 14 (Marlene Ver Planck) New Series
Marlene Ver Planck
Marlene Ver Planck is not a household name, even in jazz circles, but she has been a steady singing force since the 1950s, and has fully two dozen albums issued on the Audiophile label, most of them recorded in the past thirty years or so. Marlene Ver Planck is one of those “throwback” singers who dotes on the Great American Songbook and enjoys singing the songs of those craftsmen of a previous generation. The Mood I’m In on Audiophile from 2015 surprised host Bob Naujoks. He thought Marlene Ver Planck had long passed on and here she was singing beautifully.
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 6:00 PM
Charles Mingus: ‘Fables of Bass’ Part 2
Charles Mingus
By the time Charles Mingus’ groundbreaking 1956 composition, “Pithecanthropus Erectus” came out, Charles Mingus had grown out of Watts, out of Los Angeles and the west coast, to establish himself as an innovative bassist and challenging composer. He moved east to New York, jazz central, and established his legacy as one of jazz’s finest writers and most provocative bandleaders.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)
“Booker Little Tribute Show”
Craig celebrates the birth date anniversary of star trumpeter and composer, BOOKER LITTLE, with a carefully chosen presentation of choice material from throughout his “too short” career. Little was destined to emerge as the next great trumpet master after the untimely death of Clifford Brown, but Booker’s own health problems cut his life short, as well. Sad stories, but a rich legacy left behind.
New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire
Tuesday at 6:00 PM
“Fish Fries and Green Gumbo” 
New Orleans seasons are defined more by what’s cooking than by the weather. On this week’s program we get a taste of some springtime food traditions in the Crescent City — fish fries, St Joseph’s altars with all manner of traditional Italian foods, and a seasonal gumbo that you might not believe is actually still a gumbo. Plus we have the debut of an exciting new live performance segment, with jazz singer Sharon Martin recorded live in an intimate setting at the historic Basin St. Station.
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Wednesday at 6:00 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.
Wednesday Night Special
7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)
Corridor Student Jazz Bands for Jazz Appreciation Month: North Corridor Jazz All Stars – ICJF 2015
North Corridor Jazz All Stars at the 2015 Iowa City Jazz Festival
The North Corridor All-Star Big Band is returning for its third performance at the Iowa City Jazz Festival. Like the United Jazz Ensemble, this group is composed of some of the most talented high school jazz musicians of the corridor from Cedar Rapids to Cedar Falls. Under the direction of Steve Shanley, the North Corridor Jazz All Stars will present a musically diverse program featuring the many facets of Big Band repertoire. Always ensured to be a romping and swinging live jam, the North Corridor Jazz All Stars will certainly have the crowd moving to the beat and grinning with local pride.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
“The State of The Instrument – Part 6….More Tenor Saxophonists”
Ron Blake
In “Show #6” of this new series called “state of the instrument”, Craig will focus on 4 additional tenor saxophonists, who currently are making their mark on today’s jazz landscape….Puerto Rican RON BLAKE, North Carolina born JOHN ELLIS, Iowan CHRISTOPHER MERZ, and Pennsylvanian TIM WARFIELD, Jr. This is essential listening from 4 very distinctive tenor sax voices!
Tropical Heat with Kpoti Accoh
Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Featured Album: “Skyscape” by Vassilis Tsabropoulos 
https://www.discogs.com/Vassilis-Tsabropoulos-Skyscape/release/2644218
Tsabropoulos was an early achiever, winning the UNICEF competition when he was only ten. His distinctions and awards are too many and many are his collaborations with Orchestras in Greece and Europe, performing an ever-expanding repertoire in both recitals and concertos. He has future as soloist with Orchestras such as the Czech Philharmonic, the Yuta Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Chamber Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic, the Italy Radio Orchestra, the Athens Camerata, the Athens Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Color Orchestra, the Lyon Orchestra and the Huston Philharmonic.
Tsabropoulos has participated in many international festivals all over Europe and he has performed every season in the musical centers of the world, presenting an ever growing repertoire in recitals, concertos and chamber music. He has made the works of Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and Bach central references in his performance repertoire but is also committed advocate of Russian music, frequently playing the works of Rachmaninov, Prokoviev and Scriabin. His playing combines intellectual probity with warm and musical feeling, which is marked by sensitivity to tone color and delicacy of finger work.
While Tsabropoulos began his career as a keyboard virtuoso playing concerto and solo pieces, he has since broadened the range of his activities quite considerably. He has reputation as a classical pianist, an interpreter of 19th and 20th century music, and there is an internationally growing recognition for both his composing and his very special improvising piano playing.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at:
http://www.kcck.org/midnight-cd/
Award-winning producer and program host Hollis Monroe has joined Iowa’s Jazz Station as Midday Host and Producer, debuting Monday, April 4.
nheit has had plenty of milestone moments in establishing herself as one of today’s best and most important vocalist-musicians. With her new CD, “The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald”—the first to be released on her own Emerald City Records—the Long Island native has surprised even herself with her artistic leap. Monheit pays joyous tribute to Ella, guided by her producer, arranger, and trumpet great Nicholas Payton. Once she decided to make the dream project a reality, she jotted down a list of 25 titles “almost immediately.” She and Payton then narrowed the choices to a dozen and settled on the final list together. “I had no idea what to expect from Nicholas because we had never worked together,” Monheit explains,” but it was evident from the start that he is a sensitive soul and his knowledge and understanding of history was beyond compare.”
Acclaimed tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana releases her second trio album, and fourth as a leader, with “Back Home.” The title might evoke Chile, where Aldana left in 2007 to pursue jazz at ever higher levels in the United States. In fact, she reveals, the disc “is not really related to Chile itself. It’s related to the first time I picked up the tenor and I heard Sonny Rollins. He was one of the first reasons I started playing trio, because of the freedom that you have within the music, the interaction, the opportunity you have to express yourself and communicate with the other musicians.” Pablo Menares, Aldana’s fellow native of Santiago, Chile, is again on bass. On drums is the in-demand Jochen Rueckert, bringing a supple and unpredictable rhythm elan to the session.
Also this week, saxophone virtuoso and visionary composer Matt Parker, whom Downbeat magazine calls “restlessly inventive,” unveils his new trio release, “Present Time”.
Guitarist Will Bernard is joined by four A-list musician—John Ellis, Ben Allison, Brian Charette and Allison Miller—on his new project, “Out & About”;.