Short List with Bob Naujoks

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

Dodo Marmarosa

The Short List: A Personal History of Jazz – Favorite Jazz Pianists     

This week Bob Naujoks concentrates on his favorite pianists, both traditional and modern. His list includes Teddy Wilson and Jess Stacy of Benny Goodman fame; the ill-starred bopper Dodo Marmarosa; the popular George Shearing; and two female players, Lynne Arriale and Marian McPartland. It’ll be a small piano festival with a few stories to match.

Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson  

Monday at 6:00 PM

Louis Jordan

Louis Jordan: ‘Jukebox King’   

Louis Jordan is a part of the NPR Basic Jazz Record Library for many reasons. He was among the first black entertainers to be successful in a wider pop market. Jordan and his Tympany Five influenced bands like Bill Haley and the Comets — his music is often cited as one of the roots of rock and roll. He was also underrated as a jazz musician, both a fine clarinetist and alto saxophonist. But most importantly, Jordan is a part of the Library because his music is guaranteed to put a smile on the faces of all who heard him.

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler

Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)

“The Birthdate Anniversary Celebration for Tenor Giant, Wardell Gray”              

Craig celebrates Wardell’s 2/13/21 birthday by spinning some delightful gems with Wardell at the helm, as well as a number of inspiring record dates in the company of other jazz giants, such as Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Dexter Gordon, Earl Hines, Sonny Criss, and many others. This is very important material that seems to be slipping gradually into unwarranted obscurity.

New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire     

Tuesday at 6:00 PM 

“Shallow Waters: Mardi Gras Indians”        

Many New Orleanians get in shape for Carnival by attending weekly Mardi Gras Indian rehearsals  held at several clubs around town. This week New Orleans Calling brings us a rare, behind the scene look inside this unique New Orleans Tradition that celebrates the culture and practices of the legendary Mardi Gras Indians like Big Chief Howard of the Creole Wild West Mardi Gras Indians and the late Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. of The Wild Magnolais. Also, Mardi Gras Indian Queens like Mercedes “Queen Mercy” Stevenson and Pauline ‘Ree’ Johnson. There is even a museum devoted to Mardi Gras Indian culture in the Lower Ninth Ward with the mission to preserve this quintessential New Orleans tradition.

Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride

Wednesday at 6:00 PM

Eric Lewis

ELEW Goes Trio    

Eric Lewis’ career has circulated both in and out of jazz circles. Performing under his given name, he was an up-and-coming pianist who performed in the bands of Wynton Marsalis and Elvin Jones. As his career progressed – or didn’t – he found that a lot of contemporary rock music also spoke to what he wanted to do. So performing under the name ELEW, he devised a new theatrical, high-energy style of playing solo piano called rockjazz, and it took him to TED Conferences, national tours, America’s Got Talent and the White House. Now he’s set to translate his vision to the jazz trio format, planning a recording with some major players. Jazz Night In America follows ELEW to the studio, and to Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, where his burning band includes Reginald Veal on bass and Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums.

Wednesday Night Special                

7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)   

Heath Brothers Quartet with Jimmy Heath (saxophone) and Al “Tootie” Heath (drums) at the 2012 Iowa City Jazz Festival

Jazz Legends at the Iowa City Jazz Festival: Heath Brothers Quartet (2012)           

For over 60 years, the legendary Heath Brothers have been synonymous with great jazz. NEA Jazz Master tenor player, Jimmy Heath and his drummer, brother Tootie Heath, came to Iowa City to promote ‘Endurance’, their first CD since the passing of their beloved brother, legendary bassist Percy Heath.

Jimmy Heath has long been recognized as a brilliant instrumentalist and a magnificent composer and arranger.  Jimmy is the middle brother of the legendary Heath Brothers, and is the father of Mtume.   He has performed with nearly all the jazz greats of the last 50 years, from Howard McGhee, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis to Wynton Marsalis. It is no surprise that over his long and storied career, Jimmy Heath has performed on more than 100 record albums including seven with The Heath Brothers and twelve as a leader. His work as a composer is every bit as impressive, having written more than 125 compositions, many of which have become jazz standards and have been recorded by other artists including Art Farmer, Cannonball Adderley, Clark Terry, Chet Baker, Miles Davis, James Moody, Milt Jackson, Ahmad Jamal, Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie J.J Johnson and Dexter Gordon.

Albert “Tootie” Heath is the youngest of the Heath brothers and drummer for the quartet, Tootie is a recipient of Yale University’s Duke Ellington Fellowship Medal. He was the drummer on John Coltrane’s first recording as a leader and the last drummer for the Modern Jazz Quartet. Tootie has played and recorded with Don Cherry, Art Farmer, Benny Golson, Frederic Gulda, Tommy Flanagan, Dexter Gordon, Nina Simone, Herbie Hancock, J.J. Johnson, Yusef Lateef, Sonny Rollins, Bobby Timmons, Lester Young, Cedar Walton and Ben Webster. He was a featured performer in the recent documentary “Between a Smile and a Tear,” by the filmmaker and pianist Niels Lan Doky, which revisited the glory years of Copenhagen’s famed Club Montmartre where Tootie was house drummer. He is also the leader of the Whole Drum Truth ensemble, which performs innovative all-percussion concerts with a rotating roster of the foremost jazz drummers.

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler    

Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM

Jeff Ballard

“The State of the Instrument – The Drums”  

In this 3rd installment of this series, Craig will examine the work of 6 jazz drummers who are currently involved with top-notch artists on today’s Jazz scene. We’ll hear from Antonio Sanchez, Yoron Israel, Mark Ferber, Clarence Penn, Jeff Ballard, and Jorge Rossy. Essential listening, to be sure!

Tropical Heat with Kpoti Accoh      

Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Featured Album: “Sbohem lásko… Zlatá kolekce” by Waldemar Matuska

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/waldemar-matuska/id295878274

One of his nation’s best-known pop singers from the 1960s, Waldemar Matuska was born in Kosice, Czechoslovakia, on July 2, 1932. His peak in the music world would be matched by his work in theater and film during the same time period. Outside of his artistic endeavors, Matuska was perhaps just as well known for his decision to leave Communist-controlled Czechoslovakia in 1986 to be with his wife in Florida. Upon his departure, the powers that be decided to condemn Matuska as a “moral failure,” and deleted his songs and scores from films, in addition to deleting his titles from record stores. Although his work had suddenly become very hard to obtain in Europe, Matuska continued to ply his trade stateside, performing for receptive audiences of Czech and Slovak expats. After the Cold War ended and Czechoslovakia experienced its “Velvet Revolution” in 1989, Matuska’s work was once again made available — much to the pleasure and gratitude of a very receptive home audience. He continued to release works and perform for years afterward, and was still making appearances well into his seventies, in fact singing for the last time in Prague on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Long suffering from asthma, he died as a result of pneumonia and heart failure in Florida on May 30, 2009. Waldemar Matuska was 76 years old.

KCCK’s Midnight CD

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

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

Short List with Bob Naujoks

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

The Short List: A Personal History of Jazz – Davis & Evans

Miles Davis with Bill Evans

Two of modern jazz’ most famous musicians—Miles Davis and Bill Evans—are featured on this week’s Short List. Host Bob Naujoks continues his personal history of jazz with the impact of Davis and Evans on his listening habits and record collection.

Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson  

Monday at 6:00 PM

Bill Evans: ‘Piano Impressionism’

Bill Evans

Pianist Bill Evans turned out to be one of the most influential pianists of his generation. Before his untimely death in 1980, he had made nearly one hundred recordings. He became well known for his work with Miles Davis. He broke new ground with drummer Paul Motian and bassist Scott LaFaro in the development of the jazz trio.

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler

Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)

“The State of The Instrument – The Piano”             

In this 2nd installment of this series, Craig will look at 4 current pianists…their art and their careers.  We’ll hear selections from unique pianists, Craig Taborn, Diedre Rodman, Aaron Goldberg, and Kenny Werner.

New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire    

Tuesday at 6:00 PM 

“All On A Mardi Gras Day”

Parade Band during Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Mardi Gras Day is the culmination of Carnival Season in New Orleans, and the high point of the entire year. It’s when everyone puts on a mask, finds the spirit, and just maybe becomes who they really are. And we’re looking beyond the big parades on Canal Street and the crowds on Bourbon Street – there are Skeleton Men who come out on Mardi Gras morning, Baby Dolls who dress up, and most of all Mardi Gras Indians. And it’s all on a Mardi Gras Day.

Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride

Wednesday at 6:00 PM

Christian McBride’s The Movement Revisited

Christian McBride

Our host Christian McBride happens to be a rather talented bassist and composer, but he told us not to feature him unless it was something special. It so happens that he’s written a special work: a bluesy and soulful oratorio for jazz big band, gospel choir and soloists, and four speakers representing great figures of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s called The Movement Revisited, and is inspired by the words of Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and Martin Luther King, Jr. Jazz Night In America follows McBride around his own hometown of Philadelphia, speaking with the people who raised him at home and in the music, and featuring a performance of The Movement Revisited from the Kimmel Center in downtown Philly.

Wednesday Night Special                

7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)   

Jazz Legends at the Iowa City Jazz Festival: Randy Weston’s African Rhythms Trio (2011)

Randy Weston at the 2011 Iowa City Jazz Festival

After contributing six decades of musical direction and genius, Randy Weston remains one of the world’s foremost pianists and composers today, a true innovator and visionary.   Encompassing the vast rhythmic heritage of Africa, his global creations musically continue to inform and inspire.   “Weston has the biggest sound of any jazz pianist since Ellington and Monk, as well as the richest most inventive beat,” states jazz critic Stanley Crouch, “but his art is more than projection and time; it’s the result of a studious and inspired intelligence…an intelligence that is creating a fresh synthesis of African elements with jazz technique”.

Randy Weston’s first recording as a leader came in 1954 on Riverside Records. It was in the 50’s when playing around New York with Cecil Payne and Kenny Dorham that he wrote many of his best loved tunes, “Saucer Eyes,” “Pam’s Waltz,” “Little Niles,” and, “Hi-Fly.”

Randy Weston has never failed to make the connections between African and American music.  His dedication is due in large part to his father, Frank Edward Weston, who told his son that he was, “an African born in America.”  “He told me I had to learn about myself and about him and about my grandparents,” Weston said in an interview, “and the only way to do it was I’d have to go back to the motherland one day”. In the late 60’s, Weston left the country.   But instead of moving to Europe like so many of his contemporaries, Weston went to Africa. Though he settled in Morocco, he traveled throughout the continent tasting the musical fruits of other nations. One of his most memorable experiences was the 1977 Nigerian Festival, which drew artists from 60 cultures. “At the end,” Weston says, “we all realized that our music was different but the same, because if you take out the African elements of bossa nova, samba, jazz, and blues, you have nothing………. To me, it’s Mother Africa’s way of surviving in the new world.”

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler    

Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM

“The Birthdate Anniversary Celebration for Tenor Giant, Wardell Gray”

Wardell Gray

Craig celebrates Wardell’s 2/13/21 birthday by spinning some delightful gems with Wardell at the helm, as well as a number of inspiring record dates in the company of other jazz giants, such as, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Dexter Gordon, Earl Hines, Sonny Criss, and many others. This is very important material that seems to be slipping gradually into unwarranted obscurity. Come and celebrate Wardell’s music with Craig!

Tropical Heat with Kpoti Accoh      

Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Featured Album: “Moyo” by Keiko Matsui

http://www.allmusic.com/album/moyo-mw0000747014/credits

“Moyo” is a return to style for Keiko and it shows that she hasn’t forgoten the format that has brought her to the forefront of the jazz/fusion/world beat universe. Pianist Keiko Matsui, a favorite among smooth jazz and crossover fans for her elegant melodic style, breaks new ground on several fronts with Moyo. Having split with her husband Kazu Matsui, who produced her previous albums, she produced it herself, for a new label (Shout Factory), and recorded much of it in South Africa (as well as Japan, New York, California, and Colorado). Moyo has a high special-guest quotient: trumpeter Hugh Masekela, saxophonists Paul Taylor and Gerald Albright, and singer-bassist Richard Bona are featured. But the clean and sometimes spare arrangements allow the personal nature of the writing to come through. When Matsui trusts in the forceful lyricism of her playing, as on the title track (Swahili for “Heart and Soul”), she makes the strongest impression. But even when she employs synthesizer and soprano sax sweetening, the songs maintain their honest expression. The rhythmic thrust of South African-derived songs such as “After the Rain” may well open her up to a new audience.

KCCK’s Midnight CD

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

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