This Week’s Shows: Week of January 18 – 24
Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
The Short List: A Personal History of Jazz – Jackson / Parker / Gillespie / Cole / Farlow
Tal Farlow
This week producer Bob Naujoks finishes up his love for traditional jazz with a friend’s work, the Chicago icon, Franz Jackson. Then in a leap forward offers the music of the Bebop players that he found exciting — saxophonist Charlie Parker, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, pianist Nat Cole and guitarist Tal Farlow.
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 6:00 PM
Nat “King” Cole, Pt. 1: The Pianist
Nat “King” Cole
Nat “King” Cole’s popularity as a vocalist obscured the many significant contributions he made to American music and culture as a jazz pianist and as a groundbreaking performer. This show examines Cole’s distinctive piano style and the influential “King Cole Trio,” one of the earliest jazz piano trios.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)
“The Current State of The Tenor Saxophone”
Craig takes a closer look at some of the tenor sax practitioners and artists that are relatively new to the jazz scene, as well as a few “well-established” prominent, current tenor players. We’ll hear Kirsten Edkins, JD Allen, Anat Cohen, Donny McCaslin, Wayne Escoffery, Chris Potter, Eli Degibri, and a number of other players that could be important to the future of jazz.
New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire
Tuesday at 6:00 PM
“In Memoriam: Allen Toussaint – Part I”
Allen Toussaint
With great sadness we mark the passing of New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint, who died at the age of 77 on Monday, November 9, 2015 while on tour in Spain. Toussaint is fondly recalled as an elegant, humble, and supremely talented man. His work influenced countless artists, and the number of musicians who benefitted from Toussaint’s touch as a producer and arranger is astonishing. Throughout his career, Toussaint worked with the likes of Irma Thomas, Aaron Neville, Art Neville, Dr. John, the Meters, Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker, Ernie K-Doe, Lee Dorsey, Al Hirt, and many, many others.
Toussaint was born in 1938 and raised in Gert Town. He first played piano at age six and was soon picking out songs he heard on the radio. As a teenager, he found work as a session musician at Cosimo Matassa’s recording studio and wrote “Java” for trumpeter Al Hirt in 1958, who won a Grammy for it. Toussaint went on to write, produce, and arrange a number of now-instantly recognizable songs, including Ernie K-Doe’s hits “Mother-in-Law,” “A Certain Girl,” and “Tain’t It the Truth;” Chris Kenner’s “I Like It Like That;” Aaron Neville’s “Tell It Like It Is;” Art Neville’s “All These Things;” Lee Dorsey’s “Ride Your Pony;” and many more.
In 2013, Toussaint received the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor bestowed on American artists. President Obama spoke highly of him at the award ceremony: “After his hometown was battered by Katrina and Allen was forced to evacuate, he did something even more important for his city — he went back.
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Wednesday at 6:00 PM
Remembering Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Legendary trombonist and conch shell virtuoso Steve Turre brings a monster lineup to Jazz at Lincoln Center to celebrate the 80th birthday of one of his influences, the late Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
Wednesday Night Special
7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)
The Pedrito Martinez Group at the 2014 Iowa City Jazz Festival
The Pedrito Martinez Group at the 2014 Iowa City Jazz Festival
The Pedrito Martinez Group has its roots planted firmly in the Afro-Cuban rumba tradition and in the bata rhythms and vocal chants of the music of Yoruba and Santeria. Formed in 2008, the group has developed into an extraordinarily tight and musically creative unit. With a home base gig in Midtown Manhattan the group has built a fan base that includes Steve Gadd, Dave Weckel, Anton Fig, Steve Jordan Taj Mahal, John Scofield, Eric Clapton, Roger Waters, Zigaboo Modeliste, Wynton Marsalis, Derek Trucks, and Herlin Riley. Members of the group include Padro “Pedrito” Martinez, from Havana, on percussion and vocals; percussionist, Jhair Sala, from Lima, Peru; electric bassist, Alvaro Benavides, from Caracas, Venezuela; and keyboard player/vocalist, Araicne Trujillo, from Havana, Cuba.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
“Birthday Celebration for Vibraphonist Gary Burton”
Gary Burton
Craig helps celebrate the 73rd birthday of great vibraphonist and composer, Gary Burton. We’ll hear a tasty variety of selections from throughout Gary’s lengthy career…1960 to the present! As usual, Craig will lean to some of the more “obscure” recordings from Burton’s career. Tune in for some great art and some true surprises!
Tropical Heat with Kpoti Accoh
Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Featured Album: “ASA” by ASA 
http://asa-official.com/biography/
Asa (pronounced Asha) is a 25 year old Nigerian guitarist/songstress with an amazing smoky smooth voice (a bit like Macy Gray or Erykah Badu) and a folk/soul/jazz style akin to Tracy Chapman, India.Arie, Norah Jones, or even Lauryn Hill on her MTv Unplugged disc. I discovered her eponymous debut only last week (after my brother had raved about it) and it is fantastic; breezy acoustic guitar driven music with lovely harmonies, and largely philosophical lyrics. Her enunciation is crisp and clear, and the musicianship and production is top notch! She grew up listening to Marvin Gaye, Fela Kuti, and Bob Marley (among others), has played with artistes like Tony allen, Les Nubians, and Manu Dibango, and has opened for John Legend, Akon and Beyoncé.
Sung mainly in English, with some singing in Yoruba, the songs touch on injustice (the acoustic, reggae tinged bouncy “Jailer”), uncertainties of life (“No one knows”, with ethereal harmonies and ever so faint scratching set to a bubbly bass line), alarm at the state of society (the light acoustic “Fire on the mountain” with lyrics like “Hey Mr soldier man /Tomorrow is the day you go to war /But you are fighting for another man’s cause /And you don’t even know him /What did he say to make you so blind ?” – It has a slight Bob Marley feel), and love (the tender jazzy “Subway”).
“360” is an ambient sounding acoustic ballad. Similar is “Bi’ban ké”, a love song done in English and Yoruba. The fittingly titled “Eyé àdaba” (dove in Yoruba) is a soft ballad with calming strings. “Awé” is a soaring jazzy ballad with finger snaps, while “Peace” is reggae tinged.
Standouts to me are the closing pair of songs; the ode to her mother “So beautiful” (outstandingly sung in English and Yoruba, it is a tempo shifting acoustic ballad/Highlife tune sprinkled ever so lightly with talking drums) is so heartfelt, and “Iba” (a tender acoustic ballad sung in Yoruba, with a soothing vocal performance) closes this perfect disc. I do not speak Yoruba, but no understanding is needed with music this beautiful.
These songs are awesome; words alone cannot do justice to them. I haven’t been this excited about music in a bit. Asa is definitely going to go places, and I urge everyone to go get this CD, you’ll definitely be in awe. I look forward to much more from her.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at:
Clean Up Your Act 2-8-16
2015 Was a Good Year for the Solar Industry; Iowa 16th for Energy from the Sun
New Music Monday for January 18, 2016
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Always one 
to seek out new ways to express his musical vision, pianist Bill O’Connell has throughout his career embraced a broad stylistic swath of jazz, Latin and Brazilian idioms while experimenting with equally diverse orchestral formats, from a duo to unconventional trio settings and ensembles of various sizes. His well-known resume includes longs stints as keyboardist and arranger for the legendary Cuban conguero Mongo Santmaria and Puerto Rican flutist Dave Valentin as well as engagements with a diverse array of jazz and Latin artists, from saxophonists Sonny Rollins and Gato Barbieri to trumpeters Chet Baker and Jerry Gonzalez. For his latest offering, “Heart Beat,” Bill is joined by his acclaimed Latin Jazz All-Stars, featuring Conrad Herwig, Steve Slagle and Cuban percussionist Ramon Diaz.
For those who think that big band music should capture a nostalgic spirit of the music of days gone by, the 14 Jazz Orchestra may not be what they are looking for. But for those who are uplifted by orchestral jazz as initially defined by Duke Ellington and continued over the years by visionaries like Charles Mingus, George Russell and Gil Evans, the Orchestra’s debut CD, “Nothing Hard is Ever Easy” will be a joyful revelation. Comprised of some of the Miami area’s most accomplished jazz and studio musicians and jazz educators under the direction of the remarkable arranger/conductor Dan Bonsanti, the 14 Jazz Orchestra has been delighting audiences with its exciting and challenging contemporary jazz since its initial performance in 2013.
Also this week, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, who has long entertained a wish to make a recording with the great bassist Ron Carter, makes it happen with “#Jiveculture”; venerable cornetist Ron Miles sat in with the bass-less trio Whirlpool during a 2013 live performance in his hometown of Denver, Colorado, with the resulting synergistic output leading to the new CD, “Dancing on the Inside”; and the Swiss quintet Le Rex puts a new spin on the brass band genre with “Wild Man.”
Riverwalk Jazz Available Online
We were unhappy to hear about the cancellation of Riverwalk Jazz, and we know many Jim Cullum fans were as well. We explained the situation in a previous post.
While that means no more Riverwalk Jazz on KCCK, we have learned that you can still listen!
Jim Cullum has donated all his archives to the Stanford University Library, which has posted them on a special page. You can listen to archived shows, or tune into a webcast stream of one show after another. Click on the link or the picture to visit the site.
We think the Stanford Band could improve their repertoire quite a bit if they checked it out.
Clean Up Your Act 1-14-16
Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says Iowa needs to do more to reduce water pollution.
This Week’s Shows: Week of January 11 – 17
Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
The Short List: A Personal History of Jazz – Classic Jazz: Chicago / NY / New Orleans
Bix Beiderebecke
This week producer Bob Naujoks recounts the great traditional jazz that he found to his liking. It was Bobby Hackett’s recreation of a Bix Beiderebecke solo at Benny Goodman’s 1938 Jazz Concert that led him to listen to the real thing. Of course, the great Louis Armstrong entered in, as well as great bands and players from New Orleans and Chicago.
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 6:00 PM
Oscar Pettiford: Bass Beyond Bop
Oscar Pettiford
Though he lived just 37 years, the jazz world will never forget bassist, composer, and bandleader Oscar Pettiford. The man helped define and refine the bass into the melodic, solo instrument we hear today. He also wrote tunes that lay easy on the large resonant bass body. From his birthplace on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma to his death in 1960 in Copenhagen, Pettiford’s musical breadth was a match for the distances he’d traveled, finding a home for himself and his music.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)
“Blue Note Records in 1966”
Craig travels back 50 years to look in on the jazz recordings that came from Blue Note Records in 1966. We’ll hear great, but sometimes overlooked, material from the likes of Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, Andrew Hill, Donald Byrd, Sam Rivers, Duke Pearson, Blue Mitchell, and many others. Tune in for some satisfying selections that we don’t get to hear everyday!
New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire
Tuesday at 6:00 PM
“In Memoriam: Allen Toussaint – Part I”
Allen Toussaint
With great sadness we mark the passing of New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint, who died at the age of 77 on Monday, November 9, 2015 while on tour in Spain. Toussaint is fondly recalled as an elegant, humble, and supremely talented man. His work influenced countless artists, and the number of musicians who benefitted from Toussaint’s touch as a producer and arranger is astonishing. Throughout his career, Toussaint worked with the likes of Irma Thomas, Aaron Neville, Art Neville, Dr. John, the Meters, Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker, Ernie K-Doe, Lee Dorsey, Al Hirt, and many, many others.
Toussaint was born in 1938 and raised in Gert Town. He first played piano at age six and was soon picking out songs he heard on the radio. As a teenager, he found work as a session musician at Cosimo Matassa’s recording studio and wrote “Java” for trumpeter Al Hirt in 1958, who won a Grammy for it. Toussaint went on to write, produce, and arrange a number of now-instantly recognizable songs, including Ernie K-Doe’s hits “Mother-in-Law,” “A Certain Girl,” and “Tain’t It the Truth;” Chris Kenner’s “I Like It Like That;” Aaron Neville’s “Tell It Like It Is;” Art Neville’s “All These Things;” Lee Dorsey’s “Ride Your Pony;” and many more.
In 2013, Toussaint received the National Medal of Arts, the highest honor bestowed on American artists. President Obama spoke highly of him at the award ceremony: “After his hometown was battered by Katrina and Allen was forced to evacuate, he did something even more important for his city — he went back.
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Wednesday at 6:00 PM
The Father of Stride 
Today’s finest pianists pay tribute to the Father of Stride Piano — James P. Johnson. We’ll dig into the James P. Collection in Newark, New Jersey and then head to Dizzy’s for some solo piano from Aaron Diehl, Ethan Iverson, Marc Cary, ELEW and many others at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Wednesday Night Special
7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)
Hot Latin Jazz for a Cold Winter Night: Orquesta Alto Maiz at KCCK’s Jazz Under the Stars 2012
Orquesta Alto Maiz at KCCK’s Jazz Under the Stars 2012
The Salsa Band – Iowa’s popular eleven-piece Latin-jazz-dance was the featured guest at a special fifth concert, celebrating 25 years of Jazz under the Stars. The performance was special as it was the final show by several founding members of the Orquesta, who announced they are retiring from the band. Alto Maiz has been performing regionally and internationally since 1986 and has steadily built a strong base of Latin music fans and supporters wherever they’ve played. They play a wide range of Latin musical styles, including merengue, samba, cha-cha-cha, salsa, calypso, and boleros. In addition to Latin-jazz standards by Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Eddie Palmieri, Ismael Miranda, Mario Bauzá, Poncho Sanchez and others, the band has produced many successful original compositions as well.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
“The Current State of The Tenor Saxophone”
Kirsten Edkins
Craig takes a closer look at some of the tenor sax practitioners and artists that are relatively new to the jazz scene, as well as a few “well-established” prominent, current tenor players. We’ll hear Kirsten Edkins, JD Allen, Anat Cohen, Donny McCaslin, Wayne Escoffery, Chris Potter, Eli Degibri, and a number of other players that could be important to the future of jazz. Don’t miss it!
Tropical Heat with Kpoti Accoh
Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Featured Album: “The State of Amazonas-Indigenous and Criollo Music from Venezuela” by Adiwa Gaiteros, Chamanare Ensemble & Various Artists 
Traditional Music of the Hiwi population performed by the various local bands : Carlina Lara & Chamanare together yaguarana Manuel Chobo , Guadalupe Rivas, Ignacio Perez, Manuel Colina , Pendare citoyens , Orquestra Tahany , Estampas del Sur, the Black Boys.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at:
Producers Top 10s for 2016
Bob Stewart: Monday-Friday 6 a.m. – 10 a.m.
1) Metalwood – Twenty (Cellar Live
After a fourteen year hiatus, it was a great pleasure to see one of my favorite bands back together again in 2016. The Canadian quartet had been a going concern for five years when I discovered them in 2001 and took an instant liking to their neo jazz fusion. They picked right where the left off for the new disc, offering up stellar musicianship on a set of compelling compositions.
2) The Ted Nash Big Band – Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom (Motema)
3) The Tierney Sutton Band – The Sting Variations (BFM)
4) Matt Wilson’s Big Happy Family – Beginning of a Memory (Palmeetto)
5) Erroll Garner – Ready Take One (Octave/Legacy)
6) Harry Allen’s All Star New York Saxophone Band – The Candy Men (Arbors Jazz)
7) John Scofield n – Country For Old Men (Impulse!)
8) Charles Lloyd & the Marvels – I Long to See You (Blue Note)
9) Renee Rosnes – Written in the Rocks (Smoke Sessions)
10) Christopher’s Very Happy Band We Are Bathed in Sunlight (Realtown!)
Hollis Monroe: Monday-Friday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
1) Allen Toussaint – American Tunes (Nonesuch)
2) Wayne Bergeron – Full Circle (Yamaha)
3) Brian Bromberg – Full Circle (Artistry)
4) Bill Evans – Some Other Time: The Lost Session from the Black Forest (Resonance)
5) Jim Rotondi – Dark Blue (Smoke Sessions)
6) The Phil Norman Tentet – Then and Now: Classic Sounds and Variations of 12 Jazz Legends (Mama)
7) Kevin Mahogany – The Vienna Affair (Mahogany Jazz)
8) Stacey Kent – Tenderly (Okeh)
9) Stan Getz – Moments in Time (Resonance)
10) Rebecca Kilgore – Moonshadow Dance (Cherry Pie)
Gordon Paulsen: Monday-Friday 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
1) Jeff Coffin & Caleb Chapman’s Crescent Super Band – The Inside of the Outside (Ear Up)
Wow – what a fun record from last February! The Inside of the Outside by Jeff Coffin & Caleb Chapman’s Crescent Super Band features the 3 time Grammy winner Jeff Coffin, who we know from his years as a first-rate sax and flute player with Bela Fleck and Flecktones, leading his own Mu’tet, and more recently a member of the Dave Mathews Band. The award-winning Crescent Super Band from Utah has frequently been hailed as one of the best professional big bands in the world and, get this, is made up entirely of high school musicians whose ages range from fifteen to eighteen! Special guests on the CD include Randy Brecker, Branford Marsalis, and Trombone Shorty! Highlights for me are the tunes Intro . . . Move Your Rug (with a funky, Afro-Cuban groove), Bubble Up (with an awesome Trombone Shorty solo), Tall and Lanky (with a funky, New Orleans 2nd line flavor), and one of the prettiest ballads you’ll ever hear – As Light Through Leaves. Jeff also harnessed the arranging talents of two notable jazzmen with deep ties to Iowa – Bob Washut from the University of Northern Iowa and former Cedar Rapids area trombonist Bret Zvacek!
2) John Scofield – Country For Old Men (Impulse!)
3) Bill Frisell – When You Wish Upon a Star (Okeh)
4) Charles Lloyd – I Long to See You (Blue Note)
5) Snarky Puppy – Culcha Vulcha (GroundUp)
6) Rene Marie – Sound of Red (Motema)
7) Camila Meza – Traces (Sunnyside)
8) Gregory Porter – Take Me To the Alley (Blue Note)
9) Hot Club of San Francisco – John, Paul, George & Django (Hot Club)
10) Space Orphan – Shut Up About the Sun (Jon Wirtz)
Ward Grant: Saturday 8 – 10 a.m.
1)1. Bill Frisell – Reflections of Brownie (Razor Edge)
It’s always tough to choose your fave when you’re in to music. And despite coming in #9 on my list (from most to least played), I’ve really gotta give a shout out to drummer Rayford Griffin’s “Reflections of Brownie;” a tribute to his uncle, trumpeter Clifford Brown. From the absolutely cool opening measures of “Daaoud” to the brilliantly laid-back re-imagining of “Joy Spring” and “Willow Weep for Me,” Griffin and his all-star line up of Phillpe Saisse and the late George Duke (keybrds), Everette Harp and Doug Webb (saxes), trumpeters Rick Braun, Michael “Patches” Stewart, Nicolas Peyton and Roy Hargrove give a few of Brown’s most-loved compositions a smoothly modern flare – revisiting the genre’s development while losing none of Brown’s bop/hard-bop innovation and originality. In fact, I predict, at the least, a Jazz Album of the Year Grammy nomination.
1) Abassi, Rez – Guitar in the Space Age
2) Jacky Terresson – Take This
3) The Funk Ark – Man Is A Monster
4) Jason Miles & Ingrid Jensen – Kind of New
5) Kenny Barron & Dave Holland – The Art of Conversation
6) Miho Hazama – Time River
7) Eric Essix’s Move – Trio
8) Terrence Blanchard – Breathless
9) Rayford Griffin – Reflections of Brownie
10) Allan Harris Black Bar Jukebox
Bob Naujoks: Sundays: 7 a.m. – 10 a.m. (Gentle Jazz)
1) Catherine Russell – Harlem On My Mind (Jazz Village)
These selections are not world beaters, but all contained music that suited my Gentle Jazz program nicely. The Catherine Russell is top drawer and she has grown so much. It is always nice to have a little more Abbey Lincoln; and the offbeat, throaty June Bisantz is a wonderful addition to her first one from almost a decade ago. The veterans Person and Carter are always welcome; and it is always a joy to have more Erroll Garner, even on the heels of the Complete Concert By the Sea.
2) June Bisantz – It’s Always You (Bisantz)
3) Abbey Lincoln – Love Having You Around (High Note)
4) Stacey Kent – Tenderly (Okeh)
5) John Pizzarelli – Midnight McCartney (Concord)
6) Jane Ira Bloom – Early Americans (Outline)
7) Erroll Garner – Ready Take One (Octave Legacy)
8) Houston Person/Ron Carter – Chemistry (High Note)
9) Fred Hersch – Sunday Night at the Vanguard (Palmetto)
10) Cory Weeds – It’s Easy to Remember (Cellar Live)
Ron Adkins: Sunday 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. (Gentle Jazz)
1) Will Downing – Black Pearls (Shanachie)
Comparisons to the late, great Luther Vandross are rightly placed. The similarity of Will Downing’s velvety tenor is downright spooky. That’s not to say, however, that Downing’s Shanachie debut can’t stand apart from comparison. Each track is a polished smooth jazz gem.
2) Yellowjackets – Cohearence (Mack Avenue)
3) Snarky Puppy – Culcha Vulcha (GroundUp)
4) 3rd Force – Global Force (Higher Octave)
5) Fourplay – Silver (Heads Up)
6) Four80East – Positraction (Boomtang)
7) Pat Metheny – The Unity Sessions (Nonesuch)
8) Metheny/Garbarek/Burton – Hommage a Eberhard Weber (Okeh)
9) Bob Mintzer – All L.A. Band (Fuzzy Music)
10) Jane Ira Bloom – Early Americans (Outline)
Bob DeForest: Saturday 6 – 10 p.m. (Da Blues)
1) Bobby Rush – Porcupine Meat (Alligator)
2) Joanna Connor Band – Six String Stories (MC)
3) Moreland & Arbuckle – Promised Land-or Bust (Alligator)
4) Toronzo Cannon – The Chicago Way (Alligator)
5) The Rolling Stones – Blue & Lonesome (Interscope)
6) The Rides – Pierced Arrow (429)
7) Lil’ Ed & the Blue Imperials – The Big Sound of Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials (Alligator)
8) Albert Castiglia – Big Dog (Ruf)
9) Curtis Salgado – The Beautiful Lowdown (Alligator)
10) Danielle Nicole – Wolf Den (Concord)
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