By Dennis Green

dennis@kcck.org

We’re making a few slight changes to the programming lineup on KCCK that take effect this first week of the new year.

Two shows we have run for many years have ceased production. Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland has been in reruns since the legendary pianist and host passed away in 2013. We retain rights to the show and anticipate that we may bring it back as a special from time to time, on the occasion of a significant jazz anniversary or the passing of a jazz great.

Jeff Hanley

Debuting this week in the Thursday 6pm slot formerly held by Piano Jazz is Jazz Happening Now. Hosted by Jeff Hanley, the show will spotlight current jazz artists and releases, with features on artist tours and performances around the country.

Host Hanley is a broadcaster, filmmaker, photographer, and voiceover artist in Silicon Valley, whose career has included stints at KJZZ/Seattle, KLOS/Los Angeles, KOME/San Jose, KZAM/Seattle, and KTYD/Santa Barbara.

The KCCK Prime Time lineup of nationally-produced jazz shows at 6pm weeknights has changed quite a bit over the last year or so, with Jazz at Lincoln Center and Jazz Set ceasing production. We’re pleased with the shows we have added in their places, New Orleans Calling and Jazz Night in America. If you haven’t listened, please check them out.

In the other program change, it’s with sadness that we announce Riverwalk Jazz has also called it quits. KCCK has broadcast Jim Callum’s program for decades, and many Iowa fans, including me, have made the pilgrimage to the show’s original site at The Landing in San Antonio. We hosted Jim Callum in-studio some years ago, and he was a delightful and friendly guy to talk to. The Jim Callum Jazz Band continues to tour. We hope maybe someday we will get the chance to see them again the Corridor.

Kpoti Accoh

Our own Kpoti Accoh has agreed to extend his international jazz show Tropical Heat an extra hour to cover the vacancy left by Riverwalk Jazz. While Kpoti’s show has a drastically different texture and programming than Riverwalk Jazz, it has become very popular in the short time it’s been on. If you’ve never listened, please check it out, now airing 5:00-8:00pm on Sundays.

Also, it’s not exactly a new show, but John Heim is playing music inspired by the old “Beaker Street” radio show on KAAY from the 60s and 70s during ‘da Friday Blues. Catch some roots rock on The Beaker Hour Fridays at 9:00pm.

Short List with Bob Naujoks

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

The Short List: A Personal History of Jazz

Benny Goodman

On The Short List this week Bob Naujoks starts a personal history of jazz and some reminiscences about how he came to love the music. It was the Swing revival of the early 1950s that was the catalyst. Recordings heard over the radio by Benny Goodman, Count Basie and the Metronome All-Stars became his favorites.

Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson  

Monday at 6:00 PM

Paul Desmond: ‘The Sound of a Dry Martini’

Paul Desmond

Alto saxophonist Paul Desmond’s airy tone was just one aspect of his great artistry. He was a wholly original improviser whose unfailing lyricism, clear logic, and advanced harmonic sense produced some of the finest solos on record. Many of these solos were recorded during his long association with pianist Dave Brubeck. Their chemistry led to enormous success during the ’50s and ’60s, including one of the most popular jazz recordings of all-time — Desmond’s “Take Five.”

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler

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

“The Short-Lived, Cambridge, Ma Jazz Label, Transition Records”        

Craig surveys and presents some of the exceptional material from the mid 50’s that was recorded and produced by the label founder, Tom Wilson.  We’ll hear early recordings from Yusef Lateef, Cecil Taylor, Donald Byrd, Doug Watkins, Sun Ra, Herb Pomeroy, Paul Chambers, and others.  Great music and interesting stories relating to the record label.

New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire    

Tuesday at 6:00 PM 

“Ain’t Misbehaving”

Leroy Jones

Leroy Jones started out his career playing trumpet in his parents’ garage in New Orleans — and he played so loud it caught the attention of jazz legend Danny Barker, who lived in the neighborhood. Since then his journey has taken him to the Superbowl Halftime show and around the world — and now all the way back to us for an intimate interview and performance at the historic Basin St Station.

Harry Connick Jr said “No one could touch him. For young musicians like me, he was exciting, intimidating. For the older ones, he was the keeper of the flame. But Leroy did more than keep the flame. He started a forest fire…”

Leroy was mentored by Danny Barker, forming the Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band, which also included Lucien Barbarin, Big Al Carson, Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen, Herlin Riley, Gregg Stafford, Joseph Torregano, and many others. This was followed by the Hurricane Brass Band, and many more.

The Leroy Jones Quintet played a special show for New Orleans Calling at the historic Basin St Station this spring, and we featured tracks on our Live from Basin St Station segment in this episode. Here’s a video of “Basin St Blues” from that show. Featuring Leroy Jones (trumpet), Katja Toivola Jones (trombone), Meghan Swartz (piano), Mitchell Player (bass), and Gerald French (drums).

Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride

Wednesday at 6:00 PM

Tootie Heath Turns 80!  – Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Al “Tootie” Heath

Jazz Night In America is honored to celebrate the 80th birthday of drummer, bandleader, and force of nature Tootie Heath. He’s recorded with Coltrane, lead a band for fifty years, and played with Dexter Gordon, Nina Simone, Wes Montgomery, and many more. In eight decades, Heath hasn’t missed a beat – listen in for the sound of a true jazz veteran.

Wednesday Night Special               

7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)   

Hot Latin Jazz for a Cold Winter Night: Airto Moreira and Eyedentity at the 2007 Iowa City Jazz Festival

Airto Moreira

A child prodigy in his native Brazil, Airto Moreira was singing and playing percussion by age 6 and soon had his own radio show. He became a professional musician at 13, moving to Sao Paulo at 16 to work in nightclubs and television as a percussionist, drummer and singer. He followed singer Flora Purim to New York, where he worked with Reggie Workman, JJ Johnson, Cedar Walton and bassist Walter Booker, who connected him to gigs Cannonball Adderley, Lee Morgan, Paul Desmond and Joe Zawinul. Airto worked for two years with Miles Davis, including the Bitches Brew sessions in the early 70s; he went on to co-lead Weather Report and work with Chick Corea’s Return to Forever. He founded Fingers with Flora Purim and later performed with Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker, George Duke, Paul Simon, Santana and Chicago and appears on numerous movie soundtracks. Since 1973 he has won Downbeat’s readers and critics polls 20 times. The trio Eyedentity has been playing for ten years, the teaming of Moriera and Purim’s daughter Diana and Walter Booker’s son/Wayne Shorter’s nephew Krishna Booker with George Duke’s son Rashid Duke. The resulting music is an eclectic mélange of Afro-Brazilian, hip hop, acid jazz and funk.

Jazz Happening Now (hosted by Jeff Hanley)

Thursday at 6:00 PM 

Jeff Hanley

The men and women who play jazz today, particularly the young musicians who are devoting their lives to this music, inspired the creation of “Jazz Happening Now” produced and hosted by Jeff Hanley.

Here is a personal note from Jeff about the new program:

Every week, as host of “Jazz After Hours,” I receive dozens of excellent new releases. The musicality and professionalism of the players and their recordings is extraordinary. The depth, breadth and variety of the music being written and performed is thrilling. These new artists and their work serve as the catalyst and the inspiration for each new episode of “Jazz Happening Now.”

The premise of this new show. The future of jazz is happening now, if you just listen.

Since the peak of what many people think was the golden age of jazz, there have been two or three generations of musicians who have dedicated their lives to building upon, sometimes deconstructing, but always honoring the work of those who came before. They’re committed to writing and recording and performing music that is beautiful and thrilling and as true to jazz as anything ever recorded. They’re playing it in cool bars and classy clubs and quality restaurants, and at vibrant, often sold-out destination festivals all over the country. They’re honoring America’s unique musical contribution to the world and every time they step on stage, or play before a microphone, they’re making something new of it.

They do it for love. Is there anything more authentic and important to our culture?

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler    

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

“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!

Tropical Heat with Kpoti Accoh      

Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

KCCK’s Midnight CD

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

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

Top 88 countdown – New Year’s Week 2015 / 2016

Monday – Wednesday 10:00 am – 12:00 pm / Thursday 10:00 am – 1:00 pm

January 1: 6:00 am – 3:00 pm repeated 3:00 pm – Midnight

 Tis the season for our year-end retrospective when we look back at the best in jazz from 2015.  Join us for a weeklong retrospective of the Top 88 of 2015, Monday – Wednesday, December 28th – 30th from 10am-12pm and 10am-1pm on Thursday, December 31st. Then, we’ll count down the entire 88, nonstop New Years Day beginning at 6am and we’ll repeat the countdown starting at 3pm so you won’t miss any of your favorites! 2015 was an exceptional year for jazz, with new releases from David Sanborn, Karrin Allyson, Kurt Elling, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and so many more.  Which was the favorite of KCCK staff and listeners?  Find out New Years Week with the Top 88 of 2015, only on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.

Toast of the Nation (NPR)

December 31- starting at 8:00 pm 

Snarky Puppy

 Ring in the New Year with style and join our celebration when Jazz 88-3, KCCK brings you the end-of-the-year tradition “Toast of the Nation” from National Public Radio starting at 8 p.m. New Year’s Eve. It’s jazz that you can party to, all night long with countdowns to midnight in all four continental time zones featuring live, swingin’ performances from Anat Cohen, Wynton Marsalis, Snarky Puppy, Wycliffe Gordon, Dianne Reeves and a special Allen Toussaint tribute. Snuggle up to Jazz 88.3 or get up and dance with us, as we celebrate the new year with a coast-to-coast jazz party, only on KCCK.

Short List with Bob Naujoks

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

The Short List: Jazz Clubs Live – New Orleans      

A survey of jazz clubs in America could not forget the birthplace of jazz — New Orleans. There are almost three-dozen jazz venues in the Crescent City, the most famous of these are down in the French Quarter, but there is jazz all over the city. We’ve picked several that seem significant, and not all of them feature classic or traditional style jazz. There’s also a little highlighting of two popular New Orleans musicians — clarinetist Pete Fountain and trumpeter Al Hirt.

Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson  

Monday at 6:00 PM

Hoagy Carmichael: ‘Stardust Melodies’             

Hoagy Carmichael was an American composer, pianist, singer, actor, and bandleader. His best-known songs are now American standards, and include “Stardust,” “Georgia on My Mind,” and “Heart and Soul.” Carmichael’s career lasted four decades, and he penned hundreds of songs.

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler

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

“The Jazz Scene In 1975”     

Craig travels back 40 years to look in on some of the great recordings from 1975. We’ll hear from Dexter Gordon, Pat Metheny, Keith Jarrett, Miles Davis, Kenny Wheeler, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and many others! We’ll also look at ’75 through the lenses of Down Beat Magazine’s reader’s poll and critic’s poll. Don’t miss this end-of-the-year party that will be filled with a host of surprises!!

New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire    

Tuesday at 6:00 PM 

“Stomp in the Name of Love”

Ira “Dr. Ike” Padnos

 The wedding reception of New Orleans anesthesiologist and avid record collector, Ira “Dr. Ike” Padnos in 2000 was so amazing—featuring blues acts ranging from Magic Slim and the Teardrops to R.L. Burnside—that his friends persuaded him to put on another show like it. And another. And another. Now in its twelfth official year, the Ponderosa Stomp festival remains devoted to celebrating and revitalizing the careers of long-lost rock, soul, R & B, rockabilly, country, blues, and garage musicians. Dr. Ike and his small staff (known as The Mystic Knights of the Mau Mau, an homage to Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’s “Feast of the Mau Mau”) bring recognition to forgotten artists still roaming the Earth through both the festival and their multifaceted nonprofit organization, the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation.

Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride

Wednesday at 6:00 PM

Jazz Prodigy – Joey Alexander at Jazz at Lincoln Center

Joey Alexander

Jazz Night in America explores jazz prodigies from different eras. We highlight 11-year-old pianist, Joey Alexander, whose first album came out this spring.

Wednesday Night Special               

7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)   

Iowa City Jazz Festival 2015: Charles Lloyd Quartet

Charles Lloyd at the 2015 Iowa City Jazz Festival

 Charles Lloyd was born in Memphis, Tennessee and from an early age, he was immersed in that city’s rich musical life and was exposed to jazz. Beginning in his early teens, he was working as a  sideman in the blues bands of B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Johnnie Ace, Bobbie “Blue” Bland, and others. His closest friend in high-school was trumpeter, Booker Little.

In the intervening sixty years, Lloyd has become a true giant of the jazz world, playing with Billy Higgins, Don Cherry, Bobby Hutcherson, Chico Hamilton, Keith Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and many more.

In 1970, Lloyd moved to California and entered a state of semi-retirement. He practically disappeared from the jazz scene, but can be heard on recordings with the Doors, Canned Heat, and the Beach Boys. Occasionally during the 1970s Lloyd played with The Beach Boys; both on their studio recordings and as a member of their touring band.

Upon his recovery from a near death experience in 1986, Lloyd decided to rededicate himself to music. He started performing occasionally in 1987 and 88. In 1989, Lloyd reestablished an active touring schedule and began recording for ECM Records. The ECM recordings showcased his sensitivity as a ballad player and composer. In 2014, Lloyd received the 2014 Monterey Jazz Festival Jazz Legend Award.

Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland       

Thursday at 6:00 PM

Eric Mintel  

Pianist Eric Mintel is on a mission to bring jazz to the masses. His playing is straight-ahead but energetic, lyrical, and always swinging. With his quartet, he has engaged audiences at the White House, The Kennedy Center, and venues around the country. On this Piano Jazz from 2005, Mintel talks about improvisation and the art of getting gigs before sitting down with host McPartland for “These Foolish Things.”

Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler    

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

“The Short-Lived, Cambridge, Ma Jazz Label, Transition Records”       

Craig surveys and presents some of the exceptional material from the mid 50’s that was recorded and produced by the label founder, Tom Wilson.  We’ll hear early recordings from Yusef Lateef, Cecil Taylor, Donald Byrd, Doug Watkins, Sun Ra, Herb Pomeroy, Paul Chambers, and others.  Great music and interesting stories relating to the record label. Don’t miss it

Tropical Heat with Kpoti Accoh      

Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Featured Album: “Paris Café” by Le Grand Baiser     

www.allmusic.com/album/paris-cafe-fisher-price-mw0000797839

“Imagine yourself sipping a café au lait with the one you love, surrounded by the beauty of Paris…” You can live that moment on this well-recorded and relaxing music from France, as the music is appropriate for dinner and all relaxing parties. Aside from a few modern tunes that get the “elevator music treatment,” virtually every song on this disc will transport you to a quaint French sidewalk café, and will rekindle your love for Paris.

KCCK’s Midnight CD

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

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