This Week’s Shows – Week of November 9 – 15
Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
The Short List: Jazz Clubs Live – London House (Chicago) / Jazz Standard (NYC)
The Jazz Standard in NYC
This week there is a short survey of the at one-time sophisticated, now long closed, London House in Chicago and then it’s on to The Jazz Standard jazz club in New York. A local website describes the venue this way: “falling somewhere between the gaudy Times Square tourist traps and the smaller, serious West Village clubs, offering jazz, blues and barbque in its swanky spread out space.” It’s a throwback to the clubs of the 1930s and 1940s in that it is located in a basement below a Southern cuisine restaurant. The food comes from upstairs and the music is mostly straight-ahead jazz playing seven days a week. Their “Mingus Mondays” with the Charles Mingus Big Band are quite popular as are the Sunday afternoon “Jazz for Kids” programs.
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 6:00 PM
Sun Ra: ‘Cosmic Swing’
Sun Ra
Whether he was disdained as a charlatan or revered as a pioneer, there is no denying the influence of Sun Ra on several generations of musicians. He was an avatar of free improvisation and was the first to bring electronics and synthesizers into jazz. But, this space traveler was also a pianist for the Fletcher Henderson big band. This show showcases Sun Ra’s musical cosmic swing.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)
“The Incomparable Artistry of Andrew Hill – Part Four”
Craig brings us the 4th and final installment of this series of shows spotlighting the music of ANDREW HILL….one of the most innovative jazz pianists and composers of the last 65 years! In this show, we’ll examine more material from Mr. Hill, including groups under his leadership, as well as some of the many appearances of Hill as a sideman.
New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire
Tuesday at 6:00 PM
Subject: TBA
George Ingmire
For one hour each week, NEW ORLEANS CALLING brings the music, stories, sounds, and people of the Crescent City to non-commercial radio stations around the country and the world. Using exclusive live performances and interviews, immersive sound, rare archival recordings, and all the musical depth of WWOZ, the program provides a window into New Orleans life for a listener not in the city, while bringing new authentic stories and surprises to discerning local WWOZ audiences.
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Wednesday at 6:00 PM
Marquis Hill Blacktet in Chicago
Marquis Hill Blacktet
Trumpeter Marquis Hill has shot to international renown recently, especially after winning the Thelonious Monk Competition — a sort of international Heisman Trophy for young jazz artists. But it takes a village to raise a musician. Jazz Night in America caught up with Hill when he returned to his native Chicago for a string of shows, touring his old South Side haunts, interviewing his former teachers, and catching a rehearsal. Then we got to see it all come together at the Jazz Showcase downtown in a performance by Hill’s tight working band, the Blacktet.
Wednesday Night Special
7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)
Iowa City Jazz Festival 2015: COLOSSUS
COLOSSUS at the 2015 Iowa City Jazz Festival
COLOSSUS, a 17-piece modern jazz orchestra, contains the most incredible music talent from all across Iowa. Along with award-winning composers Dave Chisholm and Levi Saelua, Mike Conrad (of Bettendorf, IA) co-founded this band made up of current and former students of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.
While the initial incarnation of COLOSSUS played the music of all three founding members, this Midwest version of the band has been developing an identity of its own playing more and more of Mike Conrad’s original compositions. It’s very rare these days to find a large jazz ensemble devoted to playing new and original music.
Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland
Thursday at 6:00 PM
Allen Toussaint (1938 – 2015)
Allen Toussaint
Remembering Allen Toussaint with guest host Elvis Costello
Ten years ago New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, but the city’s music scene is indestructible. Piano Jazz pays tribute to the Crescent City and one of her favorite sons — legendary pianist, singer, composer and producer Allen Toussaint who passed away this past Monday at the age of 77. Elvis Costello sits in as guest host for this special session which features Toussaint singing and playing his hit tune, “Southern Nights, and a duet with Costello on “Ascension Day”.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
“Contemporary Records – 1955” 
Craig travels back 60 years to look in on the beginnings of Lester Koenig’s CONTEMPORARY RECORDS in 1955 (and earlier!). 1955 was the first big year for Contemporary, with Koenig having recorded some 28 different sessions for the label that year, from “west coast jazz” artists like Hampton Hawes, Lennie Niehaus, Howard Rumsey, Barney Kessel, Lyle Murphy, Shelly Manne, and others. We’ll also look at a handful of west coast sessions that Koenig recorded from July, 1952 through December, 1954. CONTEMPORARY RECORDS will always be known as one of the premier “west coast jazz” record labels!
Riverwalk Jazz
Sunday at 5:00 PM
The Unsung Genius of Kenny Davern: Traditional Jazz Clarinet Virtuoso
Kenny Davern
Jazz writer Nat Hentoff says clarinetist Kenny Davern “never received the credit he deserved” in spite of his “continuous imagination and vitality.” A look back at Kenny Davern’s funniest stories and hottest performances from his Riverwalk Jazz appearances.
Tropical Heat with Kpoti Accoh
Sunday, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Featured Album: TBA
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at:
New Music Monday for November 9, 2015
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
When Patrick Williams assembles a band for a new album, it’s like old home days, as some of the musicians have been playing for him for decades. In late March, eighteen of Los Angeles’ finest players gathered to tackle eight new charts by the Grammy-winning musical architect. Old friends like Dave Grusin, Tom Scott, Bob Sheppard, Peter Erskine and Chuck Berghofer were all on hand. “Home Suite Home” is the composer’s most personal project to date as he draws musical portraits of his three children and his wife of 54 years. Williams also forged ahead with a pair of tributes to a couple of his favorite artists—arranger/composer Neal Hefti from his sojourn with Count Basie, and renowned drummer Buddy Rich.
For his latest q
uintet recording, “Our Roots,” Chicago saxophonist and composer Geoff Bradfield borrows inspiration from fellow Chicagoan Clifford Jordan’s 1965 album, “These Are My Roots: the Music of Lead Belly.” The focus is on black music of the rural south—the spirituals and blues of itinerant Texas preacher Blind Willie Johnson, ring shouts from the Georgia Sea Islands, and the prison farm work songs of Lead Belly. The absence of a chordal instrument allows the ensemble to explore the open-ended nature of these folk forms. Bradfield is joined by four of the premier musicians on the Chicago scene: trumpeter Marquis Hill, trombonist Joel Adams, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Dana Hall.
Also this week, Denver’s Jeff Jenkins Organization keeps the classic B3 organ trio format relevant and alive with 
“The Arrival”; OJT builds on the classic organ jazz trio by mixing old school Kansas City jazz with blues and a modern funky groove on “New Standards for the Green Lady”; and keyboardist Manuel Valera debuts his new ensemble, Groove Square, on “Urban Landscape,” featuring saxophonist John Ellis, guitarist Nir Felder, drummers E.J. Strickland and Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts and harmonica ace Gregoire Maret.
Clean Up Your Act 12-4-15
Journalist Andrew Nikiforuk says fracking is no panacea.
Clean Up Your Act 12-3-15
It’s the world’s largest cellulosic ethanol plant…and it’s in Iowa.
KCCK’s Featured CD for November, 2015
Every month, KCCK calls your attention to a new release we think is especially noteworthy. The KCCK Featured CD for November is “Past Present” by John Scofield. The early ’90s saw the celebrated guitarist release three well-received discs as the John Scofield Quartet, featuring tenor titan Joe Lovano with Iowa native Bill Stewart on drums. Nearly 25 years later, Scofield has revived this stellar ensemble, recruiting Larry Grenadier to fill the bass chair. The result solidifies Scofield’s reputation as one of modern jazz’s most dynamic guitarists and is another integral chapter is his expansive discography. “Past Present” by John Scofield, on Impulse Records, is KCCK’s Featured CD for November.