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/
“A true and modern arrangement!” is how composer Claude Bolling refers to American composer/arranger Steve Barta’s new “Symphonic Arrangement: Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano.” Bolling’s 1975 recording enjoyed a lengthy stay on the Billboard charts to become a standard in the jazz and classical worlds. With Mr. Bolling’s approval, Barta has taken the original work and arranged it for jazz quartet, string quartet and orchestra. For Barta, the correct personnel to interpret the suite was essential. They include master flutist Hubert Laws, piano prodigy Jeffrey Biegel, Brazilian drummer Michael Shapiro and bassist Michael Valerio. “I can’t imagine a better group four people for the jazz quartet,” says Barta.
Upon a Star” is the latest project from legendary guitarist and composer Bill Frisell. Comprised of music from iconic film and television scores, the disc is conceived not only as an homage, but as a celebration of music-making with longtime collaborators and their collective commitment to refined interpretation of material. It brings together and all-star ensemble of Frisell’s frequent musical partners: violist Eyvind Kang, drummer Rudy Royston, bassist Thomas Morgan and vocalist Pedra Haden. Frisell describes the group of friends’ unique process as beginning with listening to as many versions of the pieces as possible and committing any lyrics to heart, followed by total immersion in the original score, learning the notes and hours of practice. The cornerstones of the disc are four suites of music that reside deep with the collective psyche: To Kill a Mockingbird, Psycho, Once Upon a Time in the West and The Godfather. “I’ve been watching TV and moves my whole life,” Frisell notes. “What I’ve seen and heard there is a huge part of, and is embedded so deeply into the fabric of what fires up my musical imagination.”
