Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
The Short List: Vocal Short List 14 (Barbara Morrison)
Barbara Morrison
Barbara Morrison is one of busiest entertainers in the jazz and blues world. She has been around the world several times and a headliner across the country. She has over two dozen albums to her credit and in her mid-sixties she is not slowing down. She has performed with Count Basie, Ray Charles, Doc Severinsen and James Moody, and has a performing arts center named with her name on it—a sign of her “giving back” to the community. Her first big time job was with Eddie Cleanhead Vinson’s band, but now she is a staple on the Southern California jazz scene and a headliner since the mid-80s.
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 6:00 PM
Bessie Smith: Blues Empress
Bessie Smith
No blues singer can escape the influence of Bessie Smith, “The Empress of the Blues”. For over 100 years, this legendary, singer has been and continues to be a major influence on singers and instrumentalists of today. She was larger than life, inexhaustibly creative, and undeniably distinctive. Her legacies of songs speak to everybody; she gave the music its raw, regal poignancy — and marketability.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)
“The State of The Instrument – Part 6….More Tenor Saxophonists”
In “Show #6” of this new series called “state of the instrument”, Craig will focus on 4 additional tenor saxophonists, who currently are making their mark on today’s jazz landscape….Puerto Rican RON BLAKE, North Carolina born JOHN ELLIS, Iowan CHRISTOPHER MERZ, and Pennsylvanian TIM WARFIELD, Jr. This is essential listening from 4 very distinctive tenor sax voices!
New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire
Tuesday at 6:00 PM
Donald Harrison, Jr. “You Have to Live It”
Donald Harrison, Jr. Photo credit: Al Campanie / The Post-Standard
In the newest edition of New Orleans Calling, host George Ingmire visits saxophonist, student of jazz, and educator Donald Harrison, Jr. to talk about everything from Miles Davis to Nouveau Swing, personal inspirations, and the importance of experiences and collaborations.
Donald grew up in New Orleans in a family of musicians and creative people, studied with the great jazz teacher Alvin Batiste at Southern University, and then at Berklee School of Music in Boston.
Following Charlie Parker’s motto “If you didn’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn,” he set out to meet and play with the greatest jazz musicians he could, and made the experiences a part of himself. In the 1980s he and fellow New Orleanian Terence Blanchard worked with the great Art Blakey, and he also got the opportunity to work with more of his idols, including Miles Davis, and musicians who performed alongside John Coltrane and Charlie Parker.
And it’s now part of his life’s work to share that level of experience with young musicians, including the high school-age players at the Tipitina’s Intern Program in New Orleans.
A special performance was recorded live by New Orleans Calling for this program: Donald performing with bassist Max Moran, drummer Joe Dyson, piano player Shea Pierre, and guitarist Detroit Brooks at the historic Basin St Station.
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Wednesday at 6:00 PM
Celebrating Jymie Merritt
Jymie Merritt
By all accounts, Jymie Merritt had already left his mark on the music before he returned to his hometown of Philadelphia in the early 1960s. Touring stints with Art Blakey, B.B. King and Max Roach assure him a foothold on music history. But there’s an enormous side to his story yet untold — how he developed a unique compositional methodology and anchored the Philly jazz community for years with a group called The Forerunners. Now that Jymie is 90, his son Mike Merritt has resurrected this music.
Wednesday Night Special
7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)
Student Jazz Bands for Jazz Appreciation Month: UI’s Area 51 Sec 2 at The Mill (2015)
UI’s Area 51 Sec 2 at The Mill (2015)
The UI’s Area 51 Sec 2, a jazz group of 5-8 student musicians, is designed to provide sight reading and improvisational opportunities. Under the direction of Steve Grismore, this band has played the repertoire of Charlie Parker, Bill Frisell, Charles Mingus, Thelonius Munk, and John Coltrane. Members of Guitar Ensemble are selected by audition in the fall of each academic year.
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 1956” 
Craig travels back 60 years to look in on the operations and output of Alfred Lion’s superlative jazz record label, BLUE NOTE RECORDS in 1956. We’ll hear a number of very special items from top-notch jazz artists like Thad Jones, Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Smith, Herbie Nichols, Johnny Griffin, Lee Morgan, and many others. Don’t miss it!
Tropical Heat with Kpoti Accoh
Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Featured Album: “Convergence” by Malia & Boris Blank 
https://www.discogs.com/Malia-Boris-Blank-Convergence/release/5048820
From the moment Malia lets out her first notes, everything feels special, like one has been connected to a voice from the world of spirits. From Boris Blank’s first notes, one knows one is in for a smooth, but wild, cosmic ride. The music hums, weaves, and echoes in and out of Malia’s lyrics, which toy playfully with the otherworldly atmosphere of Boris’ soundscape. I am struck not only by the feeling of Malia’s words, but their content. In her world, there is an acceptance for what one is, with neither flattery nor derision. This is an album that evokes feelings of being understood, accepted, and encouraged to fulfill ones destinies to their highest degrees.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at:
nant music is often inspired by watershed events in an artist’s life, and few occasions are more transformative than the arrival of one’s first child. For Allison Miller, the extraordinary drummer, composer and leader of her band Boom Tic Boom, that life-affirming experience provided the seed that led to the creation of her new studio disc, “Otis Was a Polar Bear.” Miller’s approach to composing deviated from her previous work. Instead of exclusively composing on the piano, which is how she’s always written, she utilized the bass, vibes, drums, guitar and mini-keyboard. On these various instruments, she discovered an entirely new sphere of exploration that matured her arrangements, allowing her to scribe specifically for each idiosyncratic band member. Those include violinist Jenny Scheinman, cornet player Kurt Knufke, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, upright bassist Todd Sickafoose and pianist Myra Melford. Incidentally, Miller brings this band to the Iowa City Jazz Festival this July.
ie Pintchik showcases saxophonist Steve Wilson and trumpeter Ron Horton with a terrific mix of six vibrant originals and four richly interpreted standards on the new CD, “True North”.
Guitarist Henry Robinett offers up his first release in several years, “I Have Known Mountains.”
