The Indian Creak Nature Center opens its new sustainable headquarters building.
Talking Pictures 9-22-16
Bridget Jones’s Baby, Snowden and Don’t Think Twice with Hollis Monroe, Denny Lynch and Monica Schmidt
Talking Pictures 8-15-16
Sully, High Rise, Sausage Party with Hollis Monroe, Denny Lynch and Scott Chrisman.
This Week’s Shows: Week of September 19 – 25
Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
The Short List: Cats On The Keys 3 (Roger Kellaway)
Roger Kellaway
The versatile Roger Kellaway began his career playing bass for the traditionalist trumpeter Jimmy McPartland, but soon began backing up such jazz luminaries as Phil Woods, Sonny Rollins and Clark Terry. He was pop idol Bobby Darin’s music director in the late 1960s and he produced a New Age album with his Cello Quartet in 1971. He turned to full time jazz playing in the 1980s, almost. His classical compositions and film scores have earned him honors too. Kellaway’s latter day duets with clarinetist Eddie Daniels have been well reviewed.
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 6:00 PM
Jay ‘Hootie’ McShann: Kansas City Swingman 
“Hootie” to his friends, bluesman supreme Jay McShann has been a living legacy of Kansas City jazz for over sixty years. As bandleader, pianist, singer and composer, McShann has been an unsung yet important figure in jazz. His Orchestra in the early ’40s became an important launching pad for several prominent jazz musicians, such as Charlie Parker.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)
“Birth Date Anniversary Celebration For Organist, Jack Mcduff”
Craig salutes the birth date anniversary of great jazz organist, EUGENE MCDUFFY, or as we commonly know him, BROTHER JACK MCDUFF, by spinning an amazing array of groove tunes from record dates on several jazz record labels…PRESTIGE, BLUE NOTE, CADET, ATLANTIC, CONCORD, and others. This Champaign, IL born jazz great was born on this date…9/17 in1926, and passed 1/23 of 2001, leaving behind a rich jazz legacy of tunes primarily straight from the “soul jazz” genre.
New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire
Tuesday at 6:00 PM
Shallow Water: Mardi Gras Indian Stories
Big Queen Patrice Gordon of Golden Blade Mardi Gras Indians at Jazz Fest. Photo Kichea S Burt
In New Orleans, the famous Mardi Gras Indian tradition is an essential part of the city’s culture, especially at Mardi Gras. But just what is a Mardi Gras Indian? What’s a Spy Boy, or a Flag Boy? Or a Big Chief or a Big Queen? The only people who can give real answers about this many-layered culture are the Mardi Gras Indians themselves — so in this episode we’re going to them directly, from the oldest living Mardi Gras Indian to some of the youngest, as they share with us their dedication to preserving this vibrant and evolving tradition.
Our guide and guest producer for this special episode is Cherice Harrison-Nelson, aka Maroon Queen Cherice of the Guardians of the Flame Maroon Society, a co-founder of the Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame. An educator, anthropologist, and cultural activist, her work has taken her around the country and the world. The daughter of Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr and Herreast Harrison, both New Orleans cultural activists, she is the sister of musician Donald Harrison Jr, who is also Big Chief of the Congo Nation Mardi Gras Indian gang. Her son Brian Harrison Nelson is Big Chief of the Guardians of the Flame.
Cherice introduced us to Isaac “Mr Ike” Edwards, the oldest living Mardi Gras Indian, who stopped masking in 1952, but continues to sew for the tradition, especially for children. He’s known for his “butterfly” beadwork, and at the age of 92 still sews without glasses. Our visit with him at his home was a highlight of working on this episode.
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Wednesday at 6:00 PM
Celebrating Max Roach
Ali Jackson
To say Max Roach was a bebop pioneer, or a paramount innovator of the drums, or a prominent social activist would be accurate. Yet these labels fall short of this American icon’s totality. One drummer who not only understands this idea, but has benefitted from Roach single-handedly changing the perception of what it means to be a drummer, is composer, arranger, and percussion wizard Ali Jackson. After crossing paths with Roach at age 12, Jackson was forever impacted, and the two would enjoy a formative student-teacher connection. In a one-night-only salute to the father of modern drumming, JLCO member Jackson illuminates Roach’s conceptual and artistic genius. An ensemble has been formed specially for this performance, featuring percussionist Victor Provost, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, pianist Emmet Cohen, bassist Russell Hall, tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery, and a string quartet with violinists Elio Bishop and Sara Caswell, violist Jeremy Kittel, and cellist Eugene Friesen.
Wednesday Night Special
7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)
Iowa City Jazz Festival 2016: United Jazz Ensemble
United Jazz Ensemble at the 2016 Iowa City Jazz Festival
Every May, this collaborative high school ensemble comes together to prepare for the Iowa City Jazz Festival. Directed by Rich Medd and Ryan Arp, the band is composed of students from Iowa City High School and West High School in Iowa City. For 20 years, this group has served as of one of signature elements of the Jazz Festival’s commitment to education outreach. The deep immersion of students in jazz over the summer not only strengthens their musical growth, but builds a strong bond between the programs at the two schools.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
“Riverside Records In 1956” 
Riverside Records owners and producers Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer had been involved with traditional jazz and blues recordings for many years before entering the realm of “modern” jazz in 1954 with a recording from pianist RANDY WESTON. In 1955, they recorded 8 more modern jazz records including dates from Thelonious Monk. 1956 brought the first sizable list of recordings…28, featuring dates from Kenny Drew, Randy Weston, Zoot Sims, Thelonious Monk, Mundell Lowe, Bill Evans, and others. Craig travels back 60 years to look in on some of those memorable sessions, taking a look at some of the great discs that came from RIVERSIDE RECORDS IN 1956!
Tropical Heat (hosted by Kpoti Senam Accoh)
Sunday, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Featured Album: “Muzikr” by Carlou D 
http://www.last.fm/music/Carlou+D
Carlou D’s first global release is actually his follow-up to his Senegalese debut. He’s a child of the hip-hop generation having been in Positive Black Soul (arguably Africa’s biggest hip-hop band) before going solo. He’s an accomplished singer (and pretty fair guitar player) with a strong falsetto, with a mastery of several styles, including m’balax on “Il Touba,” and the softer ballad of “Goree,” where he’s given a helping hand by Youssou N’Dour, an imprimatur of greatness. The man’s hip-hop past breaks through in the rhythms of “Senegal” and also “Meun Nako Def.” What’s especially pleasing is the use of Senegalese percussion and kora among the instruments — the kora takes a stunning solo on “Yaaboyo” — keeping it all very rooted, and nowhere more so than on the percussion-heavy “Dieureudieufe Modou,” which even brings in a delicious little rap. Essentially, this is a showcase for Carlou D’s many talents. But as he’s extremely talented, it works exceedingly well.
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at:
New Music Monday for September 19, 2016
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
“Great political speeches inspire us to believe we are capable of achieving great things together,” say Grammy-nominated composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Ted Nash. “I can’t think of a better time to release “Presidential Suite” than during this election season.” Subtitled “Eight Variations on Freedom,” the eight movement project for Nash’s big band transforms eight iconic political speeches of the 20th century from world leaders including Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Winston Churchill , Jawaharlal Nehru and Nelson Mandela. To create the music, Nash transcribed the actual pitches and rhythms of the speeches as they were spoken and then transformed them into original motifs, riffs and grooves, placing each into contexts that embrace the character, location and era of each leader via contemporary jazz. Important figures from the worlds of politics and the arts introduce each movement with an excerpt of the speech that inspired it, featuring readings by Joe Lieberman, Sam Waterston, Andrew Young, Deepak Chopra, Glenn Close and others.
The Bad Plus’ eleventh studio recording, “It’s Hard,” sees the trio—bassist Reid Anderson, pianist Ethan Iverson and drummer David King—returning to the distinctive deconstruction of pop forms that drew their first international attention almost two decades ago. The band offers new perspectives on classic songs from the 1970s to the 2010s, including iconic covers of songs made famous by Peter Gabriel, Prince, Kraftwerk, Cyndi Lauper, Ornette Coleman, and Crowded House, among others. “After several years of focusing largely on original music,” says King,” we thought it would be creatively challenging to return to arranging music that’s not ours…to take another stab at it after 13 albums and 16 years together.”
Also this week, guitarist Dave Stryker reimagines another batch of classic pop tunes from the ‘70s and ‘80s with his working trio plus vibes on “Eight Track II”.
Saxophonist and composer Ben Wendel of the band Kneebody offers up his latest project apart from that band, “What We Bring,” featuring pianist Gerald Clayton.
Renowned German trumpeter Till Bronner revisits a selection of standards, all of which have made history through their vocal interpretations, on “The Good Life,” featuring guitarist Anthony Wilson, keyboardist Larry Goldings, bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton.