By Dennis Green
As a part of KCCK’s Jazz Band Camp, we spend some time in jazz listening. I like to share some videos of jazz performances with the students, working my way through the various instruments. We look at serious pieces from Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, and Miles Davis, but we also get a little silly, hearing jazz versions of songs like “All About The Bass” and “Uptown Funk.”
And even a scene from “Anchorman.”
Tickled, Swiss Army Man, The Secret Life of Pets, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates with Hollis Monroe, Denny Lynch and Monica Schmidt
August means Jazz Under the Stars. The first concerts are held at Noelridge Park, the final one at the McGrath Amphitheatre. Performances start at 7 p.m. In case of rain, concerts will be held at Parlor City, 1125 3rd Street SE. Presented by Collins Community Credit Union, Kirkwood Community College, McGrath Family of Dealerships, West Music.
August 4 – Ten of Soul (Rained out)
August 11 – Mirage
August 18 – Summit (KCCK CD Sale 5-7 p.m.)
August 25 – Eddie Piccard Quintet
The Bur Oak Land Trust preserves natural areas in Johnson County.
Short List with Bob Naujoks
Monday – Friday at 8:35 AM and Saturday at 7 AM
The Short List: Cats On the Keys 3 (Willie “the Lion” Smith)
Willie “the Lion” Smith
Our summer Shortlist “Cats on the Keys” series 3 continues with one of the “Big Three” of Stride Piano from the 1920s: Willie “the Lion” Smith. The other great stride piano greats were James P. Johnson and Thomas ‘Fats’ Waller, but Smith lived much longer than the others and became a living legend by the end of his life at age 80. The nickname “The Lion” didn’t come from his bravura playing, but his heroism in World War One. He was certainly fierce with the eighty-eight keys.
Jazz Profiles with Nancy Wilson
Monday at 6:00 PM
The Village Vanguard: A Hallowed Basement 
The influential 75-year-old club has hosted the most important figures in jazz from giants like Monk, Miles, and Coltrane to stars of today like Joshua Redman and Wynton Marsalis. It has been the setting for some of the best live recordings in jazz, and the great stories.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (follows Jazz Profiles)
“Important Jazz Performance Venues of The Past — The Black Hawk”
Craig profiles the legendary nightclub THE BLACK HAWK, which was located at the corner of Hyde and Turk in San Francisco, California. The site (which is now a parking lot), once hosted numerous jazz performances, including a legacy of a variety of important jazz recordings. We’ll hear wonderful recordings from Cal Tjader, Thelonious Monk, Dave Brubeck, Shelly Manne, Ahmad Jamal, Vince Guaraldi, and, of course, Miles Davis!
New Orleans Calling with George Ingmire
Tuesday at 6:00 PM
Champion Jack Dupree: Freedom (part 2 of 2)
Champion Jack Dupree
This is the second episode of our two-episode look at New Orleans boogie-woogie piano player Champion Jack Dupree.
In the first episode, we spent some time tracking down his music and his fascinating history — his childhood, his boxing career, his recording career, and his departure for Europe. In this episode we pick up where we left off, with Jack returning to New Orleans after more than 30 years. And through interviews with Jack and people who knew him, we found a theme running through his entire life — the search for freedom, for himself and for all of us.
This is a very special look at a very special story. Blues guitarist Kenn Lending, who was interviewed for this episode, met Champion Jack Dupree in the 1970s, and worked with him until Jack’s death in 1992, performing at over 1,000 concerts in 34 countries. He lives in Copenhagen, Denmark, and still plays music, performed alongside Jack at both sets.
Kalamu ya Salaam, interviewed in this episode, is a poet, scholar, and filmmaker in New Orleans, who has written about Champion Jack Dupree.
Jazz Night in America with Christian McBride
Wednesday at 6:00 PM
Sabertooth Saturday Night 
Every year for about 23 years, one group has held a midnight to 5 a.m. time slot on Saturday nights. It’s a quirky band, co-led by saxophonists Pat Mallinger and Cameron Pfiffner, which swings hard (and a little off-kilter) among the hardcore fans, the rowdy drunks, the musicians coming off their own gigs. And it happens in the jazz haven of Chicago, in a club called the Green Mill which doesn’t look to have changed much since its days as a Prohibition-era speakeasy. Jazz Night in America follows Pat and Cameron to the gig, then stays up all night with the Sabertooth Organ Quartet.
Wednesday Night Special
7:00 PM (Follows Jazz Night in America)
KCCK’s Jazz Under the Stars 2015: Local on the 8s
Local on the 8s at KCCK’s Jazz Under the Stars 2015
To get you pumped-up for another exciting season of free summer concerts next month, we’ll revisit all four of our awesome Jazz Under the Stars performances from last August!
Local on the 8s, a group of musicians from across Iowa, utilizes a compelling combination and mixture of progressive rock, jazz, R&B, hip hop and funk music. Performing original compositions as well as the music of Trombone Shorty, Roy Hargrove, Kneebody, Christian Scott, Snarky Puppy and many others, Local on the 8s offers high energy music, steeped in tradition and sophistication, that will make anyone dance. Local on the 8s seeks to erase the lines between the mainstream and the underground – straight ahead and rock/funk. The band features Eric Thompson; drums and vocals, Ben Soltau; bass and vocals, Jon Snell; keys and vocals, Steve Grismore; guitar and vocals, Robert Espe; saxophones and vocals, Brett Messenger; trumpet / flugelhorn and lead vocals.
Jazz Corner of the World with Craig Kessler
Saturday, Noon – 4:00 PM and Monday, 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM
“The State of The Instrument – Part Ten: The Alto Saxophone”
Des Moines, Iowa native Dick Oatts
Craig explores music from 4 top-notch current alto players. We’ll hear interesting selections from DAVID BINNEY, STEVE COLEMAN, RYAN SMITH, and DICK OATTS. Don’t miss it!
KCCK’s Midnight CD
The Monday – Sunday Midnight CD for this week can be found at:
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Saxophonist and co
mposer Chris Cheek has come to feel at home in a variety of musical contexts, from the infectious grooves of Brooklyn Boogaloo Blowout to the challenging global music of Guillermo Klein. Much of his compositional style’s effectiveness stems from his love and use of the guitar. The fret masters he’s enlisted for his new CD, “Saturday Songs,” include longtime collaborator Steve Cardenas on guitar and pedal steel expert David Soler along with electric bassist Jaume Llombard. The musical polymath Jorge Rossy rounds out the ensemble on drums, vibes and marimba. The quintet came together for a short tour of Spain and, at Rossy’s recommendation, recorded the disc in Estivella, Spain.
Monika Herzig is a fearless and complete jazz artist touring internationally as a pianist, bandleader, award-winning author and advocate for jazz music, its genres and its players. For her new project, “The Whole World in Her Hands,” Monika showcases her artistry and those of top women band leaders and composers working in jazz today. Bringing together an all-star international band including guitarist Leni Stern, percussionist Mayra Casales, saxophonist/flutist Jane Bunnett, bassist Lindo Oh and others, Herzig presents a program of her exciting originals and those of her band mates.
Also this week, d
rummer Daniel Freedman is joined by Lionel Loueke, Jason Lindner and Omer Avital on his fourth release as a leader, “Imagine That”.
Drummer Scott Neumann and saxophonist Tom Christensen lead the quartet “Spin Cycle” on their debut release.
Pianist Stephen Anderson incorporates the traditional music of the Dominican Republic and uses some of the country’s foremost jazz musicians on “The Dominican Jazz Project.”
