Culture Crawl 1002 “What’s Swing, Mommy?”

Creston, Iowa native John “JR” Robinson is the most recorded drummer in modern history. As a member of Quincy Jones’ “posse” in the Eighties and Nineties, it’s his signature sound you hear on classics like “Rock With You,” “Ain’t Nobody,” “Higher Love,” and hundreds more. Recent projects include “SRT,” an organ trio that also includes keyboardist and UI grad Mitch Towne, who recently performed in Trio Grismore at the Iowa City Jazz Festival and Jazz Under the Stars.

In the first of a two-part interview, John talks about growing up in Iowa, joining the band Rufus, and his first sessions with “Q.”

These stories and more in John’s autobiography, “King of the Groove,” available on all book platforms. Follow John at www.johnjrrobinson.com.

Subscribe to The Culture Crawl at kcck.org/culture or search “Culture Crawl” in your favorite podcast player. Listen Live at 10:30am most weekdays on Iowa’s Jazz station. 88.3 FM or kcck.org/listen.

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Talking Pictures 11-20-24

“Starve Acre” (2024 Prime) and “The Alamo” (1960) with Ron Adkins and Phil Brown.

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Culture Crawl 1001 “Audience-Repellent Music”

Orchestra Iowa welcomes Grammy-winning violinist Melissa White to perform Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy. Samuel Barber and Beethoven’s Third Symphony, which introduced the Romantic era, brings the concert to an epic close.

Nov. 23 at the Paramount, Nov. 23 at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets and more info at orchesraiowa.org.

Subscribe to The Culture Crawl at kcck.org/culture or search “Culture Crawl” in your favorite podcast player. Listen Live at 10:30am most weekdays on Iowa’s Jazz station. 88.3 FM or kcck.org/listen.

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This Week In Jazz November 17 thru November 23


Hey, Jazz fans! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, composer Johnny Mercer, singers June Christy and Sheila Jordan, trombonists Tommy Dorey and Jimmy Knepper, pianists Dr. John and Geoffrey Keezer and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Miles Davis’ “Sketches of Spain” (1959), Cal Tjader’s “Soul Sauce” (1964), Ron Carter’s “Peg Leg” (1977), Nat Adderley Quintet’s “We Remember Cannon” (1989), “Sheila Jordan + Cameron Brown – Celebration” (2004) and many others Monday thru Friday and at noon on JAZZ MASTERS on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.

Special Programs November 18 thru November 24

Jazz Corner of the World  (Encore)

Mondays at 6:00pm

George Cables at 80

Craig celebrates George Cables’s 80th birthday by presenting an array of great jazz selections from his lengthy career, beginning in 1970 right up to the present. Some 50 years ago, Art Pepper dubbed Cables “Mr. Beautiful.” (He still is!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Night SpecialNo photo description available.

Wednesdays at 6:00pm

Road Scholars at First Friday Jazz

Saxophonist Damani Phillips and percussionist Dan Moore share a passion for the music of Spyro Gyra. So much so that they formed Road Scholars to pay tribute to the music of Jay Beckenstein and company. They shared this love with an appreciative First Friday audience.

 

 

 

 

Jazz Night In America

Thursdays at 11:00pm

The Bold Cassandra Wilson

Jazz Night in America celebrates vocalist, composer, and NEA Jazz Master Cassandra Wilson. Explore tracks from her expansive discography and discover how she reimagines jazz standards while offering bold, unconventional takes on other musicians’ songs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the WorldColeman Hawkins Albums: songs, discography, biography, and ...

Saturdays from 12:00 noon to 4:00pm

A Coleman Hawkins Birthday Party

This week, Craig throws a birthday party for Coleman Hawkins, the “Father of Jazz Tenor Sax.” Hawkins was known for contributing to each of the major changes in jazz stylings. We’ll hear a wide variety of recordings made in the mid-1920s to the late 1960s.

 

 

 

 

 

KCCK’s Midnight CD

Every Night at Midnight Each night, KCCK lets you hear a new CD played start-to-finish.

Ofrenda by Diego Rivera on Monday; Brightlight by Avishai Cohen on Tuesday; Music is Connection by Ryan Keberle & Catharsis on Wednesday; We See by Steve Davis on Thursday; Lines by Randy McAllister on Friday; I Got What You Need by Mississippi MacDonald on Saturday; Jane Monheit by Jane Monheit on Sunday.

Big Mo Pod Show 037 – “Of Wolves And Weevils”

This week our two blues aficionados delve into some blues history, and even a little American history, with some Friday’s tracks, discussing the unique environments that shaped the blues and those that played it. Songs featured in the episode: 

  1. Pink Anderson – “Bo Weevil” 
  2. Guitar Shorty – “True Lies” 
  3. Curtis Salgado – “Slow Down” 
  4. Albert Cummings – “Live Strong” 
  5. James Cotton, Hubert Sumlin – “Sitting On Top Of The World” 

Listen to ‘da Friday Blues with Big Mo each week at 6pm, and catch the podcast for a behind the scenes look at the show!

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New Music Monday for November 18, 2024

Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify 
Multi-Grammy Award winner Brian Lynch’s new album, “7x7By7,” can justifiably be called septology: seven pieces performed by seven musicians with each tune clocking in at seven minutes flat of music. The trumpeter and composer designed the project in a novel and distinctive modular format, allowing for the interchange of ensemble sections and individual parts across all seven pieces. Additionally, the recording process was designed to facilitate the smooth reassembly of elements from the tracks into new pieces.

“Entre Amigos” is a creative collaboration featuring award-winning Chicago-based musicians Roy McGrath (sax), Gustavo Cortinas (drums), Hana Fujisaki (piano) and Kit Lyles (bass). The formal creation of the band marked a celebration of a decade-long anniversary of musical friendship. Hot off the heels of their month-long tour of Asia with gigs practically every night, the quartet threw themselves immediately into the studio upon their return, recording their self-titled debut album. It marked the end result of weeks of nonstop arranging, composing and perfecting the music they knew as well as they knew each other.

                                                        

Also this week, “Found in Space” is the second pairing of the dominant trombonist of our time, Michael Dease, and the prolific composer Gregg Hill, full of reminders of ‘70s cinema, Zappa albums, bebop and big bands; Jacqui Naylor, a captivating vocalist known for defying genres, releases her 12th album, “Treasures of the Heart,” a collection blending jazz, R&B, soul and pop; and Grammy-winning New York City drummer Zach Adleman brings a fresh and creative approach to his new album, “We Make: Stories for a New Day.”

 

Culture Crawl 1000 “I Have a Unique Set of Skills”

 

It’s the 1000th episode of The Culture Crawl! And who better to sit in the guest chair than frequent guest Tim Hankewich. This weekend, he’ll be the Master of Multitasking as Orchestra Iowa presents “Home Alone” – film with live music Nov. 16-17.

Tim also name-drops the New York Philharmonic, for whom he conducted a Film with Live Orchestra event a couple years ago.

Nov. 16-17 at the Paramount. Tickets at www.artsiowa.com.

Subscribe to The Culture Crawl at kcck.org/culture or search “Culture Crawl” in your favorite podcast player. Listen Live at 10:30am most weekdays on Iowa’s Jazz station. 88.3 FM or kcck.org/listen.

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