Big Mo Pod Show 063 – “In Between”

Welcome back to the show! This week’s episode features a variety of blues tunes as always, but also features one track that sits between jazz and blues, offering a unique sound that few other tracks on the show provide. Tune in to hear it! Songs featured in the episode: 

  1. Eddy Clearwater – “Hypnotized” 
  2. Davis Coen – “Don’t Let The Deal Go Down” 
  3. Eric Gales – “Put It Back” 
  4. Eric Krasno – “Leave Me Alone” 
  5. Bill Frisell – “Rebel Rouser” 

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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1073 “Everything’s Busting Out”

Spring has sprung and the grounds at Prairiewoods are bursting with life! Leslie Wright is back in the studio ahead of the Annual Prairiewoods Garden Party: Growing Our Roots. Enjoy a night of music, food and nature while raising funds to support Prairiewood’s mission. 

It’s Saturday, June 7, 5-8pm. Tickets at prairiewoods.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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New Music Monday for May 26, 2025

Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
“Ruta de la Clave,” the highly anticipated debut album from Juno-winning Cuban-Canadian percussionist, composer, producer and bandleader Joaquin Nunez, is the result of five years of creative exploration. Produced in collaboration with acclaimed New York-based Cuban pianist and jazz innovator Dayramir Gonzalez, the album offers a rich sonic journey tracing the evolution of Cuban music through its heartbeat: the clave. The disc charts the rhythmic and cultural trajectory of this essential Afro-Cuban pattern from its early expressions in the contradanza of the 1800s, through genres such as danzon, changui, son, and rumba, and into their present-day forms.

Kandace Springs’ latest project, recorded in collaboration with the Academia de Musica de Espinho’s Orquesta Classica de Espinho, is a heartfelt and sonically gorgeous tribute to one of her favorite artists, Billie Holiday, and her last great album, “Lady in Satin.” That album, comprising 12 songs from the Great American Songbook, was recorded in 1958 with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Ray Ellis. Kandace and the Acadaemia spared no effort in re-creating and reimagining the sound and feel of the original recording, and the resulting creation has a romantic lushness that is rarely heard in music today.

                     

Also this week, the Virginia-based collective Butcher Brown’s new album, “Letters from the Atlantic,” offers a seamless blend of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, soul and bossa nova; trombonist Altin Sencalar leads a stellar lineup through a dynamic collection of original compositions and reimagined classics on “Unleashed”; and saxophonist Mike Zilber and drummer Mike Clark utilize their understanding and mastery of the jazz canon and popular songs on their new recording, “Standard Deviations.”

 

1072 “Like Bands Do”

It’s almost summer and you know what that means… Iowa City Summer of the Arts! Executive Director Lisa Barnes is in today with all the details and a stellar line up. It’s  The Iowa Arts Festival, June 6-8. 

For more information and schedules visit summerofthearts.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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Talking Pictures 5-21-25

“Rosario” (2025) and “Andor” (2022 TV series) with Hollis Monroe, Phil Brown and Denny Lynch.

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1071 “Up There Naked”

Local musician Wes Shirley is in the studio ahead of a new concert experience focused on spotlighting songwriters. The first in the series features local artists Sarah Cram Driscoll and Joel Sires. It’s “CR Songwriter Series” June 6, 6:30pm at the Cedar Rapids Public Library Whipple Auditorium. 

Tickets and more info can be found at crsongwriters.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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Clean Up Your Act 5-20-25

Des Moines’ public transit system is scrapping its entire fleet of electric buses.

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IC Jazz Festival 2024 Memorial Day Special

We’re kicking off the summer of 2025 by re-living one of our favorite memories from 2024 with a Memorial Day broadcast of the 2024 Iowa City Jazz Festival. Join us for a day-long concert featuring all the mainstage shows, as we get tuned up for this year’s Festival, only a few weeks away!

Here is the schedule (times approximate):

6:00 am – Trio Grismore
7:15 am – Blake Shaw Big-ish Band
8:10 am – United Jazz Ensemble
8:50 am – North Corridor All-Stars
9:40 am – Ingrid Jensen & the Iowa Womens Jazz Orchestra
11:00 am – Emiliano Lasansky
12:20 pm – Fareed Haque & His Funk Brothers
1:40 pm – Lakecia Benjamin
3:05 pm – 10 of Soul
4:20 pm – Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble
5:40 pm – Trio Grismore
6:35 pm – Blake Shaw Big-ish Band
7:30 pm – United Jazz Ensemble
7:50 pm – North Corridor All-Stars
8:40 pm – Ingrid Jensen & the Iowa Womens Jazz Orchestra
9:40 pm – Emiliano Lasansky
10:40 pm – Fareed Haque & His Funk Brothers