This week on Talking Pictures Hollis, Phil and Monica discuss The End of Oak Street (2026/Science Fiction/PG-13), The Devil Wears Prada II (2026/Sequel/PG-13), and Monica’s adventures in Europe. It’s all on this week’s episode of Talking Pictures!
Culture Crawl 1257 “We Have Some Elf Hats”
Starlighters II Theatre presents “Songs for a New World” by Jason Robert Brown coming up September 25-27 & October 2-4. Jennifer Bealle (Artistic Producer) and Leslie Hyland (Musical Director) are in the studio with insights into this unique show. Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30pm and Sunday shows are at 2pm.
For tickets and more information visit starlighters.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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Culture Crawl 1256 “The Distance Between What You Have And What You Want”
The Cedar Rapids Storytelling Festival is Sept. 21-26. There are events every day, many are free and great for all ages.
Local broadcasters, including Dennis Green and Ed English participate in “The Way We Were,” Tuesday at 7pm at Parlor City Pub. You’ll hear a variety of stories, including an unforgettable KCRG trip to Washington D.C., the lengths teenagers went to hear rock music on the radio in the 60s and 70s, and how Eastern Iowa was ground zero for an improbably musical renaissance. The full lineup of nearly 20 events at crstorytellingfestival.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 September 21, 2026
Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
The self-titled 2024 debut of Matt Wilson’s Good Trouble drew inspiration from the late civil rights icon John Lewis to craft an album that responded to our tumultuous times by encouraging positivity as a remedy for divisiveness. On the band’s heartfelt follow-up, “Love is the Whole Thing, We Are Only Pieces,” the band uses the words of the great Sufi poet Rumi from more than 750 years ago as the leaping-off point for a jubilant and moving new set of music that offers gentle protest in the form of deep communion.
“Leave That in There” is the sixth album by Grammy Award-winning pianist, composer, and bandleader Sullivan Fortner, presenting his most personal and self-referential statement to date. Across a dozen original compositions and one cover, the New Orleans native threads together musical references, memories pulled from family history, spiritual traditions, and sonic callbacks to earlier works throughout his catalog. It’s the first studio recording featuring his working trio comprising bassist Tyrone Allen II and drummer Kayvon Gordon.
Also this week, after four decades in music, veteran pianist, composer and producer Dan Siegel presents “Resolution,” a nine-song contemporary jazz album shaped by instinct, first takes, and trusted collaborators; the Greg Abate Quartet offers up a super-charged, diverse flow of energetic, original jazz with “In the Moment”; and Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter and two-time NAACP Image Award winner Somi presents her first collection original songs in six years, “What Does it Take to Bloom?”
This Week’s Shows September 21 – September 27
Wednesday Night Special
Wednesdays at 6:00pm
Ritmo Quinto on the Local Stage
Legendary percussionist James Dreier made his Iowa City Jazz Festival debut as leader of RitmoQuinto, a pared-down 5-piece band full of energy, Latin rhythms, and infectious grooves. RitmoQuinto took the Local Stage and had the crowd dancing in the street.
Jazz Masters
Saturdays from 12 noon to 4:00pm
Join Hollis Monroe as he celebrates the week’s jazz birthdays, including Cannonball Adderley, Jon Hendrix, and B.B. King, and plays anniversary recordings from Stanley Turrentine’s Z.T.s Blues, Leroy Vinnegar’s Leroy Walks, and many others.
KCCK’s Midnight CD (September 14 – September 20)
Every Night at Midnight
KCCK features a new album every night, played start-to-finish.
This is What Love Does by Enoch Smith Jr. on Monday; Repaved by Jalen Baker on Tuesday; Transmission by Huntertones on Wednesday; Kind of Grunge by Ulysses Owens & Generation Y on Thursday; Still Dangerous by Mike Dangeroux on Friday; Fight Like the Devil or Run Like Hell by Dustin Arbuckle & the Damnations on Saturday; The Devil I Knew by Nicole Zuraitis on Sunday.
This Week In Jazz September 20 thru September 26
Hey, Jazz fans! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of bassists Slam Stewart, Tommy Potter and Jimmy Woode, singers Herb Jeffries, Ward Swingle, Ray Charles, Irene Reid, Les McCann, Marlena Shaw and Norma Winstone, saxmen Shafi Hadi, Sam Rivers, Roland Alexander, Frank Foster, Damani Phillips and more. We’ll also mark the recording anniversary of The Wynton Kelly Trio/Wes Montgomery classic “Smokin’ at the Half Note” (1965) and many others, Mondays thru Fridays and at noon on JAZZ MASTERS on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Culture Crawl 1255 “You Didn’t Put The Chicken In”
Kelley Cole from Gia’s Italian Kitchen in Cedar Rapids is in the studio ahead of a pasta making event at Kingston Yard happening 2pm on September 27. Tune in to hear Kelley talk about Italian cooking and to learn more about this tasty event.
For tickets and more information visit giasitaliankitchen.biz.
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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Culture Crawl 1254 “America Finds Its Groove”
Tim Hankewich is in the studio ahead of Orchestra Iowa’s “Masterworks I: New World Symphony” coming up Saturday 9/19, 7:30pm at Paramount Theatre & Sunday 9/20, 2pm at Voxman Concert Hall. In celebration of America 250, concert goers will hear selections from Copland, Gershwin, and Dvořvák. Prior to each concert, insights will be led by the maestro (6:45pm on Saturday and 1pm on Sunday).
For tickets and more information visit orchestraiowa.org or 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.
Podcast (culturecrawl): Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS