Big Mo Pod Show 046 – “Blues Is Our Friend”

The boys from the Singing Cowboys Studio are back again with another deep dive into some Big Mo Blues Show tunes! As always the track list features a mix of old and new songs from many different blues sub-genres! Songs featured in this episode: 

  1. Dr John – “My Indian Red”
  2. J.B. Lenoir – “Alabama Blues” 
  3. Pops Staples – “Friendship” 
  4. Eric Gales – “Whatcha Gon’ Do?”
  5. Tommy Castro – “Shakin’ The Hard Times Loose” 

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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Culture Crawl 1021 “Who Am I Going to Be This Year?”

Leslie Wright is back in the studio at the start of this new year with a slew of offerings coming up at Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center. Retreats and events include topics ranging from end of life transitions, food relationships, grief circles, native flute circles, unplugged events, and the Japanese art of Kintsugi. 

Some events are free and others require registration fees. For more information and to see a full calendar of Prariewood events and retreats visit 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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Mt. Vernon Student Wins 2025 Corridor Jazz Art Contest

Evelyn Klima, a ninth grader at Mt. Vernon High School has been chosen as the cover design winner for the “The Corridor Jazz Project XVIII”, a compilation of recordings featuring twenty-one high school jazz bands produced by Iowa’s Jazz Station. 

“We had a record number of entries this year, so the competition was especially stiff,” says KCCK general manager Dennis Green. “One panel member remarked that the quality of the submissions just gets better and better each year.”

The Corridor Jazz Project features the top jazz bands from Jefferson, Kennedy, Prairie, Xavier and Washington High Schools in Cedar Rapids; Linn-Mar and Marion in Marion; City High and West High in Iowa City, Anamosa, Center-Point Urbana, Clear Creek-Amana, Independence, Liberty, Lisbon, Mid-Prairie, Mt. Vernon, Solon, West Branch, West Liberty, and Williamsburg. West Liberty is new to the program in 2025.

Evelyn will receive a $100 cash prize from KCCK-FM.

Receiving Honorable Mention in the contest were these students:

  • Valeria Amaya, Marion
  • Kassy Conway, North Linn
  • Archie Fisher, City High
  • Mya Furnish, Linn-Mar
  • Gavin Hatcher, Linn-Mar
  • Ava Kerns, Kennedy
  • Duncan Spain, Marion
  • Hayley Speidel, Kennedy
  • Charlee Tyo, Marion
  • Owen Voelker, Marion

 

Evelyn’s original piece, as well as those receiving Honorable Mention will be exhibited during the Corridor Jazz Project concerts, March 10 at the Paramount Theatre, and March 11 at Voxman Hall of Music, University of Iowa.

Read the full news release

Talking Pictures 1-15-25

Nosferatu (2024) with Hollis Monroe and Phil Brown.

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Culture Crawl 1020 “Complete with the 18-minute Gap”

Iowa City Community Theatre opens this week with Peter Morgan’s, “Frost/Nixon,” a one act play based on televised interviews between former U.S. president Richard Nixon and English broadcaster David Frost. In the studio today are director Barry Schreier, Kehry Anson Lane (Frost), and Scot Hughes (Nixon). 

Performances will be January 17-18 & 24-25 at 7:30pm and January 19 & 26 at 2pm at The James Theater in Iowa City. 

For tickets and more info visit iowacitycommunitytheatre.com/tickets.

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’s Shows January 13 thru January 19

Steeplechase Records 1001 to 1099Jazz Corner of the World  (Encore)

Mondays at 6:00pm

Steeplechase Records, Part 6

Craig presents another terrific sampling of jazz from this remarkable Danish label.  Founded by Nils Winther, Steeplechase has released over 1,000 top notch recordings from great artists like Kenny Werner, Paul Bley, Marc Copland, Jack Walrath, Harold Danko, Vic Juris, and more.

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Night Special

Wednesdays at 6:00pm

Eddie Piccard at Jazz Under the Stars

We continue to heat up a frigid January with our listen back to some hot Jazz Under the Stars performances. Tonight, we feature Eddie Piccard and a bunch of his friends. The show was too hot to play outdoors so we moved the party to the Olympic Southside Theatre.

 

 

 

 

Jazz Night In America   (January 2)

Thursdays at 11:00pm

Strata-East Records

Host Christian McBride explores the revolutionary legacy of Strata-East Records. Founded in the 1970s, this label empowered musicians with artistic control and fair profit sharing. Discover its impact, discography, and enduring influence.

 

 

 

 

 

Jazz Corner of the World

Saturdays from 12:00 noon to 4:00pm

Gems from Mose Allison

Craig presents a comprehensive playlist of gems from the wonderful jazz sage, pianist and vocalist, Mose Allison.

 

 

 

 

 

KCCK’s Midnight CD

KCCK features a new album every night, played from start-to-finish.

The Clockmaster by Clay Wulbrecht on Monday; Lucky All Along by Lisa Hilton on Tuesday; Old Friends Beckoned, New Sounds Reckoned by Matt Steckler on Wednesday; Songs del Yucayeke by Papo Vazquez on Thursday; Nashville Road by Tomislav Goluban with Crooked Eye Tommy on Friday; Flee Though None Pursue by Ed Alstrom on Saturday; My Foolish Heart by Arturo Sandoval on Sunday.

This Week In Jazz January 12 thru January 19

Hey, Jazz fans! Be sure to tune in this week as we celebrate the birthdays of drummers Gene Krupa, Sid Catlett, Grady Tate and Gerry Gibbs, trombonists Melba Liston and Quentin Jackson, singers Allan Toussaint and Cheryl Bentyne, guitarist Joe Pass and more.

We’ll also mark the recording anniversaries of Benny Goodman’s Carnegie Hall Concert (1938), Ornette Coleman’s “Tomorrow is the Question!” (1959), Sam Jones Plus 10’s “The Chant” (1960), Weather Report “Live in Tokyo” (1972), Chucho Valdes’ “Bele Bele en La Habana” (1998), Roy Hargrove Quintet’s “With Tenors of Our Times” (1994), Madeleine Peyroux’s “Secular Hymns” (2016) and many others Mondays thru Fridays at noon on Jazz Masters on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.

New Music Monday for January 13, 2025

Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify 

“Tippin’” is drummer Carl Allen’s first album as a leader in more than 20 years. With over 200 recordings to his credit, the gifted Milwaukee-born, New York-based drummer, sideman, bandleader, entrepreneur, and educator’s profound and propulsive percolations have provided soulful support for nearly three decades, including work with Benny Golson, Christian McBride’s Inside Straight and others. In honor of this auspicious occasion, Allen has brought together his dream team with Mr. McBride playing bass and the phenomenal Christ Potter on horns.

 

Many jazz aficionados boast encyclopedic knowledge of players, recordings, and moments of instrumental prowess. This geeking, while impressive, can potentially have a downside when fans overlook the role of many jazz artists as talented composers. With limited exceptions, the songwriting contributions of many celebrated musicians are often ignored. In the hope of addressing this situation, Posi-Tone Records has been curating its Blue Moods series of releases to highlight the songwriting genius of these under-appreciated composers. “Force and Grace” is the third and newest installment, focusing on the music of Freddie Hubbard.

 

                                                

 

Also this week, guitarist Dave Stryker and arranger and conductor Brant Wallarab explore their mutual love of the cinema by recording eleven classic film themes with a 30-piece studio orchestra on “Stryker with Strings Goes to the Movies”; 70-year-old American reedman Scott Hamilton is joined by his Scandinavian quartet and draws inspiration from several musicians he’s collaborated with over the years for “Looking Back”; and the U.S. Air Force Band’s Airmen of Note are joined by arranger Gordon Goodwin, bassist Rodney Whitaker, and trumpeter Jon Faddis for “The 2024 Jazz Heritage Series.”