Music

Jazz legend  Dave Brubeck died Tuesday at age 91, one day shy of his 92nd birthday. It was the end of one of the most accomplished lives in jazz history.

Artist / CD Title / Record Label

Artist / CD Title / Record Label

Bob Mintzer Big Band / For The Moment / MCG
Bobby Broom / Upper West Side Story / Origin
Stacey Kent / Dreamer In Concert / Blue Note
Jimmy Owens / The Monk Project / IPO
Frank Basile / Modern Inventions / Independent
Bruce Barth / Three Things Of Beauty / Savant
Cassandra Wilson / Another Country / EOne
Corey Weeds / Up A Step / Cellar Live
Lewis Nash Quintet / The Higher Mountain / Cellar Live
Laverne Butler / Love Lost And Found Again / Highnote

KIOS will air the final show in the 2012 Jazz Heritage Series on Friday December 7th at 2:00PM.

Cuneiform Records continues to release some of the most daring and visionary progressive jazz recordings of our time. Two new efforts are of special interest to jazz fans.

KIOS will air the two-hour special The Best of the 2011 Detroit Jazz Festival on Friday August 31st at 8:00PM. Join us for another spectacular showcase of some of the world's finest jazz musicians as they perform at one of the largest jazz festivals in the U.S.  Among the highlights are performances by Paquito D' Rivera, Joe Lovano, Jeff "Tain" Watts, and Helen Sung. The program is hosted by Ed Love of WDET and Linda Yohn of WEMU.

Strong new recordings from well known guitarists Pat Metheny and Mike Stern will be featured this month. We will also present a new disc from Japanese jazz trumpeter deserving much wider recognition, Shunzo Ohno.

NPR Music will hit the road again this year and head north to Newport, R.I. with a live broadcast and webcast from the Newport Folk Festival, July 27-29. The coverage begins with a live webcast of Wilco on Friday July 27th. It'll also include opening sets from Megafaun and Blitzen.

Jazz fans can turn to NPR Music for archived performances with today's leading jazz artists.  This month you can listen to new performances from Steve Coleman and Third World Love. Recently The Checkout: Live From 92Y Tribeca presented a concert with the Ingrid Jensen Quintet. That performance has been archived, along with recent performances from drummer Al Foster and pianist Geri Allen at the Live at the Village Vanguard concert series.  You may listen to these and other concerts anytime at  http://www.npr.org/music 

A prolific guitarist whose music has been featured on the Last Call for many years, Joel Harrison has returned with two recordings worthy of your consideration.

Holy Abyss is a superb project with Italian bassist Lorenzo Feliciati and trumpeter Cuong Vu. Roy Powell is at the piano and Dan Weiss is on the drums.  A series of captivating, moody, unpredictable tracks greet the listener, with highlights being "Requiem For An Unknown Soldier" "Saturday Night In Pendleton" and the gripping "Faith".

Omaha South High School’s Ambassadors Show Choir is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

A 50 year reunion concert is scheduled for Saturday evening at South High School. The Ambassadors Show Choir began in 1962 as the Choralaires. Among the 100 participants in this weekend’s reunion show are members of that choir.

KIOS will air a special to usher in Jazz Appreciation Month in April. The Art of the Jazz Solo can be heard Friday April 6th at 2:00PM. The one-hour program is part of a series from Interlochen Public Radio in Michigan called The New Jazz Archive hosted by Jeff Haas.

KIOS celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month, a national celebration sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute to help raise awareness of this great American art form. The objective, is to draw greater attention to jazz by encouraging musicians, concert halls, schools, colleges, libraries and public broadcasters to offer special programs on jazz every April. You can learn more about Jazz Appreciation Month at www.smithsonianjazz.org

Experimental percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani performs at the Bemis Center Saturday, April 7th.

Joel Damon, Underground Curator, says Nakatani plays a traditional gong with a bow.  He says it creates an atmospheric sound that can be felt and experienced on multiple levels. 

Damon says Nakatani also plays singing bowls, and uses cymbals in new ways.  He says the Bemis is always interested in performers and artists who may not fit comfortably within traditional concert venues.

Once again this year KIOS will air highlights from the UNO Great Plains Jazz Festival.
The one-hour 2012 edition will air Thursday March 29 at 8:00PM. The festival took place on the campus of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and featured a wide array of high school jazz bands ranging from small combos to big bands. On this years' broadcast you'll hear performances by Omaha Central, Omaha Burke, Westside, Papillion-LaVista, Millard North,Thomas Jefferson, Kearney, Lewis Central and Bloomington North High School, all the way from Bloomington, Indiana.

The proof, as they say, is in the pudding; and trombonist Steve Turre's new release “Woody's Delight” is a rich and highly palatable blend of straight ahead, relaxed and Latin sounds enhanced by an array of talented musicians augmenting the leader's consistently engaging compositional skills and playing. It's a marvelously diverse session and our CD of the month.

The Liverpool Legends will perform at Morton Magnet Middle School tonight at 7:00.

The group is comprised of musicians specially picked by Beatle George Harrison’s sister, Louise.  

Dan Mattran, Instrumental Music Director at Morton Magnet, says the concert will offer a complete Beatles experience with music that spans the Fab Four’s entire career.  He says the performance will feature Morton’s chorus and band on selected songs. 

Sure to warm up even the coldest of winter nights, the latest disc by Frank Macchia is a pleasure.  Swamp Thang presents a band of the same name lead by Grammy Nominated Compser Macchia. Wild groove music with crazy chromatic melodies come together with a dose of Cajun and a dash of humor.   The Swamp Thang band, led by Frank Macchia on saxophone, features  John Rosenberg on piano, organ and keyboards, Ken Rosser and Eric Jensen on electric guitars, Tom Lockett on electric bass and Frank Briggs on drums and percussion.

Another one of those live recordings that lets you feel that you are there.  Further Explorations is a 2 CD celebration of the music of Bill Evans with two of the former band mates of Evans on stage. There's Eddie Gomez, the legendary bassist who was with the Bill Evans trio for eleven years, 1966-1977.  Paul Motian is also on the stage, one of the most influential jazz drummers of the last 50 years who was with Evans from 1959 through 1964 .  Chick Corea, one of the most dynamic and creative pianists in all of jazz since Evans, joins Gomez and Motian.

Artist / CD Title / Record Label
Giacomo Gates / The Revolution Will Be Jazz / Savant
Jessica Williams / Freedom Trane / Origin Records
Kurt Elling / The Gate / Concord Jazz
Bobby Sanabria / Tito Puente Masterworks Live!!! / Jazzheads
Orrin Evans / Captain Black Big Band / Posi-Tone
Westchester Jazz Orch. / Maiden Voyage Suite / WJO
Tom Harrell / The Time Of The Sun / HighNote
Arturo O'Farrill / 40 Acres And A Burro / Zoho
Judy Wexler / Under A Painted Sky / Jazzed Media
One For All / Invades Vancouver / Cellar Live

Artist / CD Title / Record Label
Kurt Elling / The Gate / Concord Jazz
Bobby Sanabria & Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra / Tito Puente Masterworks Live !!! / Jazzheads
Ambrose Akin­musire / When The Heart Emerges Glistening / Blue Note
Giacomo Gates / The Revolution Will Be Jazz / Savant
Jessica Williams / Freedom Trane / Origin Records
One For All / Invades Vancouver / Cellar Live
Johnny Mandel / The Man and His Music / Arbors Music
Pat Martino / Undeniable / High Note

GRETCHEN PARLATO /  THE LOST AND FOUND /OBLIQ SOUND

DWIGHT TRIBLE / COSMIC /KATALYST ENTERTAINMENT

BEN ALLISON / ACTION -REFRACTION /PALMETTO

JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY / THE RACE RIOT SUITE / GROOVE MARKETING

TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON / THE MOSAIC PROJECT / CONCORD

ERIC HARLAND /VOAYGER: LIVE BY NIGHT / SPACE TIME RECORDS

ERNEST DAWKINS NEW HORIZONS ENSEMBLE / THE PRAIRIE PROPHET / DELMARK

BELA FLECK AND THE FLECKTONES / ROCKET SCIENCE /EOM

WADADA LEO SMITH'S ORGANIC / HEARTS'S REFLECTIONS / CUNEIFORM

Special airs January 2nd on KIOS.

Tune in January 2nd at 2:00PM for a one-hour special, "Ray Charles: Singular Genius". You'll hear music from the new box set "Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles" including such hits as "I Can't Stop Loving You", "Hit The Road Jack" and "Georgia". The program also includes interviews with Charles and with music historian Billy Vera, guitarist George Benson , Concord Records President Richard Burke and Chicago radio personality Herb Kent. They reflect on the music and career of the music icon as well as his approach to life.

Jazz vocalist's tremendous artistry is demonstrated on "Cosmic".

By Chris Cooke

Vocalist to perform Ella Fitzgerald tribute with Omaha Symphony this weekend.

By Chris Cooke

Jazz Appreciation Month

Mike Jacobs talks with the Omaha pianist and member of the Omaha Musician's Association about April events at the Durham Western Heritage Museum in celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month.

Bassist's latest recording is Think Free

(14:05)