KCCK Specials

It’s another in Dennis Green’s occasional series of special music interviews. July 17 is the birthday of pianist Vince Guaraldi, and we celebrate with a conversation with his biographer Derrick Bang.  You’ll hear how a radio DJ made “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” a hit, and the story of how Guaraldi got his most … Continue reading

Iowa City native Bridget Kearney has toured the world and performed on The Tonight Show, Stephen Colbert, and countless others as a part of Lake Street Dive. In fact, just before the pandemic shut everything down, legendary singer Mavis Staples sat in with the band! Bridget’s latest release, “Still Flying,” was recorded in Ghana with … Continue reading

Dennis Green talks with Iowa City native and New York trumpeter Gabe Medd about his personal experience with COVID-19, and how he is making music during the pandemic, including a virtual performance with Gabe in his friend Chad LB’s Big Band.

Trumpeter Alicia Rau grew up in rural southwest Iowa, studied abroad in Senegal, and now makes her home in New York. She plays her trumpet each night at 7pm to join the daily tribute to New York’s essential workers, and has also recorded around 40 school songs to celebrate students whose graduations and other activities … Continue reading

In the Seventies and Eighties, many Iowa natives found themselves on the coasts, meeting, performing, and forming lifelong friendships with some of the musicians who would go on to become the most important players of their generation. Dennis Carlson moved from Cedar Falls to Boston, where Gary Burton offered him a position teaching at Berklee. … Continue reading

Grant Lapointe is not just a talented jazz pianist, who KCCK listeners have heard at Jazz Under the Stars, Taste of Jazz, and many other events. The rising junior at Cedar Rapids Washington also recently solicited vocal tracks from all sixteen members of the Wash vocal group Slice of Jazz, and put them together for … Continue reading

Author Derrick Bang has chronicled the life of pianist Vince Guaraldi and has also written dozens of articles on the Charles Schulz and the Peanuts comic strips. But he recently turned his attention to making an exhaustive survey of the role of Jazz in the music of TV and movies. His two-volume set, Crime and Spy … Continue reading

Chris Merz, Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Northern Iowa, has just released the second Christopher’s Very Happy. Band. collection, “While We Wait.” Dennis Green talked with Chris about the new project, how he is handling his teaching duties during social distancing, and also some thoughts about Lee Konitz, who recently passed away. … Continue reading

The underclassman speak for the Mt. Vernon Swingin’ STANGS! Aden Grudzinski and Trystan Lashley are both first-year members of the band and are working hard to be future leaders. Trystan plays tuba, and has a feature in the band’s tune on this year’s Corridor Jazz Project CD. Playlist: “Bessie’s Blues” – John Coltrane “Midnight Blue” – … Continue reading

Emma Bock and Renae Hasselbusch have been friends since they were little, and are finishing up their senior year at Lisbon. And they independently decided to attend Iowa State and major in Biology, so they’ll continue to be classmates in college! The Lisbon Jazz Band has had a great year under first-year director Joseph Arch, … Continue reading