KCCK's Soundtrack to the Struggle: Recent Episodes
KCCK's Soundtrack to the Struggle
Although Melba Liston was a woman in a male-dominated profession, she excelled anyway. Some consider her an unsung hero and she is very highly regarded in and outside of the jazz community as a trailblazer, as a musician and as a woman. Melba Liston selected the trombone as her instrument because she thought it was …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Melba Liston – Blowin’ in the Doors appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Early 1939. The lights go down at New York’s Cafe Society. The waiters hush the drinking audience, a single small spotlight shines on her face. And Billy Holiday begins to sing. “Southern trees, bears strange fruit blood on the leaves, blood at the root.” The song ends, and the spotlight goes out. Billy leaves the …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
It’s 1925, and Louis Armstrong hits the music scene with a splash. With trumpet in hand and a wonderfully unique voice, he took on popular songs and stretched the boundaries of their rhythms and melodies so profoundly that American music hasn’t been the same since. Indeed, Louis Armstrong was America’s first “pop star,” whose appeal …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Louis Armstrong – Caught Between Two Worlds appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
September 1944, and saxophone legend Lester Young arrives at Fort McClellan, Alabama, for basic training. Young is a jazz star, and he expects to be placed in a military band, like white musicians Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw. Instead, he’s assigned to a combat unit. Here marks the beginning of the end for the “President …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Lester Young – The Fall of the President appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Lena Horne left school at 16 to help support her family. She became a dancer at Harlem’s Cotton Club was soon a sought-after performer – a role she would maintain throughout her life. A long run at the Savoy-Plaza boosted Horne’s career even further. She was featured in Life magazine, and listed as the highest-paid …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Lena Horn’s Sweet Voice for the People appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
It’s 1967, and singer and actress Nichelle Nichols attends a fund-raiser for the NAACP. A man approaches and says, “Ms. Nichols, I’m your greatest fan.” That fan was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During their chat, Nichols confides her plans to leave her current TV gig for a career on Broadway. King was mortified. “You …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Nichelle Nichols’ Stellar Career appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
It’s Prohibition-era Harlem, and Gladys Bentley is at the piano at Harry Hansberry’s Clam House, one of the biggest gay speakeasies in New York. Dressed in her signature tuxedo and top hat, she sings bawdy lyrics to popular songs. Her voice is deep and growling, and she flirts with the women in the audience. Even …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Gladys Bentley, “The Brown Bomber” appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Eartha Kitt was never afraid to use her distinctive voice. Born on a South Carolina cotton plantation, Eartha Mae Keith grew to record the standards, “Let’s Do It,” and “C’est Si Bon.” She was fluent in French, spoke four other languages, and sang in 11. She recorded, sang in nightclubs, and appeared in films, television, …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: The Fearless Eartha Kitt appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
It’s 1906 in Harlem. The first sparks of a cultural explosion have just ignited. Artists, writers, musicians, and composers are flocking to this city-in-a-city. One of them is Carl Van Vechten. Who could have predicted that the Harlem Renaissance’s greatest advocate and chronicler would be a young white man from Cedar Rapids, Iowa? Carl Van …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Carl Van Vechten and the Harlem Renaissance appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
One of swing music’s greatest propagandists, John Henry Hammond II was responsible, at least partially, for discovering a remarkable list of musicians through the years, including Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Charlie Christian, George Benson, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen. Although these artists would certainly have made it on their own, Hammond’s intervention made …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: John Hammond’s Advocacy appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Early 1939. The lights go down at New York’s Cafe Society. The waiters hush the drinking audience, a single small spotlight shines on her face. And Billy Holiday begins to sing. “Southern trees, bears strange fruit blood on the leaves, blood at the root.” The song ends, and the spotlight goes out. Billy leaves the …
Continue reading
The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Billie Holiday “Strange Fruit” appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Melba Liston performs on Art Ford’s Jazz Party, a television program broadcast from Newark, N.J., in 1958. Although Melba Liston was a woman in a male-dominated profession, she excelled anyway. Some consider her an unsung hero and she is very highly regarded in and outside of the jazz community as a trailblazer, as a musician …
Continue reading
The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Melba Liston appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
1925, and Louis Armstrong hits the music scene with a splash. With trumpet in hand and a wonderfully unique voice, he took on popular songs and stretched the boundaries of their rhythms and melodies so profoundly that American music hasn’t been the same since.Indeed, Louis Armstrong was America’s first “pop star,” whose appeal ignored the …
Continue reading
The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Louis Armstrong “Black and Blue” appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
September 1944, and saxophone legend Lester Young arrives at Fort McClellan, Alabama, for basic training. Young is a jazz star, and he expects to be placed in a military band, like white musicians Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw. Instead, he’s assigned to a combat unit. Here marks the beginning of the end for the “President …
Continue reading
The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Lester Young appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Lena Horne left school at 16 to help support her family. She became a dancer at Harlem’s Cotton Club was soon a sought-after performer – a role she would maintain throughout her life. A long run at the Savoy-Plaza boosted Horne’s career even further. She was featured in Life magazine, and listed as the highest-paid …
Continue reading
The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Lena Horne appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
It’s 1967, and singer and actress Nichelle Nichols attends a fund-raiser for the NAACP. A man approaches and says, “Ms. Nichols, I’m your greatest fan.” That fan was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During their chat, Nichols confides her plans to leave her current TV gig for a career on Broadway. King was mortified. “You …
Continue reading
The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Nichelle Nichols appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
It’s Prohibition-era Harlem, and Gladys Bentley is at the piano at Harry Hansberry’s Clam House, one of the biggest gay speakeasies in New York. Dressed in her signature tuxedo and top hat, she sings bawdy lyrics to popular songs. Her voice is deep and growling, and she flirts with the women in the audience. Even …
Continue reading
The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Gladys Bentley appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Eartha Kitt was never afraid to use her distinctive voice. Born on a South Carolina cotton plantation, Eartha Mae Keith grew to record the standards, “Let’s Do It,” and “C’est Si Bon.” She was fluent in French, spoke four other languages, and sang in 11. She recorded, sang in nightclubs, and appeared in films, television, …
Continue reading
The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Eartha Kitt appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
It’s 1906 in Harlem. The first sparks of a cultural explosion have just ignited. Artists, writers, musicians, and composers are flocking to this city-in-a-city. One of them is Carl Van Vechten. Who could have predicted that the Harlem Renaissance’s greatest advocate and chronicler would be a young white man from Cedar Rapids, Iowa? Carl Van …
Continue reading
The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Carl Van Vechten appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Cab Calloway’s subtle but indelible influence on American culture began the moment he forgot the chorus to his own signature song. Picture the scene: The club is packed. Dancers fill the floor. Calloway steps to the mic and begins that new song he’s been dying to sing. He reaches the chorus. Something catches his eye. …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: Cab and Minnie appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
It’s 1951 Los Angeles, and photographer Bob Willoughby works in his darkroom, listening to the radio. The disc jockey promotes a jazz concert that night at the Olympic arena. The concert starts at midnight. Intrigued, Willoughby packs his camera and heads for the show. What he finds there, and what he captures on film, become …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle: “Big Jay and The Photo” appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Nina Simone’s career in activism began in 1964, when her songs openly addressed racial inequality prevalent in the United States. She recorded the still-controversial “Mississippi Goddam,” her respon se to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church. That song, and others like “Old Jim Crow,” she said, were …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle – Nina Simone appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
The work song has existed since the dawn of recorded history. Field hands, boatmen, railroad gangs, and even cowboys used the work song to lift spirits and maintain the pace of labor. During the American era of slavery, the work song evolved into something far greater. It became a powerful means of communication, resistance, and …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle “Work Song” appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Sometimes the truth is difficult to hear … or dangerous to tell. Sometimes, you have to serve it up with a helping of irony. And sometimes, you really DO have to use a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. Such is the case with Count Basie’s classic 1940 record, “It’s The Same …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle “Same Old South” appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
January 23, 1943. Carnegie Hall. Duke Ellington and His Orchestra make their debut at the legendary venue. On the program is the premiere of Ellington’s new magnum opus – his three movement jazz symphony, “Black, Brown & Beige.” It is Ellington’s longest and most ambitious composition to date. Admittedly, the piece as a whole is …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle 6 “Black, Brown and Beige” appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
It’s 1984, and Miles Davis is changing his musical course yet again. He’d exhausted his exploration of jazz fusion and now looked for a fresh perspective. The result was “You’re Under Arrest.” This album was intentionally controversial – from its garish cover art, to its confounding mix of in-your-face statements and sugary pop ballads. It …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle 5: Miles “You’re Under Arrest” appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
Very early in her career, Marilyn Monroe’s vocal coach insisted that she study Ella Fitzgerald’s singing. Rumor has it that the coach ordered Monroe to buy all of Fitzgerald’s records, and listen to them 100 times in a row. This made Monroe not only a pretty solid singer, but it was the beginning of a …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle 4: Ella and Marilyn appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
In 1957, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus defied a presidential order and blocked the integration of the Little Rock school district. Bassist Charles Mingus, an outspoken civil rights advocate, i mmediately wrote one of the greatest jazz protest songs of all time. “Fables of Faubus” was set for release on his 1959 landmark album, “Mingus Ah …
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The post Soundtrack to the Struggle 3 : Charles Mingus “Fables of Faubus” appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.
They crowned Jack Johnson the first Black heavyweight champion in 1908, but the fight had just begun. The Black community was overjoyed, seeing Johnson’s title as a major step toward equality. Whites in America, however, were often near panic. Even the New York Times wrote that “thousands of his ignorant brothers will misinterpret [Johnson’s] victory …
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The post Soundtrack to The Struggle #6: Jack Johnson appeared first on Jazz 88.3 KCCK.