Blogs

Upbeat jazz to ring in the New Year at 8 pm tonight on Jazz After Dark.

Machito, Jerry Gray, Ella Fitzgerald, Freddy Martin, Earl Bostic, Red Garland, Tony Bennett, Kenny Dorham, Lalo Schifrin, Ray Bryant & Walter Booker Jr., Tomas Einarsso, Stanley Turrentine, Jim Galloway's Wee Big Band, Winifred Atwell.

Jazz After Dark broadcasts locally at 8 pm Tuesdays on KDRT-LP 95.7 FM in Davis, CA.

Replays Monday 11 pm.

Live-streaming at https://kdrt.org/page/listen-now

Show page here: https://kdrt.org/program/jazz-after-dark

Look for us on iTunes (you can listen to the live broadcast via their Radio link; just search for KDRT) or your favorite podcast site.

https://player.fm/featured/jazz

On Tuesday, December 22, we rebuilt our computer automation system. And, due to the pandemic, we are currently limiting studio access, which meant we turned off our transmitter while we did the work. If you heard intermittent periods without a broadcast, that was why. Things are back to normal now!    

Please consider a year-end donation to your locally owned, locally operated, all-volunteer-programmed, low-power radio station -- go to kdrt.org/donate. Any donation goes to keep the station on the air!

A beloved local tradition  - the"Home for the Holidays" concert - continues this year streaming online.  Concert producer Bill Fairfield has brought together many returning favorite local musicians, as well as adding some new special guests to this year's video program.  Familiar guests include Joe and Hattie Craven, the DHS Madrigals, Rita Hosking duo, Misner & Smith, Alaina Rose, Kora Feder, Boot Juice, Bill Edwards, the Fairfields, Dave Nachmanoff, and Mumbo Gumbo guitarist Brian Rivers. As usual, the event is a benefit for the Davis School Arts Foundation, and viewers are encouraged to make a donation there in lieu of the usual ticket purchase.  DMA and KDRT are thrilled to serve as partners and offer the community a variety of ways to view and listen.  The event will be simulcast Thursday December 17 at 7 PM on KDRT 95.7 FM and DCTV Channel 15, and will be available for video and audio streaming at kdrt.org ( a link will be provided there the day of the show).

"I think the band can really swing when it swings easy, when it can just play along like you are cutting butter." -- Count Basie

Featuring Count Basie tonight on Jazz After Dark! Selections from 1937 to 1987: Count Basie and his Orchestra, with the Kansas City 5, with Zoot Sims, in live and studio sessions, and backing vocalists Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Frank Sinatra.

From his early years in Harlem and on the vaudeville circuit, to his years in Kansas City, New York City and the swing era, then his big band, post WWII smaller groups, and reformed orchestra in the 1950’s, Count Basie established a unique swing style that influenced countless musicians. He backed some of the great vocalists of the era and teamed with other jazz royalty, always sounding poised and polished.

Jazz After Dark broadcasts locally at 8 pm Tuesdays on KDRT-LP 95.7 FM in Davis, CA.

Replays Monday 11 pm.

Live-streaming at https://kdrt.org/page/listen-now

Show page here: https://kdrt.org/program/jazz-after-dark

As this unusual year comes to an end, we are particularly grateful to ALL our listeners, supporters, volunteers, and extended community. We have rallied together to adjust to social-distancing, and yet remain connected through our uniquely Davis local programming.  We invite you to tune in to KDRT 95.7 FM or stream via kdrt.org to enjoy some special holiday cheer that our DJs are happy to share with you Dec. 15 – 21, 2020.  As an extra special holiday treat, we are thrilled to be airing the 17th annual Home for the Holidays concert, Thursday Dec. 17 at 7PM and an encore presentation on Winter Solstice, Monday December 21, also at 7 PM. Link here for additional information.

8 pm tonight on Jazz After Dark: Happy birthday to Dave Brubeck!

December 6 2020 was the 100th anniversary of his birth. To celebrate this giant of 20th century jazz, we’ll hear selections from 1954 to 2005.

From the 1950s, a performance from his college tours. Live concerts in Japan and Mexico from the 1960’s. Backing vocalists Carmen McRae (in a classic version of Take Five) and Jimmy Rushing. Gerry Mulligan’s Unfinished Woman, one of the highlights of the band’s reunion concert in 1975, and then a gentle solo from 2005.

Jazz After Dark broadcasts locally at 8 pm Tuesdays on KDRT-LP 95.7 FM in Davis, CA.

Replays Monday 11 pm.

Live-streaming at https://kdrt.org/page/listen-now

Show page here: https://kdrt.org/program/jazz-after-dark

Look for us on iTunes (you can listen to the live broadcast via their Radio link; just search for KDRT) or your favorite podcast site.

https://player.fm/featured/jazz

Recently, the Owsley Stanley Foundation released the Sixth Chapter of  Bear's Sonic Journals : That Which Colors the Mind, a 2 CD-set featuring Ali Akbar Khan (known as the Bach of India). The album features a 2-hour live recording of a performance at the Family Dog at the Great Highway, in San Francisco on May 29, 1970. Recorded live from the soundboard by the legendary Grateful Dead soundman, Owsley Stanley, a.k.a "Bear", this release is thought to be one of the most evocative recordings of Ali Akbar Khan - a recipient of a MacArthur "genius grant", who has been identified as being a key influence on The Beatles, Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones and Santana.