Blogs

This Tuesday, October 22 at 11 am, Rusty Nail's playlist features artists such as Yonder Mountain String Band, Crooked Still, Yarn and Breaking Grass, continuing the exploration of nontraditional arrangements within bluegrass.

Diggng deeper into High Country Music Radio’s music library, Rusty is also excited to include a pair of songs from a talented Nashville based musician, Bennie Boling, who supports himself as a luthier. This week’s show also includes an unusually arranged cover of Dueling Banjos.

Coming up tonight at 8 pm on Jazz After Dark: West Coast cool, Ella and Louis, and a tribute to Milcho Leviev.

Ella Fitzgerald & Frank Devol's Orchestra, Dave Brubeck, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington & Johnny Hodges, Gerry Mulligan & Johnny Hodges, Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker, Nat King Cole, Milcho Leviev, Milcho Leviev & Friends, Gil Evans.

Broadcasts live 8 pm Tuesdays on KDRT-LP 95.7 FM in Davis, CA.

Replays Monday 11 pm, Tuesday 12 midnight, Wednesday 10 pm

Photo clockwise from upper left: Johnny Hodges, Gerry Mulligan, Nat King Cole, Milcho Leviev.

This weekend marks the 40th anniversary for Davis' legendary Restaurant Cooperative and Coffeehouse - the Blue Mango.  Tune  in or stream this Thursday at 1 pm for "That's Life" as host Lois Richter interviews some of the founding member/workers of the Blue Mango, including Ken Kemmerling, Maura Metz, and Russell St. Claire.  Additionally, local music fans can tune in Thursday evening 7-9 pm to "Live Tracks" when host Jim Buchanan welcomes special guest guiarist Bill Scholer to the studio, and Jan Peters via phone.  Both musicians are part of the more than 300 musicians who played at the Blue Mango during its 1979-94 "life" as a creative hub and community gathering space.  They are in-town this week to play at Friday night's special KDRT benefit concert 6 - 8 pm on the patio of Parkside Bar and Lounge, site of the Blue Mango, and for Saturday night's Blue Mango Anniversay Celebration for former workers/staff/Blue Mango family.

This week, guest host Doug Deep, will be in control. (thank you Doug)

Dorothy Lane is a Rock & Roll band from Martinez, CA. Here's the catch, they are so much more. Family oriented, fun loving and super involved in their greater community plus oh that talent makes this rock group a powerfull force. Nicky Knobs i(guitar) joins us this week along with a surprise guest. Dorothy lane will be performing at the VYBE event in Folsom, CA. on Thursday, October 17, 2019, 7 p.m. at the Harris Center for the Arts at Folsom Lake College.

Some soulful jazz coming up at 8 pm tonight on Jazz After Dark. The Moe Koffman Quartet, Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Harold Ashby & The Duke's Men, Chico Hamilton, Sonny Stitt, Erroll Garner, Etta Jones, James Moody, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Clifford Jordan, Eliane Elias, Frank Wess.

Photo clockwise from upper left: James Moody, Chico Hamilton, Clifford Jordan, Moe Koffman.

During the 1950's two small labels, Sun Records and Chess Records, featured a stable of musicians that included  Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Chuck Berry.  Influenced by the aforementioned artists, Bob Dylan travelled to Nashville to produce "John Wesley Harding and  “Nashville Skyline.” Gram Parsons, during his brief stint with the Byrds, with Chris Hillman, influenced that band to produce the classic “Sweetheart at the Rodeo.” And, as early as 1965, the Beatles, fans of Buck Owens and Carl Perkins, included a cover of a Buck Owens song on their album “Help.” Linda Ronstadt, the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen, too, contribute to this country catalogue.  We’ll also hear from Tex-Mex rockers, The Last Bandolaros, representing the significant influence on country music from our Southern border.

To honor the 40th anniversary of Davis' Blue Mango Cooperative Restaurant, KDRT 95.7 FM is hosting a special evening of music by the Bill Scholer and Jan Peters Reunion Band, held on the patio of Parkside Davis, the former site of the Blue Mango, from 6-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18. The event is free - no tickets needed. A portion of Parkside Bar and Lounge proceeds from that evening will be donated to KDRT, as part of our 2019 Fall Fundraising events celebrating 15 years of grassroots community radio.

The Blue Mango was incorporated as a worker's cooperative by a group of Davis residents associated with the Fly By Night Dance & Music Troupe. Opening in October 1979, it became a cultural hub for the next 15 years, employing hundreds of worker-owners, serving nutritious vegetarian cuisine, and providing a lively venue for hundreds of musicians, artists and activists, who regularly met and performed there. Bill Scholer and Jan Peters, who went on to become distinguished professional musicians, were prominent at the Blue Mango and  its legendary Alley Dances in the 1980s. 

Often considered the world's premier banjo player, Bela Fleck's  sound defies just one description. On October 18, he will appear locally at the Mondavi Center in Jackson Hall, joined by Zakir Hussain (tabla), Edgar Meyer (double bass), and their special guest Rakesh Chaurasia (bansuri – Indian flute).  The Mondavi's show description states "Most musicians hope at most for proficiency in their chosen form, but these gentlemen move from bluegrass to Western classical to Indian classical to jazz, transmuting genres into something uniquely their own".  This Thursday, Oct. 3rd, from 5-7pm KDRT's Rodriguez will air a 30-minute phone interview he recently recorded with Bela Fleck on his weekly show "Silver Nine Volt Heart".  We asked Rodriguez how it went, and he responded "Whenever the opportunity to see art or hear music by someone known as the "world's finest" arises, I go for it!

Coming up tonight on Jazz After Dark: Ethel Ennis, Art Pepper, John Coltrane, Vince Guaraldi, Ella Fitzgerald & The Tommy Flanagan Trio, Stan Hunter & Sonny Fortune, Herbie Mann, James Moody, Harold Ashby, Eva Cassidy, Dianne Reeves, Ahmad Jamal.

Broadcasts live 8 pm Tuesdays on KDRT-LP 95.7 FM in Davis, CA.

Replays Monday 11 pm, Tuesday 12 midnight, Wednesday 10 pm