Jazz in the Afternoon with Chris Cooke

One of the great names in jazz, Dave Brubeck, passed away a day before his 92nd birthday, on December 5, 2012.

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.

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

Acclaimed saxophonist Branford Marsalis will bring his quartet to the Holland Performing Arts Center on Friday evening, November 9th, at 8pm.

Branford Marsalis is a National Endowment for the Arts master, renowned three time Grammy Award®-winning saxophonist and a Tony Award® nominee composer. Instrumentalist, composer and bandleader, he is also the head of Marsalis Music, a record label founded in 2002.

Drummer Lewis Nash leads a quintet at the Cellar Jazz Club in Vancouver, BC from September of 2011. First call musicians share the stage in the persons of Jeremy Pelt, trumpet and flugelhorn, Jimmy Greene, tenor and soprano saxophones, Renee Rosnes, piano and Peter Washington, bass. This engagement at Cory Weeds' Jazz Club exhibits the loose spontaneity of straight-ahead jazz. There's formidable talent to burn, and burn they do in a wide-ranging program including compositions by Bobby Hutcherson, Renee Rosnes, Clifford Jordan, Ornette Coleman, Thad Jones and Thelonious Monk.

Our CD of the Month for September is by baritone saxophonist Frank Basile. It's called Modern Inventions, released independently by Frank. He is a native of Omaha who has been active in the New York jazz scene for several years now. His talent shined earlier this year on a recording by the Joe Chambers Moving Pictures Ensemble recorded live at Dizzy's Club Coca- Cola in New York. He is joined on this project by Fabien Mary on  trumpet; Alex Hoffman on tenor saxophone; Ehud Asherie on piano; David Wong on bass and Pete Van Nostrand on drums.

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.

Saxophonist Bob Mintzer has been active for several decades as instrumentalist, composer and arranger. Having been a member of the saxophone section of bands led by Buddy Rich, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis, Tito Puente and Gil Evans, Mintzer is also a member of the group Yellowjackets and leader of his own smaller ensembles and has played with numerous Brazilian artists over the years. He also leads his own Grammy-winning big band. “For The Moment” is Mintzer's fourth big band recording for Manchester Craftsmen's Guild and was recorded live at the Pittsburgh, PA music hall in September of 2011.

NPR Music will provide coverage of the 2012 Newport Jazz Festival on August 4th and 5th. You can watch live video of the performances at www.npr.org/music. Among those scheduled to perform are Pat Metheny, Bill Frissell, Dianne Reeves, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Maria Schneider Orchestra and Jason Moran. The full schedule can be seen at the web site.