Awarded

I made a brief trip back to Kansas City last weekend (by train - more on that later), to tie up a few loose ends from our recent move and also to collect an award. The Kansas City Association of Black Journalists selected a piece I produced about urban farmer Joe Jennings as best radio feature.

As is so often the case, it came down to luck. I was lucky to have come across Mr. Jennings during my brief-candle stint as producer of the Walt Bodine Show in the summer of 2006. I didn't have room for him on an urban agriculture show, but he was such a great talker that I kept him in my mental reminder file. Then last June, I spent part of day trying to keep up with him at his place in Wyandotte County. When it came time to put the piece together, the trick was staying out of his way. I was pleased with the results and apparently so was the KCABJ.

Have a listen for yourself:


Mr. Jennings is an award winner himself. The Pitch named him Best Urban Farmer in this year's Best of KC issue. Congrats, Mr. J!

Extra linkage:
KC Star story about the KCABJ awards (which featured a KCUR sweep of the radio category)

SWAK

Bye bye, Lee!
Originally uploaded by DBasci.

My last day of work at KCUR was last Friday. It was also the last day of the fall membership drive and I'm pleased to say I helped to raise around 15 grand on my way out the door. Apparently some persons were so moved by my fundraising prowess that this picture of my head was defaced (a pun, at last!). If memory serves, the pink is a favorite shade of Program Director Bill Anderson's. Thanks, big guy! And thanks to Danielle Basci for snapping the image.

Anyhoo... I cleaned out my desk and headed for home around 3 PM. About 18 hours later, two sleep-deprived people and two frazzled dogs arrived in Chicagoland.

And so I promise more pictures, more posts and puns. In the meantime, there's unpacking and laundry and other fun things to do. See you (here) soon!

Ridin' with the Dean

...Dean of Broadcasters, that is.

I'll be filling in for the lovely and talented Kelley Weiss next Wednesday as the co-host of the Walt Bodine Show. Walt and I will be welcoming the Ethic Professors back for their monthly attempt to clarify of the often murky waters of morality. The topic this time is "The Ethics of Apologies." (The musical interlude possibilities are limitless...)

When: August 15 @ 10 A.M. Central

Where: KCUR FM 89.3 in Kansas City - online at kcur.org

It should be a good time and hopefully far less contentious that the last time I guest-hosted a talk show on KCUR.

Jazz on the radio

I'm doing another Jazz Update on KCUR's Up to Date this Friday.

Details are at The New Low Down.

An Up to Date jazz up

Hello, long lost blog readers. Long time no post.

Another spate of new jazz is on its way. The Great Kraskini and I will spin and speak to some new CDs.

The Short List:

• Frank LoCrasto - an amazingly gifted young pianist, composer, arranger
  
• Tia Fuller - Leaving Beyonce behind for the love of jazz
• Oscar Peterson, Bags and Ray Brown, too - I'm down with OP, see?
  
• Also, new local from the Kerry Streyer Quartet and loco guitar organ trio
  

When to tune in

• Friday, March 9 at 11:45 Central (or thereabouts)
  

Where to tune in

• KCUR FM 89.3 on your radio
• kcur.org on your interweb dongle

There's also an "appreciation" of Andy Summers's new memoir over at the New Low Down.

Ida McBeth

I had the pleasure of interviewing a great Kansas City singer this week. Ida McBeth has been laying down solid blues, jazz, soul and funk in KC since the late 60s. While she's not well known outside Kansas City, audiences here continue to gather for her regular gigs at Jardine's and the Blue Room.

Here's the feature I put together from our half hour of chat.




She releases her fourth album today. "Live on the Vine" was recorded at the Blue Room at 18th and Vine. While it suffers from the Blue Room's so-often-poorly-tweaked sound system and a few weak song choices, Ida's voice still shines through as the wonderful thing it is.

Personal note: I first caught Ida's act in the late 80s at The Point, a kind of neighborhood joint that has gone they way of the rotary dial phone. The show was always amazing, particularly to a kid who had just drifted out of South Dakota. Between sets, Ida would make a beeline for a stool at the far end of the bar, where she'd wait with her head down until it was time to go back on stage. Turns out that around that time, not only was Ida's mother dying of kidney disease, but Ida and her husband Roy Searcy were going through a divorce. Talk about living the blues.

» To find out more about Ida than I could fit in 5 minutes and 20 seconds (not counting music) check out Tim Finn's profile of Ida from Monday's KC Star.

» And here's a "bootleg" video of Ida and her band at the Corporate Woods Jazz Fesitval doing Willie Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle."