Last month, KCSM On-Air Host Harry Duncan, (In The Soul Kitchen and Thursday's Jazz In The Afternoon) spun a special late night set on the last night of The Fuji Rock Festival in Japan. In the legendary Crystal Palace venue, Duncan served up a hour’s worth of freestyle roots and rhythm to a very enthusiastic, open and diverse group of dancers. (click the subject line to see a short video.)

On Saturday July 26th the incomparable Sonny Buxton presented his last broadcast at KCSM JAZZ 91. With a 60-plus year career in broadcast media, Sonny decided to hang up his headphones to retire at the age of 88 from our Saturday Mid-Day Jazz Show. It was bittersweet but the response was overwhelming and filled with appreciation and well wishes. It was a gracious exit for a class act! In recent weeks we have seen the retirements of Dick Conte and Michael Burman as well as the untimely passing of Leslie Stovall from KCSM JAZZ 91 airwaves. Their presence is very much missed but the team at JAZZ 91 is here to serve our audience with the best in Jazz. (click the story subject line to see the new lineup)

Sonny Buxton retired from KCSM JAZZ 91 on Saturday, July 26, 2025 with a superb program co-hosted by Jesse 'Chuy' Varela profiling Sonny's 60+ year career. Click on the subject for more pictures and a link to San Francisco Senior Beat for a great story on Sonny. We wish you all the best Sonny!

Bird with Strings. August 29 marks Charlie Parker’s birthday, and to celebrate, Jazz Night in America presents an encore of our episode devoted to “Charlie Parker with Strings”—the most commercially successful project of his too-brief career. We explore the backstory and legacy of this landmark recording, with rare selections featuring saxophonists Wess Anderson and Charles McPherson

Straight Life: Art Pepper @ 100 - The Contemporary Recordings, Part 3. Art Pepper was one of the greatest alto saxophonists in the history of jazz. In Part 3 we’ll be featuring Art in three sessions he did between 1975 and 1977. In the company of Hampton Hawes, Charlie Haden, Shelly Manne, George Cables, Elvin Jones, and more.

Guitarist Larry Koonse is a favorite musical collaborator with everyone from Billy Childs and Seth MacFarlane to Tierney Sutton and Luciana Souza. He’s as supportive, and musically flexible as he is virtuosic, which explains his popularity in the music world and why he’s been featured on more than 400 albums. Larry and I recorded our conversation and played together onstage in picturesque Dixon, Illinois, outside of Chicago, at The Next Picture Show art gallery as part of my Jazz Inspired Onstage series. This is Larry’s second appearance on Jazz Inspired.

Mitchell Galligan. When Denver native and Oberlin Conservatory graduate Mitchell Galligan sits down behind a Hammond B3, people take notice. One of the best young piano and organ players to cross our path in quite some time, Mitchell has performed alongside some of the legends of jazz including Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson and Jamey Haddad. This sold out trio performance features Mitchell on Hammond B3 alongside Tim Picard on Guitar and Ori Jossel on drums. From an April 26th, 2024 performance, Daniel Peck is your host for the Mitchell Galligan Trio – Live at the Bop Stop.

Mitchell Galligan. When Denver native and Oberlin Conservatory graduate Mitchell Galligan sits down behind a Hammond B3, people take notice. One of the best young piano and organ players to cross our path in quite some time, Mitchell has performed alongside some of the legends of jazz including Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson and Jamey Haddad. This sold out trio performance features Mitchell on Hammond B3 alongside Tim Picard on Guitar and Ori Jossel on drums. From an April 26th, 2024 performance, Daniel Peck is your host for the Mitchell Galligan Trio – Live at the Bop Stop.

An episode in loving memory of three gospel greats who passed away this month: Dr. Lou Della Evans-Reid, Stephen "Puff" Jones, and Mosie "Mama" Burks, with selections from the Fellowship MBC Choir, National Baptist Convention Mass Choir, Mississippi Mass Choir, and Chicago Mass Choir.

Why Policing Our Schools Backfires. School resource officers are often called upon in middle and high schools to help with routine discipline. But for many children, especially those with disabilities, a law enforcement response to their behavior can lead to the school-to-prison pipeline. This week on Making Contact, we hear a story from our podcast partner 70 Million about the relationship between students with special needs and school resource officers and the changes some would like to see in an edited version of “Why Policing Our Schools Backfires.”

Dr. Martha Hodes, Part 1. Dr. Hodes is the author of the award-winning publication, White Women, Black Men: Illicit Sex in the 19th Century South. This is part one of a two-part series.