Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month with KCSM. Our theme, "Passing the Torch," honors jazz's tradition and its influence on generations of musicians. Whether you're a jazz enthusiast or new to the genre, there's something for everyone. Join KCSM at the KCSM studio in the lower level of the CSM Library (Building 9) for a day of music, culture, and celebration with light refreshments. Everyone is Welcome! Free Parking!

KCSM Proudly presents "Celebrating 60 Years of Broadcast Excellence. This documentary chronicles KCSM's history and its commitment to Jazz, told by the dedicated curators and fans who make the station swing.

On November 26, 2024 KCSM's own Jesse "Chuy" Varela hosted the Oaktown Jazz Workshops 30th Anniversary celebration at Yoshi's at Jack London Square in Oakland. Founded in 1994 by Khalil Shaheed to educate and illuminate young people to jazz music, the event featured the John Santos Sextet, Richard Howell, the OJW Alumni Band and the current OJW Performance Ensemble. Much love goes out to OJW Executive Director Ravi Abcarian and photographer David De Hart for the photos. (click the headline for more photos of the celebration)

The Heartbeats. With so many wonderful vocal groups present during the 1950s, it took a few distinct ones to lead the pack and blaze the trail. The Heartbeats are always right up there with The Clovers, Harptones, Moonglows, Flamingos and the other leaders who carried the torch lit by the Orioles and Ravens during the late '40s. The Heartbeats began as the Hearts in 1953, but before making their first record in 1955, changed their name after a female group called The Hearts scored a big hit with "Lonely Nights." Their first record came out in mid-1955 on Network Records. Although it was not successful, it gave them something to interest Hull Records, a tiny startup looking to enter the vocal group scene. Their first few records for Hull got regional airplay and made the charts in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore. It was "A Thousand Miles Away," their 4th Hull single that really took off nationally. Knowing the record would do better on a label with greater distribution and push, they jumped over to George Goldner's storied Rama Records and "A Thousand Miles Away" went top 5 R&B and #53 Pop. Now one of the biggest vocal groups in the country, they continued to release slightly more polished songs for Rama and Gee, before falling apart by the end of 1959."

The South African Songbook (ENCORE). For South Africa’s Freedom Day, we revisit our episode honoring the jazz musicians who stayed and resisted during apartheid — from Winston Mankunku Ngozi to Moses Taiwa Molelekwa — and spotlight pianist Thandi Ntuli, a rising star of the “Born Free” generation. (pictured: Herbie Tsoaeli)

Part 2. Dial ‘B’ For Beauty: The Music Of Tadd Dameron features his compositions and arrangements for both large and small groups. In the company of Clifford Brown, Benny Golson, Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, John Coltrane, Blue Mitchell, Milt Jackson, and more. And we’ll hear Tadd’s “The Scene Is Clean”, “Fontainebleau”, “On A Misty Night”, “Smooth As The Wind”, “Our Delight”, “If You Could See Me Now”, and more. This is the second of a two-part episode in a new occasional series on The Jazz Legacy called "Unsung Heroes", where we put the focus on jazz artists deserving of greater recognition.

Brenda Earle Stokes. Canadian pianist/vocalist/songwriter/educator, Brenda Earle Stokes’ latest CD, Motherhood explores the joys and challenges of that much celebrated but often under-appreciated role. Stokes lets her fellow mothers know they aren’t alone on this wild ride and clues in everyone else on what mothers are really thinking.

Daniel Meron Trio. New York City based composer and pianist Daniel Meron brought his trio to Clevland to debut pieces from his 2024 Pinch Records based release Pendulum. Over the past decade Meron has established himself as a prominent figure in the modern jazz scene releasing four critically acclaimed albums, along with featured performances at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival, Costa Rica Jazz Festival, and tours of the US, Canada, Europe and Israel. From a May 5th, 2024 performance that features Pablo Menares on Bass, Jimmy Macbride on Drums and Daniel Meron on piano, it’s the Daniel Meron Trio – Live at the Bop Stop.

This episode features more selections in the memory of Sam Williams (Tommy Ellison & the Five Singing Stars), Christian Tabernacle Concert Choir (pictured), Holy Disciples, and more.

Written in the Stars? The Longtermist Movement. A new philosophy steeped in the ideas of Artificial Intelligence, space colonization, and the long-term survival of the human species is gaining ground among the wealthy. However, there are reasons to question its goals and its ethics. Longtermists believe that not only could we colonize space and create simulated humans in giant servers around stars, but that we must. Anything short of a trillion-year multi-planetary existence for our species would be a moral failing. They also believe that all of our ethical actions should focus on the countless lives that may exist in that dim future, instead of on the people alive today. Is this the kind of ethics we should all accept, however? Philosopher and historian Emile P Torres joins us to discuss Longtermism and its dangerous pitfalls.

This week program features an encore interview with jazz singer, Dianne Reeves. Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan. Reeves father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell and her cousin is George Duke. Her father died when she was two years old, and she was raised in Colorado by her mother, Vada Swanson, and maternal family. In 1971, she started singing and playing piano. She was noticed by trumpeter Clark Terry, who invited her to sing with him. "He had these amazing all-star bands, but I had no idea who they all were! Said Reeves, “The thing I loved about it was the way they interacted with each other – the kind of intimate exchange that I wasn't part of.”