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!

If you missed the original airing of Harry Duncan's (producer and host of In The Soul Kitchen) exclusive interview with Van Morrison during his recent run of five sold out shows at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, you can still listen to this great interview. Van and Harry sat down for an exclusive interview to talk about his new album, Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge. The album features covers and fresh interpretations of some of Van’s favorite blues, R&B and soul artists by Van and his band plus special guests Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy and Elvin Bishop. Van and Harry share a love and deep respect for these artists and their music. Both the artists Van honors on Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge and beyond. This interview was a welcome opportunity for them to talk freely about the inspiration these artists provided and the influence these artists have had on both of them. (click the story subject to hear the interview)

JAZZ in IRELAND: Part 1 of a new series of articles from Ireland and Europe for KCSM.org INTRO by Melanie O’Reilly, jazz singer, radio host & producer, jazz educator. Happy St Patrick’s Day! On this day when Irish culture is celebrated around the world, we begin a new series of regular articles on Jazz in Ireland on the KCSM website. Jazz is alive and well in contemporary Ireland with jazz festivals, jazz workshops, and jazz education in third-level institutions flourishing, with bebop, swing, blues, fusion, ethno-jazz, jazz rock, Celtic jazz, Latin-jazz and improvised explorations being the norm. (click story subject to continue)

Part 1. Clarinetist/saxophonist, Ken Peplowski had his first professional gig when still in elementary school and went on to play with everyone from Marianne Faithfull and Leon Redbone to Peggy Lee and Charlie Byrd. Ken was only sixty-six when he passed away February 1, 2026 after a five-year battle with multiple myeloma. Ken was a joyful, generous spirit and one of the first musicians I played with when I came to New York when we were paired in a jazz festival in front of thousands. I was nervous and he was cool, and his lovely attitude carried me along musically and otherwise, so no one knew I was shaking in my boots except me. This is the first of my two-part conversation with Ken, recorded in 2016 in Manhattan.

Venturing onward to New York seems to be a necessary step in the careers of most aspiring jazz artists. Guitarist Tim Picard has been a Northeast Ohio mainstay, equally adept in straight ahead and free jazz. But time marches on and opportunities abound in the Big Apple, so Tim is off to New York, but not before one last performance of originals and favorites. Backed by Theron Brown on Piano, Jordan McBride on Bass and Zaire Darden on Drums, and from a July 24th, 2025 performance, Daniel Peck is your host for the Tim Picard Quartet . . . Live at the Bop Stop.

Imperial Records, Part 1 - 1947-50. Imperial Records was a major player among the indie labels of the late 1940s and the entirety of the 1950s. Started in Los Angeles in 1946 by Lew Chudd, a Canadian raised in Harlem, Imperial began filling the ethnic and cultural voids left by the majors at the time. Chudd knew there was a large market for Latino Music in America, so he headed to Mexico City and recorded some Mexican jump bands that sold very well. He then included square dance records which also racked up sales as now square dances could be held without callers. He began recording Rhythm & Blues in 1947 and by '49, he had hired Dave Bartholomew to scout talent in fertile New Orleans. The Braun Brother had beat him to The Crescent City by recording Paul Gayten and Annie Laurie first, but with Bartholomew's help, Chudd was able to sign Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, Archibald and Jewel King, dominating the New Orleans R&B scene. This week, we begin a series looking at the huge impact that Imperial Records had on R&B during the late 1940s into the mid-1950s. In part 1, Matt The Cat will showcase Imperial's earliest R&B releases from 1947-1950. We'll see how the boogie woogie stylings of Dick Lewis, "Poison" Gardner, Charlie "Boogie Woogie" Davis and Lloyd Glenn gave way to the New Orleans blues of Tommy Ridgley, Jewel King, Smiley Lewis and Fats Domino, who would become the biggest artist ever on the Imperial label.

The low end gets some love with a profile on Stanley Clarke. We hear music from the 2022 NEA Jazz Master’s storied career as a leader, and as a founding member of Return to Forever.

Buffalo based Adam Bronstein is a guitar player known for his clever songwriting and playful improvisation. Focusing on guitar at the forefront of its sound, his trio’s music is instrumental with influences ranging from jazz through Hip Hop, R&B and Psychedelia. We were excited to catch Adam on a recent trip to his native Buffalo, and even more excited when he appeared on tour at the Bop Stop for this May 22nd. 2025 appearance in support of his most recent release ABTrio. Featuring Adam on Guitar, James Benders on Bass and Gabriel Wells on Drums and Percussion, Daniel Peck is your host for Adam Bronstein and the AB Trio-Live at the Bop Stop.

This week’s program is an encore recording of the program is being hosted by William Luck. It’s an "oldie but goodie" Gospel Memories program edition broadcast on March 24, 2012.

Sean Padilla is the creator of The Alameda Pulse, an Instagram-based guide to the best of Alameda. Host Scott Piehler talks with Sean about their shared love of all things Alameda, what it takes to spread the world in the modern digital world, and how ultimately, the mission of The Alameda Pulse is not clicks, it’s community.

Quincy Troupe, Author: Miles, The Autobiography and Miles and Me, Part 2. Troupe attended Grambling State University in Louisiana on a basketball scholarship. He later joined the United States Army, where he was stationed in France, playing on the Army basketball team. While there, he had a chance encounter with the noted French Existentialist philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, who suggested to Troupe that he try his hand at poetry. When he returned to civilian life, Troupe moved to L.A, where he decided to pursue writing, enrolling in journalism classes at the Los Angeles City College. Later he began writing for the Los Angeles Free Press.In 1985, Spin magazine hired Troupe to write an exclusive two-part interview with Miles Davis, which led Simon & Schuster to him as co-author for Davis's autobiography. In 1990, Quincy’s book, Miles: The Autobiography won an American Book Award for the authors, garnering them numerous positive reviews and accolades.