KSDS 88.3 Blog

All the staff and hosts at KSDS want to thank so much for sticking with us this year. Your e-mails, phone messages and, of course, support has really lifted us up during these crazy times.We hope to see you in the new year and get back to some normalcy. We can't wait till we start having Jazz Live concerts again. We will let you know when that is possible. Speaking of which, if you have been a faithful attendee of our Jaz Live concert series or if you have never been we encourage you to look at these terrific JAZZ LIVE PHOTOS, taken by Larry Redman. He volunteers his talent and time and has become a true friend of the station. Thank you Larry and again, thank you for your support! Cheers to a better, and safer, New Year. Happy Holidays!

KSDS/Jazz88.3 is kissing 2021 good-bye and ringing in the new year with the sounds of swingin' Big Bands! It's happening right now- "Big Bands Coast to Coast and Around the World!" It will be approximately 30 hours of classic Big Band music from greats like Dizzy, Basie and Ellington. You will also hear from Rob McConnell, Terry Gibbs, Gil Evans and so many more. While you are listening we hope you can make that last tax-deductible donation(s) to KSDS and make it count for 2021! DONATE NOW and become a first-time member, renew your membership, make an additional gift or make a donation in memory of a loved one. Many Thanks and Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays! KSDS is now airing its annual 'Sounds of the Season' programming. This 36-hour block of holiday music (ending at Midnight on Christmas Day) is brought to you by KSDS and our good friends at California Coast Credit Union. Special thanks to Ken Borgers and David Grudt. CLICK HERE FOR THE PLAYLIST!

Camarada is announcing its 26th season for 2020/21 and they are calling it "Unstoppable." The next performance, called "Unstoppable," happens Sunday, March 28th at 6PM (In-Person at Bread & Salt) and on Friday, April 9th (LiveStream at 7PM) . The concert will have limited in-person concert attendance as well as LiveStream programming. Here is Camarada's link for more information on the concert line-up, in-person ticket information and LiveStream options.

Live jazz is back! Experience an evening with the legendary Charles McPherson and his band at a socially distanced, drive-in concert. There will be special guest appearances by members of the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, the largest gathering of concertmasters and principal players in North America. The concert is Sunday, October 18th at 7pm, only at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Click here for tickets and use promo code “jazz” for 20% off at checkout! Tickets are as low as $36 per carload.

Join KSDS/Jazz88.3 as we are NOW CELEBRATING the birth of the one and only John Coltrane. We began at 6AM and are running into the wee hours of Thursday morning. We are dusting off the vinyl and playing John Coltrane (as a leader) albums, in their entirety. Hear classic albums like “Blue Train”, “Live at Birdland”, “A Love Supreme” and many others. DONATE $88.30 OR MORE to KSDS during our Trane Birthday Celebration and we'll thank you with an exclusive poster featuring the cover art from all of the albums we play for the celebration. For more information on donating and to make your contribution, visit our DONATE PAGE.

THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF JAZZ – SAN DIEGO (or IAJSD) is starting its seventh year providing its top-tiered jazz music after-school program to San Diego’s jazz band students.  Artistic Director and two-time Jazz Grammy award winner, Kamau Kenyatta, leads the team of instructors and will also be teaching. Fall classes will be ONLINE and are starting now, and open enrollment will continue through the remainder of September. This new online curriculum studies the elements of harmony, theory and ear-training, all geared for the young music students who loves jazz. IAJSD is also launching its first ever Adult classes, which are a version of the award-winning jazz-for-kids program only tempered for adults.  Each adult class is twelve weeks in length and enrollment for the adult classes is open now. Call (619) 997-7453 for more information or visit IAJSD.org.

KSDS Jazz 88.3 would like to invite you to revisit to best of Jazz Live (KSDS' monthly Live concert broadcasting out of City College). Live concerts featuring the greatest San Diego Jazz musicians and other special guests. This month join us for 'Jazz Live Archives' Saturday, September 19th at 5PM Pacific. We look back to July of 2017 when acclaimed Bassist, Darek Oles presented "Coltrane's Sound- A Celebration of John Coltrane." The rest of the band included Chuck Manning on Saxophone, Jon Mayer on Piano, Larry Koonse on Guitar and Roy McCurdy on Drums. As always, Larry Redman was there and took some great photos of the concert.

KSDS continues to honor Charlie Parker's centennial birthday THIS SATURDAY (Saturday, September 5), from 9am-7pm as we air an encore of our recent Charlie Parker Celebration. We will explore the remarkable career of this unmistakable Jazz master. Plus, if you contribute $100 or more you will receive a one-of-a-kind, limited-edition Charlie Parker CD- "Charlie Parker On the Air- Rare Broadcasts from Birdland." Due to the pandemic we are only receiving Donations Online.

As some of you may know KSDS is located in downtown San Diego at City College, and is part of the San Diego Community College District. We want to share with you a recent message from our San Diego Community College District Chancellor, Constance M. Carroll and her leadership team. KSDS celebrates the art form of Jazz every day. Our mission is to preserve the past, promote the present and nurture the future of it. Today, and every day, we stand in support and solidarity of our rich Jazz heritage and its African-American roots. For those of you who missed it KSDS explored and played an hour of Jazz protest songs. Please search the June 2nd, 2020 archive (noon hour) to check out the titles. You can listen to the full hour by clicking here.