October, 2024

To register for the inaugural semester of KSDS’s Jazz University, call 619-388-3000 or email Chuck@jazz88.org.

The inaugural semester of KSDS's Jazz University will kick off on Thurs. evening, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m., on the campus of San Diego City College. Classes will meet at the Black Box Theatre, on City College's campus, the first three Thurs. evenings in November (Nov. 7, 14, and 21), from 7 to 9 p.m. The culmination of the course — the “Final Exam” — will be a dinner party, with authentic New Orleans cuisine, hosted at Nola on 5th in Hillcrest on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024 at 7 p.m.

Louis Armstrong with Jimmy Dorsey and His Orchestra performing “Skeleton in the Closet,” from 1936’s film classic “Pennies from Heaven.”

By Matt Silver

Best of Halloween playlists are ubiquitous this time of year—and, frankly, most of them consist of the obvious, low-hanging fruit. Of course, clichés are clichés for a reason: they have staying power. So, here we acknowledge the very best of the tried-and-true—along with some...deeper cuts. From the absurd and campy to the spooky and truly frightful, you’re sure to find something in these five tunes that speak to what you love most about Halloween.

”Inside Art” with Dave Drexler airs Sunday evenings from 6 to 6:30 p.m. PT on KSDS Jazz 88.3 FM San Diego and jazz88.org.

Last week (Oct. 22), Dave Drexler's "Inside Art" was awarded “Best of Show” honors (Radio/Podcast category) at the 51st annual San Diego Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards.

Charles McPherson (center) stopped by KSDS studios on Mon., Oct. 21, 2024 to chat with Ron Dhanifu (left) and Matt Silver (right) on the “Afternoon Drive.”

THIS SUNDAY EVENING, KSDS is presenting a jazz concert. We do this regularly; we’re pretty good at it. And, yes, they’re all special. We love all our children the same (yeah, yeah, yeah). BUT THIS…this concert really is one that we’re going to cherish a little bit more, and a little bit longer, than the rest. Because these musicians playing this music together is the embodiment of our mission here at KSDS; it represents the quintessential expression of modern jazz’s lineage, as presented by a multi-generational group of ardent flame-keepers.

If a 15-year-old Jon Faddis had never summoned the courage to ask Dizzy Gillespie to sign his massive stack of records at the Monterey Jazz Festival, would Faddis have gone on to develop into “the best ever”? It’s an interesting thought. Ponder it, then see for yourself whether you agree with Dizzy’s evaluation of Faddis. Come celebrate the 60th anniversary of Dizzy Gillespie’s run for president on Oct. 27 at the Handlery Hotel with the Faddis/McPherson Quintet.

By Matt Silver

Here’s a short story — incomplete, certainly, but revealing nevertheless — about how a young trumpeter from Oakland came to be called the best ever…by the best ever.

Trumpeter Jon Faddis met his hero, Dizzy Gillespie, for the first time when he was 12 years old. He was too afraid to say anything. 

John Clayton, co-founder of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and mentor to countless young jazz musicians, is one of the premier jazz bassists of the last half-century.

It’s been 60 years since Dizzy Gillespie’s candidacy injected music, levity, and a focus on civil rights into the 1964 presidential election. By now, you’ve read and heard quite a bit about the concert we’re presenting on Sunday evening, Oct. 27 to celebrate that anniversary. And by now, you know the legendary names leading the band: Faddis and McPherson.

Now it’s time to make like Art Pepper… and meet the rhythm section. 

The November 5, 1964 edition of Downbeat with a cover titled “Dizzy’s Dream Inauguration Day, 1965.” Gillespie, of course, was never actually inaugurated – he never even made it on the ballot – but his humor-filled campaign sparked important conversations about the urgency and efficacy of the Civil Rights Movement to that time.

By Matt Silver

By now, you’ve heard it several times: Sixty years ago, Dizzy Gillespie ran for president. And it was kind of a joke but also kind of serious and ultimately not ever fully viable. All that’s true enough, but it doesn’t really tell the whole story.

In 1964, Dizzy Gillespie mounted a half-serious run for president. When asked why, his response: “Because we need one!” So on Oct. 27, KSDS is celebrating the 60th anniversary with a star-studded concert headlined by Jon Faddis and Charles McPherson. Why? Because we need one!

Just minutes after the Bill Mays Trio closed last Friday night’s Bud Powell Centennial concert with a euphoric take on Powell’s “Parisian Thoroughfare” that left us all exiting the concert hall floating at least three feet off the ground, the KSDS brain trust convened an emergency session in the atrium of The Conrad. We resolved not to rest on our laurels. The music we presented that night was too special, too magical for us to wait several months before bringing you another evening of commensurate artistry. 

And so we did something that might seem counterintuitive; we turned to the upcoming presidential election for inspiration. 

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KSDS GM Ken Poston (at right) interviews (from left) Alan Broadbent, Joshua White, Gilbert Castellanos, and Bill Mays on stage at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center in La Jolla before KSDS’s Bud Powell Centennial Concert on Friday evening, Sept. 27, 2024.

Dear Jazz88ers,

It’s been a 12-round, knock-down, drag out brawl of a Fall Membership Drive, but after ten grueling days and unspeakable amounts of pizza and Italian beef sandwiches and enchiladas… after our gastrointestinal systems have begged for clemency and prevailed upon us with reflux and the other unmentionable weapons at their disposal, we’ve laid down our swords and returned to programming as regularly scheduled.