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!

Straight Life: Art Pepper @ 100 / The Contemporary Recordings, Part 2. In Part 2 we’ll be featuring Art in three sessions he did in 1960, in the company of Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Jimmy Cobb, Conte Candoli, Jack Sheldon, Frank Butler and more.

famed percussionist and vocalist Mino Cinélu joins Jesse “Chuy” Varela on Jazz In The Afternoon to talk about his upcoming show at the Presidio Theater, “Mino 4 Miles,” a celebration of Miles Davis upcoming centennial. Cinélu performed on Davis’s seminal albums “We Want Miles” (1982), “Star People” (1983),and “Decoy” (1984) and toured extensively with him. Mino has assembled an all-star groupfor his performance on Saturday, Sept.6 @ 7:30pm at the Presidio Theatre in San Francisco. For more info: https://www.presidiotheatre.org/show/mino-for-miles/

Jurassic World Rebirth producer, Frank Marshall, is an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar winning producer/director. But it’s not just about dinosaurs, as Frank is a lifelong jazz fan too! Frank grew up on picturesque Lido Isle in Newport Beach, CA surrounded by the musical friends of his father, jazz guitarist, composer, arranger, Jack Marshall, whose arrangement of “Fever” for Peggy Lee was one of many celebrated albums he worked on for Capitol Records in the late ‘50s and 60s. Frank Marshall has produced and/or directed multiple stage shows and films, including the Jason Bourne, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and Jurassic World franchises. Through it all, music has played a major role in Frank’s life and his memories of being surrounded by great musicians growing up is a vivid and joyous. In the summer of 1972, Jack Marshall and trumpeter/vocalist, Jack Sheldon joined forces to entice trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker back into the studio after Chet had stopped recording, due to an injury to his mouth. The record was made but never released until Frank recently discovered the master and together with Zev Feldman, produced Chet Baker & Jack Sheldon, In Perfect Harmony: The Lost Album.

Aidan Plank Presents the Music of Lyle Mays. While Lyle Mays was widely known for his work with Pat Metheny, his solo work has warranted considerably less attention, unfortunately. In this performance, Northeast Ohio based bassist Aiden Plank enlisted performers from the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra alongside other Midwest based musicians to explore and perform compositions from the catalog of the 11-time Grammy winner. Featuring Anthony Fuoco on Piano, Dan Bruce on Guitar, Dustin May on Drums, Brad Wagner on Saxophones, Garret Folger on Trumpet and Flugelhorn, Dan Bailey on Keyboards, Patrick Duke Graney on Percussion and Aiden Plank on Bass, and from a December19th, 2024 performance, Daniel Peck is your host for Aiden Plank Presents the Music of Lyle Mays - Live at the Bop Stop.

Aidan Plank Presents the Music of Lyle Mays. While Lyle Mays was widely known for his work with Pat Metheny, his solo work has warranted considerably less attention, unfortunately. In this performance, Northeast Ohio based bassist Aiden Plank enlisted performers from the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra alongside other Midwest based musicians to explore and perform compositions from the catalog of the 11-time Grammy winner. Featuring Anthony Fuoco on Piano, Dan Bruce on Guitar, Dustin May on Drums, Brad Wagner on Saxophones, Garret Folger on Trumpet and Flugelhorn, Dan Bailey on Keyboards, Patrick Duke Graney on Percussion and Aiden Plank on Bass, and from a December19th, 2024 performance, Daniel Peck is your host for Aiden Plank Presents the Music of Lyle Mays - Live at the Bop Stop.

Selections from the new 3-CD retrospective of the Original Gospel Harmonettes, a "weather" set to salute WGN Chief Meteorologist Tom Skilling (pictured) on his retirement, Paul Robeson from 1928, Rev. F.C Barnes & Rev. Janice Brown, and more.

Crosswinds: The Cost of Coal. We take a deep dive into coal dust air pollution in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, where trains transporting coal expose residents of predominantly Black communities to harmful dust. We look at this issue of environmental racism with the help of the podcast Crosswinds, featuring producer Adrian Wood.

The late Isaac Hayes, Academy and Grammy Award Winner is featured on this week’s program. Hayes shared thoughts on his cookbook, Cooking with Heart and Soul. Born in Covington, Tennessee, Hayes musical genius is unrivaled. He is most well-known for writing the musical score for the film Shaft which garnered the Academy Award for Best Original Song is 1972Recognized for his humanitarian effort, in 1992, Hayes was crowned honorary king of the Ada region of Ghana in recognition of his humanitarian work in that country.