Hundreds of listeners gathered last week to start their holiday celebrates and the festive season with KCSM. It was an evening of good friends, good food and great live jazz! A Special thank you to everyone who brought a new, unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots toy drive. Lots of local kids will have a happier holiday because of your generosity. (click story headline for more photo)

Sonoma Valley resident Kathleen Lawton was part of the lucky audience when soulful vocalist Allan Harris and guitarist Bruce Forman performed an extraordinary set at the Sebastiani Theater in Sonoma on Sunday December 7. The concert, dedicated to the music of Nat King Cole, was sponsored by the Sonoma Valley Jazz Society. (click header for more)

On Saturday night Kathleen Harris, KCSM Development Director, headed to the Golden Gate Theatre to soak in the sounds of live jazz from one of KCSMs favorites, Kamasi Washington, who delivered a powerful performance that had the crowd on its feet. After the show, Kathleen captured a special moment: Karen, a devoted KCSM fan, reaching out to thank Kamasi for the music that has meant so much to her. This simple handshake between artist and listener captures what KCSM is all about—real connections, shared love of jazz, and a community that stretches from the airwaves to the concert hall. A moment of pure jazz joy that reflects KCSMs unequaled connection to the Bay Area jazz scene.

The Swallows were one of the most underrated R&B vocal groups of the early 1950s. Hailing from Baltimore, they only scored 2 top 10 R&B hits during their 3-year stint with King Records, but collectors and aficionados know their catalog inside and out. The Swallows' original lead tenor, Eddie Rich, joins us with his first-hand account of scoring a hit record, life on the road, segregation and playing with the top artists of the day. So, dim the lights, turn up the juke and get ready for a full hour of some of the greatest vocal group harmonies you're ever going to hear.

There's something about Mary Stallings. We celebrate Mary Stallings, a stalwart of vocal jazz, who has shared the stage with many legends -- Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, to name a few. Still swinging at 86 years old, she shows no signs of stopping. She joins the Emmet Cohen trio for a special night of singing from Dizzy’s Club in New York City.

Voyages: Stan Getz with Kenny Barron 1986-1991, Part 2. Featuring the hand in glove pairing of Stan's tenor and Kenny's piano. In quartet and duo settings.

8pm - Hour 1 In the spirit of Sinatra and the Rat Pack, recent Grammy winner Nicole Zuraitis steps into the glow of Vic’s jazz supper club in Las Vegas. She reimagines favorites from Dolly Parton to timeless standards, all while host Christian McBride takes us inside the bluesy improviser’s unexpected rise to stardom. 9pm - Hour 2 Are hip-hop classics the new jazz standards? Drummer and electronic alchemist Kassa Overall stirred the scene when he recast ’90s rap—Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest—into bold, acoustic arrangements. His electrifying set honors the 30th anniversary of New York City’s Jazz Gallery, the room where this performance comes alive. 10pm - Hour 3 Sofía Rei is a shape-shifter—slipping effortlessly between jazz, rock, and electronica. At the playful center of her music lies the spirit of her hero, Bobby McFerrin. Joined by master percussionist Tupac Mantilla and guitarist/electronics sorcerer JC Maillard, she delivers an intimate performance captured exclusively at the Ponta Lopud Jazz Festival in Croatia. 11pm - Hour 4 Toast of the Nation takes note of some of the most magical live moments to emerge in 2025. We begin in New York, where drumming royalty Marcus Gilmore makes a luminous Village Vanguard debut. Then to Philadelphia for the visionary Marshall Allen and his small group, Ghost Horizon. We continue with inspired performances from Kokayi in Tennessee, Amir ElSaffar in Germany, and one of the final live recordings from the late, towering drummer Jack DeJohnette in George Colligan's Trio.

Live at the Bop Stop kicks off 2026 with a look back at 2025. Live at the Bop Stop’s Best of 2025 program is two hours of live performances previously aired on our program interspersed with bonus performances from our stage over the course of the year. Hosted by Daniel Peck, the program features appearances from, among others Pittsburgh guitarist John Shannon, the reformulated collective Reclamation Band and New York City based piano legend David Janeway.

This episode includes a long set-in memory of Rev. Dr. Issac Whittmon of Chicago, plus music from Rev. Julius Cheeks, Camp Meeting Choir, Edna Gallmon Cooke (pictured), Little Lucy Smith Singers, Golden Trumpets, and others.

Katina Psihos Letheule, Artistic Director of Altarena Playhouse. One of the Bay Area’s longest continuously operating community theaters, the award-winning Altarena has been entertaining audiences since 1939. Host Scott Piehler talks with Katina about the importance of live theatre, what it takes to create a balanced season, and what the emergence from the COVID pandemic looked like for the performing arts. Katina also shares her favorite shows and roles from her own performing history.

Lydia Millet discusses her New York Times editorial, “Native Lives Matter, Too” on Like It Is. In her editorial Millet shares among other revelations that “Almost no attention is paid to this pattern of violence against already devastated peoples.” Lydia Millet is a Novelist. She was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction and named one of the ten best books of the year by the New York Times Book Review. She has also been a finalist for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. Millet shares her thoughts on her editorial on this week’s Like It Is program.