KCSM Proudly presents "Celebrating 60 Years of Broadcast Excellence. This documentary chronicles KCSM's history and its commitment to Jazz, told by the dedicated curators and fans who make the station swing.

On November 26, 2024 KCSM's own Jesse "Chuy" Varela hosted the Oaktown Jazz Workshops 30th Anniversary celebration at Yoshi's at Jack London Square in Oakland. Founded in 1994 by Khalil Shaheed to educate and illuminate young people to jazz music, the event featured the John Santos Sextet, Richard Howell, the OJW Alumni Band and the current OJW Performance Ensemble. Much love goes out to OJW Executive Director Ravi Abcarian and photographer David De Hart for the photos. (click the headline for more photos of the celebration)

In November 2024, KCSM's own Pete Fallico, Jazz Oasis co-host was at Howard University to receive a Benny Goldson Jazz Masters Award for 2024 on behalf of the Jazz Organ Fellowship.

Chess Records Part 8 spends more time in 1956 as it was a very fruitful year for Chess. Paul Gayten was working full time for the company as a New Orleans talent scout and producer and he's the reason Clarence "Frog Man" Henry's "Ain't Got No Home" was issued on Chess' Argo subsidiary. That was a huge crossover hit in early 1957. The Blues was still strong at the end of '56 and into '57 with stellar releases from Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little Walter. Leonard Chess continued to ramp up vocal group releases and scored more hits with the Moonglows, but also added Lee Andrews & The Hearts, The Ravens and the Pastels to the Chess roster. We wind down our special series on Chess with part 8 as R&B and Rock n' Roll start to become synonymous in 1957. Chess continued to release groundbreaking hit records well into the 1960s from Etta James, Buddy Guy, The Ramsey Lewis Trio, Ahmad Jamal, Chuck Berry, Fontella Bass and their roster of classic Blues artists. Leonard and Phil sold Chess to GRT in early 1969, but the Chess magic can still be felt today and we hope you felt it during this series on this influential label.

Joe Pass. If you're a fan of the jazz guitar, you're in for a treat. On the next Jazz Lounge, we'll be exploring the musical virtuosity of Joe Pass, perhaps the greatest of our jazz guitarists. He produces a harmonic richness between melody and bassline, woven together by flowing sequences of chromatic chords.

This episode includes a long set-in memory of Rev. Quincy Fielding Jr., plus music from the Barrett Sisters, Simmons-Akers Trio, First Church of Deliverance Choir, Harmonizing Four, a track from the forthcoming four-CD survey of the gospel music of Louisville, and more.

Exposed, Part 2. From our friends at San Francisco Public Press, we explore a little-known chapter in San Francisco’s nuclear era: human experiments carried out to assess the health effects of radiation. Scientists from the Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory, located at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, designed and executed at least 24 experiments that involved gathering data from humans — in some cases, injecting test subjects with radioisotopes or having them ingest fluids laced with trace amounts of radioactive materials. Even football players from the San Francisco 49ers were enrolled as test subjects in these so-called tracer studies. We hear from military veterans who were sent on a mysterious mission to spread radioactive substances onto rooftops at an Army base near Pittsburg, Calif., for an experiment the radiation lab played a role in designing. Some recount experiences of witnessing nuclear bomb blasts in the Nevada desert. We also examine a national pattern of human radiation experiments revealed by Eileen Welsome, the author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation, who shined a light on similar practices conducted by government facilities, hospitals and other institutions.

Part 2. Bobby Rush, Grammy Award Winner, profiles his love of the South, in particular Mississippi. He also shares comments about his best friend, Buddy Guy, the legendary blues guitarist. Rush shares stories of perseverance amid set-backs and ultimate musical success as one of the most recognizable names in Blues music today. Part 2 of a two-part series.