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Chicago designated Host City of International Jazz Day 2026UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock are pleased to announce the designation of Chicago (USA) as host city for the 2026 International Jazz Day World Concert. This edition will mark the 15th anniversary of the event and coincide with the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. (more)

We asked our listeners to support the next generation at our "Passing the Torch," celebration for Jazz Appreciation Month and you showed up! It was an afternoon of amazing young jazz musicians from St. Ignatius Preparatory School, SF Conservatory of Music (RJAM), CSM Big Band and an appearance by none other than celebrated pianist Larry Vuckovich who all delighted a full house - and the many viewers who tuned in on Facebook. Thank you all for showing your support! If you missed the event, you can watch it on Facebook. (click the story subject for the Facebook Link)

Jesse “Chuy” Varela welcomes jazz vocalist, Allan Harris, one of the preeminent jazz singers of his generation to the KCSM studio. Allan Harris, is a transcendent figure who not only sings on stage but performs musical theater as well. His latest album is titled, The Poetry of Jazz, which he will perform live at the SFJAZZ Center, April 25 & 26. Details at SFJAZZ.org

Part 2. Clarinetist/saxophonist, Ken Peplowski had his first professional gig when still in elementary school and went on to play with everyone from Marianne Faithfull and Leon Redbone to Peggy Lee and Charlie Byrd. Ken was only sixty-six when he passed away February 1, 2026 after a five-year battle with multiple myeloma. Ken was a joyful, generous spirit and one of the first musicians I played with when I came to New York when we were paired in a jazz festival in front of thousands. I was nervous and he was cool, and his lovely attitude carried me along musically and otherwise, so no one knew I was shaking in my boots except me.This is the second-half of my 2016 conversation with Ken, recorded in 2016 in Manhattan.

Stacy Dillard and Keigo Hirakawa. A chance meeting with Wynton Marsalis in Dayton, Ohio led Stacy Dillard to New York where the saxophonist thrives fronting three of his own bands that cut across R&B/Funk and Hip Hop and serves as an in-demand sideman.It’s also where he met pianist Kiego Hirakawa with whom he partners for this performance. Keigo has spent the last 20 years touring the Midwest with his piano trio and has released three full length albums as a leader including his most recent release Pixel. From a July 20th, 2025 performance, Daniel Peck is your host for Stacy Dillard and Kiego Hirakawa…Live at the Bop Stop.

Imperial Records, Part 2 - 1950-51. Imperial Records was a major player among the indie labels of the late 1940s and the entirety of the 1950s. Started in Los Angeles in 1946 by Lew Chudd, a Canadian raised in Harlem, Imperial began filling the ethnic and cultural voids left by the majors at the time. Chudd knew there was a large market for Latino Music in America, so he headed to Mexico City and recorded some Mexican jump bands that sold very well. He then included square dance records which also racked up sales as now square dances could be held without callers. He began recording Rhythm & Blues in 1947 and by '49, he had hired Dave Bartholomew to scout talent in fertile New Orleans. The Braun Brother had beat him to The Crescent City by recording Paul Gayten and Annie Laurie first, but with Bartholomew's help, Chudd was able to sign Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, Archibald and Jewel King, dominating the New Orleans R&B scene. This week, we continue our Imperial series with part two, focusing on the 78s released during the 2nd half of 1950 and into the first half of '51. Fats, Smiley and Jewel are back, but with the departure of Bartholomew over an argument in late '50, Imperial turns to more down-home blues recordings. We'll dig on some stellar records from accomplished bluesmen: Country Jim, Smokey Hogg, Mercy Dee and Lil' Son Jackson. The future Guitar Slim made his very first records for Imperial before topping the charts in '54 for Specialty with "The Things That I Used To Do." Child actor and future music producer H.B. Barnum made his musical debut on shellac with Chudd and Imperial in 1950 and blues icons T-Bone Walker and Big Joe Turner recorded some fine sides for the label as well. Matt The Cat keeps those records spinning as he features part two of the Imperial Records Story.

A chance meeting with Wynton Marsalis in Dayton, Ohio led Stacy Dillard to New York where the saxophonist thrives fronting three of his own bands that cut across R&B/Funk and Hip Hop and serves as an in-demand sideman. It’s also where he met pianist Kiego Hirakawa with whom he partners for this performance. Keigo has spent the last 20 years touring the Midwest with his piano trio and has released three full length albums as a leader including his most recent release Pixel. From a July 20th, 2025 performance, Daniel Peck is your host for Stacy Dillard and Kiego Hirakawa…Live at the Bop Stop.

This episode includes sets in loving memory of Nate Luckett (pictured) (Luckett Brothers of Milwaukee) and Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. plus Caravans, Stars of Virginia, Bishop G.E. Patterson, and others.

Coming Soon.

This week’s program features an encore interview with the acclaimed jazz singer, Dianne Reeves. Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan. Reeves father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell and her cousin is George Duke. Her father died when she was two years old, and she was raised in Colorado by her mother, Vada Swanson, and maternal family. In 1971, she started singing and playing piano. She was noticed by trumpeter Clark Terry, who invited her to sing with him. "He had these amazing all-star bands, but I had no idea who they all were! Said Reeves, “The thing I loved about it was the way they interacted with each other – the kind of intimate exchange that I wasn't part of.”