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KCCK's Soundtrack to the Struggle
KCCK's Soundtrack to the StruggleEpisodes
KCCK's Soundtrack to the Struggle
KCCK's Soundtrack to the Struggle
A daily Music podcast
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Episodes of KCCK's Soundtrack to the Struggle
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Although Melba Liston was a woman in a male-dominated profession, she excelled anyway. Some consider her an unsung hero and she is very highly regarded in and outside of the jazz community as a trailblazer, as a musician and as a woman. Melba L
Early 1939. The lights go down at New York’s Cafe Society. The waiters hush the drinking audience, a single small spotlight shines on her face. And Billy Holiday begins to sing. “Southern trees, bears strange fruit blood on the leaves, blood at
It’s 1925, and Louis Armstrong hits the music scene with a splash. With trumpet in hand and a wonderfully unique voice, he took on popular songs and stretched the boundaries of their rhythms and melodies so profoundly that American music hasn’t
September 1944, and saxophone legend Lester Young arrives at Fort McClellan, Alabama, for basic training. Young is a jazz star, and he expects to be placed in a military band, like white musicians Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw. Instead, he’s assi
Lena Horne left school at 16 to help support her family. She became a dancer at Harlem’s Cotton Club was soon a sought-after performer – a role she would maintain throughout her life. A long run at the Savoy-Plaza boosted Horne’s career even fu
It’s 1967, and singer and actress Nichelle Nichols attends a fund-raiser for the NAACP. A man approaches and says, “Ms. Nichols, I’m your greatest fan.” That fan was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. During their chat, Nichols confides her plans to l
It’s Prohibition-era Harlem, and Gladys Bentley is at the piano at Harry Hansberry’s Clam House, one of the biggest gay speakeasies in New York. Dressed in her signature tuxedo and top hat, she sings bawdy lyrics to popular songs. Her voice is
Eartha Kitt was never afraid to use her distinctive voice. Born on a South Carolina cotton plantation, Eartha Mae Keith grew to record the standards, “Let’s Do It,” and “C’est Si Bon.” She was fluent in French, spoke four other languages, and s
It’s 1906 in Harlem. The first sparks of a cultural explosion have just ignited. Artists, writers, musicians, and composers are flocking to this city-in-a-city. One of them is Carl Van Vechten. Who could have predicted that the Harlem Renaissan
One of swing music’s greatest propagandists, John Henry Hammond II was responsible, at least partially, for discovering a remarkable list of musicians through the years, including Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Charlie Christian, George Benson, A
Cab Calloway’s subtle but indelible influence on American culture began the moment he forgot the chorus to his own signature song. Picture the scene: The club is packed. Dancers fill the floor. Calloway steps to the mic and begins that new song
Nina Simone’s career in activism began in 1964, when her songs openly addressed racial inequality prevalent in the United States. She recorded the still-controversial “Mississippi Goddam,” her response to the murder of Medgar Evers and the bomb
The work song has existed since the dawn of recorded history. Field hands, boatmen, railroad gangs, and even cowboys used the work song to lift spirits and maintain the pace of labor. During the American era of slavery, the work song evolved in
January 23, 1943. Carnegie Hall. Duke Ellington and His Orchestra make their debut at the legendary venue. On the program is the premiere of Ellington’s new magnum opus – his three movement jazz symphony, “Black, Brown & Beige.” It is Ellington
It’s 1984, and Miles Davis is changing his musical course yet again. He’d exhausted his exploration of jazz fusion and now looked for a fresh perspective. The result was “You’re Under Arrest.” This album was intentionally controversial – from i
Rumor has it that Marilyn Monroe’s vocal coach, very early in Monroe’s career, ordered her to buy all of Ella Fitzgerald’s records, and to listen to them 100 times in a row. This deep study of Fitzgerald’s singing made Monroe not only a pretty
It’s 1957, and Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus defies a presidential order and blocks the integration of the Little Rock school district. Bassist Charles Mingus, an outspoken civil rights advocate, immediately writes one of the greatest jazz pro
It’s Sunday, September 15, 1963, and four Klansmen have planted dynamite under the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The explosion killed four young girls and injured many others. History records this incident as a turning poin
Three pioneering women lay claim to Blues royalty. Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith made an impact on American culture that still resonates today. In 1920, Mamie Smith became the first Black musician to make vocal blues recordings. A sa
1936, and New York City postman Victor Hugo Green publishes the first edition of the Negro Motorist Green-Book. This directory of hotels, restaurants, mechanics, and other services open to Blacks became an indispensable resource for travelers o
It’s 1959 and Dinah Washington records the latest from hit-maker Clyde Otis. As she sings, she knows the song – “This Bitter Earth” – will be a classic. But neither Washington nor Otis could predict just how great an impact “This Bitter Earth”
It’s 1994 and it’s opening night for Wynton Marsalis’s Blood on the Fields – an extended jazz oratorio on the condition of American slavery. The narrative unfolds and the music courses through elements of work songs, call and response, blues, r
Outside the bright lights of Harlem, where Ellington and Armstrong reigned supreme, hard-working, lesser-known orchestras brought jazz to the masses. Like the barnstormer leagues of baseball, these “territory bands” of hungry newcomers played s
Johnny Otis, son of Greek immigrants, eloped at age 19 with his childhood sweetheart of African American descent to Reno, Nevada. Interracial marriage was more accepted there. Otis later wrote, “As a kid, I decided that if our society dictated
It’s 1931 and Earl “Fatha” Hines has packed up his Orchestra for the first of his 3-month whistle-stop tours, including gigs in the Deep South. Fatha’s band was the first major black big band to tour Jim Crow country. At the time, Hines led the
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