KSDS 88.3 Blog

By Matt Silver

KSDS General Manager Ken Poston joined the Jazz Journalists’ Association’s (JJA) monthly podcast — “The Buzz” — this week for an authors’ panel discussing the three books published on and about Gerry Mulligan in the past year. One of those books—Being Gerry Mulligan: My Life in Music, the late baritone saxophonist’s autobiography as-told-to Poston—was a project thirty years in the making.

This week on “Sing! Sing! Sing!” Will Friedwald makes a weekend contribution to KSDS’s 12 Days of Sinatra by revisiting Sinatra’s 1955 recording "In the Wee Small Hours" and interviewing Sinatra’s granddaughter AJ Lambert, a vocalist who’s made the album part of her vocal repertoire.

By Matt Silver

It’s no secret that the prolific Will Friedwald considers Frank Sinatra to be the greatest entertainer of the 20th century. On this week’s episode of “Sing! Sing! Sing!” Friedwald takes a deep dive into what might be Sinatra’s greatest album, 1955’s In the Wee Small Hours. Joining him is singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist AJ Lambert, who knew Frank and his music as well as anybody — as a granddaughter would (Lambert is Nancy Sinatra’s daughter and oldest child).

Adam Gopnik, longtime staff writer for "The New Yorker," author, songwriter, playwright, Sinatra fanatic.

By Matt Silver 

Our “Twelve Days of Sinatra” is officially breaking for regularly scheduled programming over the weekend. We’ll officially be back at it again on Monday, Dec. 11 at noon Pacific, with the Seventh Day of Sinatra—Frank in the Movies—hosted by Chuck Granata. Officially. But here at KSDS, we’re less interested in the distinction between official and unofficial than you might think. In fact—call it our trailblazing spirit—we kind of love the renegade, weekend regions of our terrestrial radio landscape, where we give the unofficial a wide berth to stretch its legs, riff without restraint, and luxuriate in the unadulterated freedom of an off-the-books lifestyle.

The holidays are for family, friends….and Frank. We’ve heard from many of you and as a late holiday gift to you we will be replaying all 12 Days of Sinatra consecutively on New Year’s Eve, beginning at 7PM. The world’s foremost Sinatra experts and insiders—the men who’ve literally written the books on Frank—will bring you the music—and the stories—from each major period of Sinatra’s life and career. So, join us as we RE-Gift all the 12 Days of Sinatra to you- all 12 episodes played consecutively in its entirety beginning on New Year’s Eve at 7PM.  

Here's the 12 Days of Sinatra schedule, all times are approximate:

NYE- 7PM- 1st Day of Sinatra: The Early Years  1935-42 hosted by Will Friedwald
NYE- 9PM- 2nd Day of Sinatra: The Columbia Years 1943-49 hosted by Ken Poston
NYE- 11PM- 3rd Day of Sinatra: The Radio Years hosted by Chuck Granata
NYD- 1AM- 4th Day of Sinatra: The Fall and Rise hosted by Will Friedwald
NYD- 3AM- 5th Day of Sinatra: Frank and Nelson hosted by Will Friedwald
NYD- 5AM- 6th Day of Sinatra: The Capitol Years hosted by Loren Schoenberg
NYD- 7AM- 7th Day of Sinatra: The Movies hosted by Chuck Granata
NYD- 9AM- 8th Day of Sinatra: Early Reprise Years 1960-65 hosted by Loren Schoenberg
NYD- 11AM- 9th Day of Sinatra: The Concert Years hosted by Ken Poston
NYD- 1PM- 10th Day of Sinatra: The Rat Pack hosted by Ken Poston
NYD- 3PM- 11th Day of Sinatra: Inside the Studio  hosted by Chuck Granata
NYD- 5PM- 12th Day: Reprise-The Main Event hosted by Will Friedwald

By Matt Silver

Best of Halloween playlists are ubiquitous this time of year—and, frankly, most of them consist of the obvious, low-hanging fruit. Of course, clichés are clichés for a reason: they have staying power. So, here we acknowledge the very best of the tried-and-true—along with some...deeper cuts. From the absurd and campy to the spooky and truly frightful, you’re sure to find something in these five tunes that speak to what you love most about Halloween.

By Matt Silver

In 1957, Benny Golson wrote perhaps the most beautiful requiem in the jazz canon. Earnest and heart-wrenching “I Remember Clifford” is a bona fide standard, inspiring versions by Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Sonny Rollins, Quincy Jones, and nearly every jazz instrumentalist of consequence, including Golson himself.

But it begs the question: Do we follow the lead of Benny’s lament and do enough to remember Clifford ourselves? This year, we do. Here at KSDS, we aim to honor jazz’s great innovators, past and present. Clifford Brown, who tragically died four months shy of his 26th birthday in June 1956, is indisputably one of them.

KSDS-FM remembers Clifford. This Morning, KSDS will celebrate the birthday of trumpeter Clifford Brown. This fundraising event will focus on the way too short career of one of the most influential horn players in the history of jazz. We will feature segments throughout the day that follow his journey as a trumpeter and composer and offer great thank you gifts for your donation during this special birthday celebration, beginning at 9AM today.

KSDS friend and former contributor Robert Bush passed away on October 20th from his battle with cancer. The San Diego Jazz Community has lost one of the true advocates for the art form. His writings and perspectives and passion for Jazz, and all music, was immense.

Our thoughts go out to Robert Bush’s family and friends. We will miss him, Rest in Peace Robert.

The San Diego Jazz Community is invited to a celebration of life for Robert Bush. He was a beloved brother, father, uncle, grandfather and an invaluable friend and voice of the jazz and music scene in San Diego and beyond. The event in this Saturday at 3:30PM at the Athenaeum Art Center located at 1955 Julian Ave in San Diego. If you wish to attend please RSVP by e-mailing us at JAZZINSANDIEGO@gmail.com. Also, there is a Go Fund page set up for this event. Kindly search Robert M Bush Celebration of Life.

By Matt Silver

One great thing about staff here at KSDS is their versatility. General Manager Ken Poston basically built a jazz museum from scratch; Production Director Michael Rovatsos plays bass in the West Coast’s premier U2 tribute band, and "Phat Tracks" host Gordon Goodwin has won four Grammys and been nominated for over 20 more. Which is why when I went to City College’s Saville Theatre last Tuesday night to see and hear Goodwin preside over a radio program broadcast before a live audience, I wasn’t that surprised when a full-fledged big band concert broke out.

Musicians…they just can’t help themselves.