2020

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Charlie Parker Centennial Celebration!

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:August 19, 2020

KSDS continues to honor Charlie Parker's centennial birthday THIS SATURDAY (Saturday, September 5), from 9am-7pm as we air an encore of our recent Charlie Parker Celebration. We will explore the remarkable career of this unmistakable Jazz master. Plus, if you contribute $100 or more you will receive a one-of-a-kind, limited-edition Charlie Parker CD- "Charlie Parker On the Air- Rare Broadcasts from Birdland." Due to the pandemic we are only receiving Donations Online.

In Solidarity

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:June 2, 2020

As some of you may know KSDS is located in downtown San Diego at City College, and is part of the San Diego Community College District. We want to share with you a recent message from our San Diego Community College District Chancellor, Constance M. Carroll and her leadership team. KSDS celebrates the art form of Jazz every day. Our mission is to preserve the past, promote the present and nurture the future of it. Today, and every day, we stand in support and solidarity of our rich Jazz heritage and its African-American roots. For those of you who missed it KSDS explored and played an hour of Jazz protest songs. Please search the June 2nd, 2020 archive (noon hour) to check out the titles. You can listen to the full hour by clicking here.

Miles Davis Birthday Celebration

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:May 21, 2020

Turn off the TV News and tune in to your radio or streaming device ALL DAY TODAY beginning at 9am pacific. KSDS celebratea Miles Davis’s Birthday playing full albums in their entirety. What will we play? Well, you will hear some of the most popular and acclaimed recordings of this jazz icon's career introduced by Jazz88's own hosts. You will have to tune in to find out what will be played and by whom. It's Miles Davis's Birthday Celebration ALL DAY AND NIGHT only on San Diego's KSDS Jazz 88.3 FM.

Planned Power Outtage

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:May 5, 2020

Our broadcast signal will be down TODAY (5/6), beginning around 6:30AM PACIFIC due to a planned power outtage at Mesa College, where our transmitter lives. It should last approximately 4-5 hours. The Good News? Our stream will be operating and if you have not had a chance to download the KSDS App- (Android/iPhone), well, now is the time to do so. We will keep you informed via this listing on the situation and our social media platforms. Thank you for your patience. Thursday, 6:20am

Giving Tuesday NOW!

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:May 5, 2020

Giving Tuesday Now is today and it's a day for people to stand together to rally around the causes they care about. If the jazz music that KSDS has been playing helped soothe you in this new normal, please make a donation today. You can do so by SUPPORTING KSDS or if you would like to donate a used vehicle anywhere in the continental united states simply call 1-888-JAZZ-CAR. That's 1-888-529-9227. We appreciate your support.

Congratulations to the New Soil Ensemble!

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:April 29, 2020

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to The New Soil Ensemble! They are the next generation of Jazz and live and play right here IN SAN DIEGO! They made the cover of DOWNBEAT magazine (43rd Student Awards Issue). They are part of the Young Lions Jazz Conservatory led by Gilbert Castellanos. All of these young artists were on our Jazz Live San Diego stage back in January 2020 as part of the Young Lions Jazz Conservatory Big Band concert. We are so proud.
 

What's YOUR Silver Lining?

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:April 27, 2020

If you google 'silver lining' it tells you that it's the hopeful side of a situation when things are looking gloomy. Well, Let's remove the gloom and share the positivity. Let's hear about YOUR Silver Lining over the past few months as we all do our part staying home. If you go to the DONATE NOW PAGE and make a donation, you can share your silver lining in the note field. Plus, you can tell us your favorite artist as we are taking a poll. If times are tough to contribute financially we understand; simply e-mail us at membership@jazz88.org. We will then read your story and favorite musician on the air to share with San Diego and the world. Share your silver lining (and artist) today.

KSDS presents the Jazz Voice Memo-Thon!

Blog Name:Home Page News

Blog Author:San Diego's Jazz 88.3

Posted on:April 1, 2020

We are all struggling during these uncertain times. But the one thing that is certain right now is the great straight-ahead Jazz sounds of KSDS Jazz 88.3. We are supplying the music all month and we hope YOU can supply the voice. Make a Vehicle Donation of any kind (Car, Boat, RV or Plane) OR make an Online Financial Contribution. After you're done please e-mail us a Voice Memo at membership@jazz88.org explaining how you value KSDS, especially during this crisis. It's the KSDS JAZZ VOICE MEMO-THON! We thank you in advance.

Ella Fitzgerald- KSDS Presents The All-Time Top Listener-Favorite Female Vocalists

She is remembered as "The First Lady of Song" and fittingly so.  Ella Fitzgerald possessed one of the greatest voices of all time in any genre.  Throughout the course of her nearly sixty year career, she sold over 40 million records.  Among her many honors were 13 Grammy Awards wins, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, the Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts Medal of Honor, and The Presidential Medal of Freedom.  

Her musical story began famously in 1934 with Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.  Fitzgerald decided to give it a try, as a dancer. She was intimidated by another dance act and at the last moment decided to sing...and won the night.  In 1935 she met bandleader Chick Webb and joined his orchestra for a successful run at the Savoy Ballroom. In 1938, she recorded "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" (a song she co-wrote) and the song became one of the best selling records of the decade.  With Webb's death in 1939, Ella took over as bandleader until 1942.  

Fitzgerald continued to work with other orchestras, Benny Goodman and Dizzy Gillespie were just two, as well as lead her own smaller groups.  She became a master scat singer, able to mimic nearly every instrument in the band.  Her range spanned three octaves and the clarity of her voice unmatched.  It's said she possessed perfect pitch.  That voice would thrill audiences worldwide for decades, making Fitzgerald one of the most beloved singers of her generation and of generations to come.  She worked with artists as diverse as Count Basie to Stevie Wonder.  Her live recordings made for Verve Records remain highly acclaimed.  The version of "Mack The Knife" from her album "Ella in Berlin" won a Grammy and shows off Fitzgerald's improvisational skills beautifully: she forgot the words at one point and simply improvised lyrics to great applause.  

She remains an important influence on jazz singers and musicians alike and continues to be one of the best-selling jazz artists in history.

Nina Simone- KSDS Presents The All-Time Top Listener-Favorite Female Vocalists

Her life and music have been the subject of books, film, and countless conversations about music, racial equality, and her legacy in both.  Nina Simone, respectfully called The High Priestess of Soul left a mark on the world that is more than musical, though musicians as diverse as Elton John, Mos Def, Alicia Keys, and John Lennon have cited her influence.

Born in North Carolina, she began playing the piano when she was only three or four, playing in church and performing her first classical recital at age 12.  She was a gifted pianist and had early plans to pursue a career in classical music.  Simone spent the summer of 1950 at Julliard in preparation for her audition for the Curtis Institute of Music.  Though she performed well in her audition, she was famously not accepted to the Cirtis Institute, something she would believe the rest of her life was the result of racial discrimination.  Listening closely to her performances reveals those classical roots, blended with jazz, blues, and soul.  Her debut album "Little Girl Blue", released in 1959 on Bethlehem Records remains because a classic jazz recording, included her version of "I Loves You Porgy" (her only Billboard Top 20 hit in the U.S.)

In the 1960s, Simone used her music to address the racism in the United States.  She had left her American record label and signed with a Dutch label, Philips Records.  It was Philips who recorded and released her scathing "Mississippi Goddam" on the 1964 album "Nina Simone In Concert."  The backlash included radio stations in the southern U.S. actually burning promotional copies of the record.  But, she was undeterred and continued to use her music and voice to denounce racial discrimination, performing and speaking at major civil rights events, including the Selma to Montgomery marches.  

Her voice was powerful, her piano style impeccable, and presence undeniable.  Throughout her lifetime, she released over thirty albums, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and two days before her death, she was issued an Honorary Doctorate from the Curtis Institute of Music, the school that turned her away so many years before.