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Rabble Without A Cause
Rabble Without A Cause is a program devoted to the Avantgarde side of Jazz.
Airs: Every Wednesday from 11:00 PM to 12:00 AM

Coming up at 11:00 PM on March 22nd, 2023:
Vibes player Walt Dickerson - a quartet from 1962 with Andrew Hill on piano, and a 1978 duo recording with guitarist Pierre Dorge. Bruce Walton hosts.

Rabble Without A Cause

Date Host Highlight On Demand
Mar. 15, 2023 not Imp-Yam Cataracts Shabaka Hutchings & The Ancestors LIVE
available
Mar. 8, 2023 Bruce Walton Ornette's birthday
available
Mar. 1, 2023 not Imp-Yam Cataracts Sonny Simmons & Robert Stewart Live in Los Angeles, 1999
available
Feb. 22, 2023 Bruce Walton Jimmy Giuffre in the 1960's
available
Feb. 8, 2023 Bruce Walton Bennu + Sonny Rollins live
available

Rabble Without a Cause features:

  • Avant-garde Jazz
  • Live performances of local and international Musicians
  • The analysis of new currents thoughout the history of Jazz
  • Rabble Without A Cause is a program devoted to the Avantgarde side of Jazz. It features Jazz Avantgarde music of all times. Forexample, Louis Armstrong was an avangarde artist when he first played West End Blues in 1921 !

    Duke Ellington, the most intensive innovator of Jazz History has been a perpetual avantgardist creating sound textures, styles that were constantly sounding new. Jazz Avantgarde has exploded since the early '60 when a score of very creative musicians from John Coltrane to Charles Mingus to Cecil Taylor to Anthony Braxton and to a lots of canadian musicians including Peggy Lee.

    RWAC features programs with biographical details of musicians, analysis, interviews and live on air performances of local musicians such as Billy Robinson, Kenji Omae, John Geggie, Rody Ellias, Steve Groves, Petr Cancura, GleBop, Anna Williams, Dan Friedman, Peter Turner, Linsey Wellman, Mike Essoudry and more to come!

     

    THE PASSING OF BERNARD STEPIEN OF CKCU’S RABBLE WITHOUT A CAUSE

    It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Bernard Stepien. Bernard was a long time fixture at the station and in the local jazz scene where he was known for his virtuosic saxophone playing. After taking on Rabble Without A Cause in the 90’s he became part of the Sweetman / Émond / Stepien axis of Jazz on CKCU, which reigned for decades. Beyond his life in music he was a researcher and software engineer at the University of Ottawa contributing to that body of knowledge with several publications.

    Local funeral services and commemorative jam sessions will be delayed until Ottawa is out of the COVID red-zone. At that time we’ll let everyone know how best to pay their respects. CKCU has been running a range of produced carts and best-of shows commemorating his work at the station over the next while, and will be making a gift to the family. He is survived by his son Thomas Stepien, who also broadcasted on CKCU as the well known DJ Teknobrat. Please keep his family in your thoughts.

    Here is a link to two programs that Ron Steeds produced to commemorate Bernard:
    https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/94/51383.html
    https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/95/51385.html

    Here is a link to an article by Peter Hum in the Ottawa Citizen:
    https://ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/jazzblog/remembering-ottawas-bernard-stepien-renaissance-man-computer-scientist-jazz-saxophonist-and-broadcaster

    Coming up on Rabble Without A Cause
    Mar. 29th, 2023 11:00 PM
    Sons of Kemet: Live at Big Ears Festival in March 2019