KBEM

StationAccount image
Recognized as the Twin Cities’ public radio voice for jazz and education, KBEM is a program of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Approximately 150 students annually participate in KBEM’s hands-on educational program, which focuses on all aspects of broadcasting and production. Students who develop their skills and select broadcasting experience can gain significant on-air time. The station is on-air 24/7 with 35 hours of student programming each week, with live professional announcers and pre-recorded, syndicated programming filling out the rest of the schedule. KBEM is the only station in the Twin Cities market which offers a jazz format and officially provides MN-DOT traffic reports.

KBEM was initially established at Minneapolis Vocational High School in the 1960s. The station was moved to North High School in 1983 as a part of the District’s desegregation initiative and it continues to reside there today. The vast majority of KBEM students attend North High School.

Series

Series image
20 Pieces

Joan Griffith, Twin Cities musician and educator, has conversations with prominent Minnesota jazz musicians.

  • From: KBEM
  • Updated: May 25, 2016
Caption: Joan Griffith, Credit: Ann Marsen
20 Pieces

Joan Griffith, Twin Cities guitar player and educator, interviews Minnesota jazz artists.

  • From: KBEM
  • Updated: May 27, 2016
Series image
13 Pieces

Minneapolis Public School teachers talk with Kevin O'Connor about their accomplishments.

  • From: KBEM
  • Updated: Jul 14, 2011
Caption: Leigh Kamman, Credit: Andrea Canter
57 Pieces

During his 60-plus years in jazz broadcasting, Leigh Kamman conducted hundreds of interviews with jazz artists, including many from the Minnesota scene. These are being preserved and edited by the Leigh Kamman Legacy Project and presented as The Jazz Image: Minnesota Edition, a continuation of the The Jazz Image: Special Edition series. These projects are part of the process of preserving and sharing the massive archive of historical recordings he left when he passed away in October 2014.

  • From: KBEM
  • Updated: Jun 29, 2020
Caption: Leigh Kamman, Credit: Andrea Canter
14 Pieces

Minnesota jazz broadcasting legend Leigh Kamman conducted hundreds of interviews with jazz artists, including some of jazz's illustrious figures. Now, these treasures have been lovingly preserved and edited into a new series of broadcasts, The Jazz Image: Special Edition. These recordings preserve priceless conversation Leigh Kamman had with such luminaries as Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan and Stan Kenton. In his ninth decade, Kamman adds fresh commentary to round out these 5 minute broadcasts, 13 in all in this series.

  • From: KBEM
  • Updated: Jan 14, 2014
Caption: PRX default Series image
776 Pieces

5 to 8-minute, highly produced heads-ups highlighting great musical activities in the Twin Cities broadly conceived. The pieces feature the musicians, their music, club owners, fans, in short all of those responsible for creating musical experiences.

  • From: KBEM
  • Updated: Dec 10, 2019
Series image
0 Pieces

Viva City, Festival of the Arts, was initiated thirteen years ago as a way to showcase arts education in Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS). In this pod cast, we feature the musical portion of Viva City from the Ted Mann Concert Hall at the University of Minneapolis.

  • From: KBEM
  • Updated: May 29, 2011
Series image
31 Pieces

Minneapolis High School Students comment on Minnesota Arts, Culture and History

  • From: KBEM
  • Updated: Aug 24, 2011

Latest Pieces

Caption: Riverside Jazz Quartet, Credit: Connor Hilstrom
The Riverside Quartet features original music. The drummer, Nicholas Peterson, leads the group, and composes a lot of the group’s repertoire. When ...

  • Added: Oct 19, 2023
  • Length: 08:00
Caption: jazz88 logo 2022, Credit: Tim Nyberg (Octane Creative)
Skarlett Woods, Brainerd singer-songwriter writes of intimacy as well as big societal issues. When she talked about her work with Phil Nusbaum, Ska...

  • Added: Oct 13, 2023
  • Length: 08:00
Caption: jazz88 logo 2022, Credit: Tim Nyberg (Octane Creative)
Skarlett Woods, Brainerd singer-songwriter celebrates her new CD, Letters To The West, next Saturday night at Ginkgo’s in Saint Paul. In her writin...

  • Added: Oct 13, 2023
  • Length: 08:00
Caption: Simple Gifts, Credit: Amy Courts
Billy McLaughlin and Simple Gifts celebrate songs of Neil Young, in Harvest at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis, 7PM on Sunday October 22. The sh...

  • Added: Oct 10, 2023
  • Length: 08:00
Caption: Raycurt Johnson, Credit: Rachel Luhrs Austin
When Raycurt a.k.a. Fiddla plays for brunch, he often calls it Bach for Breakfast. But it’s really a lot more than that. The music often reflects a...

  • Added: Oct 06, 2023
  • Length: 08:00
Caption: Raycurt Johnson, Credit: Rachel Luhrs Austin
When Raycurt a.k.a. Fiddla plays for brunch, he often calls it Bach for Breakfast. But it’s really a lot more than that, as at the Harriet Brasseri...

  • Added: Oct 06, 2023
  • Length: 08:00
Caption: Stablemates, Credit: Dik Hedlund
Stablemates is a Twin Cities Piano Trio with Dale Alexander on the piano, bassist Gary Raynor and drummer Jay Epstein. It has many decades of exper...

  • Added: Oct 05, 2023
  • Length: 08:00
Caption: Stablemates, Credit: Dik Hedlund
Stablemates is a Twin Cities Piano Trio. The group plays at the Metronome in Saint Paul, Thursday October 12 at 7:00 PM. When Phil Nusbaum met up w...

  • Added: Oct 05, 2023
  • Length: 08:00
Caption: Scott Keever, Credit: Ben Zvan
Scott Keever issues his second CD of original guitar music at Celtic Junction in Saint Paul Saturday night October 21. There will be an opening set...

  • Added: Sep 20, 2023
  • Length: 08:00
Caption: Tjårnblom, Credit: Erika Pirness
Tjärnblom celebrates its third CD, “Woods,” and a new member, cellist Erin Walsh, joining Val Eng on the harmonium, mandolinist Joe Alfano and nyck...

  • Added: Sep 17, 2023
  • Length: 08:00