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Photo Credit: NYC Municipal Archives / Matthew Arnold

On the 85th anniversary of the launch of WNYC, David Garland hosts an evening that gives our live, web and radio audience a glimpse into the birth-year of our station, 1924. Combining music, film and chat, the evening explores iconic, epoch-defining pieces of music from 1924, including George Antheil's Ballet Mécanique, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Giacomo Puccini's Turandot, and Jelly Roll Morton's Big Foot Ham and Bucktown Blues. The featured artists, which include Marta Eggerth, Jason Moran and Alicia Hall Moran, Matt Marks, and Dave Burrell, share an evening that's grounded in the touchstones of the past but still bears the unmistakable imprint and flavors of the present.

Evening Music presents WNYC's 85th Anniversary LIVE from the Greene Space on July 8th at 7pm, on 93.9 FM and with streaming video of the entire concert at wnyc.org/thegreenespace.

Video from the event:

Marta Eggerth was born in 1912 in Budapest, showing at a young age her precocious talents that would turn into a long, prolific career as an actress and singer. Martha began by performing some of the most demanding coloratura repertoire by her teens, including the role of Adele in a 1929 production of Die Fledermaus, possibly the youngest singer ever to do so. While traveling across Europe and showing her comfort on stage, the film industry soon took notice of Marta in the 1930's, solidifying her international fame- Marta would go on to make 40 films in four different languages (English, German, French and Italian), while continuing to perform operetta, lieder and film songs. In 1936 Marta married a Polish tenor, Jan Kiepura and together they starred in films, opera, and Broadway productions, including a total of 200 performances worldwide of Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow. Marta continued to perform internationally and continues today to make public appearances at age 97.

Alicia Hall Moran, is a unique soprano whose voice flows seamlessly from opera, art song, cabaret and jazz. She shares a close creative partnership with her husband, Jason Moran ("the most provocative thinker in current jazz"—Rolling Stone Magazine). Together the two have collaborated on many projects and records. They will be returning to the Greene Space after their extraordinary performance on April 30th as part of the Opening Festival of WNYC's Greene Space.

Full audio:

Encore:

Describing himself as a "dull" child, Matt Marks has proven himself to be anything but since the french horn caught his interest in a middle school assembly in Downey, California. Now 29 years old, Matt has already studied at the Eastman School of Music, the Royal Academy of Music and is currently residing in New York City where he performs regularly with groups like Alarm Will Sound and composes his own electronic music. Matt also plays piano and even sang the title role in his recently composed "erotic post-Christian pop-opera" titled The Little Death Vol. 1, which had its premiere at The Tank in New York City in March 2009. Matt's introduction to his own blog, Matt Marks Music, describes his own taste and artistic views best: "Rants and musings on everything from radical politics, pop culture as seen from a contented apocalyptic viewpoint, to zany music from all genres".

Dave Burrell has established himself as an innovative pianist, composer and collaborator with leaders in contemporary jazz. Some of his own compositions include the jazz opera Windward Passages, dance drama Holy Smoke, and Syllables of the Poetry of Marianne Moore. Burrell's creative style recalls the tradition of Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson and Duke Ellington, as well as avant-garde composers Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane. Appearing on over 100 recordings, Burrell released a CD titled Jelly Roll's Joys in the 90's, and has continued to lecture and perform the music of Jelly Roll Morton.