wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

Like good fusion cuisine, the music of Chinese-born composer Ge Gan-ru mixes ancient Chinese and modern Western ingredients. He visits the studio today to share his story, which included consigned work in an agricultural labor camp, and later, studies at the Shanghai Conservatory and Columbia University. His latest CD is "Chinese Rhapsody." Also: author Julia Blackburn stops by to talk about her new biography of jazz legend Billie Holiday. Later, critic and lecturer Fred Plotkin shares his review of the French film "The Beat That My Heart Skipped," the story of a real estate thug who struggles to give up his shady lifestyle to become a concert pianist.