The banjo player and singer Charlie Poole sold a half million records during the 1920s and embodied the spirit of the decade. Singer songwriter Loudon Wainwright III joins us to share his tribute to Poole. Later: In 1961, Latin jazz stars set traditional Jewish music to mambo beats. We hear the story of "Mazel Tov, Mis Amigos."
Guests:
Loudon Wainwright IIIThe Original Guitar Hero
Les Paul was a hit maker, a guitar innovator, a recording wizard and the only person to be inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Rolling Stone magazine contributor Alan Light joins us with an appreciation.
The Charlie Poole Project
During the 1920s, banjo player and bandleader Charlie Poole helped engineer the sound of country music. (He also did a little moonshining on the side.) Poole’s life is the subject of a new album by singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III. Wainwright and producer Dick Connette join us to talk about High, ...
Return of the Latin Lantzmen
On the 1961 album Mazel Tov, Mis Amigos, an all-star lineup of New York jazz musicians mashed up Jewish and Latin styles under the fake name Juan Calle & His Latin Lantzmen. Before a tribute concert this weekend at Lincoln Center, composer and pianist Arturo O’Farrill and music historian Roger ...