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Billy Eckstine
Billy Eckstine was not only the greatest jazz-crooning hit-maker of his era; he was also one of the first African American sex symbols and a bandleader who scouted Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Sarah Vaughan. We'll hear about his legacy and tragic story, the subject of a new book. And: Clarinetist David Krakauer and the Orion String Quartet perform a Hungarian-inspired work by the composer David Del Tredici.
Sixty Years Before Obama...There Was Mr. B.
Once more popular than Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, singer Billy Eckstine stole the show with sex appeal, sophistication and black machismo - all in an era of segregation. Music critic David Hajdu joins us to share Eckstine's tragic story, which appears in his new book, Heroes and Villains: Essays ...
Picks of the Week
This week’s picks feature blues from 1920s America, from 21st century Mali ... and from the upcoming film Where the Wild Things Are. Read our full reviews here.
David Krakauer and the Orion String Quartet
American composer David Del Tredici won a Pulitzer in 1980 for his music inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In celebration of his 70th birthday last year, he composed the Hungarian-inspired "Magyar Madness." Clarinetist David Krakauer and the Orion String Quartet join us for a live performance of that piece.