wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

On Demand

Program Schedule

Topics


Soundcheck

Friday, July 30, 2004
Previous Episode | Next Episode
  • Willie "The Lion" Smith - www.redhotjazz.com
    Willie "The Lion" Smith (redhotjazz.com)

    Taking it in Stride

    Only a handful of contemporary jazz pianists can play Harlem Stride, the sound of Fats Waller, James P. Johnson and Willie “the Lion” Smith. Very few of them play Stride on a regular basis. Pianists Mike Lipskin and Terry Waldo are two of today’s better known practitioners, and they join us today to discuss a new one hour film documentary about Willie “the Lion” Smith. Also: New Yorker business writer James Suroweicki stops by to discuss the time-honored—and dishonored—practice of payola in the radio business. Payola became a household word in the fifties, when a host of DJs were found to be playing songs in exchange for favors and money. Today there are other tactics record companies get their songs on the air, including subsidies, gifts, “research funds” and “spot buys.”

Additional Resources:
» Willie “the Lion” Smith biography
» James Suroweicki on Paying to Play

Irma Thomas

Irma Thomas

Soundcheck

August 22, 2008
New Orleans singer Irma Thomas has survived 50 years in the music business - and at least two hurricanes. She joins us to talk about her record, Simply Grand.

Bon Iver

Soundcheck

July 30, 2008
Singer-songwriter Justin Vernon spent a winter holed up in his father's hunting cabin in remote Wisconsin, recording songs about solitude that would be released under the name Bon Iver. He joins us to play some of them live.

Billboard Chart

Who's On Top and Who Should Be?

Soundcheck

August 14, 2008
Soundcheck looks at the artists who are reigning atop the Billboard albums chart -- and what their rankings tell us about the state of pop music.

Janelle Monae

The Next Big Things

Soundcheck

Paste magazine editor-in-chief Josh Jackson joins us to talk about Johnny Flynn, Janelle Monae, Bon Iver, Amy MacDonald and other must-hear artists who made Paste’s list of "The Best of What’s Next: 26 Emerging Artists You Should Know."

  1. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Republican National Convention: Day 5 (09/05/2008)
  2. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Republican National Convention: Day 4 (09/04/2008)
  3. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Republican National Convention: Day 2 (09/02/2008)
  4. The Leonard Lopate Show: Young'Uns (09/03/2008)
  5. The Brian Lehrer Show: Live from the Republican National Convention: Day 3 (09/03/2008)
  6. The Leonard Lopate Show: Big Storm (09/04/2008)
  7. The Leonard Lopate Show: Jazz Can Change Your Life (09/02/2008)