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January 2005

Disco: 70s Excess or Cultural Treasure?

Monday, January 31, 2005

Barbara Streisand once penned a letter to disco DJ Nicky Siano. Thankful fans and historians alike will have the chance to gaze upon this and many other disco artifacts at the New York Public Library in this spring’s Experience Music Project exhibit, Disco: A Decade of Saturday Nights. To explain all things disco, ranging from Ethel Merman’s brief disco stint, to the street origins of a dance music embraced by even haughtiest of partiers, we’ll be joined by Eric Weibard, a curator from the Seattle-based, Experience Music Project and and Vince Aletti, a writer at the Village Voice and the self-proclaimed first-ever disco critic. Also on the show: Longtime New York Times arts writer John Rockwell is preparing to take on a new position as the Grey Lady's chief dance critic, and he's already unsettling the dance world.


Brothels, Bhutan and the Big Screen

Friday, January 28, 2005

Khyentse Norbu is the reincarnation of a Buddhist Lhama and acclaimed filmmaker. His latest work, "Travellers and Magicians," will be opening at Quad Cinema, today. He'll be in to talk about the music and the magic of Bhutan. And the composer John McDowell has travelled the world in search of new, global rhythms. Working with artists as diverse as Sting, Carlos Santana, Krishna Das, and the platinum-selling band, Rusted Root, his newest projects are fueled by his passion for community, ritual, and world music. He'll be in to talk about his work, and about the score he composed for this year's Academy Award nominated Documentary, "Born Into Brothels."


Fiery Conduct

Thursday, January 27, 2005

In the 1960s, radical composer and conductor Pierre Boulez declared that opera houses should be blown up. He's since gone on to conduct mainstream symphony orchestras, including, this weekend at Carnegie Hall, the London Symphony Orchestra. Today, he discusses his transition from fiery iconoclast to mainstream maestro. Also joining us is Clive Gillinson, managing director of the LSO, and — as of this July — the new executive and artistic director of Carnegie Hall. Under Gillinson's leadership, the LSO has taken on annual tours to New York, established its own recording label, and recently, overseen the construction of the impressive and expensive education and performance center.


Concept Albums Make a Comeback

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

The concept album became popular in the 1970s with records like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and The Who's Tommy. The format, long passe, is making a surprising comeback through today's pop musicians including Green Day's hit album American Idiot. Today, Anthony DeCurtis, contributing editor to Rolling Stone magazine and executive editor of Tracks magazine discusses how the genre has stubbornly refused to disappear. Also: How loud is too loud? This question has come up not only among rock musicians but also orchestra members lately. Today we look at the issue with Colin Paris, a bass player in the London Symphony Orchestra and a member of the orchestra's "noise team," and with Marshall Chasin, an audiologist at the Musicians' Clinics of Canada.


Furtwängler: Hero or Villain?

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Fifty years after his death, the great German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler remains one of the most controversial political figures in all of musical history. Having lived and worked in Germany throughout the Nazi regime, he was forced to conduct for Hitler and his henchmen. But how complicit was he really? Did Furtwängler see himself as the guardian of German culture during a troubled time, or was his role more sinister? And how much can we reasonably expect or demand of an individual in opposing that tyranny? Daniel Barenboim, music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and an advocate of Furtwängler’s music in recent years joins us along with Sam H. Shirakawa, Furtwängler’s biographer. We'll also be taking your calls.


Four Hands, Two Probing Minds

Monday, January 24, 2005

Jazz pianist Jason Moran has become the prolific young face of jazz piano in recent years. After forging his name in saxophonist Greg Osby’s group, Moran broke out with his Blue Note debut in 1999, and has subsequently released a series of critically acclaimed albums. In between magazine shoots and tour stops, Jamo, as some in his audience call him, appears on the show today to discuss his upcoming Blue Note release, Same Mother, and his string of shows this month at the Jazz Standard. And also joining us is Vijay Iyer, an exciting contemporary pianist and Savoy Jazz recording artist, who has teamed up with the string quartet Ethel for an unsual cross-genre collaboration.


Renegades in the Opera House

Friday, January 21, 2005

Guitar Player magazine believes guitarist and composer John King, "kicks post-Hendrix art-funk butt," and he joins us today to do more kicking. The former musical curator for The Kitchen, recipient of numerous grants and awards, and downtown music scene dignitary, King comes to speak about his new experimental opera La Belle Captive, a piece detailing the sometimes blurred line between captive and captor. And opening Lincoln Center’s "New Visions" series is "The Renaissance Muse," a musical theater production combining English Renaissance musical styles, and the writings of Campion and Shakespeare, among others. Director Mark Lamos and renown countertenor Andreas Scholl both speak about the roles in the project.


Rap Sheets

Thursday, January 20, 2005

It's been 30 years since hip-hop was born on the poverty-stricken streets of the South Bronx. So how did it become the economic powerhouse it is today? We take a look at the state of the genre with New York Times music critic Kelefa Sanneh. Also, journalist and author Anthony Bozza visits to discuss Whatever You Say I Am, his recent biography of the controversial and often reviled rapper Eminem. He'll address the question, "Did Eminem change or did america finally figure him out?"


Musical Mirth Making

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

The virtuosic slapstick duo known as Polygraph Lounge blend their talents to form a relentless and hyperactive comedic and aural spectacle. With an upcoming gig at Joe’s Pub, they visit Soundcheck today to explain themselves. And Executive Director of Columbia University’s Miller Theater, George Steel, stops by to introduce us to the rich—and dare we say, sexy—choral works of 16th century composer Thomas Tallis, who would have turned 500 this year. Under Steel’s leadership, the Miller Theater has evolved into one of the most bracing venues for contemporary classical music in the city, but not to be overlooked is its championing of early music.


Spirits of a Generation

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Bohemian poet, artist and visionary, musician Syd Barrett joined the band Pink Floyd in 1965. His story is captured in a new documentary that tells of his dramatic rise to fame and his premature departure in a haze of drugs and psychological trouble. Host John Schaefer speaks with the director and producer of the documentary, John Edginton. He'll also speak with Patrick Humphries, biographer of the British songwriter Nick Drake, who died in 1974 at the age of 26 from an "accidental overdose" of anti-depressants. Drake released only three albums during his lifetime, rarely performed live and gave only one official interview, but his work spawned a following on all sides of the Atlantic.


The Preacher's Cadence

Monday, January 17, 2005

The landmark speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. have inspired countless musical tributes, including songs that capture the rhythm of his speech. Hear some examples today on Soundcheck, when host John Schaefer talks with poet and musician Carl Hancock Rux and takes calls from our listeners. Also on the show, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields joins us to share her reminiscences of the Civil Rights movement. She’ll play some songs by Nina Simone, a singer whose music evokes that time in Fields’ life, marching with Dr. King.


The Age of the "McMusical"

Friday, January 14, 2005

In his new book, "The Rise and Fall of the Broadway Musical," writer Mark Grant discusses how the Broadway musical was once on the cutting edge of popular culture and why it no longer has that vigor and spirit. The book looks at the history of the musical, and offers some opinionated analysis on how the health of the form can be restored. Grant joins us today as we take your calls on the state of the musical. Also: "Jerry Springer: The Opera" stirred up quite a controversy in Great Britain this week after a religious group accused the BBC of blasphemy, following the corporation's decision to televise it on BBC2. Will New Yorkers get a chance to see the musical any time soon? Joining with some insight us is British cultural critic Norman Lebrecht.


From Albania to Avery Fisher

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Vocalist Merita Halili has made herself a star in her native Albania, drawing on modal systems used by the Ottoman Turks, and revisting Albania's urban folk music. With a soprano described by the New York Times as "radiant," and an accordion virtuoso husband whose skills the Times called "speed-demon," Halili joins Soundcheck to discuss her show this week at the Symphony Space. Also on the show: Glenn Dicterow, concertmaster for the New York Philharmonic, where next week he gives the premiere of Aaron J. Kernis's Lament and Prayer, a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. Not only is Mr. Dicterow’s virtuosity evidenced by his dual roles as leader and performer, but these performances will mark his 25th anniversary as concertmaster.


iPods: Death of the Concert Hall?

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Look around on the subway, and you'll see New Yorkers all around you adrift, "suspended in a clear musical fluid" the Newsday music writer Justin Davidson recently termed, "iPodspace." With musical technology we not only have access to immediate variety, but we can create music to be transported and transplanted anywhere: from the car to the treadmill, or to the largest of football stadiums. So, does where and when you listen to music effect how you listen? Justin Davidson believes they do, and he'll tell us why. Also on Soundcheck today, one of New York City’s best-kept secrets: singer/songwriter Heather Greene. A regular performer at venues all over the city, Heather has just released a new album, Five Dollar Dress, which features musicians Bill Frisell and Steven Barber, among others. Get a taste of her style when Heather performs live in our studio.


They’ll Always Have Paris

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Although things French seem to have fallen out of favor with Americans in recent years, there are exceptions, like the movie "The Triplets of Belleville." In keeping with the film’s popular Gypsy Jazz and Chanson styles, a French-based group, the Paris Combo, hopes to be such an exception. While much has been written comparing the Combo’s singer Belle du Berry’s to Edith Piaf and its guitarist Potzi to Django Reinhardt, the group also embraces Flamenco, Rumba, and North African styles, as well as opting for the occasional hip hop beat. They join us today to discuss their new album Motifs and their current US run. Also, the many flavored multimedia and minimalist composer Eve Beglarian will be here to explain the upcoming performance of her work Flamingo, which incorporates three separately spaced bands and pitched Flamingo honks, and to touch on a new work called Creating the World.


Maestros with a Message

Monday, January 10, 2005

The New Jersey Symphony has long been overshadowed by New York City and its cultural assets but these days it can’t avoid of the public spotlight. Last year, the orchestra acquired some 30 rare string instruments which later became the source of a major financial scandal. It also hired a new music director in the Estonian-born Neeme Jarvi. Today, Jarvi joins us along with NJSO president and CEO Simon Woods to shed some light on the orchestra’s recent troubles, its future plans, and current activities, which include a three-week festival devoted to Scandinavian music. Also on the show is Hollywood Bowl Music Director John Mauceri. He’s been a major advocate for film score composers, as he’ll demonstrate in an upcoming appearance with the Brooklyn Philharmonic that will features music by Bernard Hermann (“Psycho”) Gershwin (“Shall We Dance”) and others. He tells us why “movie music” needn’t be a pejorative term.


Artistic Highlights of 2004

Friday, January 07, 2005

Rounding out Soundcheck’s week-long traversal of the musical highs and lows of 2004, music and drama critic Terry Teachout joins us to discuss some of his artistic highlights of 2004. From Diana Krall’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Black Crow”, to the reopening of the MoMA, to some of the New York Philharmonic’s most successful performances, Teachout and host John Schaefer will cover the year’s best. We also ask our listeners for their highlights. You can call in during the show or e-mail us at: soundcheck@wnyc.org.


The Year 2004 in Pop and World Music

Thursday, January 06, 2005

The year 2004 in pop music brought equal parts protesting and dancing. Today, New York Times critic Kelefa Sanneh weighs in on a year that saw noteworthy comebacks (from U2 to Eminem) and blockbuster breakouts (Kanye West). As Sanneh recently wrote of the rapper-producer, “[West] chuckles at his own endless supply of shameless jokes. There's only one sensible response: Join him." Also on the show: Billboard columnist Anastasia Tsioulcas weighs in on the year’s highlights in World Music.


The Year 2004 in Jazz, Poetry & Spoken Word

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

The jazz world experienced many highs and lows in 2004. The biggest news was the long-awaited opening of Jazz at Lincoln Center's new $128 million complex on Columbus Circle. The most ambitious and expensive jazz venue in history, it opened in October to rave reviews. But not all the best music happened in big halls or on big labels. Artists like trumpeter Don Byron and pianist Vijay Iyer were busy pushing the art form's boundaries. Joining us today with a look back at the year in jazz is Gene Santoro, critic and author of Highway 61 revisited: The Tangled Roots of American Jazz, Roots, Rock and Country Music. Also on the show: Bob Holman, WNYC poet in residence and proprietor of the performance space Bowery Poetry Club. He joins us here to offer a roundup of the best in spoken word and poetry from this past year, from Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, to late greats Allen Ginsburg and Lenny Bruce.


The Year in Pop Music and Film

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Thanks to a highly polarizing election season, 2004 became the year when musicians entered the political fray. Through major tours ("Vote for Change") and new songs, artists lined up to rally against George W. Bush. But that wasn't the only story of the year. Rappers and rockers turned to electro and new wave; country stars drew on hip-hop. Today on Soundcheck, New York Times pop music critic Jon Pareles offers his highlights of the year. 2004 was also a year when music went to the movies, with bio-pics about Ray Charles, Cole Porter, and Bobby Darin. Newsday film critic Gene Seymour offers a look back at music and film.


A Musical Year in Review

Monday, January 03, 2005

We begin the start of a week devoted to looking back at '04. Anthony Tommasini, the chief classical music critic of The New York Times joins us on the program. And Allan Kozinn also of The New York Times will cast his gaze over the year as well.