Soundcheck Archive
April 2005
Suger-Coated Hits
Friday, April 29, 2005
In his book Vanilla Pop, Joseph Lanza attempts to rescue the whitest of the white music from the sneers and snickers of music critics and rock historians. He argues that vanilla, rather than being the absence of flavor, is a "unique, identifiable, and under-appreciated characteristic of pop music." Lanza joins us to reveal the studio tricks behind this music's extreme sweetness, and to touch on some of the genre's stars, from Frankie Avalon to ABBA. As it happens, the artists behind the sunny music weren't always so sunny themselves. Also, a talk with theater director Anne Bogart and actor Tom Nelis about "Score," a new one-man show at the New York Theater Workshop devoted to Leonard Bernstein.
Rhythm and Jews
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Klezmer meets hip-hop when clarinet virtuoso David Krakauer and his band Klezmer Madness joins forces with the young Jewish rapper So-Called. Today they preview material from their upcoming CD together, "Bubbmeises: Lies My Gramma Told Me," which is due out later this year. Krakauer is no stranger to unusual combinations, working with the likes of the Kronos Quartet, John Cage, and John Zorn, while the Canadian DJ has been merging his electronica skills with Klezmer music in his own works. Also on the show: German-born but a longtime New Yorker, the unorthodox vocalist Theo Bleckmann has made a career of singing everything from avant-garde downtown music to German cabaret standards. The Wire magazine wrote that "his dexterity makes him the thinking person's Bobby McFerrin." We get a taste of that today when he joins us with a live performance.
An Embarrassment of Richard
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
The Village Voice calls Richard Barone a "pop icon," having led the Bongos in 1980's, releasing a string of his own critically acclaimed albums, and performing unrelentingly across the New York area in all kinds of art-rock permutations. This Friday, Barone performs at Joe's Pub in a with a project called "The Littlest DJ," a retrospective on his career mixed with Barone's musings and music. He comes into Soundcheck to tell us about the mini-Bongo reunion, and about being a sixteen year old producing an album for Tiny Tim.
Scalpers are charging increasingly exorbitant prices for concert tickets these days, and are using new technology to stay ahead of the regular fan. In advance of the summer mega-tour season, Rolling Stone Business writer Steve Knopper looks at how much is one ticket truly worth. We'll also take your calls.
Country Music Maverick
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Maverick entrepreneur, madcap jester of the country music industry, songwriter and producer Jack Clement has produced hits by everyone from Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, to Louis Armstrong and U2. He'll perform live in the studio today. He'll be joined by one of the documentary filmmakers whose film "Shakespeare was a Big George Jones Fan: "Cowboy" Jack Clement's Home Movies" is being screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.
And what can we expect from the German Pope in terms of musical policy? John Paul II was known as an ally of pop culture, quoting Bob Dylan, appearing beside Bono, and entertaining break dancers at the Vatican. Benedict XVI is not so much a fan of pop musicjudging by his past comments on the matterbut he is a classical pianist with a knack for Beethoven. Joining us today to look at the history of music and the Pope is New Yorker music critic Alex Ross and author Will Berger.
Jam On
Monday, April 25, 2005
The Jammy Awards are tomorrow night and rock critic Anthony DeCurtis will be by to walk us through a night that is exclusively devoted to musical guests playing together, in combinations defy that categories and demographics. From Phil Lesh to Ryan Adams to Burning Spear, the Jammys has something for everyone with an open mind and a hungry ear. And we’ll have a live performance by the band La Rubias Del Norte. Las Rubias del Norte (the Blondes of the North) are a group of musicians from the U.S., France and Colombia, who perform the music of, among many others, Guillermo Portabales of Cuba, Simon Diaz of Venezuela and W.A. Mozart of Austria. The Rubias play popular Latin music such as boleros, cha cha cha and cumbias, as well as lieder and cowboy songs -managing to make it all sound like it belongs on Cuban radio.
Running with the Devil
Friday, April 22, 2005
The legend of "Faust" has inspired art, literature and music from Goethe's play to the Al Pacino film "Devil's Advocate" to "Damn Yankees" and not least, Gounod's opera "Faust." The opera opened last night at the Metropolitan Opera and starred French-Sicilian tenor Roberto Alagna, one of the finest voices of our time. Today, Alagna visits to explain the challenges of the title role, and discuss his remarkable career. Also: a nod to William Shakespeare, who celebrates the anniversary of his birthday tomorrow. Paul Griffiths, a freelance music writer and poet, has composed a new work setting Ophelia's speech to music for cello. He joins us to talk about re-writing the Bard.
Born Under a Band's Sign
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Today on the show we welcome guest Ian Van Tuyl, author of the book Popstrology: The Art and Science of Reading the Pop Stars. Do you think you know what star you were born under? Think again! Van Tuyl has created a new method of self-discovery: examining not the stars in the sky, but the pop stars on the charts. Do you think Popstrology is clever? Do you think it's crazy? Let us know as we take listener calls.
On the Download
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Recently, file-sharing company Grokster and the recording industry squared off before the Supreme Court over online music sharing. Today, Mark Coleman, author of Playback: From the Victrola to the MP3, 100 Years of Music, Machines, and Money, discusses how such battles are nothing new, and technology has influenced music for more than a century. Also: Zimbabwean musician Thomas Mapfumo is embracing downloading with his new release, "Rise Up," which is available as a digital download from CalabashMusic.com, a Web site dedicated to world music. CalabashMusic.com founder Brad Powell gives us the scoop. Lastly: raised by Jehovah's Witness parents in locales as disparate as Toronto and Trinidad, rapper/producer/preacher Kheaven Brereton, aka K-Os (pronounced: chaos), proved that being preachy didn't have to mean being boring. He swept this year's Juno awards - the Canadian Grammy's - and he joins us today.
Copy Rights and Wrongs
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
New York's highest court recently ruled that old recordings could be reissued only by their original label. It sounds innocuous enough, but it could have major repercussions for the recording industry, and for fans of everything from Bach to the Beatles. Joining us to explain what it means are British cultural critic Norman Lebrecht, and Richard Lyttelton, president of EMI Classics. Also: British Reggae poet/rapper/activist Linton Kwesi Johnson stops by to share his politically charged music which takes on racism and other social ills.
The Art of the Song
Monday, April 18, 2005
The Bobs have been billed as "the only New Wave a cappella group in history." Their comicand slightly bizarrevocal arrangements have eroded the foundations of pop music for more than 20 years. The group was nominated for a Grammy in 1984 for their arrangement of "Helter Skelter," which remains one of the weirdest Beatles covers to date. Since then, the group has performed with dance troupes and arranged classics ranging from Duke Ellington’s "Caravan" to Jimi Hendrix’s "Purple Haze." They’ll perform live in the Soundcheck studio in advance of their appearance at Joe’s Pub on Saturday, April 22.
Also, New Orleans trumpeter Irvin Mayfield joins us today. Mayfield is a former child prodigy and the founder of Latin jazz group Los Hombres Calientes. His latest CD, Strange Fruit, chronicles an interracial love triangle in Louisiana during the 1920s. Mayfield is joined by the 17-piece New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and the 80-member Dillard University Choir. The narrative is read by actor Wendell Pierce of HBO’s The Wire. Strange Fruit will be performed at Lincoln Center April 14-16.
Words to Play By...
Friday, April 15, 2005
Today on the show, Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang, two members of the influential 1980s Boston trio Galaxie 500, went out on their own in the early 1990s, producing their distinctive subtle and dreamy albums. In the five years since Damon & Naomi’s last studio album, the duo have been busy. They’ve started the imprint label 20/20/20 and published experimental literature classics through their book publishing company Exact Change. Their fifth studio album The Earth is Blue was released in February. They'll perform live in our studio today. Also, April is national jazz and poetry month. Flushing Town Hall is celebrating with a three-day festival called "Other Words, Other Worlds." We’ll be joined by pianist Matthew Shipp with poet Steve Dalachinsky, and Bowery Poetry Club owner Bob Holman.
America, We Sing of Thee!
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Hem, the critically acclaimed Brooklyn band whose sound is known as "countrypolitan" has released a second album, Eveningland, featuring not only the regular eight-piece unit, but also the Slovak Radio Orchestra. The combination added a more lush and complex element than the group had realized when they set themselves to recording an old fashioned album: no samples, no fancy protools edits. They'll join us to discuss their sound, and this record in advance of their Saturday night show at Southpaw.
And we welcome jazz pianist Fred Hersch and vocalist Kate McGarry to our studios for a celebration of Walt Whitman. Their live in-studio performance will draw from Hersch’s Palmetto Records release, "Leaves of Grass," an orchestration of Whitman’s 150-year-old masterpiece written for a 10-piece chamber jazz ensemble and vocalists.
Finding an Audience...finally
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
In early 2002 and 2003, singer Fiona Apple recorded what COULD have been her third album…if Sony Music’s Epic Records had decided to release it. Somehow, the recording reached the Internet, where as many as 50,000 fans a day are downloading it, all without Sony’s official permission. We talk to Genetta Adams, assistant managing editor at Newsday, and Dave Muscato, found of a fan site, FreeFiona.com, that’s dedicated to persuading Sony to release the disk.
Fiona Apple may be finding her fans on the Internet, but back in the 19th Century, painter Vincent van Gogh’s works didn’t reach his audience until his letters were published posthumously. Composer Michael Gordon joins John to talk about his new chamber opera, “Van Gogh,” which chronicles the painter’s attempts to find solace in art and in spirituality.
Eat, Drink and Be Merry
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Composer Alvin Singleton joins host John Schaefer to talk about his remarkable career. Born in Brooklyn, Singleton attended NYU and Yale, received a Fulbright Scholarship and worked in Europe for more than a decade before making his home in Atlanta, GA. Throughout his career, Singleton has used music to address important social and political events, including the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles. His new piece, "Say You Have This Ball of Meaning," with words by poet Patricia Hampl, receives its premiere this week at Merkin Concert Hall. Steven Isserlis is one of the leading internationally ranked cellists. He is the grandson of Russian composer and pianist Julius Isserlis and can trace his family tree back to connections with both Karl Marx and Felix Mendelssohn. He joins us as well.
Unlikely Inspirations
Monday, April 11, 2005
The noted American painter Simon Dinnerstein’s paintings are "fantastically evocative...casting ordinary subjects in an extraordinary light." So wrote the composer Gabriela Lena Frank, who transformed some of his paintings into musical compositions, and has enlisted the Chiara Quartet and pianist Simone Dinnerstein, Simon’s daughter, to perform her work. They'll perform for us today, live in the studio. And then, M. Ward is a 31-year-old singer and songwriter who has been playing to rave reviews around the country. His newest record, Transistor Radio, conjures up the music of years past, but his talent is as fresh as the 21st century. He'll perform live as well.
» View slideshow of artwork by Simon Dinnerstein
» Ghosts in the Dream Machine (PDF)
From Cover Bands to Cool-Headed Pianists
Friday, April 08, 2005
Today we're joined by Joe McGinty, co-founder of the Loser's Lounge, a constantly-morphing collective of New York musicians. Their trademark? Tribute shows to their favorite pop artists of the '60s and '70s. This Saturday, they’re resurrecting their hit show, No Time for Losers: A Tribute to Queen. Also: today's concert pianists come in two flavors, says Anthony Tommasini, chief classical music critic of the New York Times: those with a "cool," unsentimental stance, epitomized in the Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, and those with a "hot" Romantic temperament, like young Chinese superstar Lang Lang. Which players are wooing audiences? Take a wild guess. Tommasini joins us today to look at the young lions of the keyboard, and also discuss how the phenomenon of piano competitions have shaped the current crop of artists.
Is American Idol Killing Broadway?
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Today on Soundcheck, New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley joins us to discuss the hit reality series American Idol and its effect on our beloved Broadway musicals. In his article featured on the front page of the Sunday New York Times' Arts & Leisure section, Brantley muses on the qualities that American Idol encourages in its singers – namely, loudness and vocal acrobatics – and how this is echoed in many new Broadway musicals like Brooklyn the Musical, or Rent and Bombay Dreams, both of which now feature American Idol veterans. And the 92nd Street Y is presenting the world premiere of a new dramatic work based on Eudora Welty’s short story "Music from Spain." We'll have a live performance here in the studio.
Musical Outsourcing?
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Job outsourcing is certainly fodder for politicians during election seasons. But what does outsourcing have to do with art? Recently, French officials arrested members of the Bulgarian Orchestra for illegally "importing" eastern musicians. Today on the program, we speak with Peter Grant, author of Blockbusters and Trade Wars and Brian Carney, editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe, about the implications of cultural protectionism. We're also joined by the songstress, Nora York. Her new album is just out and she and her band will perform live in the studio. Her band includes: Steve Tarshis, guitars Dave Hofstra, bass Jamie Lawrence, piano, synthesizers Peter Grant, drums Sheryll Marshall, second voice Claire Daly, sax
Birds of A Feather
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
The son of Sam said was convinced to kill by a neighbor’s talking dog. Thankfully, collaborating with animals has sometimes led to happier results. Exposure to the musical languages of birds convinced jazz composer David Rothenberg to author a new book and recording, Why Birds Sing: A Journey into the Mystery of Bird Song. Rothenberg traveled the globe, spending years playing against the sounds of bird songs, and marveling at their interactive abilities. He joins us today on the show. Also on the program, the Guarneri String Quartet has entered its fourth decade as a much heralded classical quartet. They are in New York for a series of events to mark their milestone. The Guarneri’s Arnold Steinhardt and Peter Wiley will be in to explain how the quartet has lasted longer than most marriages, and what one can expect at instrumental anniversary parties.
We're Jammin'
Monday, April 04, 2005
Today, music that resists categorization. Québécoise singing cellist Jorane has crafted a style that's dreamlike and ethereal, drawing freely upon alternative rock, folk, classical, and ambient music idioms. She's elicited comparisons with such distinctive artists as Kate Bush, Bjork, Tori Amos, and Loreena McKennitt, but has a sound that's all her own. She visits on the heels of her new CD "The You and the Now." Also: Not all jam bands sound like Dave Matthews or Phish. Take the duo of organist Marco Benevento and drummer Joe Russo. Benevento is a master of the Hammond B-3 organ, and with Russo, they perform free-form instrumental versions of standards by the likes of Paul Simon, Thelonius Monk and others. They offer a live performance.
Born Under a Band's Sign
Friday, April 01, 2005
Today on the show we welcome guest Ian Van Tuyl, author of the book Popstrology: The Art and Science of Reading the Pop Stars. Do you think you know what star you were born under? Think again! Van Tuyl has created a new method of self-discovery: examining not the stars in the sky, but the pop stars on the charts. Do you think Popstrology is clever? Do you think it's crazy? Let us know as we take listener calls.
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