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Soundcheck

Monday, October 10, 2005
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  • Fred Hersch performing on WNYC's Steinway grand - photo by Christine Butler
    Fred Hersch performing on WNYC's Steinway Grand (Christine Butler)

    A Whitman Sampler

    Hem, the Brooklyn band whose sound is known as "countrypolitan" has released their 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. Also: jazz pianist Fred Hersch and vocalist Kate McGarry join us to perform music from their Walt Whitman tribute album, "Leaves of Grass." The CD is an orchestration of Whitman's 150-year-old masterpiece written for a 10-piece chamber jazz ensemble and vocalists. This is an encore edition of Soundcheck.

A-Hem

Brooklyn-based Hem - which will be on Lincoln Center's American Songbook series in February - performs its brand of new country.
» Hem's Web site

Pianist Fred Hersch and vocalist Kate McGarry

The duo performs music set to the words of Walt Whitman.
» Fred Hersch Interprets 'Leaves of Grass' on NPR

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."

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