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Tuesday, January 22, 2008
  • Mozart picture

    Classical Music's Perfect Pitch

    Classical music was once used by advertisers to convey elegance and luxury. Increasingly, it signals humor and fun. Today, a look at how advertisers use Mozart to sell sneakers and Verdi to hawk televisions. Our guests include Karl Jenkins, a composer whose works span both the concert stage and ads for companies like Delta and Debeers. Also: Jazz bassist Ben Allison and the members of his quintet, Man-Size Safe, perform live in our studio.

Classical music: the new jingle?

Classical music can exist and even thrive outside the concert hall. In advertising, for instance, it's increasingly commonplace. Today, Karl Jenkins, a composer whose music has been featured famously in ads for Debeers and Delta Airlines, joins us to explain the genre's appeal to marketers.

Karl Jenkins's Web site
Video: Watch Lynx deodorant ad with Jenkins' "Dies Irae"

Ben Allison and Man Size Safe

Jazz bassist Ben Allison named his new quintet "man-size safe" after reading an article in the Washington Post about just such a piece of furniture that Dick Cheney keeps in his office, and whose contents were unknown to all but the vice-president himself. He joins us today with the members of Man-Size Safe, who perform live in the studio.

Ben Allison's web site

The Swell Season in The Greene Space

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Joshua Bell in The Greene Space

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