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Soundcheck

Tuesday, January 22, 2008
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  • 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

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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