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Latest Episode / Sunday, May 19, 2013 Edit This

Poetry & Jazz

There was a particular renaissance back in the 1950s and '60s, bringing together poetry and jazz. Some of those vintage experiments surely laid the groundwork for the poetry slams and rap of today. David Garland presents some classic poetry and jazz recordings, including the voices of Jack Kerouac and Langston Hughes, along with music by Charles Mingus, Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, Allyn Ferguson, and others.

Mother & Son: Yoko Ono & Sean Lennon

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Yoko Ono and her son Sean Lennon join David Garland to present and talk about Yoko Ono's music. Yoko and Sean tell many interesting stories, speak intimately about the music, and reminisce about the events that inspired the compositions. Plus, see photos here. This show first aired May 13, 2012.

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The Pleasures of Playing With Proportion

Sunday, May 05, 2013

Proportion is a key aspect to any work of art. An artist has to choose elements, tools, language, or components carefully--and some artists get lost in those details--but proportion addresses how those elements relate and balance. David Garland presents two new musical projects that display particular interest in the pleasures of playing with proportion: the albums "The Weighing of the Heart" by Colleen, and "The Adorables" by Zeena Parkins, Shayna Dunkelman, and Preshish Moments.

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The Gregarious Guitars of Don Bikoff

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Guitarist/composer Don Bikoff's album "Celestial Explosion" was released in 1968. The album featured acoustic guitar gently altered with studio effects, and an Eastern-influenced take on the bluesy finger-picking of Mississippi John Hurt and American Primitivism of John Fahey. Bikoff has continued to play and compose, and to accumulate experience with a sense of adventure and joy. He joins David Garland in the WNYC Studio to reminisce, laugh, and play us some guitar.

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John Simon, Songwriter, and Producer of Landmark Albums of the '60s

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Back in 1996 David Garland welcomed John Simon to the WNYC Studio to perform and to talk about Simon's music and career. Here are highlights from that session, featuring John Simon's solo renditions of several of his songs, music from some of the albums he produced for Leonard Cohen, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Band, and more.

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Pianissimo 2

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Piano music can have a very personal touch. The piano allows a composer or performer to all alone manifest a full vision of what their music can be. David Garland presents another hour of lyrical, soulful, playful piano music, featuring recordings by Chilly Gonzales, Duke Ellington, and others.

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Stories With and Without Language: The Musical Adventures of Iva Bittová

Sunday, April 07, 2013

Iva Bittová is a storyteller who rarely uses actual language to convey the emotions of her stories. Singing wordlessly, or using an implied language of her own, she creates intimate, engrossing narratives. David Garland welcomes Iva Bittová to the WNYC Studio to perform and talk about her music. She sings and plays violin simultaneously, sings some songs for voice alone, and with kalimba, drawing chiefly from material on her new ECM album, "Iva Bittová." Plus she tells of living in rural upstate New York, and being a film star in the Czech Republic.

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Spinning on Air: Spring Power!

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Music with rhythmic and melodic power; music for bursting forth after a long, snowy winter. David Garland presents music from warm places like Brazil, New Orleans, India, and...Brooklyn; music vibrating with a pulse that comes from Africa.

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Mother & Son: Molly & Nick Drake

Sunday, March 24, 2013

The powerful, delicate music of English songwriter Nick Drake was underappreciated during his brief lifetime. But since Drake's death at age 26 in 1974, his recordings have gradually reached more and more listeners. It hasn't been entirely clear just from where he evolved his distinctive musical style. Now a brand new album gives David Garland the opportunity to show that the songwriter who had the greatest influence on Nick Drake was his mother, Molly Drake.

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Spinning on Air: Engulfed in Cello with Julia Kent

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Climb into the cello. Make yourself comfortable. Feel the vibrations engulf you as the instrument is played. Your entire world resonates.

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Tyondai Braxton Brings His Multimedia "HIVE" to The Guggenheim

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Composer Tyondai Braxton writes angular, energized music, teeming with ideas and sounds. He's developing a new multimedia piece, HIVE, which he'll premier at The Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan on March 21st. Braxton joins David Garland to share his thoughts behind his music, and Hive in particular.

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