WCVE Public Radio

This week (9/4) on the World Music Show, I wanted to hit some areas of the globe that I haven’t been able to touch yet, due to many outside forces of nature—namely budget and time. But, as luck would have it or Karma or the good nature of some of my fine, upstanding listeners, I was able to get some new music from these regions.

So, on this week’s show, you’ll hear some great music from a singer/songwriter out of Russia named Yuri Shevchuk. He is best known for his grave but distinctive voice along with a wry sense of humor. Shevchuk recently got to play a set with the Irish Band U2 when they visited Russia. They sang the Bob Dylan song “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” He is also very famous for openly opposing pop music and he is often labeled with being the greatest song-writer in present-day Russia. Shevchuk also fronts a band called DDT, which has more of a Rock and Roll feel to it. I’ll play an acoustic live song, plus one from his band DDT.

DDT: Life’s in Place

Also, speaking of playing songs from faraway places that I haven’t played just yet, you’ll hear some Scottish music. But, don’t worry, the two songs I’m playing aren’t too heavy on the bagpipes (though there’s nothing wrong with bagpipes). In fact, one of the songs is a Scottish Calypso tune, so you’ll want to be sure to hear this.

Also, I’ll be playing some Vietnamese music by the band Blue Asia. So, for those of you who think I only stick to a few regions—which I know I tend to do, hopefully these new tunes will bring a smile to you face.

Blue Asia: Blue Requiem

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And, I’ll be playing some local World Music—Richmond style. The Happy Go Lucky Combo started out a street musicians here in Richmond and they even have a song called “World of Mirth.” A few of the combo members are also in the local band The Richmond Indigenous Gourd Orchestra.

Happy Lucky Combo: Peanuts and Popcorn

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To round out this week’s show, I’ll also throw in a couple of surprise songs by a band as well as by a singer/songwriter who you don’t normally associate with World Music. Who are they? Well, I like to have surprises, but let’s just say that if I went “Walking in your Footsteps,” while humming this a tune by a former Mop-top, you’d get the answer.

Happy listening, this Saturday at 1:00 PM on WCVE Public Radio. Also, you can follow my updates on Twitter, @wcveworldmusic.

Time. Its fascinating, intriguing and something from which we can’t escape. From the mystical book of Revelation where John saw the future in ever changing forms, to Kirk, Spock and McCoy jumping through the Guardian into the past, time has fueled our intellect and imaginations.

The most accessible time travel machine is Music. On this holiday weekend, I open my travel gates from 1982 to September 11th. I don’t like the term 9/11. The latter serves to trivialize what really happened. From my last Autumn in New York in ’82 to discovering a new way of life down here, music has always been my “constant companion” [as Paganini called his guitar – yes – not many know this about the violin virtuoso].

This week (9/4) on The Electric Croude, my sonic snapshots are shuffled – from Suzanne Vega waxing wistful with a memory zephyr whisking through NYC to travelogues of Bob Dylan and Steve Fisher/Matthew Costello – including one of the best unreleased songs of all time. Then, the memory cam jumps across the pond. How do Ralph McTell and Jethro Tull fit into my Labor Day game picture? Ah, but that would be telling. Eventually, the currents and eddies of time lead us to a lump in the throat, an instrumental painting  that Art Farmer called The Summer Knows.

One more time gate is opened – September 11th. Nine years ago I told listeners I would never let the event be forgotten. Bureaucracies in NYC already have as reported on CBS’ 60 Minutes. But that’s where Music comes in. Hard Times and Time are detailed by cowboy Don Edwards before an instrumental wormhole spun by Richard Thompson grants access to the literary garden of Richmond songwriter/poet Gerry Laverty. If you tune in, you’ll understand why the credo of ‘Cowboys Never Lie’ is true, at least those with white hats.

Gravity may pull you down, but time and music pull you through. I will warn you – its devastating to hear Twisted Gypsies/Blind Faith/and PJ Harvey touch the nerves of September 11th all in a timely fashion – devastating but cathartic and healing. The carefree aspects of Labor Day coupled with the reality of September 11th, time machines don’t necessarily discriminate.

The Electric Croude now in its silver anniversary year airs on WCVE Public Radio late Saturday at midnight EDT.

Follow the host on Twitter:  wcvegeorgemaida

From NPR’s Morning Edition – Alex Cohen may be a public radio reporter by day, but by night she goes by her roller derby name — Axles of Evil.

Cohen first fell in love with roller derby in Austin, Texas, several years ago, while reporting a story on the sport. Since then, she has skated as as “Smother Theresa” with the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls’ Holy Rollers in Austin and Axles of Evil with the L.A. Derby Dolls.

Cohen has joined forces with another L.A. Derby Doll, Jennifer “Kasey Bomber” Barbee, to write Down and Derby: The Insider’s Guide to Roller Derby.

Listen to the Story:

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From WCVE Public Radio’s John Ogle – An exhibit which opened recently (August 28, 2010) at The Virginia Historical Society provides a fascinating look at the state’s contributions to the rock music of the 1950s.

“Virginia Rocks! The History of Rockabilly in the Commonwealth” is a traveling exhibition organized by the Blue Ridge Institute & Museum of Ferrum College featuring more than sixty artists and bands.

From the Virginia Historical Society website – This exhibition includes both well-known and lesser-known Virginia artists who recorded 45 rpm rockabilly records performed on radio “dance party” television shows and played for thousands of teenagers in dance halls and school gyms in the 1950s and early 1960s. The exhibit explores the rise of rockabilly as a then-radical departure from established popular music and an early chapter in the phenomenon of youth rebellion, the place of rockabilly in the larger youth culture of the pre-Beatles era, and the demise of the genre in the early 1960s as the music and movie industries invested in the softer sound of “teen idols.” It includes photographs, rare recordings, stage costumes, a jukebox, and musical instruments. The music itself will be presented through audio recordings and rare video recordings.

From WCVE Public Radio’s Charles Fishburne – The University of Richmond opened the doors to its new Carole Weinstein International Center for the first time to students recently, even as one of its recent graduates in international studies was making headlines around the world for his humanitarian efforts to help victims of violence in the Congo.

Watch the Video Report:

“Unusual” is a word that is often used to describe both John Porter and Henry Cook. This week on Time for the Blues (8/29/10), we’re building a show around that title as we present artists performing the blues who don’t normally play the blues. In this show, you will encounter “More Unusual Suspects” like ZZ Top (pictured). Yes, the long bearded boys from Texas started out their career playing hard driving blues and we’ve got a sample for you.  In fact, check out the audio sample of them below!

You won’t believe some of the other “Unusual Suspects” we’ve uncovered, like Jack McDuff, normally a great jazz keyboard player, showing his bluesy side. Remember 10CC when they sang, “I’m Not In Love?” Well, they also turned in some psychedelic blues that will catch you by surprise. Speaking of surprises, Henry found a blues tune from one of the all-time pop groups from the ‘60’s, The Turtles. Yes, we really do mean The Turtles! We explain it all in the show, but you have to hear it to believe it…

Then we have some more Cyndi Lauper from her latest CD, “Memphis Blues.” Girls may just wanna have fun, but Ms. Lauper has proven she can sing the blues. And then just for fun we’ll hear some blues from two immortals, Frank Zappa (again, yes, we really do mean Frank Zappa!) and the late great Sam Cooke.

Join us this weekend–Time for the Blues airs early Sunday beginning at 1 a.m.  It’s worth staying up late!

Do you know of any non-blues musical artists that recorded blues? Let us know and we’ll put ‘em on the show! (We’re still searching for the Partridge Family Blues album!)

ZZ Top: Dust My Broom

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I don’t know about you, but I love getting mail. This week (8/28), I received a bevy of new CD’s for The World Music Show. And when I get new CD’s, it means that you get to hear even more great music. So, this week, the show is really a kaleidoscope of music from all over this planet, including tunes from India, Brazil and even Jamaica, by way of Great Britain (The English Beat!).

For the first, hour, we’re going to have a sort of Ry Cooder sandwich. I’ll start off by playing some Ry Cooder. He’s an American guitarist, singer and composer.

He’s known for many things, like his slide guitar work and in his interest in Blues-rock and roots music. However, he’s also known for his collaborations. He’s worked with The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Captain Beefheart and even with Ali Farka Toure. This past year, he released a CD with the legendary Irish group—The Chieftains. And the CD is an eclectic mix of traditional Mexican songs. I’ll play two songs off of that, including one he produced that has narration by actor Liam Neesen. At the end of the hour, I’ll play two songs from Ibrahim Ferrer, one of the musicians and singers from the famed Buena Vista Social Club. Ry Cooder produced his album. Hence, the musical Sandwich.

The Chieftains, featuring Ry Cooder, with Banda de Gaita de Battalion, Liam Neeson, Los Cenontles and L.A. Juvenil: March to Battle (Across the Rio Grande)

The filler, for the rest of the first hour, includes music by a great singer from Benin, Angelique Kidjo. I’ll play two cover tunes she did of both James Brown and Aretha Franklin.

But, you’ll want to be sure to hear you’ll hear musician Mamane Barka. He plays an instrument called a Biram, which is a traditional instrument from West Africa that sounds sort of a like a harp. It’s shaped like a boat and apparently he is the world’s only remaining master of this instrument.

Mamane Barka: Alhadj

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The second hour of the World Music Show has plenty of great sounds for you to enjoy, too. For instance, I’ll start off with sitar player Anoushka Shankar. If that name sounds familiar, it may be because you know her father, Ravi Shankar, who most notably played with the Beatles. Or you may know her half sister, singer Norah Jones.

And, you’ll hear sounds from a Luaka Bop compilation with singer Jim White and though he’s an American singer, his mind and lyrics are really out of this world. In his songs there are revelations, tall tales, absurdities and tragedies.

Jim White: Crash into the Sun

Also, I’ll throw in some music from the film “The Darjeeling Limited,” which was a film by Wes Anderson, who, I think, has a great ear for soundtracks. He did the movies “Rushmore” and “The Royal Tenenbaums,” to name a few. We’ll hear the song “Typewriter, Tip, Tip, Tip,” which was originally from the Bollywood movie “Bombay Talkie.” And, we’ll hear a song called “Arrival in Benaras,” by Usted Vilayat Khan. That was originally in the Bollywood movie “The Guru.”

It’s going to be another great show—Saturday at 1:00 PM on the air or online. Let me know what you think. You can follow me on Twitter, too @wcveworldmusic

Fresh Air from WHYY – The average person today consumes almost three times as much information as what the typical person consumed in 1960, according to research at the University of California, San Diego.

And The New York Times reports that the average computer user checks 40 websites a day and can switch programs 36 times an hour.

“It’s an onslaught of information coming in today,” says Times technology journalist Matt Richtel. “At one time a screen meant maybe something in your living room. But now it’s something in your pocket so it goes everywhere — it can be behind the wheel, it can be at the dinner table, it can be in the bathroom. We see it everywhere today.”

Richtel has spent the past several months researching the toll technology and “information juggling” are taking on our lives — and our brains. His series “Your Brain On Computers” describes how multitasking on computers and digital gadgets affects the way people process information — and how quickly they can then become distracted.

Listen to the Full Report on NPR.org

From NPR’s All Things Considered – Bill Savory was a Harvard dropout. He was also a piano player, an avid music fan and a brilliant audio engineer.

And in 1935, he was hired by a New York “transcription service” — in an era before audiotape — to record live radio broadcasts onto acetate or aluminum discs for clients who wanted copies of programs.

“So he spent his day recording Lux soap [sponsored radio programs], and soap operas, and news items,” says jazz historian Loren Schoenberg, director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. “And in the evening, he would stick around and record, for his own edification, hours and hours of the great jazz that was coming over the air.”

But unlike many other airchecks from the era, Savory’s were made in a studio. He had lines coming directly from the radio networks, and recorded them on professional equipment.

“One of the items that we have to share is this jam session that was done in the studio late 1938, with Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Jack Teagarden,” Schoenberg says. “Now, this broadcast was recorded off the air by someone else and came out on a variety of bootleg discs over the years. So we know what the music sounds like in poor quality.”

“Now, thanks to the Bill Savory version, we get to hear it almost as though we’re in the studio. The pickup on the piano is phenomenal.”

The National Jazz Museum in Harlem announced recently the acquisition of Savory’s collection of radio broadcasts from the late 1930s. It’s an extraordinary archive of swing-era jazz.

Schoenberg describes the discovery of the archive as a collector’s dream — 100 hours of music — that nobody knew existed. The Savory collection features hundreds of live performances of jazz legends at the heights of their careers. There’s Ella Fitzgerald, Teddy Wilson and Duke Ellington; Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway and Fats Waller.

Schoenberg says the museum is talking with record labels, artists and publishers to acquire the rights to distribute the music in the Savory collection. In the meantime, beginning in September, he says visitors to the museum will be able to listen there.

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From NPR’s All Things Considered – Imagine the opening chords of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” sung by an ethereal chorus of spot-on Beach Boys-style harmonies. Or don’t imagine it: Just play the new disc by the impresario behind The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, who recently joined Weekend All Things Considered guest host Audie Cornish to talk about his new album, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin.

Wilson says his earliest musical memory was “Rhapsody in Blue,” which he heard when he was 4.

“My mom and dad took me over to my grandmother’s house, and my grandmother put on ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ for me, and had me lay down by the record player,” he says. “I just remember I loved it so much, you know? I really did.”

For Wilson, Gershwin’s music struck a chord on many levels.

“It was everything,” Wilson says. “The chords, the melodic movement, the arranging, the impetus, the excitement, the beauty. It was just an absolute work of art.”

Some of the new album’s songs are Gershwin covers, while others were inspired by unfinished piano parts, which Wilson completed.

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