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CBC.ca Homepage * News * Sports * Radio * TV * My Region * Watch * Listen _____________ Search CBC.ca Radio-Canada Logo Member Centre: Login | Sign Up Advertisment CBC Radio 2 * Main * Programs * Playlists * Schedule * How To Tune In * Listen Now * Music Channels * Concerts On Demand * Podcasts * Concert Calendar * Help * Contact Us Radio 2 Blog August 31, 2008 Shelter From the Storm: Dylan Series Continues Posted by Li Robbins on August 31, 2008 at 10:45 AM 2238682 Legendary rocker Patti Smith continues her series about Bob Dylan this Sunday on Inside The Music (Sunday Edition 12:00 p.m., 12:30 NT). Part 3 is called Bob Dylan: Shelter From the Storm, and it looks at 1970's and 80's Dylan, (thinking of 70s Dylan instantly makes me hear Scarlet Rivera's violin, but that was just one phase), when he went in a bunch of new directions. The music ranged from very personal stories to Homeric epics and everything in between. Famously Dylan became a born-again Christian by the late 70's, and did a fair bit of religious/spiritual material. By the late 80's, Dylan had supported Live Aid, Farm Aid, and joined the Traveling Wilburys. So what you'll hear today is highlights from across that period of time, described by the producer as a period of "dizzying artistic and personal growth." 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link August 30, 2008 Infinite Patterns Posted by Li Robbins on August 30, 2008 at 11:47 AM 3329835Last week's opening to the third part of Driven To Music featured some very beautiful music by Marjan Mozetich -- just a hint of what was to come. Today you can hear the last installment on Inside The Music Saturday Edition(12:00 p.m., 1:00 AT, 1:30 NT), it's called Infinite Patterns. The overall theme of the series is about the inspiration behind the work of contemporary Canadian composers, and today the focus is on the impact of matters sacred and spiritual. Composers include Christos Hatzis and Imant Raminsh, among others. And looking ahead, briefly, to next weekend on Inside The Music, you can hear a new series called The Nerve, a six-part followup brought to you by the same excellent producers of award winning The Wire. (No, nothing to do with strife in Baltimore...) The new series, The Nerve, explores music and the human experience -- and something tells me it will be excellent. 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link August 24, 2008 Like A Rolling Stone Posted by Li Robbins on August 24, 2008 at 10:45 AM 2639080Legendary "rock poet" Patti Smith hosts part two of the Bob Dylan doc Bob Dylan: Like A Rolling Stone this afternoon on R2. Today's episode, heard on Inside The Music (Sunday Edition 12:00 p.m., 12:30 NT) starts with the post-folk Bob, his flurry of fresh creativity circa mid-60's when his sound moved from folk singer with acoustic guitar to include rock, blues, and gospel influences. In this hour of the show, Ms. Smith outlines how Dylan's unique voice developed, and began to change the face of rock and roll. Speaking of Dylan, in yesterday's Globe Liam Lacey had an entertaining review of Dylan's Hamilton stop -- here' s the opening: "'How old is Dylan?' asked the young woman in her twenties, travelling on the westbound GO train to Hamilton for the Bob Dylan concert on Wednesday. 'In his seventies,' her boyfriend said with a hand wave as if to say, you know, timeless (actually, he's a mere sapling of 67). At the bus terminal, the grandfatherly ticket attendant said, "Enjoy the show. Bob Dylan's my inspiration.' For the rest, see A Big Game Of Name That Tune. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link August 23, 2008 The Spark That Lights The Music Posted by Li Robbins on August 23, 2008 at 11:00 AM 2507029"From Pegasus To Piano-woman" is the name of the third part of the series, Driven To Music, currently running on Inside The Music Saturday Edition (12:00 p.m., 1:00 AT, 1:30 NT). The series explores how composers create, using what the producer calls "reflections and confession" from an array of outstanding Canadian composers. (Love that, "confession." You can almost hear it..."I must confess I turned to the 12 tone row...despite myself.") On From Pegasus To Piano-woman, composers look at what lights the spark that becomes the musical fire, and how words and images translate into music. The composers who are on the programme include Gilles Tremblay, Christos Hatzis, Marjan Mozetich, Hildegard Westerkamp and Andrew P. Macdonald. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link August 17, 2008 Patti Smith Dylan Doc Today. Really. Posted by Li Robbins on August 17, 2008 at 10:31 AM 2224236 You may have already read on the R2 blog that Patti Smith would be hosting a four-part series about Bob Dylan which was to begin last Sunday. It did not. This was due to circumstances beyond anyone's control -- the explosion at a propane depot in Toronto, the Olympics, the ensuing (and understandable) confusion in Master Control. Apologies to anyone who was waiting to hear it, only to have it fail to materialize. The good news is that it really does start today, on Inside The Music (Sunday Edition 12:00 p.m., 12:30 NT). The series, which comes to CBC R2 via the Public Radio Exchange, is called Bob Dylan, Blowin' in the Wind . Smith presents four hours of music and conversation about Dylan, including interviews with friends, collaborators and journalists -- plus some rare clips from the man himself. In today's episode you'll hear about Dylan's move to New York City in 1961, and his meteoric rise to becoming "the voice of a generation." In other but related news, Smith herself is also the subject of a recent (film) documentary -- Patti Smith: Dream Of Life, which opened last week in New York. (Note to horse lovers -- you will want to click on that last link, whether or not you are a Patti Smith fan!) 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link August 16, 2008 So You Want To Write An Opera Posted by Li Robbins on August 16, 2008 at 10:30 AM 82359693It's not easy getting an opera produced. (Understatement.) Yet despite what typically entails great expense and considerable production logistics, opera continues to lure composers -- and a considerable number of Canadian composers at that. Today on Inside The Music Saturday Edition (12:00 p.m., 1:00 AT, 1:30 NT) there's a programme on this very subject, as Andre Alexis presents A Good Story For Opera. It's the second part of a series called Driven To Music. (Not Driven By Music, as claimed last week.) Either way, one happy listener/blog reader described that week's episode as "a wonderful show." This week's episode features composers John Estacio and James Rolfe, with additional thoughts on the subject from Abigail Richardson, Chan Ka Nin, Alexina Louie, and the late Harry Somers. P.S. That's a rehearsal from The Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra's production of Orlando, which began at the Sydney Opera House on August 15...speaking of logistical challenges. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link August 10, 2008 Patti Smith Presents Dylan Doc Posted by Li Robbins on August 10, 2008 at 10:46 AM 2224236 Patti Smith hosts a four-part series about Bob Dylan that begins today on Inside The Music (Sunday Edition 12:00 p.m., 12:30 NT). The series, which comes to CBC R2 via the Public Radio Exchange, is called Bob Dylan, Blowin' in the Wind . Smith presents four hours of music and conversation about Dylan, including interviews with friends, collaborators and journalists -- plus some rare clips from the man himself. In today's episode you'll hear about Dylan's move to New York City in 1961, and his meteoric rise to becoming "the voice of a generation." In other but related news, Smith herself is also the subject of a recent (film) documentary -- Patti Smith: Dream Of Life, which opened last week in New York. (Note to horse lovers -- you will want to click on that last link, whether or not you are a Patti Smith fan!) 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link August 09, 2008 Why Do Composers Compose? Posted by Li Robbins on August 9, 2008 at 10:45 AM 3252131Certainly not for massive financial gain, in most instances. But today on Inside The Music Saturday Edition (12:00 p.m., 1:00 AT, 1:30 NT) documentarist Hele Montagna explores what motivates and inspires composers to create, in part one of a series called Driven To Music. The first episode is called Wilderness Symphonies, and it looks at one very familiar source of inspiration for Canadian artists of all kinds -- the Canadian landscape. Ms. Montagna talks to composers including Allan Bell, Gilles Tremblay, Murray Schafer, Hildegard Westerkamp, John Estacio and Alexina Louie about how land, nature and the natural aural environment affects their music. 3 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link August 08, 2008 Patti Smith's Bob Dylan Special On R2 Posted by Li Robbins on August 8, 2008 at 10:00 AM 82026740Heads up Patti Smith (and Bob Dylan) fans -- starting this Sunday, August 10 on Inside The Music (Sunday Edition 12:00 p.m., 12:30 NT) you can hear the first part of Patti Smith's series about Bob Dylan -- called Bob Dylan, Blowin' in the Wind . Smith hosts four hours of music and conversation about Dylan, which includes interviews with friends, collaborators and journalists talking about his music and sharing personal anecdotes. You can also hear Bob Dylan himself in rarely heard interview clips. Part-the-first talks about Dylan's move to New York City in 1961, and his meteoric two year rise to being lauded as the "voice of a generation." 3 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link August 03, 2008 We Are The World Posted by Li Robbins on August 3, 2008 at 11:02 AM Banner-03-470X166No, not M.J. and Lionel Ritchie's We Are The World, the world in question is the world that came to Canada with many forms of folk music, some of which hybridized and became new, Canadianized folk music. This We Are The World is the name of the fifth and final episode of Gary Cristall's series about folk music in Canada, The People's Music. It explores how the music has changed during the 20th century to welcome and assimilate songs and styles from many cultures. Gary's story takes us to the beginning of the 70s and the creation of one of Canada's earliest "multicultural" groups, The Companeros. You can hear We Are The World (no swaying back and forth, mind), today on Inside The Music (Sunday Edition 12:00 p.m., 12:30 NT). 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link August 02, 2008 The B.B. King Story Posted by Li Robbins on August 2, 2008 at 11:21 AM 81571626Today on Inside The Music (Saturday Edition 12:00 p.m., 1:00 AT, 1:30 NT), Riding With the King: The B.B. King Story. Riding With The King is also the name of King's acclaimed recording with Eric Clapton, which pre-dates this documentary by about five years. What you'll hear today is a profile of blues great B.B. King that was made as the guitarist was approaching his 80th birthday, narrated by Keb Mo. So it's a bit of a retrospective -- King talks about his 60 year career (that photo is from this spring at Bonnaroo!) from his early days as a DJ in Memphis to his massive success as a blues guitarist. Naturally there's music too, including collaborations with Eric Clapton, Ray Charles and U2. Plus other great musicians talk about King's playing and their feelings about his music -- from Koko Taylor, Carlos Santana, John Mayall and Buddy Guy, to Pat Metheny. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link July 27, 2008 More "What If?" Posted by Philly Markowitz on July 27, 2008 at 10:22 AM Just a quick reminder that Gary Cristall continues his 5-part series about the development of folk music in English Canada - The People's Music - today on Inside the Music. Today's episode called If I Had a Song features the music of Wade Hemsworth, Sylvia Tyson and Bruce Cockburn (to name a few) and is not to be missed. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link July 26, 2008 Get Back Under the Covers! Posted by Philly Markowitz on July 26, 2008 at 08:21 AM rachel18/hdc/concep/4/155 Why get out of bed? Lay about instead and listen to 3 great shows coming your way this morning: Stuart devotes all of this week's edition of the Vinyl Cafe to cover tunes. You'll hear Stuart's faves, plus a couple of - how can we say this politely? - ill-considered re-workings of well-known tunes. There's also one song Stuart had heard more than a hundred times before he learned, to his shock, that it was - you guessed it - a cover. Today on Deep Roots Tom Power will uncover the music of Eva Scow, a young mandolin phenom who focuses on the music of Brazil. Eva started playing piano at age 3, later adding violin and mandolin. After studying classical music for 10 years, she discovered Brazilian music and her fate was set. She has played with the likes of David Grisman and Bela Fleck, and has even graced the stage of Carnegie Hall! There's also music from a movie-star bluesman Chris Thomas King, who creates music that echoes the characters he's played in such films as O Brother Where Art Thou?; James Hill, the Canadian Ukelele master (as he likes to say, "seriously!") who pushes the limitations of the four-stringed chordophone; and the latest from stalwart Canadian songstress Kathleen Edwards. Her latest album Asking for Flowers is garnering raves here at home, in the USA and worldwide. And finally, today on Inside the Music we're taking a look at legendary blues musician Buddy Guy, an artist whose dynamic guitar playing helped to define the sound of Chicago's Chess Records. While he was on that label, Guy played with Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Sonny Boy Williamson. "First Time I Met the Blues: The Buddy Guy Story" is hosted by Dan Aykroyd, the Canadian actor who was one-half of The Blues Brothers. You'll hear how deeply influential Guy has been, especially with English rock musicians who grew up worshipping his work. In addition to an extensive interview with the blues master himself, the program features comments from his longtime partner Junior Wells, Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Mick Fleetwood. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link July 25, 2008 The People's Music Person Posted by Philly Markowitz on July 25, 2008 at 08:04 AM gary In my experience, the folk music community is an unusually egalitarian oasis at the edges of the music industry. Sure, there are outstanding folk musicians who go on to become stars, but generally speaking, you don't hear much about folkies behaving like stars: throwing backstage tantrums when the food is too hot or cold, trashing their hotel rooms or brawling with paparazzi. Mostly they're just folks, and treat others that way. Likewise, the folk community is one in which the people who support the artists - the publicists, promoters, agents and festival directors - are thought of as smart, hard-working, honest and decent people rather than parasitic status seekers. (How unlike the popular Hunter S. Thompson quote: The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.) A handful of the behind-the-scenes people in Canada's folk music community have engendered the kind of awed respect usually reserved for the stars. One of those people is Gary Cristall. He has been at the forefront of Canada's folk music scene for close to 4 decades (if one can be in the forefront and behind the scenes at the same time), and we're thrilled to have him as our guide for Inside the Music's 5-part series The People's Music. Cristall founded the Vancouver Folk Music Festival over 30 years ago, and for the past ten years has been collecting interviews for a book about folk music, many of which are integrated into The People's Music. The series takes a long look at what we call "folk" music in English Canada. This weekend, Gary shares his intimate, insider knowledge in Sunday's episode of The People's Music. Continue reading "The People's Music Person" >> 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link July 20, 2008 Birth Of An Industry Posted by Li Robbins on July 20, 2008 at 10:30 AM 657899It may seem counterintuitive that folk music should be paired with the word "industry," but of course there is a business to folk, just as with any other kind of music. Today on Inside The Music (Sunday Edition 2:00 p.m., 12:30 NT), The People's Music, a documentary series by Gary Cristall continues with Part Three, Birth Of An Industry. It looks at the era when folk as a genre blossomed, in the 1950s and 60s, when solo artists and groups flourished on radio and television (yes, really!) as well as at coffee houses and on college campuses across the continent. You'll hear Sylvia Tyson (pictured here about five years ago) describing how she and her former partner Ian Tyson came to be managed by Albert Grossman, manager of Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary. As well, Gary talks with people behind many of the folk clubs that flourished across Canada in those heady days. In these heady days, I'd recommend you also check out Tom Powers' show Deep Roots on Saturdays, for some of the new music being made by a whole new generation of folkies. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link July 19, 2008 Jews And Blues Posted by Li Robbins on July 19, 2008 at 11:42 AM I always remember the slight shock of first seeing the Klezmatics recording titled Rhythm + Jews, and I suspect for some the title of today's documentary on Inside The Music(Saturday Edition 12:00 p.m., 1:00 AT, 1:30 NT), will have a similar impact: Jews And Blues: Inside Out. Both are reflections of the story of African-Americans and Jews in the creation of American pop music, a complex and sometimes painful history. With the Klezmatics recording, it was about the input of American jazz in European-derived klezmer. With today's documentary, by Michael Goldfarb, it's a look at how and where in what was a segregated society black and Jewish musicians exchanged musical ideas. The doc takes you on a journey through ragtime, jazz and popular song, and includes performances from Willie the Lion Smith, Cab Calloway and the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. But was this an easy thing for Goldfarb to pull off? Here's one thing he had to say about his initial impetus to make this radio piece: "My idea was to look at why, overwhelmingly, the history of American popular music over the last 100 years had been a story of Jewish and black interaction. What in the groups' respective musical traditions fit so well together, and what in their social interactions made this musical exchange possible. It seemed an innocent enough idea and one that could be spun out into a multi-part series. As there were plenty of people alive who had lived that history, I thought it would be an easy piece to pull together. Wrong." 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link July 13, 2008 The People's Music: The Genre Comes Of Age Posted by Li Robbins on July 13, 2008 at 11:00 AM Gallery-259X119The People's Music continues today on Inside The Music, with an episode called The Genre Comes of Age. Today, host Gary Cristall looks at folk in the fifties -- including a national tour by the United Jewish People's Organization. You'll hear from two of the participants, and some very treasured tape from one of their 1953 concerts in Edmonton. Gary also traces the origins of The Travellers, who got people from coast to coast to coast singing This Land Is Your Land -- the version with Bonavista to Vancouver Island, rather than California to New York Island, that is. By the way, if you go to The People's Music website you can see a photo gallery of some really neat folk memorabilia from Gary Cristall's own collection. (Did I mention he's writing a book about folk music in this country that he's been working on for about a decade? And that he co-founded the Vancouver Folk Fest 30 years ago? Safe to say he has a fair bit of folk memorabilia.) 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link July 12, 2008 The Origins Of Rhythm Posted by Li Robbins on July 12, 2008 at 12:15 PM 53135398The series Live By The Drum concludes today on Inside The Music, with The Origins of Rhythm. A fascinating topic -- what are they, after all? I'd hazard a guess that rhythm as an organized principle (as opposed to the way it occurs naturally in life) was created for communication and to underscore ceremony or ritual, but whether this guess is likely correct or not will be explored today. And as is my wont of late, I'm all about the drums, even when it's just people singing about them, as is the case with the Ting Tings. (See also Songs Of Summer.) But that doesn't take us back to the origins of it all -- tune in to Inside The Music for that, when host Wab Kinew will. P.S. That's Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a.k.a. Lula...in case you're wondering. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link July 06, 2008 The People's Music -- Birth Of A Genre Posted by Li Robbins on July 6, 2008 at 10:30 AM GaryGary Cristall has been researching the history of folk music in English Canada for close to a decade -- working on what promises to become a major book. But today Gary -- the co-founder of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, some thirty years ago -- presents some of the research and interviews he's done in the first of a five-part radio series, on Inside The Music. The series is called (and a lovely name it is) The People's Music. This is how Gary describes this project, and his passion for it: "For the last twenty years I've been scratching a terrible itch - how did folk music in English Canada start and get to where it is today? I started thinking about it when I was programming the Folklife Pavilion at Expo 86. How did this all start? I kept wondering. Then, eight years ago, I started interviewing folks and squirreling away documents, tapes, records and anything else I could lay my hands on. Today I've got a five hundred page chronology, boxes of magazines, festival programs and photocopies, and over two hundred hours of interviews. I'm nowhere near done." Part One, called Birth Of A Genre, airs today on Radio 2 at 12 noon (and at 8 p.m. on Radio 1), and it "traces folk music from the 1910's, when it was unknown to all but the folk themselves and a handful of collectors, until 1949 when Newfoundland joined Canada and brought with it some of our best loved folk songs." 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link July 05, 2008 Die By The Drum Posted by Li Robbins on July 5, 2008 at 11:45 AM 72198395It's been an odd day or so in terms of thinking about music and death. First there was the news that Oliver Schroer had passed away. (Please see Oliver Schroer -- He Burned Brightly.) Then last night The Signal featured music from Meredith Monk's recording, Impermanence, a musical response to the death of her partner (which has been compared to Joan Didon's The Year Of Magical Thinking, an interesting notion). Today, the third part of the four-part series Live By The Drum, running on Inside The Music, is about how cultures of the world use drums as they encounter death. Host Wabanakwut Kinew takes a look at "the final journey" ... and the drum. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link July 04, 2008 The People's Music -- Series Begins Sunday Posted by Li Robbins on July 4, 2008 at 03:00 AM GaryYou know how sometimes you meet someone and they're embroiled in a fascinating project, then a few years later you bump into them again and they're still embroiled in that fascinating project, going deeper and deeper into it? That's my experience of Gary Cristall and his research into the folk music of English Canada, destined to become a book. And the great thing is that Gary -- the co-founder of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, some thirty years ago -- has wisely turned some of that research and some of those interviews into a living breathing entity while the book is still in progress -- via a five-part radio series that begins this Sunday on Inside The Music, called The People's Music. This is how Gary describes this project, and his passion for it: "For the last twenty years I've been scratching a terrible itch - how did folk music in English Canada start and get to where it is today? I started thinking about it when I was programming the Folklife Pavilion at Expo 86. How did this all start? I kept wondering. Then, eight years ago, I started interviewing folks and squirreling away documents, tapes, records and anything else I could lay my hands on. Today I've got a five hundred page chronology, boxes of magazines, festival programs and photocopies, and over two hundred hours of interviews. I'm nowhere near done." Still, he's "done" enough to share some of this with the radio audience, and this Sunday you can hear Part One, which airs both at 12 noon Sunday on Radio 2 and at 8 p.m. on Radio 1. It's called Birth Of A Genre and it "traces folk music from the 1910's, when it was unknown to all but the folk themselves and a handful of collectors, until 1949 when Newfoundland joined Canada and brought with it some of our best loved folk songs." 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link June 29, 2008 Jamaican Echoes -- A History Of Dub Music Posted by Li Robbins on June 29, 2008 at 10:15 AM 9 Jamaican Echoes: A History of Dub Music is a documentary about dub -- and I have it on good authority that it's excellent. You can hear it today on Inside The Music at noon on Radio 2 (and repeated on R1 8PM Eastern). Many but not all know what dub is, and if you are in the 'but not all category,' here's the lowdown. Originally it was the the instrumental counterpart of reggae, earmarked by its unmistakable echoey reverby sound, although the music can take many shapes. Today, Lauren Speers, a.k.a. DJ Chocolate, who hosts one of Canada's most popular reggae radio shows, Rebel Music on community station CKLN-FM, looks back at the history of dub from late sixties Jamaica, to how the music evolved in Britain, the United States, Canada and elsewhere. That's a lot to look back on -- dub is the basis for much contemporary dance music -- and it's the heart of remix culture. Like reggae, it's truly international. It has been said that "dub isn't just a musical remix, it's a social remix." Check out the list of interviewees: Adrian Sherwood (On-U Sound - Depeche Mode, Primal Scream, Lee Scratch Perry) Bill Laswell (Global dub innovator - Fela Kuti, Motorhead, Herbie Hancock) Twilight Circus (M Records - Michael Rose, Big Youth, Queen Ifrica) (The photo is from Twilight Circus' studio, btw.) Clifton Joseph (Dubzzz poet at large - CBC, Dub Poets Collective) Dubmatix (Nu dub from Toronto - new disc features Alton Ellis, Sugar Minott) Leroy Sibbles (All-time reggae legend! Heptones lead singer, Studio One bassist) Michael Veal (Author of Dub: Soundscapes And Shattered Songs In Jamaican Reggae) The documentary was co-produced by David Dacks, whose 2007 feature article for Exclaim called Dub Voyage provided the basis for this documentary. 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link June 28, 2008 Rhythm In Story Telling Posted by Li Robbins on June 28, 2008 at 11:00 AM 79508118The power of the dramatic pause. Is part of the power of rhythm. And storytelling. At least, that's one take on it. Today, on part 2 of Live By The Drum (on Inside The Music) host Wabanakwut Kinew focusses on storytelling, and takes a look at whether the best storytellers use rhythm. Live By The Drum, in case you missed the first episode last week and are curious, is a four part series all about the power of rhythm through stories and music. Throughout the series Wab shows how people everywhere are united by rhythm and drum beats. NOTE: Tomorrow on the Sunday edition of Inside The Music (at noon on R2) you can hear the debut of a documentary called Jamaican Echoes: A History of Dub Music. Great music and a multitude of interviews including people like Adrian Sherwood and Bill Laswell. Heard an excerpt of it the other day, and it sounds like a excellent look/listen into the history of dub. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link June 22, 2008 Afropop Worldwide: Viva Venezuela Posted by Li Robbins on June 22, 2008 at 02:59 AM When you think of Venezuela and music, chances are you don't think of Africa at the same time. Unless you've done some fairly specialized listening -- or live on Venezuela's Carribean coast. Afro-Venezuelan music has not exactly been at the forefront of the country's musical agenda (as opposed to say, El Sistema). And it's not terribly well known outside the country either. But that's changing, and today on Inside The Music you can hear a programme all about this change, created by Afropop. It's called Viva Venezuela. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link June 21, 2008 Live By The Drum Posted by Li Robbins on June 21, 2008 at 11:15 AM 79508817I heard some of Live By The Drum when it was broadcast at some earlier point in time, and what I caught was great -- an insightful and fun exploration of the power of rhythm. The series, hosted by Wabanakwut Kinew, is now being broadcast on Inside The Music, starting today with the first installment, Healing Drum. This episode takes listeners across the globe and ends up at a ceremony that has brought healing to generations of residential school survivors. Other episodes in the series explore the origins of rhythm, the role rhythm plays in death rituals, and how storytellers use rhythm. (And that's a whole lot more than just da-dum-dum-dum.) To hear Live By The Drum tune in to R2 at 12 noon in Ontario, Quebec, Central, Mountain and Pacific; 1 p.m. in Maritimes; 1:30 p.m. in Nfld. 2 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link June 15, 2008 Merengue: Dominican Music And Identity Posted by Li Robbins on June 15, 2008 at 11:00 AM 76229049If you've ever tried to dance to Dominican merengue you'll know it can go at quite a clip -- it's the adrenalin rush of the Latin dance world. But musically, culturally and politically merengue has a fascinating history. Today on Inside The Music you can hear a show about just that, called Merengue: Dominican Music And Identity. It's the second of three episodes from the Public Radio International show Afropop Worldwide, a famed weekly series showcasing the musical cultures of Africa and the African Diaspora in the Caribbean, the Americas and Europe. [Note, usually Sunday's Inside The Music on Radio 2 is also presented on Radio 1 in the evenings, but tonight it's not the case -- instead you can hear the much-heralded documentary about Leonard Cohen.] 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link June 14, 2008 Leonard Cohen Documentary Today Posted by Li Robbins on June 14, 2008 at 10:30 AM 4989247Mr. Cohen is back. Yes, on tour, beautifully written about in the latest issue of MacLeans by Brian D. Johnson. The photo is from one of the FOUR sold out shows in my home town. I'll digress for a moment just to say it entirely lived up to expectations -- or more accurately, hopes. Excellent performances by all concerned, particularly from Cohen and those amazing backup singers. (Plus he was funny and charming but then, you would expect that.) But TODAY Leonard Cohen is also back on CBC in the form of a repeat of the popular documentary If It Be Your Will, which you can hear on Inside The Music on Radio 2. (Right after Deep Roots, 12 p.m., 1 AT,1:30 NT) and Sunday at 8 pm. on Radio 1. Here's the back story to the documentary: Continue reading "Leonard Cohen Documentary Today" >> 4 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link June 12, 2008 Attn., Leonard Cohen Fans Posted by Li Robbins on June 12, 2008 at 10:00 AM 3287343Attention, Leonard Cohen fans. The documentary about Cohen, If It Be Your Will, will be repeated this Saturday and Sunday on Inside The Music. You can hear it Saturday on R2 after Deep Roots, so that's at 12:00 p.m. (1:00 AT, 1:30 NT) AND Sunday on R1 at 8 p.m. I promised to give folks a heads up when it was coming back -- since the last time it was aired people were (understatement) thrilled, and many wanted to hear it again. If It Be Your Will was made by Kari Hesthamar of Radio Norway, after having spent three days with Cohen. Marianne (of So Long Marianne) was from Norway, and when Hesthamar went to visit Cohen she had recently completed a doc about the real-life Marianne. Her quest was to talk to Cohen about, among other things, love. And to give you an idea of the reaction the last time it was broadcast...here's an excerpt from one listener's comments: "Very touching intimate moments with the Man. And very rarely has a person's soul been expressed so movingly and candidly through his own voice. It is true when he speaks, true when he sings, as it is true when he's silent." 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link June 08, 2008 Afropop Worldwide Series On CBC Posted by Li Robbins on June 8, 2008 at 11:00 AM A series created by one of the granddaddies of world music radio shows, Afropop Worldwide, is coming to the R2 airwaves for the next three Sundays. Afropop Worldwide runs on over 100 stations in the U.S. and is also heard in Europe and Africa, and is hosted by the remarkable Georges Collinet. The first one, heard today on Inside The Music, is called Colombia's Musica Tropical, and it's part of the Hip Deep series -- just one of the many ventures of the long running Public Radio International show/website/archive/travel series. (They're pretty busy down there in Brooklyn.) Hip Deep wades into "profound history" utilizing the new wave of pop culture scholars, not to mention cutting edge radio. And just so you know in advance -- June 15th is Merengue: Dominican Music and Identity, and the third part, on June 22nd, takes a look at the music of Venezuela. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link June 07, 2008 Final Episode, Concerto According To Pinchas Posted by Li Robbins on June 7, 2008 at 11:00 AM The Concerto According to Pinchas wraps up today on Inside The Music, and today Pinchas Zukerman and Eric Friesen talk about the Violin Concerto In D Minor Opus 47 by Sibelius. According to Zukerman, it was inspired by the composer's own failed aspirations. (Now that's something to do with feelings of failure -- write a violin concerto!) It's been a terrific ten weeks of this series, and if you missed some episodes (or just want to hear it again), it is actually available to buy at the CBC shop. Meanwhile, today it's the Sibelius -- and here is a (very) brief history of the work: Continue reading "Final Episode, Concerto According To Pinchas" >> 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link June 01, 2008 Madness In Opera Posted by Li Robbins on June 1, 2008 at 11:05 AM Madness and opera go together like, well, madness in opera. And quite often the mad are women who have lost their senses, frequently over love. It's almost a cliche. But today on Inside The Music, documentarist Don Mowatt digs down into that cliche in his documentary Madness In Opera, looking at what it says about attitudes toward mental illness in the non-musical world. The doc includes experts from both the world of opera and the psychiatric community. If the subject of madness and opera interest you, you might also want to have a look at this online study guide, with this rather to-the-point opening: "A soprano walks onstage. She is dressed in a flowing white shift, her slightly unkempt curls cascading over her shoulders and down her back. She appears distracted, her confused movements accompanied solemnly by the forlorn voice of a woodwind. Rather than long and melodious, her vocal lines are short and irregular. As is usually the case, she is barefoot. All opera lovers worth their salt know exactly what they are watching-it's a mad scene." To read more, go to The Baltimore Opera Company. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link May 31, 2008 The Perfect Concerto Posted by Li Robbins on May 31, 2008 at 11:01 AM According to Pinchas Zukerman, Felix Mendelssohn wrote the perfect violin concerto. And you can hear why he thinks this today on Inside The Music, with part nine of The Concerto According To Pinchas. And here's the peanut version of the story of this concerto: Mendelssohn came up with the idea of writing a violin concerto in 1838, he wrote about it in a letter to his concertmaster, Ferdinand David. But because of Mendelssohn's growing popularity he was inundated with commissions and didn't have time to focus on the concerto. How frustrating. This is why it took until 1844 for him to finish the piece. Ever since audiences have been thrilled; the Violin Concerto in E Minor is a concert hall favourite and is part of the repertoire of orchestras around the world. 2 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link May 25, 2008 Timothy Findley Opera Posted by Li Robbins on May 25, 2008 at 10:03 AM The subject heading might be a tad misleading, as The Dream Healer is not actually an opera by the late Timothy Findley -- but it is an opera based on a Findley novel, Pilgrim. And I wanted to grab the attention of anyone interested in opera or Findley, or both! Also (to dig further into the disclaimer) today on Inside The Music what you will hear is not the entire opera, but parts of it in a documentary by Don Mowatt. The doc is about the eight year odyssey it took to realize this opera, which had its premiere this past March at the Chan Centre in Vancouver. Mowatt really was "inside the music," since he was the second librettist for The Dream Healer, and therefore privy to all the ins and outs of its creation, which began in the minds of composer Lloyd Burritt and playwright Christopher Allan. Findley's novel, Pilgrim, relates actual incidents from books by and about Carl Jung, self-professed scientist of the unconscious. Note -- next Sunday on Inside The Music you can hear another doc by Mr. Mowatt, about opera and madness. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link May 24, 2008 The Concerto According To Elgar...And Pinchas Posted by Li Robbins on May 24, 2008 at 11:00 AM 3335860This week Pinchas Zukerman looks at the concerto that he says makes him feel "complete." (Now now, no Jerry McGuire jokes.) No, this is musical completion we're talking about, and today on The Concerto According To Pinchas, presented by Inside The Music, you can hear Maestro Zukerman explain why he feels this way about Elgar's famously demanding Violin Concerto In B Minor, Opus 61. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link May 18, 2008 Terry Clarke Posted by Li Robbins on May 18, 2008 at 02:57 AM Every Canadian jazz fan has heard Terry Clarke -- he is a Canadian drumming legend who has played with countless musicians, recorded countless sessions, and was one of the founding members of the seminal Canadian big band, The Boss Brass. Today on the sixth and final episode of Inside The Music's series The Jazz Portraits, host and jazz pianist Renee Rosnes talks with the master of rhythm and groove. That's at 12:00 p.m. (12:30 NT). In case you're wondering what's coming up next Sunday on the show, it's a single show, not a series, a documentary called Dream Healer: The Opera. It's about the eight year odyssey to get the opera, The Dream Healer (an operatic interpretation of Timothy Findlay's novel, Pilgrim), from "page to stage," as they like to say. Many a slip between page and stage, as it were. In this case though any slips were overcome, as the opera was performed at Vancouver's Chan Centre this past March. But that's next Sunday. First, "T.C." 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link May 17, 2008 To The Memory Of An Angel Posted by Li Robbins on May 17, 2008 at 11:00 AM Today, part 7 of The Concerto According To Pinchas on Inside The Music. Pinchas Zukerman explores the the concerto that Alban Berg was moved to write following the death of a cherished young friend. Berg was writing his opera Lulu when Alma Mahler's daughter died at the age of 18, moving him to begin writing this concerto. Some scholars believe that Berg's focus on the concerto stopped him from fully finishing the opera, but his violin concerto has eclipsed Lulu as Berg's single most popular and most regularly performed work. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link May 11, 2008 Paul Bley -- Jazz Portraits Posted by Li Robbins on May 11, 2008 at 11:00 AM Paul Bley is one of jazz piano's innovators -- his approach elegantly summed up by Ben Ratliff, NYTimes jazz writer: "Deeply original and aesthetically agressive, Mr. Bley long ago found a way to express his long, elegant, voluminous thoughts in a manner that implies complete autonomy from its given setting but isn't quite free jazz. The music runs on a mixture of deep historical knowledge and its own inviolable principles." Today you can hear from the man himself, in conversation with pianist Renee Rosnes, who hosts the Inside The Music series, Jazz Portraits. Bley is originally from Montreal, but is based today in New York, which is where the two musicians meet up. 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link May 10, 2008 Concerto As Olive Branch Posted by Li Robbins on May 10, 2008 at 11:10 AM Behind every composition lies a story, sometimes even a scandal. For instance, the Brahams Violin Concerto In D Major. It was written as a bit of an olive branch from Brahms to his friend, violinist Joseph Joachim. They didn't speak for six years after Joachim accused his wife of adultery -- Brahms apparently sided with Joachim's suffering wife, and that ended the friendship. He really should have known better! If you want to stay friends with both parties in a situation involving marital discord, stay neutral. It's true in the 21st century, and was just as true in the 19th. Anyway, in 1878, Brahms put aside a piano concerto he was working on to write a composition for Joachim, and the results are a large work in the dramatic tradition of Beethoven. (The rondo-finale incorporates Hungarian themes that most scholars agree is a salute to Joachim's birthplace.) Today you can hear all about it, and the music of course, as Inside The Music presents Part Six of The Concerto According to Pinchas. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link May 04, 2008 One and the Same Posted by Philly Markowitz on May 4, 2008 at 11:04 AM Don_ThompsonThe Jazz Portraits continue this week on Inside the Music. The portraits are six special programs that look at the life and music of some of this country's finest jazz musicians. You might call them our elder statesmen: artists who built the foundations of Canada's jazz scene and who continue to push it forward today. Pianist Renee Rosnes, herself a young star on Canada's jazz scene, hosts this six-pack of conversations with Canadian jazz giants. This week, she's in Toronto at the home of composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson. The multiple Juno- and National Jazz Award-winning Thompson is one of this country's finest jazz musicians, composers, arrangers and educators (yes, conveniently themed to reflect our Music Monday celebrations). When I was young, I thought there was more than one Don Thompson, or "D.T." as I'd heard him called. There was the piano player who also played vibes and drums, and then there was the bass player. It took me a long time to figure out that the Don Thompson of the keys, mallets, sticks and strings were - and are - one and the same. How my admiration grew! Tune in today for a glimpse into his marvellous musical mind. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link May 03, 2008 Inside the Concerto Posted by Philly Markowitz on May 3, 2008 at 10:19 AM This afternoon on Inside the Music Eric Friesen brings us The Concerto According to Pinchas, Part 5. What better way to experience some of the greatest music ever written for the violin than through the ears of one of the finest violinists of our time? Join Maestro Pinchas Zukerman, music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and host Eric Friesen for part five of the ten-part series, The Concerto According to Pinchas. This Saturday: Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D Major It's the earliest of the great romantic concertos and it's also the most difficult - according to Pinchas. Come along as Eric and the Maestro discover the heartbeat of Beethoven's masterpiece. The Saturday edition of Inside the Music airs at: - 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. in Ontario, Quebec, Central, Mountain and Pacific - 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Maritimes - 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in NL 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link April 26, 2008 The Greatest Melody Ever? Apparently So Posted by Philly Markowitz on April 26, 2008 at 10:00 AM There's more of The Concerto According to Pinchas this week on Saturday's Inside the Music. The internationally-acclaimed violinist and conductor looks at the great violin concertos from a performer's perspective, in conversations with Eric Friesen, host of Studio Sparks. This week, a concerto that isn't one of the best known. But according to Pinchas, Bela Bartok's Violin Concerto No.2 contains the greatest melody ever written. The GREATEST melody EVER? My curiosity is piqued! 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link April 20, 2008 Jazz Portraits: Guido Basso Posted by Li Robbins on April 20, 2008 at 11:00 AM Guidobasso01The Sunday edition of Inside The Music continues today with The Jazz Portraits -- a series of profiles of some of Canada's finest jazz musicians, presented by someone who is one herself, pianist Renee Rosnes. Today Ms. Rosnes speaks with flugelhorn/trumpet player/composer Guido Basso. And if you'd like to hear more of Mr. Basso's music, R2 recorded a concert featuring him with the sax-based group Verismo -- you can find that at Concerts On Demand: Guido Basso With Verismo. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link April 19, 2008 The Concerto According To Pinchas Part Three Posted by Li Robbins on April 19, 2008 at 10:45 AM Erart00144(220)Today on Inside The Music it's part three of the Concerto According To Pinchas, featuring the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, as seen/heard through the eyes/ears of Pinchas Zukerman, music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, in conversation with Studio Sparks (12 p.m.) host Eric Friesen. And a little b.g. on this concerto -- it was composed in 1878, roughly the same time he also wrote Onegin and the Fourth Symphony. It was written with violinist Yosif Kotek in mind -- in less than a month -- and dedicated to the Hungarian violinist Leopold Auer, though apparently Auer declared the concerto unplayable at first. But that was temporary, later he championed the work. (Still, couldn't have been so nice for Tchaikovsky at first blush...) And before I forget...a number of people have asked if it's possible to purchase this ten-part series, and indeed it is, at the CBC shop. One final note -- don't forget that the Saturday edition of Inside The Music is on the air at noon in Ontario, Quebec, Central, Mountain and Pacific; 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Maritimes and 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Nfld. 3 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link April 13, 2008 In The Key Of Charles/Inside The Music Programming Note Posted by Li Robbins on April 13, 2008 at 07:00 AM 78072061There's a special day of programming ahead on Radio 2 today, with the Beethoven 9 In 9, Beethoven's 9 symphonies presented in order, starting at 9 a.m. Because of that the following shows will be pre-empted today: In The Key Of Charles, Inside The Music, Sunday Afternoon In Concert and Skylarking. However, listeners looking for In The Key Of Charles please take note -- you can hear the show on Radio 1, where it's broadcast Sundays at 9 p.m. (10 p.m. AT; 10:30 p.m. NT) Today Gregory digs through the loose change for some unique musical coins, with music about money from The Four Aces, Radiohead, Susie Arioli, Zero Mostel, Macy Gray, Offenbach, Karen Young, Shirley Bassey, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Pink Floyd and others. For the playlist, click right here. There is also a Radio 1 broadcast of Inside The Music -- at 8 p.m. you can hear Bill Richardson in conversation with Alex Ross, New Yorker critic and author of The Rest is Noise -- selected by the New York Times as one of the 10 best books of 2007. (So maybe Ross isn't tossing around the cash with quite the abandon of the person in the photo, but the book has certainly had huge impact on the music-book reading public.) Radio 2 broadcasts resume April 20th. 2 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link April 12, 2008 Jascha Heifetz, According To Pinchas Posted by Li Robbins on April 12, 2008 at 10:00 AM 2634874The Concerto According To Pinchas continues its run on the Saturday edition of Inside The Music today, with Part 2, Bruch Concerto No. 1 and Scottish Fantasy. The series features conversations between Pinchas Zukerman, internationally-acclaimed violinist and music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, and Eric Friesen, host of Studio Sparks. And according to Pinchas, there is just one god of violin playing and his name is Jascha Heifetz. Today you can hear Zukerman explain how Heifetz made two works by Bruch (the Scottish Fantasy and Concerto No. 1) - his own. 2 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link April 06, 2008 The Jazz Portraits: Joe Sealy Posted by Li Robbins on April 6, 2008 at 11:10 AM Today pianist Renee Rosnes begins her six-part series, The Jazz Portraits. She herself is an excellent jazz musician, so it will be interesting to hear what she has to say in conversation with some of the countries finest -- elder statesmen if like, musicians who built the foundations of Canada's jazz scene. In Part One she visits the home of pianist, composer and arranger, Joe Sealy. The entire series is broadcast on the Sunday edition of Inside The Music, and some of the other musicians you can look forward to hearing Ms. Rosness chat with are Guido Basso, Don Thompson, Paul Bley and Terry Clarke. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link April 05, 2008 The Concerto According To Pinchas Posted by Li Robbins on April 5, 2008 at 10:00 AM Inside The Music begins broadcasting on Saturday as well as Sundays this weekend, and on the Saturday edition you can hear a reprise of the popular series, The Concerto According To Pinchas. The Pinchas in question is of course violinist/NAC directort Pinchas Zukerman, and in this series he and Studio Sparks host Eric Friesen explore the great violin concertos. The series begins with a look at the first concertos, music by Vivaldi, Bach and Mozart. Appropriately enough, part one is called The Building Blocks To Greatness. The Saturday broadcast of Inside the Music can be heard after the noon o'clock news in most time zones and 1 AT, 1:30 NT on CBC Radio 2. Just so you know, the broadcast of Inside The Music on Sundays will not be the same programming -- this Sunday you can hear a new six-part series called Jazz Portraits, hosted by the great jazz pianist, Renee Rosnes. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link March 30, 2008 A Glorious Racket -- Bagpipe Documentary Posted by Li Robbins on March 30, 2008 at 11:05 AM In the shortlist of instruments which tend to be, how shall I put it, the stuff of good humoured jesting, the bagpipe rates high. There are even websites devoted to poking fun at the poor pipes. We can only pity people who adopt this attitude, as pipe music can be an absolutely beautiful thing, as well as a rather intense thing. And as Karl Turner points out in his documentary airing this week on Inside The Music, there have been some rather famous players of the pipes -- contrary to popular belief, Nero didn't play the violin, he played the bagpipes. (Somehow, "he piped while Rome burned" just doesn't have the same ring though.) Anyway, Turner's documentary, A Glorious Racket, explores the revered and reviled instrument which is now more than five thousand years old. He looks at the rise, the fall, and the revival of the instrument, and interviews include Paddy Moloney, the leader of The Chieftains. 9 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link March 23, 2008 "Censor This" on Inside the Music Posted by Peter Cook on March 23, 2008 at 11:49 AM In more places than you'd like to think, musicians have been blacklisted, imprisoned, exiled and murdered. Records are burned and concerts are raided. But music often manages to speak the truth, despite the best efforts of censors. Freemuse is an international organization whose aim is to defend the rights of musicians against censorship. (It's the music world's answer to Pen International). The group designated March 3rd as Music Freedom Day - a time for us all to look at the issue of music and censorship. On Inside the Music this week (noon, 12:30NT), we present Censor This, a documentary by Bruce Edwards. The documentary includes a look at South African Roger Lucey's musical life in the late seventies and early eighties; it tells the story of how the security police systematically destroyed his music career. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link March 16, 2008 Leonard Cohen Documentary Posted by Li Robbins on March 16, 2008 at 11:00 AM 80195684If you were reading the blog (or a newspaper!) earlier this week you will know that Mr. Leonard Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday. (Yes, there he is at the podium at that event.) His world tour dates were announced later in the week as well. Sidebar: To check those dates, and to see a wonderful video that includes his Hall of Fame speech go to First, He'll Take Toronto. But back to today. Because of the Cohen-in-the-news week it's perfect timing that a documentary called If It Be Your Will, about Leonard Cohen, is being broadcast today on Inside The Music. If It Be Your Will was made by Kari Hesthamar of Radio Norway, after having spent three days with Cohen at his small villa on the outskirts of Los Angeles in 2005. As you may know, Cohen is a massive star in Norway; his albums go to the top of their pop charts. His most famous connection with Norway is the Norwegian lover he met in Greece, the inspiration behind that beautiful song he wrote in 1967, So Long, Marianne (...it's time that we began, to laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again). When Kari Hesthamar went to visit Cohen she had recently completed a documentary about the real-life Marianne. In If It Be Your Will, Leonard Cohen was 71, and he looks back at one of his creative (and personal) preoccupations -- love -- reflecting on previous relationships, including his time in the 60s with Marianne. You'll hear Cohen at home, hosting dinner parties, speaking on the phone with his kids, and claiming - at times -- that he hardly remembers anything from his past. Fascinating stuff. 32 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link March 09, 2008 In Search Of Claude Vivier Posted by Li Robbins on March 9, 2008 at 11:05 AM This week Inside The Music broadcasts a documentary by Hele Montagna about the composer Claude Vivier, called In Search of Claude Vivier. You may already know about the tragic ending to Claude Vivier's life -- in March, 1983, just weeks before his 35th birthday, he was murdered in his Paris apartment. Bizarrely, the piece he was working on, Do You Believe In The Immortality Of The Soul? outlined a journey on the Paris metro where a man stabbed him though the heart. Quite apart from the sensational nature of Vivier's death though, this documentary will explore the musical language he created, and includes interviews with the composer's friends, twenty-five years after his death. In a related note, you may be interested in this recent article in The Guardian about an online experiment connected to Vivier's work, a collaboration between the contemporary music ensemble Psappha, the BBC Singers and Lancaster University -- the article is called Soul's Rebirth. 4 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link March 02, 2008 About Oscar Concludes Posted by Li Robbins on March 2, 2008 at 11:19 AM Today Inside The Music (12:00) concludes the eight part documentary, About Oscar, with the final episode devoted to Oscar Peterson's later life and musical legacy. On that note, you may know that last night at The Canadian Songwriter's Hall Of Fame gala, the late Mr. Peterson was honoured with the Frank Davies Legacy Award, "recognizing his work and its significant impact on the development and recognition of Canadian songwriters both nationally and internationally." You can hear some of the performances and speeches from the gala tonight on CBC R2 -- from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. You may be wondering what's coming up next on Inside The Music too, and here's the scoop. Next week you can hear a documentary about the composer Claude Vivier, called In Search of Claude Vivier. You may know the tragic ending to Claude Vivier's life story already -- in March, 1983, just weeks before his 35th birthday, he was murdered in his Paris apartment. Incredibly, the piece he was working on, Do You Believe In The Immortality Of The Soul?" was discovered on his worktable, and in it Vivier prophetically outlined a journey on the Paris metro when a man stabbed him though the heart. Quite apart from the sensational nature of Vivier's death, this documentary will explore the musical language he created, as well as interviews with the composer's friends, twenty-five years after the composer's death. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link February 24, 2008 The Price Of Fame -- About Oscar Continues Posted by Li Robbins on February 24, 2008 at 11:10 AM Getty 78645459-1 Inside The Music continues its tribute to the late Oscar Peterson this week with Chris Brookes'' documentary series About Oscar. This week, "The Price of Fame," a look back at Peterson's family history, and the pressures a life on the road can exert on a family. This is something Oscar Peterson reflected a lot on, particularly later in life, something he also explored in the NFB documentary that his niece, documentarist Sylvia Sweeney, made about her famous uncle,. It's called In The Key Of Oscar, and is well worth seeing. But back to today's show...Peterson's later career is also examined, including his work with synthesizers, and a reunion of his famous trio. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link February 17, 2008 About Canada Posted by Li Robbins on February 17, 2008 at 11:05 AM Today on Inside The Music (12:00) the next installment of About Oscar, the documentary series about the late, and truly great, Oscar Peterson. This episode, called About Canada, takes a look at O.P. as a sometimes under-appreciated, but quintessential, Canadian artist. In it he talks extensively about his sense of Canada, his magnificent composition Canadiana Suite, his fight to promote ethnic diversity in Canadian advertising -- and some of his frustrations with Canada, the country of his birth. 1 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link February 10, 2008 Sloggin' Through the Sixties Posted by Li Robbins on February 10, 2008 at 11:00 AM For rock and pop and folk music, the sixties was like unleashing a genie, a genie that granted all wishes. For jazz, not so much. Today Inside The Music (12:00) continues with About Oscar, the documentary series about the late, and great, Oscar Peterson, and this episode looks at how Mr. Peterson dealt with the decade when jazz was decidedly not king. You'll also hear some of Peterson's classic solo recordings from that period. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link February 03, 2008 About Oscar -- The Trio Posted by Li Robbins on February 3, 2008 at 11:04 AM 51424497 I don't know if you've been listening to About Oscar, the documentary about Oscar Peterson that's currently running on Inside the Music (12:00), but there's some wonderful interview material with Oscar Peterson, and many others speaking about Peterson. Today's episode is called The Trio, which for Peterson fans instantly conjures a golden era from 1953-1958 when the Oscar Peterson Trio flourished. In this episode Peterson recalls some of the musical glory of the time, but also laments the loss of some of the great jazz talents of the era to drugs and alcohol. For a preview, here's one version of the trio, (with Ray Brown and Herb Ellis), playing A Gal In Gallico. Listen to Oscar "singing" and quoting the surrey! Also, there are two Oscar Peterson related things I keep meaning and forgetting to post. One, the photo of Oscar meeting the Queen. And two, the Library and Archives of Canada's Oscar Peterson pages, titled, Oscar Peterson, A Jazz Sensation. So there you go. 0 Comments | comment on this post | permanent link January 27, 2008 University Of Jazz Posted by Li Robbins on January 27, 2008 at 11:05 AM Today on Inside The Music (12:00), Part Three of About Oscar, Chris Brookes' documentary series about the late Oscar Peterson. This episode recounts the aftermath of Peterson's stunning 1949 debut at Carnegie Hall, touring with Jazz at the Philharmonic, and subsequent international recognition. Despite that international