I knew Moondog, sort of. Grimes Poznikov, not so much. Then there is the dog howling at the classical flute question . . .
Archive | Hybrid Highbrow
How SiriusXM won me over with its “Jzz/Stndrd/Clscl” zone
What won me over is that the service has concatenated a gaggle of music channels into a section that the LED on my SiriusXM interface calls “Jzz/Stndrd/Clscl.”
Places in San Francisco to loiter while listening to classical music
Of late I have been trying to keep track of storefronts that play classical music in San Francisco. They make for excellent locations for classical music lovers to loiter. So far I have found two, briefly videoed in this Youtube clip. (more…)
Leonard Bernstein’s FBI file
Over the course of his career, Leonard Bernstein was relentlessly watched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
On W.C. Fields and Cowboy Bebop
Second Inversion radio has an interesting interview with pianist Nadia Shpachenko. She has a new album that includes a composition by Peter Yates called “Epitaphs and Youngsters.” The piece requires output from a “singing pianist,” who, among other tasks, meditates on W.C. Fields’ famous comment that “On the whole, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.” Apparently Fields hoped […]
National Underwear Day unites all musical forms
Today is National Underwear Day, and radio station WWOZ-FM of New Orleans notes the occasion with a terrific video of the city’s Nat’l Underwear Day celebration from 2016: The New Orleans National Underwear Day Parade rolls again Sunday at 7p, starting and ending at 3610 Toulouse pic.twitter.com/7VoQW2tqk9 — WWOZ 90.7 FM (@wwoz_neworleans) August 5, 2018 […]
Podcast #150 – Sympathy for Kenny G
What killed smooth jazz radio? Why aren’t there any commercial classical stations any longer? And, why do radio stations have a “format” to begin with? Matthew Lasar joins us to explore these questions about the fundamental organizing principle of most music radio. Matthew is a co-founder of Radio Survivor and the author of three important […]
Attention all classical radio stations: humans cough, deal with it
Attention all classical radio presenters: don’t deny your listeners live classical recordings because of a few tickled throats!
New music for Paddle to the Sea + nobody told me that smooth jazz died
I recommend a visit to Second Inversion radio for their wonderful video of the Third Coast Percussion ensemble’s new soundtrack to the 1966 Canadian short feature titled Paddle to the Sea. It is quite something. The musicians deploy skittering wood blocks and water-filled wine glasses to create a beautiful nature-filled sound environment. Paddle to the Sea was […]
Somebody stop killing jazz radio please
Oh for goodness sake would you people stop killing jazz radio already? You know who you are. And we know who you are, too. In North Carolina there’s Fayetteville State College’s Board of Trustees, who sold WFSS-FM back in 2015. Of late somebody wrote into the Fayetteville Observer and asked: “The Fayetteville State University public radio […]