Jan 5th, 2009 · We start the new year with a new mix, featuring an exclusive preview of Andrew Bird's latest album, Noble Beast. The classically trained violinist and singer performs a quirky mix of whistled melodies, Gypsy ballads, folk and art-rock. We've got the song "Oh No" here, but you can also hear the entire album as part of our "first listen" series. Also on the show: classic folk-rock singer Benjy Ferree, the Afro-funk rhythms of Chopteeth, an eclectic mixtape from Malawi-born singer Esau Mwamwaya, the haunting guitars of Begushkin, and the jazz trio Bad Plus covers the music of Pink Floyd.
Keywords: whistle · music · Africans · Jazz · Singer · Malawi · songs · Preview · album · folk · melodies · trio
Dec 27th, 2008 · Conductor Marin Alsop examines the rarely heard music from early in Aaron Copland's career. With an ear toward Copland's bold and sometimes jazzy rhythms, Alsop says that listeners can hear hints of the wide expanses that would later open up in music such as Appalachian Spring.
Keywords: America · music · Composing · jazzy · Alsop · rhythm · Copland · Aaron Copland · Conductor Marin Alsop · expansing · emAppalachian
Dec 18th, 2008 · The Count Basie Orchestra, with Basie on piano, came roaring out of Kansas City during the Great Depression. Unrehearsed and unplugged, soul singer Ledisi shines with the famed Count Basie rhythm section — and, later, with the whole band.
Keywords: Singer · soul · concert · orchestras · rhythm · Great Depression · Kansas City · Count Basie Orchestra · Count Basie · Basie · Ledisi · Unrehearsed
Dec 13th, 2008 · "People come in barely shuffling along. And the class sort of frees people. It's not a miracle and I don't know the science. I know that music, rhythm, repetition, encouragement makes everybody dance."
Keywords: science · Patient · music · Shuffle · miracle · rhythm · repetitive · Parkinson · encouragement
Dec 10th, 2008 · Evangelicals, a trio from Norman, Okla., make trippy rock with the warm wash of sound typical of neo-psychedelia, and the infectious melodies and rhythms of more upbeat indie-pop. It's a potent mix. On their sophomore release, The Evening Descends, the group deftly blends shimmering guitars with assorted background noises and atmospherics, set against singer Josh Jones' anguished voice. The album has an entirely mesmerizing texture without being overly produced or drowned in sound.
Keywords: Evangelical · indie · Upbeat · Singer · Norman · Okla · album · Skeleton · melodies · trio · guitar · rhythm
Dec 10th, 2008 · He was a dynamic percussionist, a masterful arranger and an irrepressible showman. Throughout a career lasting more than 50 years, Puente fused American jazz with Afro-Cuban rhythms, earning him the title King of Latin Music.
Keywords: Americans · dynamic · Jazz · percussionist · rhythm · E.L · Afro Cuban · irrepressible · arranges · Reyes · showman · Tito
Dec 3rd, 2008 · Ra Ra Riot features swooning strings, pop hooks and sinuous rock rhythms in a session from WXPN. After the tragic death of drummer and songwriter John Pike in 2007, the recording process for The Rhumb Line proved to be cathartic. The album takes a positive outlook on the darker side of life.
Keywords: deaths · 2007 · songwriter · WXPN · album · tragic · rhythm · melancholy · drummer · R.A · cathartic · John Pike
Nov 29th, 2008 · Violinist, singer and composer Emily Wells has broken from her classical roots to employ hip-hop rhythms and looped violin melodies. She speaks with Andrea Seabrook.
Keywords: Andrea Seabrook · Singer · Composing · Hip · melodies · Violinist · Violin · rhythm · Haydn · Emily Wells
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