Episode #1019
Swamp, Botswana, Bell Orchestre
Friday, May 08, 2009
Writer Ben Greenman and soul legend Swamp Dogg tell Kurt Andersen about their unlikely collaboration. The music of tiny Botswana makes it out into the world, thanks to the TV series "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency." And Canadian band Bell Orchestre leaves its indie-rock roots behind and perform live in the studio.
Bell Orchestre
(Delphine Bally)
Ben Greenman & Swamp Dogg
Ben Greenman's new book Please Step Back looks like a biography of a 1970s soul and funk legend named Rock Foxx. Except Foxx is imaginary. Greenman wanted to release one of his fictional hero's songs, so he teamed up with a real-life legend ...
Botswana's Big Break
"The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" finishes up its season on HBO this weekend. It's based on the mystery novel series by Alexander McCall Smith. Botswana music producer Solo B. tells Studio 360's Rob Weisberg about the musicians on the ...
Federal Property
Back in the 1930s, as part of the Federal Art Project, the government paid artists to make thousands of paintings, from famous murals to little landscapes. It wasn't possible to keep track of it all, and some ended up in private hands. Once in a while, a canvas turns up, ...
Green Horn
Jasper Rees was having a midlife crisis. Instead of buying a motorcycle, he confronted the French horn -- the notoriously difficult brass that terrorized him in childhood. Kurt talks with Rees about his memoir, A Devil to Play: One Man's Year-Long Quest to Master the Orchestra's ...
Bell Orchestre
A couple of years ago, a group of Canadian indie-rockers (some play in Arcade Fire) decided to write and play their own chamber music. Their new album As Seen Through Windows has the epic sweep of a film score. Kurt talks with violinist
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In medical school i was never taught the 'art' of medicine or given the opportunity as a resident to write ...
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One more aspect to admire about Sendak - in addition to his refined draftsmanship, his tone that mixes humor, irony, ...
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