A quick glance around the schedules

[Globaltruth]

Soul Music on Radio 4 is often a good listen and this week was the perfect example as it celebrated the various sides of Violetta Parra's 'Gracias a la Vida'.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04ps556

You beat me to it JC - I also caught the programme which I also thought was excellent.

[johncorrigan]

A fine tribute dedicated to Jack Bruce on tonight's R2 Paul Jones R'n'B Show - loads of great stuff from various parts of the great man's career.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04q0x5v

[johncorrigan]

Carlos Acosta's Cuban Night

This may have been mentioned elsewhere but Cuban Night on Beeb 4 last night was a very, very fine combination of music and dance, and it's not often I find myself thinking that.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04w8351/carlos-acostas-cuban-night

[johncorrigan]

As well as 'Selma' being a fine film, I thought they made some good musical choices among which this fine bit of preaching by Sister Gertrude Morgan armed only with her tambourine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StdXBSxdP0I

[zola]

Reginald D Hunter's Songs of the South. Should be a good watch.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02j93lq

[johncorrigan]

Reginald D Hunter's Songs of the South. Should be a good watch.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02j93lq

I enjoyed last night's show, zola - I particularly liked the Handsome Family's version and discussion on Foster's 'Old folks at home' - that exploration of the minstrels singing about the freed man longing for the old days of the security of slavery. Hadn't ever thought of the irony of the song like that before. I'll certainly be having a look in next week.

...and while I'm here I found a site dedicated to Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour for those of us who loved the old codger's DJ efforts. Seems you can listen and download any of the episodes...and read Bob's scripts.

http://www.themetimeradio.com/

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I enjoyed last night's show, zola - I particularly liked the Handsome Family's version and discussion on Foster's 'Old folks at home' - that exploration of the minstrels singing about the freed man longing for the old days of the security of slavery. Hadn't ever thought of the irony of the song like that before. I'll certainly be having a look in next week.

[zola]

I enjoyed last night's show, zola - I particularly liked the Handsome Family's version and discussion on Foster's 'Old folks at home' - that exploration of the minstrels singing about the freed man longing for the old days of the security of slavery. Hadn't ever thought of the irony of the song like that before. I'll certainly be having a look in next week.

...and while I'm here I found a site dedicated to Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour for those of us who loved the old codger's DJ efforts. Seems you can listen and download any of the episodes...and read Bob's scripts.
http://www.themetimeradio.com/

Thanks for the link to Bobby Z's shows. As to Songs of the South, I thoroughly enjoyed episode 1. I shall be interested to see if subsequent episodes discover a comparable desire among young African Americans in the south to celebrate their musical heritage as that shown by the younger "hillbillies". Received wisdom is that they are somewhat ashamed of the blues.

[Globaltruth]

Thanks for the link to Bobby Z's shows. As to Songs of the South, I thoroughly enjoyed episode 1. I shall be interested to see if subsequent episodes discover a comparable desire among young African Americans in the south to celebrate their musical heritage as that shown by the younger "hillbillies". Received wisdom is that they are somewhat ashamed of the blues.

thanks for the initial recommendation Zola, appreciated - I too enjoyed it in the main, although endless shots of Reginald D in an endlessly long Cadillac convertible did begin to wear a little thin, when there was so much ground to cover; a whole programme could have been dedicated to each of the genres

The blues is such a massive area, thought we could perhaps post a few tunes that may get missed....any excuse, say what?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDar1ymGbjg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-pDXIl6knM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKqGlAkd6CM

I'd be interested to read some of the source material for your comment re young people being ashamed of the blues...
thanks.

[zola]

B B King has spoken of his disappointment at losing any black audience for his music. He says in his autobiography "makes no difference that the blues is an expression of anger against shame or humiliation. In the minds of many young blacks, the blues stood for a time and a place they'd outgrown." For his "Uncle Tom" attitude, King was repeatedly booed by young black audiences, an experience he described as "like being black twice". Bobby Schiffman, manager of the Apollo Theatre said "Blues represented misery. Misery and blues were a throwback to slavery, to a time when the black man intellectually was at the lowest point in his history. And black folks from the street didn't want to hear that shit."

There was obviously a generational thing too, as expressed in Uncle Tom Is Dead by Guy Davis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTIK0MmsgY4

[johncorrigan]

B B King has spoken of his disappointment at losing any black audience for his music. He says in his autobiography "makes no difference that the blues is an expression of anger against shame or humiliation. In the minds of many young blacks, the blues stood for a time and a place they'd outgrown." For his "Uncle Tom" attitude, King was repeatedly booed by young black audiences, an experience he described as "like being black twice". Bobby Schiffman, manager of the Apollo Theatre said "Blues represented misery. Misery and blues were a throwback to slavery, to a time when the black man intellectually was at the lowest point in his history. And black folks from the street didn't want to hear that shit."

There was obviously a generational thing too, as expressed in Uncle Tom Is Dead by Guy Davis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTIK0MmsgY4

I fair enjoy that Guy Davis guy, zola...thanks for that one. On subject of rap, I once heard Andy Kershaw introduce this as rappin' 1930 style - Bukka White's Panama Limited!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DS1JMdvvd7w

...and Global thanks for them fine tunes too...thought I'd post something that I first heard via Mr Sherratt, formerly of these pairts. Here's Jessie Mae with Richard Johnston pretty late in her life doing Chicken and Gravy...I love it! That cackle!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVPhKKmBqgU

[johncorrigan]

A couple of years ago Phil Cunningham presented a very enjoyable series of programmes looking at the history of the accordion. This Wednesday he's setting out on a two-part exploration of the Bagpipes on Beeb 2 Scotland. Looks like he's going to be travelling Europe in the first of the shows. He's a very personable host is Phil.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02j98r5

...and while I'm here, here's a wee clip from Mongolia, I assume - looks grand, sounds wonderful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_5yt5IX38I

[Globaltruth]

the harmonica in all its glory, Saturday 7 March 9.45pm-10.15pm

Imagine a town of harmonica players; sounds a bit surreal?

Now Between The Ears gives listeners the chance to hear the harmonica as a truly virtuoso instrument, although never less than an instrument of the people - portable, affordable and playable. As acclaimed poet Kim Addonizio turns student, heading back to blues school - with pen, mouth and a stack of harmonicas at the ready - in search of the sweetest sounds made by the modern day ‘harp’.

She travels to Trossingen in Germany - dubbed the world capital of harmonicas – where every alley and street echoes to the sound of the harp, and even the downtown hotel’s part of the old Hohner Factory.

This is where you will find the true aficionados, the hard-core addicts, who come back year after year for the camaraderie, to share ideas and new developments, and to have lessons with the top players.

Kim learns riffs from some of the world’s master performers and top ‘harp’ teachers, including Dave Barrett and Steve Baker. She’s also written a poem about Joe Filisko, one of the world’s foremost interpreters of early country blues styles, who customises harps for clients such as Neil Young, blues great Kim Wilson and jazz phenomenon Howard Levy, and who she wants to persuade to accompany her on his magical harp. She also dreams of being the first woman to jam on stage at the Blues conference - so will her dreams become reality?

Acclaimed writer Kim Addonizio has been called one of the USA’s ‘most provocative and edgy poets’ and her awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, two NEA Fellowships, a John Ciardi Lifetime Achievement Award, to name a few. She has published four books of fiction and five poetry collections, her most recent a group of poems about the blues and harmonica.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2015/10/between-the-ears

Whilst over on Radio 6 Don Letts digs Can man Holger Czukay and his '79 cut Movies

Each week Don Letts selects a piece of ‘Crucial Vinyl’ from his collection, something that has moved him and shaped his musical taste. He picks three tracks from it, and explains why it means so much to him. This week, it's Holger Czukay's 1979 release Movies.

Don says: ‘Czukay was a founding member and the bass player of Can. In his solo work, he was a pioneer of ambient and world music, and experimented with sampling way before it became hip in the ‘80s.

‘Sampling sounds using magnetic tape formed the basis of many of his ideas for his second solo album, Movies. Another element that made this record capture my imagination was his use of shortwave radio sounds. He called it 'radio painting' and used shortwave radios as an instrument at gigs. Not only did Holgar's sonic experiments influence albums such as Byrne and Eno's My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, released in 1981, but it certainly pre-empted my foray into the world of sampling with my former band Big Audio Dynamite. Mr. Czukay, The Don salutes you.’

As ever, Don's other selections cross time, space and genre.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2015/10/don-letts

(week after Don talks to Linton Kwesi Johnson... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq9OpJYck7Y

[Globaltruth]

Yes, yes, I know it had the word 'Jazz' in the title but I'm sure a) the jazzers won't mind and b) a lot of it wasn't jazz nor was it World Music. Find out why a)the categoires don't matter and b) why it was a heartening programme by clicking here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04n31w6

[johncorrigan]

As part of 6 music's Easter Folk weekend, the Decemberists have chosen Verity's 30-minute programme about Shirley Collins for tonight.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009n26f