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Playlist: Music Station Picks for July '10

Compiled By: PRX Curators

 Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ici-et-ailleurs/2207863800/sizes/m/in/photostream/">Jenna</a>
Image by: Jenna 
Curated Playlist

Here are July picks for music stations from PRX Music Format Curator David Srebnik, producer of Virtuoso Voices and Classical Music Format Manager for Sirius-XM Satellite Radio in Washington, DC.

Find out what David listens for in music programming.

Suggestions from David:

"Are you on Twitter? PRX is on Twitter — I've found it to be an invaluable programming resource, providing information and updates on new program that are available on PRX. It's like getting an instant update from PRX without having to go to the PRX site.

"One PRX Twitter feed contains a link to each new PRX piece.

"The second PRX feed tells you which programs have been bought in real time."

A note from PRX Editors: Check out the PRX Editors' curated twitter feed, which includes timely and curated daily editors' picks.
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Here are July picks for music stations from PRX Music Format Curator David Srebnik, producer of Virtuoso Voices and Classical Music Format Manager for Sirius-XM Satellite Radio in Washington, DC.

Find out what David listens for in music programming.

Show full description

Independence Day 2010 - Celebrating America's Birthday 10-26

From All Classical Public Media | Part of the The Score with Edmund Stone series | 59:04

The Fourth on Film -- in music.

Host Edmund Stone brings forth the gorgeous, the patriotic and the otherwise Yankee Doodle Dandy musical sounds of America's birth as heard and seen on films, including The Patriot (John Williams), The Music Man (Meredith Wilson), To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great Escape (Elmer Bernstein) and Little Johnny Jones (George M. Cohan).

I appreciated the range of music from films representing various important incarnations of American patriotism and the American spirit. "76 Trombones" speaks for itself, and John Williams at times, achingly beautiful music from The Patriot will really move your listeners.

Good for July 4th and July 4th week -- for classical music stations and all stations looking for an important way to present the American birthday in a stand-apart-from-the-crowd presentation.

Highly recommended.

Edmund_for_the_score_ad_8-2012_small This week on The Score with Edmund Stone – Celebrating America’s Birthday. We light the candles on America’s birthday cake at the movies with films about the 4th of July and our independence as a nation, including Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Patriot, Born on the Fourth of July, and Independence Day. Celebrate with us on The Score with Edmund Stone.

50 Years of the Beat: A Celebration of the Bossa Nova

From WBGO | 01:58:02

"More a look than a kiss..." (Vinicius de Moraesa)

An absolutely lovely look at the Bossa Nova with all the suave, cool breeze and musical "looks" that define the music's mystery, sensuality and that South American cool sophistication.

A veritable who's who of the Samba heard here -- from the well known (Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto and Charlie Byrd) to those worth getting to know better (Luis Carlos Vinhas, Ary Barroso, Wanda Sa, Edu Lobo and Jorge Ben Jr.).

A Bossa Nova Birthday party/documentary from WBGO (New Jersey) Jazz 88 and Jazz FM 91 (Toronto) suitable for jazz stations, eclectic formats and news stations accepting smooth music documentaries in their doc slots.

If you can make it in Rio, you can make it anywhere.

Bossanova_small WBGO investigates the musicians who popularized the art form worldwide: Joao Gilberto, Vinicius de Moraes, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. WBGO's Simon Rentner, who visited Brazil last January, interviewed Brazil's top musicians, producers, and scholars including Sergio Mendes, Joyce, Cesar Camargo Mariano, Benjamim Taubkin, Miucha, Paulo Jobim, Georgiana de Moraes, and Luis Carlos Miele. The documentary features exclusive interviews with founders Roberto Menescal and Carlos Lyra, plus analysis from the idiom's leading scholar Ruy Castro. The documentary showcases rare recordings from some of the music's forgotten heroes like Sylvinha Telles, Johnny Alf, and Edison Machado, plus an exclusive recording of Joao Gilberto from the late 50s. Additional music featured: Radames Gnatalli, Luizinho Eca, Tenario Jr., Stan Getz, Milton Banana, Orlando Silva, Maestro Lindolfu Gaya, Herbie Mann, Os Cariocas, Astrud Gilberto, Charlie Byrd, Baden Powell, Dick Farney, Frank Sinatra, Chet Baker, Luis Carlos Vinhas, Cid Grey, Ary Barroso, Ronaldo Boscoli, Wanda Sa, Edu Lobo, Nara Leao, Marcos Valle, Jorge Ben Jr., Leny Andrade, Tamba Trio, Sambalanco Trio, Sambrasa Trio, Bossa Tres, Wilson Simonal, Elis Regina, and many others.

IN PRAISE OF RINGO: HIS BEATLES DRUMMING (Hour 1) [54:00/59:00]

From Paul Ingles | 59:02

When drummers get together, what do they talk about? Sticks, other drumming must-have equipment, getting girls and Ringo.

Ringo Starr as seen and heard from the back of the Beatles bandstand -- including a few brushes beyond his Beatles' legacy.

Ringo is 70...

From his on-going series of documentaries on the Beatles' music, and the stories behind their music, producer Paul Ingles presents IN PRAISE OF RINGO: HIS BEATLES DRUMMING, two one-hour programs (that can also work as a two-hour documentary.)

Naturally, the star of the show is Ringo, but the program has gathered a remarkable and eloquent assortment of "Ringophiles", including fans, colleague-fans and everyone else who started playing drums because of Ringo Starr. They explain the Ringo Starr phenomenon in language we can all understand, and in music we can all hear.

Your listeners will learn or be reminded of Ringo the innovator and an undeniably, important heart of the Beatles.

Ringo "served the song."

Several tunes have had their mix enhanced and deconstructed bring out the drum work.

Hour 1 and Hour 2 (this hour focuses on Ringo the Singer -- before, during and after the Beatles. It includes the mystery of the Yellow Submarine and the story behind another great pop song, and its even more famous segue -- you know, the one between track 1 and track 2 from Sergeant Pepper).

Stations can schedule both hours either consecutively or separately. Or, you can just run Hour One, which refers listeners optionally to Hour Two on your station or to the web to hear it.

Ringo4-square_small

This program features a detailed tour of Ringo's drumming work with The Beatles   It features samples of Ringo's best drum songs with the Beatles woven in with archival comments from Ringo as well as from several drummers who've studied his work, and Ringo friends Joe Walsh, Ben Harper and Don Was.
 
Hour Two  (posted separately on PRX - http://www.prx.org/pieces/49831-in-praise-of-ringo-the-singer-hour-2-59-00-5 ) spotlights the songs Ringo sang as a Beatle including undeniable classics like "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "Yellow Submarine" and some intriguing tracks from his long and successful solo career.
 
Your station could schedule both hours either consecutively or separately.  Or you can just run Hour One, which refers listeners optionally to Hour Two on your station or to the web to hear it.
 

by chance, a tribute to John Cage

From Ed Herrmann | 05:00

Smart, friendly and inviting introduction to the enigmatic contemporary composer John Cage, music composition in general, and the John Cage way of writing music.

John Cage often left the final musical results up to the performers on stage. Same piece -- different performance every time...

Smart and clever radio; wonderful, tight writing and overall, entertaining, enjoyable and delightful. These five minutes are for classical music stations that air features, stations with arts magazine programs, as an insert during national programming -- and with proper forward promotion and preparation, for use during a local music shift.

"by chance, a tribute to John Cage" is produced by Ed Herrmann. He incorporates a regular cast of sound effect "characters" in his features, including this one. They could be brought down in volume.

Otherwise, brilliant.

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A short tribute to John Cage. Some would argue he's the most influential composer of the 20th Century. Or that no musician has ever had such a profound effect on the other arts. Or suffered as much ridicule. Certainly John Cage opened up a lot of ears and remains controversial.

The controversy centers on two of Cage's ideas. First, the notion that any sound can be considered music. That is, any sound can be used in music, or can be heard as music simply through the act of listening. 

The second idea is the use of chance operations. This is often linked to Cage's interest in Zen Buddhism, and is explained as an attempt to create music without the interference of personal preferences and expectations. But how does this work? If you're going to write a piece of music, you need to end up with a score that has words, notes, graphics, or some kind of indication as to what the performer is supposed to do. So where does this come from if you as composer don't make any choices?

This piece explores the process of creating a piece through chance operations by explaining the process and then doing it, resulting in 2 1/2 minutes of chance determined radio. 

A Tribute to BIrdland: Celebrating 60 years!

From KBEM | Part of the Jazz from J to Z series | 59:31

Ringo is 70, and Birdland is 60.

There's nice jazz here from the Twin Cities celebrating the birth of Birdland, the legendary jazz performance venue in NYC.

There's some sweet scat singing, a rare vocal version of "Round Midnight" and the legendary jazz advocate and ambassador, Symphony Sid (Sid Torin) gets a nice couple of musical elaborations.

Music to talk ratio is appropriate. Production levels and assembly are fine, but could be better. (The levels between host and stage sound could be a better match. There's a brief bit of audio/digital fuzziness 13:40 - 13:50.)

Good all year long as a tie-in to the legendary venue. Well suited for consideration by jazz stations and stations with a weekly doc slot.

Other programs from the Jazz from J to Z series, produced by KBEM, are available for audition on PRX.

Jazz88logo_small Jazz from J to Z is the Twin Cities Jazz Society's showcase of local jazz talent. It features a wide range of jazz styles and presents these local artists to a broad audience. From big band to vocalists, to traditonal jazz and jazz from up-and-comers, this series showcases the many colors and sounds of jazz.

Classic Mardi Gras Songs Profiles - Indian Red

From David Kunian | Part of the Mardi Gras Song Profiles series | 05:50

There's a certainly timeliness to running this piece even though Mardi Gras is far away.

This 5:49 vignette features pianist Art Neville and bassist George Porter Jr. talking about the Mardi Gras standard "Indian Red."

It's absolutely high-level storytelling, including the throats-have-not-been-cleared sound of the voices that tell the story.

From the song's origin, history and tradition, your listeners will be taken right into the heat and heart of New Orleans. Superb craft and assembly by producer David Kunian.

To avoid some time references, the producer has granted all stations permission to start 25 seconds in and to drop out early to cover time references and a brief forward promo at the end.

(FYI: If you're an HBO/Treme fan, this is the song that the Mardi Gras Indian character sings first as he leaves the bar on St. Joseph's Night in the last episode.)

The unspoken subtitle for this program is "Why New Orleans Matters."

Monk_and_mary_mardi_gras_2008_small This short piece explains the Mardi Gras classic "Indian Red." The song is a traditional hymn/prayer sung by the Mardi Gras Indians. It was recorded by the Wild Tchoupitoulas Mardi Gras Indians, the Meters, and the Neville Brothers. Pianist Art Neville and bassist George Porter Jr. explain how the song was recorded and its history.