The format is a simple and satisfying one: Music plays and stories are told. Dave Radlauer has put together a sampling of different programs to give you an idea of what the series is like, and it is sound rich and entertaining. You get to hear jazz biographies of performers who are household names and others, depending on your level of jazz fluency, that you may have never heard of. Some of these jazz greats were hugely popular in their day but are now a little lost to us. The show rediscovers them and, in some cases, sheds new light on their musical contributions as well as their tragedies. The bios are composed of readings and interviews that create snapshots of the time, which are equally about the music as they are about race and inequality. The bios are also peppered with fascinating details, images and fun facts-- like Fats Waller earned his nickname by being able to eat fifteen hotdogs in one sitting. I did not know that. Sometimes, the music playing underneath the stories is in ironic counter-point to the stories being told… the individual tales of hard times are often playing out to the sweet music these men and women produced during those very times and it pays homage to their dedication and endurance. It also serves to show how the world of music can be an autonomous, pristine realm unto itself. If the demos are an example of the shows quality, this series is a real gift to jazz aficionados and casual listeners alike, and the beauty of it is it could slip right in with either music programming or talk programming.
Review of JAZZ RHYTHM DEMO
Jonathan Goldstein
Posted on April 18, 2004 at 10:23 AM
The format is a simple and satisfying one: Music plays and stories are told. Dave Radlauer has put together a sampling of different programs to give you an idea of what the series is like, and it is sound rich and entertaining. You get to hear jazz biographies of performers who are household names and others, depending on your level of jazz fluency, that you may have never heard of. Some of these jazz greats were hugely popular in their day but are now a little lost to us. The show rediscovers them and, in some cases, sheds new light on their musical contributions as well as their tragedies. The bios are composed of readings and interviews that create snapshots of the time, which are equally about the music as they are about race and inequality. The bios are also peppered with fascinating details, images and fun facts-- like Fats Waller earned his nickname by being able to eat fifteen hotdogs in one sitting. I did not know that. Sometimes, the music playing underneath the stories is in ironic counter-point to the stories being told… the individual tales of hard times are often playing out to the sweet music these men and women produced during those very times and it pays homage to their dedication and endurance. It also serves to show how the world of music can be an autonomous, pristine realm unto itself. If the demos are an example of the shows quality, this series is a real gift to jazz aficionados and casual listeners alike, and the beauty of it is it could slip right in with either music programming or talk programming.