Producer Ben Shapiro found a way to give us the history, context, personality and innovations behind one of music's top players and thinkers without sacrificing a strong and rightful musical presence.

Host Kenny Washington and plenty of music.

Kenny Washington is clearly a Max Roach fan, but hosts without fawn. Equally impressive, Mr. Washington is also a drummer with an ability to avoid drum-speak when introducing and exalting Roach's innovations.

Highly recommended.

(A complete review is on the Max Roach-Drums Unlimited Piece Page.)

Of the five in the series, I favor the third episode, "And Sing." It further establishes the origin and history of the music, composers, performers, teachers and innovators, but it also takes us into the human and often fragile fiber of the music and the music makers.

The black choral tradition became stronger and more widely practiced as it was adapted by the historically black colleges and universities. In the "And Sing" episode, Producer Eric V. Tait, Jr. lays out the internal struggle that grew within the field as the music became defined and better known.

Besides the growing pains that all institutions and artistic movements go through, black choral singing confronted a socio-political division, specifically the politics of social identity. "And Sing" captures the resistance and rebellion of the so called "educated Blacks" who found great "distaste of the servitude" present in the music. For this group, the Negro Spiritual was a link to hideous acts and memories. They cringed at the improper English pronunciation found in the lyrics. These factors and others, they felt, boxed them in and held them back in society.

Here's a fascinating and revealing story of an historic art form that attempted to maintain and forgo its historical ethnicity — both with mixed results. ATC Co-Host Michele Norris hosts and is the steady, forward-moving presence throughout the interweaving of music, history, sociology and the thoughtful contemplation this series will likely inspire in your listeners. It is also a remarkable example of radio craft.

There are five hour-long programs in the series. Each program contains a repackaged 5 minute module version, each recommended for its comprehensive story telling, history and its strong musical and emotional force. You might consider running Part 1 and 3 in their entirety and insert the five modules at a specifically scheduled time throughout a week or during the entire month.

Or, you can run the entire series. But, if you choose just one of the hour-long versions, "And Sing" is the one.

I love it when a musician, radio producer or expert of any kind can take a nerdy-insider rant, likely of no life changing relevance in the real world, and give it a fresh non-nerd take.

In "Recorded Live," Sarah Fishko makes a fresh, thoughtful and especially musical case for the live, unedited recording — untouched by a record producer, music manager or "censor" in search of the perfect recording-performance.

In Fishko's own quest for authenticity before accuracy, she questions our need to correct and fiddle and raises nonthreatening points about our willingness to manipulate and, therefore be manipulated, inside and beyond the recorded music listening world.

Not the same old rant, "Recorded Live" is thoughtful, inventive and convincing essay deserves consideration for your local news or arts mag show, and beyond for its enjoyment-entertainment values and its stunning music mix.