WNYC's Fishko Files

The Rite of Spring

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 23 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

WNYC’s Sara Fishko has been sifting through endless recordings and recollections of Stravinksy’s The Rite of Spring. As we work our way up to its celebrated centenary on May 29th, some recommendations for listening…in this edition of Fishko Files.

For more on "The Rite of Spring," check out Culture Shock 1913, in which Sara Fishko explores an unsettling, shocking era of sweeping changes and the ways in which it mirrors our own uncertain age.

To learn more about the recordings heard in this edition of Fishko Files...

Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps: 100^th Anniversary Collector’s Edition, including an audio documentary on The Rite, is available on Amazon.
Leonard Bernstein Conducts Stravinsky and Sibelius, the DVD mentioned in this Fishko Files, is available here.
Check out pianist Jon Kimura Parker's Rite, here.
Leonard Bernstein conducting The Rite of Spring, from 1958, has been recently re-mastered and is now available on CD here.

WNYC Production Credits...

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

Managing Editor, WNYC News: Karen Frillmann

Liberace's Very Extreme Makeover

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Think: grand piano, candelabra and sequined suit. As a new Liberace film premieres, WNYC’s Sara Fishko reminds us of his beginnings in this episode of Fishko Files…

Liberace performing Chopin in the 1950s.

Edward R. Murrow interviewed Liberace in 1956 on "Person to Person." On the program Liberace showed off his custom-built home, where he lived with his mother.

"Edward R. Murrow, the newsman celebrated for establishing TV journalism's gold standard, felt such disgust after interviewing Liberace that he 'stalked out of the studio to a nearby bar where he had three scotches before he was able to utter another word.'"
-Darden Asbury Pyron quoting Edward R. Murrow's biographer in "Liberace: An American Boy"

Edward Rothstein, the New York Times' Cultural Critic at Large, wrote about Liberace in this July 2, 1984 New Republic article, "The King of Kitsch." You can read his article, here.

For more on Liberace...

Liberace: The Ultimate Entertainer box set.
Behind the Candelabra premieres on HBO on May 26th. For more information, visit HBO's website.

WNYC Production Credits...

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

WNYC Newsroom Editor: Karen Frillmann

Rostropovich (1927-2007)

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

This Saturday, a special concert celebrates the late Mstislav Rostropovich. Music Director Rostropovich made his reputation in America and the world as a cellist, and WNYC’s Sara Fishko spoke to cello-players for this edition of Fishko Files…

WQXR will broadcast "A Tribute to Slava" on Saturday at 7:30 PM. For more information, visit their website.
Want to see the performance live? Visit Carnegie Hall's website for ticketing information.

WNYC Production Credits...

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

WNYC Newsroom Editor: Karen Frillmann

Hazel Scott as Herself

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 -0400

WNYC’s Sara Fishko explores the life and work of the pianist and singer Hazel Scott in this Fishko Files from 2009.

WNYC Production Credits...

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

WNYC Newsroom Editor: Karen Frillmann

Films of '59

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

WNYC’s Sara Fishko looks back to the films of 1959. From romantic comedies to sword-and-sandal spectacles, the films of that year spoke volumes about what was happening off screen (produced in 2009).

WNYC Production Credits...

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

WNYC Newsroom Editor: Karen Frillmann

Shirley Clarke

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Tomorrow in New York, another of the off-beat films of Shirley Clarke sees the light of day. WNYC’s Sara Fishko considers the trail-blazing filmmaker, in this Fishko Files report.

Shirley Clarke's independent films in the 50s and 60s were challenging and rough around the edges. Her subjects ranged from movement and dance to thornier pictures about the underside of New York. In the last few years Dennis Doros and Amy Heller of Milestone Films have launched Project Shirley. Their mission is to restore and re-release all of Clarke's films.

Their latest restoration is Clarke's ambiguous, intimate documentary Portrait of Jason (1967), which opens at the IFC Center on Friday, April 19th.

Portrait of Jason (1967)

The Cool World (1964)

Mainstream Moment for Shirley Clarke

Clarke's work didn't always focus on fringe characters. In 1963 she directed a documentary on one of America's most beloved poets, Robert Frost. Shirley Clarke received an Academy Award for directing "Robert Frost: A Lover's Quarrel with the World."

“Shirley did consider [it an honor] that she won an Academy Award for this film and even went to Los Angeles to the Awards. She sat just behind Danny Kaye.” - Wendy Clarke, Shirley's daughter

How Clarke Was Seen

By now the film business is more open to women. But in the early 60s, when Clarke was working, she and Maya Deren were the two reigning female directors. They were both experimental filmmakers, but they carved out different territory for themselves: Deren had a downtown audience, Shirley's audience was a little more uptown.

A New York Times feature story from August 26, 1962, titled "Woman Director Makes the Scene," profiled Clarke before the release of "The Connection."

The author, Eugene Archer, writes...

"At a time when Hollywood’s attention is so focused on the spectacle of Elizabeth Taylor barging down the Nile, New York’s small but dedicated movie colony has been fiercely talking up a forthcoming film of a different hue. The film is Shirley Clarke’s 'The Connection,' a small-scale, black and white, uncompromisingly realistic study of dope addiction put together at an infinitesimal cost by a handful of little-known but enthusiastic partisans from the off-Broadway stage and screen."

Clarke goes on to comment on the present and future of the indie film scene...

“'Now…I want to break away from the other conventions – the idea of heavy production, artificial lighting, all the slickness that plagues the movies. I want to just pick up a camera and go out and shoot the world as it really is. There must be forty or fifty others like me in the country, with a desire for self-expression and no urge to move to Hollywood and make soap operas. We’re creating a movie equivalent of off-Broadway, fresh and experimental and personal. The lovely thing is that I’m alive at just the time when I can do this - - that everything is happening right now.’”

For more on Shirley Clarke and Project Shirley, visit ProjectShirley.com or Milestone Films' website.

WNYC Production Credits...

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

WNYC Newsroom Editor: Karen Frillmann

Jazz Companion

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

April has been officially named "Jazz Appreciation Month." So in this edition, we offer Sara Fishko's exploration of "The Oxford Companion to Jazz" (from 2005).

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

WNYC Newsroom Editor: Karen Frillmann

Piels Campaign

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

As the new Mad Men season begins, WNYC’s Sara Fishko looks back to some “soft sell” advertising of the 1950s. Here is a new! Improved! Fishko Files…

Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding -- better known as the celebrated duo Bob and Ray, two of the biggest names in comedy -- are the voices behind Bert and Harry Piel. Their working relationship spanned over 50 years, and across several media: They got their start in radio, later appearing on television, Broadway and in the pages of Mad Magazine. Bob and Ray's success with the Piels Brothers campaign allowed them to start their own voice-over company, Goulding Elliott Greybar.

Ray died on March 24, 1990, but Bob continued touring in a duo with his son, the actor Chris Elliott. They appeared together on episodes of Newhart, Late Night with David Letterman, among others. Bob is still very much around, and talked to us about his working relationship with Ray.

For a classic example of the 1950s advertising style, see this commercial for Old Gold Cigarettes.

Read Larry Oakner's "And Now a Few Laughs from our Sponsor: The Best of 50 Years of Radio Commercials"

Additional thanks to ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive for the use of the Piels commercial stills

Special thanks to Larry Josephson. For more Bob and Ray (from the Piels Campaign and elsewhere) visit Larry's website, BobandRay.com

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

WNYC Newsroom Editor: Karen Frillmann

People Without Papers

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

If you’re reading this, you’re looking at a computer screen, a cell phone, a tablet, or some other powered-by-electricity, hooked-up to the internet, technological device. Just 50 years ago, in 1963, the internet didn’t yet exist, and broadcast news was nowhere near the 24-hour coverage of today. People largely received their news through newspapers. And, 50 years ago, New York City was just emerging from a 114 day newspaper blackout.

Nowadays the news of a lack of newspapers is, well, old news. But, at the time of the strike in 1962, newspapers, and newspaper readership, were thriving in New York. While radio and television carried news, the broadcasts weren’t of the same breadth and depth as daily newspapers. It wasn’t until later in 1963 that network television extended their daily news broadcasts from the standard 15 minutes per day to 30 minutes. Papers, in 1962-63, were the source of news and also cultural currency. Papers served a need, filled a void, and made the 114 news-less days dark ones for New York City.

1962 Universal Newsreel Film Footage

Universal Newsreel Film Footage
New York is suffering a news blackout with nine major newspapers strikebound. Seven craft unions, led by the International Typographical Union, struck at four plants. And the other five newspapers closed down in sympathy. The publishers and the unions are far apart in negotiations. And it appears that newspaper offices will be silent far longer than in the 19 day Christmas season strike of four years ago. In that stoppage the publishers lost 25 million dollars and 19,000 employees lost five million in wages. Out of town newspapers are selling like hotcakes to news-starved New Yorkers who normally read papers to the tune of 6 million a day. Merchants say that the blackout of advertising spells economic disaster for many stores.

No News, Not Good News

The 114 day strike was preceded by several shorter-lived strikes in the city – newspaper and otherwise. Labor union politics was nothing knew by ‘62. Labor unions, which began forming in the United States in the 1800s, strengthened and faltered at the whim of political forces and, save for The New Deal and FDR’s support of unions, existed under a chronic fight for resources. A series of shorter-lived NYC strikes led up to the ’62-’63 strike: a 1945 strike shuttered newspapers for 17 days, the 1958 Christmas season strike shut down major daily news production for 19 days, and several others.

Who keeps my paper from the door
I abhor
It gives me early morning blues
To miss the news

-Margaret Fishback, on the cover of The New York Herald Tribune, at the conclusion of the 1953 NYC newspaper strike

Cultural commentator Gilbert Seldes remarked on his long-running WNYC program “The Lively Arts” in 1953: “City dwellers without newspapers breathe an ominous air, as though the smog were descending.” Not a light sentiment considering the country’s recent emergence from World War II, and dip into The Cold War.

People without Papers, The Study

News, and the lack thereof, was on the minds of Columbia University’s Journalism school when, in 1958, a labor dispute caused all seven major New York city daily newspapers to suspend publication for nineteen days. A fleet of young J-school students took to all five boroughs, plus Connecticut and Long Island, to ask readers what they missed about newspapers during newspaper strikes. The comments are dramatic.

I’m utterly lost
It’s been just awful
Being without papers is like being without shoes.
I just can’t seem to relax. I used to come home from work and relax with a paper. I can’t relax anymore. It’s terrible.
I miss the gossip, the dirt. It’s like taking part of my life away.
It’s pretty lonesome without papers. I feel a great void.
I just don’t feel right, that’s all. I can’t put my finger on it, but it upsets me.
I sleep on the sofa to make the time go before work. I work nights. Usually I lay down and read the paper. Now I just sleep.

All from a nineteen day strike.

Four years later, The Big Six printers union called the ’62-’63 strike – this union’s first official strike since 1883 - led by a new, willful president named Bertram Powers. Powers led the strike – first in a short-term strike against The Daily News in November 1962, which was resolved with an $8/week wage increase over one year. But, on December 4^th, 1962, the Big Six was back, representing nine major newspapers, demanding a $38.82 increase over two years. Powers, a relatively new president of the Big Six, wouldn’t budge on this number. The strike call was confined to printers at five papers, including the Times. Four other papers struck in solidarity. And so, starting on December 4^th, 1962, New York City was largely without news, for sixteen weeks.

The Daily News on Strike, 1962

The 1962-63 Newspaper Strike, and its Aftermath

There was more to the strike than just money. As with the current newspaper crisis, the veil of technological advancement threatened the jobs of long-time printers: “The greatest fear of the printers’ leader, Bertram Powers, was that technology would render his union members obsolete,” wrote Arthur Gelb in “City Room,” his memoir about working at the Times. There was a lot at stake for the future of journalism in the 1962-1963 newspaper strike.

On February 21, 1963, 75-days into the strike, with millions of dollars of in advertising and workers’ revenue lost, and few signs of an end, President Kennedy spoke of the strike specifically in a Washington address.

1963 JFK Address

“The situation has long since passed the point of public toleration…This is a situation which is bad for the union movement all over the country. Bad for the newspaper managements. And bad for the New York citizens, more than five million of them, who are newspaper readers.”

Kennedy continued his concern for progress of the ’62-’63 strike. Also recorded during this time were calls between Kennedy and strike negotiators.

JFK Phone Conversations Re: Newspaper Strike

Negotiator: However I thought you’d like to know, very much off the record, that things look fairly good.
Kennedy: Yeah, yeah
Negotiator: I think the circumstances for a settlement are better now than they ever were
Kennedy: Yeah, yeah
Negotiator: And I think it started with your statement, actually.

But the strike marched on for 39 more days. Mayor Robert Wagner got involved, as well as labor negotiator Theodore W. Kheel. Together the negotiated an end to the strike, with newspaper workers receiving $12.63/week in wage and benefit increases. Although banned from appearing in person, the Mayor sent a letter endorsing the revised union packages.

On April 1, 1963, the day newspaper publication resumed, the New York Times published a comprehensive article: “A Step-by-Step Account.” It opens: “This is a history of failure – the failure of men and machinery, of politics and personalities, of miscalculated maneuvers and misjudged aspirations.”

Early in the 62-63 strike, George McDonald, president of the Allied Printing Council of Greater New York spoke on a regular WNYC program, "Labor Press Conference" on the strike. Audio courtesy of NYC Municipal Archives.

George McDonald, Labor Press Conference

Question: Mr Macdonald the question always comes out, the man on the street, that one or two or three of the papers in New York City will fold as the result of this strike if it’s prolonged. Should these papers fold, should one paper fold, what will happen to the printers – the pressman – the mailers – employed by that newspaper?

Macdonald: To answer that, I really doubt that any papers in New York City will fold because of this strike.

(LONG SILENCE)

Despite the predictions to the contrary, the 1962-63 strike was credited with closing four of New York’s nine major daily newspapers, costing a total of $100 million dollars in lost advertising revenue, and $5 million in lost wages for the 19,000 striking workers. NYC newspaper readership plummeted after the strike. Some sources say it didn’t return until JFK’s assassination later on in 1963.

Just 50 years ago today NYC newspapers were eagerly anticipating the familiar, if long-absent, “thump” of their Sunday papers landing at their doors. Today, as newspapers seem to be going out of business on a weekly basis, the tangible paper may be falling out of favor, but people, as ever, still need news - even if they’re receiving it online, as people without papers.

Special thanks to the WNYC Archives for providing some of the audio in this article.

The Way We Watch

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

A new film has WNYC's Sara Fishko thinking about so-called "movie-going." Here's a Fishko Files report.

Room 237 is playing at IFC and at the Film Society of Lincoln Center starting tomorrow, Friday 3/29.

Watching Room 237, a film exploring theories about the meaning of The Shining, got us thinking about the way current media allows a new kind of scrutiny.

One example: Frank Delaney’s podcast Re:Joyce deconstructs James Joyce’s Ulysses in five-minute podcasts. Check out Re:Joyce, here.

WNYC Production Credits...

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister
Associate Producer: Laura Mayer
Enterprise Editor, WNYC News: Karen Frillmann

Jon Hendricks

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

In jazz, says WNYC’s Sara Fishko, one thing leads to another. For vocalist Jon Hendricks, who will perform in our area next week, it was some great instrumental jazz solos that led him to make an unforgettable leap into song. Here is the next Fishko Files…

Jon Hendricks will perform at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey on Thursday, March 28th. For more information, visit their website.

Vocalese lyricists work to find poetic, evocative words to go with solos and instrumental music, originally created by sax, trumpet and piano players, etc. It may sometimes sound like scat singing, but scat is largely improvised and seldom uses real lyrics. Vocalese uses precisely-worded lyrics that tell a story.

Lambert, Hendricks and Ross (Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross) popularized the vocal jazz form called vocalese (though others had tried it before)*. But, until LHR came along, it was far from a well-known genre. Their execution of vocalese was so dazzling and virtuosic – the words by Hendricks seemed so inevitable, natural to the music’s tune -- that vocalese became a phenomenon.

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - Avenue C

LHR’s first album, “Sing a Song of Basie,” was a huge success, and launched the group to the top of the Billboard jazz chart. The album was meant to be sung by a fleet of hired studio singers. “‘Sing a Song of Basie’ was a daredevil piece of work,” Jon Hendricks said. “It had never been done. And we didn't know what we were doing, actually.” LHR’s attempts with the studio singers failed, so the trio re-recorded all the vocal parts themselves. Over-dubbing the album worked much better. Later, the group preferred to abandon overdubbing and perform as a trio.

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - "Four"

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross used a variety of jazz solos in their work. One in particular, Miles Davis’ solo in Four, from their album “The Swingers!” (1958), caused a good-hearted scuffle between Hendricks and Davis.

Jon Hendricks

Right: Jon Hendricks on September 9th, 2011. Photo by Sara Fishko

Jon Hendricks: “I was playing up in Toronto. And it was a steak house. The jazz festival came to town. Miles was in it. So I had ordered me a New York steak. And they brought it to me and I had the knife and fork. And Miles comes in the front door. And he comes over and I said, 'Hey!' I stood up. I said, 'Miles!' He sits down in my chair, picks up my knife and fork, and proceeds to eat my steak. So I sat down next to him and I watched him eat my steak. He ate the whole thing. I said, 'Man, you ate my steak!' He said, 'You messed with my solos!' So he ate my steak."

Lambert Hendricks and Ross had a great six years. Annie Ross left the group in 1962. Dave Lambert died in a car accident in 1966. Despite the end of their collaboration, LHR had an impact on vocalese that cannot be understated. Wall Street Journal writer Will Friedwald explains in his 2010 book A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singer: “Before Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, there were certain preconceived notions of what the human voice could do and what instruments were supposed to do. LHR showed how an instrumental, big band performance could be translated into vocal terms – not only with voices, but with words. In the process, they became the greatest jazz vocal group that ever was.”

* Before LHR vocalese had been explored by some other musicians. Among them were Eddie Jefferson, Babs Gonzales and King Pleasure. In particular, King Pleasure's “I’m in the Mood for Love," which came to be known as Moody’s Mood for Love after James Moody's sax solo.

Playlist for "Jon Hendricks"

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. “Cloud Burst” (1955-1957). Sing a Song of Basie. Verve, 2001.
Art Tatum. “Tiger Rag” (1932). The Art of Tatum. Living Era, 1995.
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. “Four Brothers” (1955-1957). Sing a Song of Basie. Verve, 2001.
Charlie Parker. “Cool Blues.” Charlie Parker 1945 – 1947. Classics Records, 1998.
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. “Everybody’s Boppin’” (1959). Everybody’s Boppin. CBS, 1989.
King Pleasure. “I’m in the Mood for Love” (1955). Moody’s Mood for Love. Blue Note, 1992.
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. “Everyday” (1955-1957). Sing a Song of Basie. Verve, 2001.
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. “Avenue C” (1955-1957). Sing a Song of Basie. Verve, 2001.
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. “One O’Clock Jump” (1955-1957). Sing a Song of Basie. Verve, 2001.
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. “In a Mellow Tone” (1956). Lambert Hendricks & Ross Sing Ellington. The Hottest New Group in Jazz. Sony, 1996.

WNYC Production Credits

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

WNYC Newsroom Editor: Gisele Regatao

Sinking Into Success: Playwright Clifford Odets

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Previews for The Big Knife begin on March 22nd. It opens April 16th. Click here for more information.

By 1940 the playwright Clifford Odets already had a Broadway hit (Awake and Sing!), a Hollywood screen credit (The General Died at Dawn) and his face on the cover of Time Magazine. In February of that year he wrote a note to himself in his journal: “Do you know I’m beginning to think you are a very ordinary fellow. You are vain, dishonest, morally lax, you are proud, you are lazy and self-indulgent. Aren’t you really sinking deeper every week into the feather bed of a successful career? Read this again in a week. In another week, again.”

At 19 Odets was in Greenwich Village trying to make it as an actor. After playing bit parts in the Theater Guild he fell under the spell of Harold Clurman and the legendary Lee Strasberg, soon joining the Group Theater. It was there that he was inspired to write his own plays. In 1935 Odets’ rousing, one-act labor drama Waiting for Lefty became an instant hit.

That same year Awake and Sing! hit Broadway, and Hollywood came calling in earnest. The conflicted Odets wrestled with his commitment to New York theater and progressive politics, and decided to go west.

After years of working on screenplays in Hollywood, Odets wrote the play The Big Knife in 1949 – taking Hollywood as his subject and creating a memorably-villainous studio head. Odets wrote the scathing play at the height of McCarthyism during which he, and the star of The Big Knife John Garfield, were eventually called in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Later Odets’ screenplay for Sweet Smell of Success depicted another despicable villain in the notorious J.J. Hunsecker.

Odets died in 1963, torn to the very end.

WNYC Production Credits...

Mix Engineer: Paul Schneider
Associate Producer: Laura Mayer
Enterprise Editor, WNYC News: Karen Frillmann

Ohlsson on Chopin

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Pianist Garrick Ohlsson has had a life-long connection with Chopin’s music. Ohlsson talks Chopin with WNYC’s Sara Fishko, in this edition of Fishko Files…

WNYC Production Credits...

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

Managing Editor, WNYC News: Karen Frillmann

Real Live Jazz

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

WNYC’s Sara Fishko has been listening to some new, old recordings--which have just been unearthed. She has this Fishko Files report.

You can purchase Jazzhaus recordings here.

Talk about treasure troves of archival jazz tapes, have you heard Fishko Files’ “Jazz Loft Anthology?"

The Jazz Loft Anthology

From 1957 to 1965, the master photographer W. Eugene Smith had a studio and darkroom in a dilapidated building on 6^th Avenue north of 28^th street in Manhattan. The Jazz Loft, as it became known, had already become a favored spot for jam sessions by hundreds of jazz players of the day. During his years there, Smith became obsessed with the goings-on in the building, musical and otherwise, and he taped and photographed them with an unimaginable thoroughness, capturing thousands of hours of sound as well as tens of thousands of images. The sounds and stories that emerged from those years are the basis for The Jazz Loft Anthology, a ten-part radio series now heard across four one-hour programs.

Hear the whole story of the Jazz Loft years in The Jazz Loft Anthology.

For rights reasons, these programs are only available for streaming online.

Hour 1

The first hour of The Jazz Loft Anthology introduces the incredible Loft story – beginning with Eugene Smith, the famed Life photographer, who documented the life lived within the Loft. We hear extended selections from the tapes themselves: Smith’s recorded conversations, discussion between Zoot Sims and Jimmy Stevenson, Roland Kirk revealing his aspirations within mic-shot, and a lonely night when nothing was happening, but the tape was still rolling!

Hour 2

This hour of The Jazz Loft Anthology takes a closer look at the musicians who lived and played within the Loft. First, admiration and love for Hall Overton spills out of those who remember him. Overton taught countless students in the Loft, where he lived for a time, ignoring musical boundaries to teach both classical and jazz (the classical musicians appreciated his spontaneity; the jazz players admired his training and skill). From there, we hear from the musicians who eked out a living in and around The Jazz Loft, nursing a Coke for hours so they could hear their colleagues play on 52^nd Street. Musicians Teddy Charles, Jim Hall, Bill Crow, Dick Katz, and Phil Woods idolized the Loft musicians, only to eventually have their lives become entwined with their heroes --- both in and outside of the Loft.

Hour 3

Hour Three of The Jazz Loft Anthology backs away from the specific tales of the Loft musicians to look at the overall picture of the musical landscape of the time and the Flower District itself. We learn how this non-residential neighborhood bustled furiously during the day and emptied out after 6pm, leaving the night wide open for music-making of all kinds without complaint. We hear from people whose businesses were near the Loft, and also from the musicians who came and went. Later on in the hour, The “Crown Jewels” of the Smith tapes: the arranging and rehearsal sessions spanning a three-week period in 1959 when Thelonious Monk and Hall Overton were preparing the Monk Big Band for the February Town Hall concert. And finally, we hear even more selections of tape from The Jazz Loft.

Hour 4

Hour four of The Jazz Loft Anthology features extended listening to notable jam sessions from within the Loft, with Zoot Sims, Sunny Clarke, Chick Corea, and Dave McKenna.

WNYC Production Credits for Real Live Jazz...

Mix Engineer: Paul Schneider
Associate Producer: Laura Mayer
Enterprise Editor, WNYC News: Karen Frillmann

Edith Head

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The Motion Picture Academy has recently created an official “Costume Designer’s Branch” of the organization, for the first time. That seems a good reason to hear more about legendary Costume Designer Edith Head, whom WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us is still the most Oscar-nominated, Academy Award-winning woman in Oscar history. Here is this Fishko Files...

Here's a sampling of Edith Head's famous designs.

Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday," 1953.

Grace Kelly in "To Catch a Thief," 1955.

Left: "Samson and Delilah," 1949.
Right: "The Lady Eve, " 1941.

Costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis on Edith Head's design for Bette Davis in All About Eve, and how it came off the mannequin and onto the screen very quickly.

More from the speakers featured in this week's Fishko Files...

Fashion and costume designer Bob Mackie has designed for icons such as Diana Ross, Cher and Liza Minnelli. The "sultan of sequins," as Mackie's sometimes called, has received nine Emmy Awards and three Academy Award nominations.

Costume Designer and costume design historian Deborah Nadoolman Landis created Michael Jackson's red Thriller jacket (1983) and Harrison Ford's iconic fedora and jacket for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), among other famous costumes. She is the David C. Copley Chair, and Director of the Copley Center for Costume Design at the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television. Her most recent book is Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design.

Special thanks...

Selected audio in this feature came courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
To hear the complete Edith Head interview (1975) conducted by freelance film critic and historian Tony Macklin, visit his website.

WNYC Production Credits...

Mix Engineer: Wayne Shulmister & Rob Weisberg

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

Managing Editor, WNYC News: Karen Frillmann

All About Encores

WNYC, New York Public Radio — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Classical concerts have their own rhythm and their own rituals. As WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us, one of them is the encore.

"Encore" comes from the French word meaning “again," and may have originated spontaneously -- perhaps from audiences demanding more at the end of a concert.

Indeed, it’s always a treat to have an artist play something extra at the end of a concert. But encores weren’t always in this spot. In earlier times they were more like a kind of instant replay – a favorite operatic aria, or a favorite section of the music would be played again for the amusement of the audience, sometimes right in the middle of the concert.

Hilary Hahn's upcoming performances, featuring her winning encore submissions

2/24/13

Newark, NJ
New Jersey Performing Arts Center

2/25/13

Princeton, NJ
McCarter Theater, Princeton University

More info...

Special thanks to the 92^nd Street Y, which provided the live recording of Marc-André Hamelin's concert.

WNYC Production Credits...

Mix Engineer: Paul Schneider

Associate Producer: Laura Mayer

Managing Editor, WNYC News: Karen Frillmann

WNYC's Fishko Files

The Rite of Spring

For more on "The Rite of Spring," check out Culture Shock 1913, in which Sara Fishko explores an unsettling, shocking era of sweeping changes and the ways in which it mirrors our own uncertain age.

To learn more about the recordings heard in this edition of Fishko Files...

Liberace's Very Extreme Makeover

Liberace performing Chopin in the 1950s.

Rostropovich (1927-2007)

Hazel Scott as Herself

Films of '59

Shirley Clarke

Mainstream Moment for Shirley Clarke

How Clarke Was Seen

Jazz Companion

Piels Campaign

People Without Papers

1962 Universal Newsreel Film Footage

No News, Not Good News

Who keeps my paper from the door
I abhor
It gives me early morning blues
To miss the news

-Margaret Fishback, on the cover of The New York Herald Tribune, at the conclusion of the 1953 NYC newspaper strike

People without Papers, The Study

The 1962-63 Newspaper Strike, and its Aftermath

1963 JFK Address

JFK Phone Conversations Re: Newspaper Strike

George McDonald, Labor Press Conference

The Way We Watch

Jon Hendricks

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - Avenue C

Jon Hendricks

Sinking Into Success: Playwright Clifford Odets

Previews for The Big Knife begin on March 22nd. It opens April 16th. Click here for more information.

Ohlsson on Chopin

Real Live Jazz

Talk about treasure troves of archival jazz tapes, have you heard Fishko Files’ “Jazz Loft Anthology?"

The Jazz Loft Anthology

Edith Head

All About Encores

Hilary Hahn's upcoming performances, featuring her winning encore submissions

WNYC's Fishko Files

The Rite of Spring

For more on "The Rite of Spring," check out Culture Shock 1913, in which Sara Fishko explores an unsettling, shocking era of sweeping changes and the ways in which it mirrors our own uncertain age.

To learn more about the recordings heard in this edition of Fishko Files...

Liberace's Very Extreme Makeover

Liberace performing Chopin in the 1950s.

Rostropovich (1927-2007)

Hazel Scott as Herself

Films of '59

Shirley Clarke

Mainstream Moment for Shirley Clarke

How Clarke Was Seen

Jazz Companion

Piels Campaign

People Without Papers

1962 Universal Newsreel Film Footage

No News, Not Good News

Who keeps my paper from the doorI abhorIt gives me early morning bluesTo miss the news

-Margaret Fishback, on the cover of The New York Herald Tribune, at the conclusion of the 1953 NYC newspaper strike

People without Papers, The Study

The 1962-63 Newspaper Strike, and its Aftermath

1963 JFK Address

JFK Phone Conversations Re: Newspaper Strike

George McDonald, Labor Press Conference

The Way We Watch

Jon Hendricks

Lambert, Hendricks & Ross - Avenue C

Jon Hendricks

Sinking Into Success: Playwright Clifford Odets

Previews for The Big Knife begin on March 22nd. It opens April 16th. Click here for more information.

Ohlsson on Chopin

Real Live Jazz

Talk about treasure troves of archival jazz tapes, have you heard Fishko Files’ “Jazz Loft Anthology?"

The Jazz Loft Anthology

Edith Head

All About Encores

Hilary Hahn's upcoming performances, featuring her winning encore submissions

Who keeps my paper from the door
I abhor
It gives me early morning blues
To miss the news