Music from WNYC New York Public Radio

Soundcheck Smackdown: Full-Album Concerts (Soundcheck: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00 GMT

Full-album concerts were a novelty in the concert industry just a decade ago. Now, major touring acts like Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison and Steely Dan are taking the stage to perform their most beloved albums, from start to finish. Today: we debate album concerts in a Soundcheck Smackdown. And: another installment of WNYC's Jazz Loft Project radio series.

"That Was Nice!" (New Sounds: Tuesday, 24 November 2009)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00 GMT

Das war schön! (That was nice!) by the Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin invokes themes by Mozart, drawing on birdsong, freemasonry and parental innuendo in a five-movement concerto for percussion and orchestra. According to the composer’s program notes, the title refers to Mozart’s reaction to his caged bird being able to sing the main theme of the final movement of his 17th piano concerto, although with two small mistakes. Mozart included these mistakes in the entry of this theme in his catalogue of finished pieces, and he added the comment "Das war schön!" (that was nice!). We’ll hear a recording of this work, along with others for percussion and large ensemble by Lou Harrison and Michael Daugherty on this New Sounds program.

The Wingdale Community Singers Return (Spinning On Air: Sunday, 22 November 2009)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:00 GMT

A community of Brooklyn-based songwriters, The Wingdale Community Singers continues the old folk tradition of keenly observed songs about the worlds around us and within us. Comprised of novelist Rick Moody, visual artist Nina Katchadourian, and composers Hannah Marcus and David Grubbs, the band, along with bassist Elyssa Linowes, returns to Spinning On Air to sing songs from their new album "Spirit Duplicator," and talk with host David Garland.

View photos of the session

The Wingdale Community Singers on Spinning On Air in 2005

MySpace

the album Spirit Duplicator

Joshua Bell with Tiempo Libre and Frankie Moreno (Soundcheck: Tuesday, 10 November 2009)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:00 GMT

Violinist Joshua Bell has appeared in the world’s leading concert halls, on the Oscar-winning score to the film The Red Violin, and even in a Washington, D.C. metro station, at the urging of a Washington Post columnist. But his latest recording, At Home With Friends, was inspired by his long-time practice of holding intimate "musical soirées" at his New York residence. Today, Bell joins us in the Greene Space to perform with two collaborators from the album: the hot young Latin band Tiempo Libre and singer-pianist Frankie Moreno.