Covid started and we ended up wearing masks. I really never owned a mask before but now I have a box of them in the house and many more in my car. So of course I had to do a show on masks -- not only the type I have in my box, but the masks we wear to present ourselves to the world or to hide behind.
Great songs will take us on the musical journey of masks.
Many, many questions this time! (Some carried over to the next show.)
Gardening for butterflies,
hanging baskets for coastal zones,
time to plant brassicas (cabbage-family) and a winter garden,
persimmon trees struggling to establish,
tomatoes that didn't do well, and more.
To send in questions, brags, comments, or commendations; write to Don Shor and Lois Richter at DavisGardenShow@gmail.com
David Hosley had led a very full life. Lois could have interviewed him about many many different things and filled up a show -- his long media career (starting at age 12!), being a renowned investigative reporter, teaching at various colleges and universities, UC administration, managing LOTS of radio and tv stations, producing six documentaries, training journalists in ethics, heading non-profits, talking about the history of migration into California and the challenges of life in the San Joaquin valley, and sharing thoughts on community, economy, social assumptions, and why people work after retirement. As I say, we COULD have filled up an hour on any of those. Instead, because we met working together on a project of the Davis Genealogy Club, we started with family history and went from there.
So how do I know all those other things about David Hosley? We actually touch on them all during this show! Jam-packed and fully loaded, this episode is definitely a keeper.
The Capeman is a musical play with music by Paul Simon, and book and lyrics by Simon and Derek Walcott, based on the life of convicted murderer Salvador Agrón. The play opened at the Marquis Theatre in 1998 to poor reviews and ran for 68 performances. A blend of doo-wop, gospel, and Latin music, it received Tony Award nominations for Best Original Score, Best Orchestrations and Best Scenic Design. Renoly Santiago received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical. Ednita Nazario won the Theater World Award for her performance.
In the first half of the show, we featured new music from Watchhouse, I See Hawks In LA, Big Red Machine and Dean Owens, as well as a classic track from The Young Tradition. The morality tale "Lyke Wake Dirge" is the subject of the most recent episode of the innovative podcast "Old Tunes Fresh Takes."
Then we spoke with Joe and Pamela Gregg Craven about their efforts to help (re)foster community through the musical events they have been organizing at Ruhstaller, a new hop farm in Dixon. Currently the Cravens are bringing music to Ruhstaller on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays -- see the farm's upcoming events.
Tonight on Jazz After Dark: melodies by Cole Porter, performed by Ella Fitzgerald, Sidney Bechet, Artie Shaw, King Cole Trio, Benny Carter & Oscar Peterson Trio, Maynard Ferguson, Dorothy Donegan, Coleman Hawkins, Erroll Garner, Al Hirt, Mose Allison, Oscar Peterson, Bireli Lagrene, and Django Reinhardt with Stéphane Grappelli.
Why do we kiss? Let's explore this with the aid of some mighty fine tunes, on the latest edition (Aug. 27) of Listening Lyrics.
Today we have more information about watering in a drought, plus:
and more.
[Lois was on vacation, so Don wrote this terse description.]
[Photo is of a cycad with its reproductive "cone" sprouting.]
The Irish (and British) love for Americana music (i.e. North American country, folk, and blues) has deep roots, stretching back to waves of immigration in the 18th and 19th centuries. Young Cork-based singer-songwriter John Blek (pictured here) recorded his 2019 album "Thistle and Thorn" in studios in Clonakilty, Ireland as well as Lousiville, Ky. The latter sessions -- which featured co-vocals from Joan Shelly -- produced the song "The Body," featured on today's show.
And Don Everly -- who died this week at 84 -- and his brother Phil were beloved on those shamrock shores: we also featured their version of "Rose Connolly" (aka "Down In The Willow Garden") as recorded for the great 1991 BBC box set "Bringing It All Back Home."
Also on today's show: new music from Amanda Anne Platt and The Honeycutters, Joshua Burnside and Laura Quirke, A.J. Lee and Joaquin Cooder. And much more!
Tonight on Jazz After Dark it’s 1930s swing, and then a vocal set: Duke Ellington, Jimmy Lunceford, Chick Webb, Benny Goodman; Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Doris Day, Buddy Greco, Ella Fitzgerald, Eiji Kitamura and Cedar Walton.
