Author: Sarah

Jessica Graae

Sarah
Jessica Graae

Jessica Graae

Today on the Music Room, we talked to Jessica Graae, a folk singer and songwriter whose latest album, Sea Dream, was released November 2015, and who performed its song “Sea’s Siren” on December 5, 2015, at the World Café in Philadelphia, PA. Operating from Philadelphia along the Eastern coast from Maryland to New York City, she has won 6 2013 WSTW Hometown Hero Homey Awards nominations, the 2013 Philadelphia Folk Factory contest, and placed as a finalist in the 2012 and 2014 Delmarva Folk Hero contests.

Her guitar music juxtaposes the dark, haunting, and even psychedelic with the lyrical and wistful, with similarities to the work of Jill Andrews, Sarah McLachlan, and Sufjan Stevens. Her singing voice, described as “angelic,” also bears resemblance to that of Joni Mitchell.

After all, Jessica Graae has an extensive singing career in classical music ranging from opera to musical theater and sacred music, and has offered vocal lessons for over 20 years to singers of all levels and styles, including actors. She is a member of the NATS (National Association for Teachers of Singing), and also performed the song “Wait by the Water” for the 2013 independent film “Yes, Your Tide is Cold and Dark, Sir“.

Jessica Graae and Mandorichard

Jessica Graae and Mandorichard

For a chance to hear her music, click on the link below for her radio performance here at WVUD, and for a live performance, she will be performing on Saturday 12/19 at 7pm at the Bus Stop Music Café, Pitman NJ, and Sunday 12/20 at 7pm at Andrea Clearfield Salon, Philadelphia, PA.

The Interview

Coming soon!

The Music

Artist / Song / Source and Notes
Jessica Graae / Sea Siren / Live performance at WVUD, 12/15/15
Jessica Graae / Tomb in the Sea / Live performance at WVUD, 12/15/15
Jessica Graae / Wait by the Water / Live performance at WVUD, 12/15/15

Russ Barenberg: Musical Dualities

Sarah
Russ Barenberg

Russ Barenberg

Today on the Music Room, we talked to Russ Barenberg, described by songwriter Jon Weisberger as “perfectly blend[ing] a mastery of roots music tradition with melodic originality.”  His music is exceptionally lyrical, relying primarily on composition rather than tempo to provide the energy, and incorporating various genres and instruments.

This energy and collaborative spirit carries over into his own life.  Starting in 1970 on the guitar with the bluegrass group Country Cooking in Ithaca, NY, by 1977 he’d joined the electric string band Carried Away on the electric guitar, and in 1979 moved to Boston and joined the triple fiddle band Fiddle Fever, but not before recording his debut solo album Cowboy Calypsocalypso.

While he settled in Nashville by 1986, he has only continued traveling, visiting workshops throughout the United States and Europe as a teacher and educational author, and he has participated in Transatlantic Sessions, an international collaboration by artists in both the US and Europe, produced in Scotland, and producing TV episodes, live performances, and series albums.

Speaking of television, he also did extensive work in Ken Burns features, including the critically acclaimed film The Civil War, and his most recent solo album When at Last, with the single “Little Monk,” nominated for a 2008 Grammy (Best Country Instrumental Performance).

 

The Interview

Russ Barenberg
(Recorded live, September 15, 2015; host, Mandorichard)
21:36
20.7 MB

The Music

Artist / Song / Album / Year / Notes
Russ Barenberg / Cowboy Calypso / Cowboy Calypso / 1979 / (Excerpt in podcast)
Jerry Douglas, Russ Barenberg, & Edgar Meyer / The Travels of Mr. Hulot / Skip, Hop, and Wobble / 1993 / (Excerpt in podcast)
Russ Barenberg / Halloween Rehearsal / Halloween Rehearsal / 1987 / (Excerpt in podcast)
Russ Barenberg / Magic Foot / Moving Pictures / 1988 / (Excerpt in podcast)
Russ Barenberg / When at Last / When at Last / 2007 / (Excerpt in podcast)

(Note: Due to copyright considerations, the podcast contains excerpts of the music included in the full radio program.)

Herb Alpert: A Visual Road Trip

Sarah

H&L sitting by Gerry WershHerb Alpert and his wife Lani Hall are certainly living life to the fullest. He has a collection in the ACA Galleries in NYC (2/19-4/14); she’s written her own book, Emotional Memoirs and Short Stories. She’s participated in the latest James Bond film; he’s worked as the producer for Angels in America.

But they definitely met in music; as the co-founder of A&M Records, he signed her group Brasil ’66, where she was the lead singer. And to say they’re still in music would be a massive understatement.

They have both won multiple Grammy Awards, and Herb Alpert, with whom we spoke tonight, has more recently been awarded the National Medal of Arts (2013).

As early as 1962 with The Lonely Bull, his jazz music has been described as visual, taking his listeners on a journey to exotic places. And in his most recent album, In the Mood, his version of “America the Beautiful” incorporates percussion music from all the continents.

We also talked about his brief acting stint with Leonard Nimoy, his new version of the classic “Chatanooga Choo Choo,” the grants offered by the Herb Alpert Foundation, his approach to music throughout his life, and the many roles he’s had in the music business (Did you know he was one of the  co-writers of  Sam Cooke’s “Wonderful World”?).

He and Lani are currently on tour, in a small group with whom they’ve been working for the past 9 years…and they are coming to Delaware.

This Friday, 3/27/15, they will be at the Grand Opera House, in Wilmington. Do. Not. Miss.

The Interview

Herb Alpert
(Recorded 03/23/15, broadcast 3/24/15; host: Mandorichard), 22:27, 21.6 MB.

The Music

The following music is heard in this episode of The Music Room:
The following playlist reflects the radio broadcast. For the podcast, for copyright reasons, all the following songs are excerpts.

  • Artist / Song / Album (or note) / Date / Notes
  • Herb Alpert / Chatanooga Choo Choo / In the Mood / 2014
  • Herb Alpert and Lani Hall / Under my Skin / Anything Goes / 2009
  • Sam Cooke / Wonderful World (Excerpt) / Single / 1959
  • Herb Alpert / When Sunny Gets Blue / In the Mood / 2014

Photo by Gerry Wersh, provided to WVUD by G4 Global Communications