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Playlist: Women's History Month: Music Specials

Compiled By: PRX Editors

 Credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/niko_si/">flickr_niko_si</a>
Image by: flickr_niko_si 
Curated Playlist

Music for March and beyond.

Also check out our Women's History Month Editors' Picks under 49:00 and Hour Specials.

Curious about how stuff gets on this list?

Featured

100 Years of Doris Day, Jazz Singer

From WFIU | Part of the Afterglow (Jazz and American Popular Song): Specials series | 59:00

Doris Day was a pop star and a film star, but on this Afterglow special, I’ll highlight the often overlooked aspect of her career: a jazz singer. We’ll hear her with Les Brown, Harry James, and Andre Previn, in celebration of what would have been her 100th birthday on April 3, 2022

Dorisday-1946-gottlieb_small

On this Afterglow special, my spotlight is on the marvelous Doris Day, in honor of what would have been her 100th birthday on April 3rd, 2022. We know Doris Day as a film star, a pop star, and a bonafide American icon. But in the next hour, I want to explore the side of her that’s often overlooked: as a jazz singer. Day got her start as a singer with Les Brown’s Orchestra, pursuing a career as a jazz-pop songstress long before she even graced the silver screen. Coming up on this centennial celebration, I’ll feature some of her best jazz recordings.

Women's History Special: Mary Osborne - Queen of the Jazz Guitar

From WFIU | Part of the Night Lights Classic Jazz: Specials series | 59:00

An hour-long program of classic jazz, featuring the recordings of Mary Osborne, a pioneer for women jazz instrumentalists. Celebrate Women's History with this wonderful program!

Mary_osborne_small If you're searching the pages and records of jazz history for early and important women instrumentalists, then stop and take note any time you come across the name of Mary OsborneShe started out as a little girl playing violin and guitar on the radio in Depression-era Minot, North Dakota, listening to jazz broadcasts on the radio out of Chicago--then one night she went to a club and heard Charlie Christian play, and her path as a jazz guitarist was set. 
Mary Osborne would go on to become a regular on New York City's 52nd Street and record with some of the best  artists on the scene, becoming a pioneer for women instrumentalists in jazz"Mary Osborne:  Queen of the Jazz Guitar" features Osborne across the entire arc of her career as a leader and with trumpeter Clark Terry, pianist Mary Lou Williams, saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, pianist Marian McPartland and more.

Some RESPECT for Aretha

From Paul Ingles | 59:00

Aretha Franklin's over 6 decade career is recalled by music documentarian Paul Ingles and a panel of music writers and commentators.

Aretha-franklin_small Aretha Franklin's over 6 decade career is recalled by music documentarian Paul Ingles and a panel of music writers and commentators in the wake of Aretha's August 2018 passing at the age of 76.

Featured in the program are 20 of Aretha's legendary performances and commentary from Ann Powers of NPR Music, Writer and educator Rob Bowman, writer Ashley Kahn, writer and musician John Kruth, and public radio host Gwen Thompkins.

Women's History Month Special: The Great American Songbook's Feminist Anthems

From WFIU | Part of the Afterglow (Jazz and American Popular Song): Specials series | 59:00

The Great American Songbook is chockablock with antiquated notions of gender roles, but a few songs flip the script. On this special, we explore songs of female empowerment, including “Sam Jones Blues,” “No More,” and “Four Women.”

Rosie-small_small I don’t think it’s a stretch to say the Great American Songbook is full of mostly love songs. But being a product of the early 20th century, these love songs often have antiquated views on love and marriage. The women are “lost lambs” looking for a “big and strong” man that she loves. However, on this show, I’m flipping the script, asking “what songs in the Great American Songbook have women who are empowered? Lost lambs need not apply! Coming up, we’ll hear some female-centered songs like “A Woman’s Prerogative,” “100 Easy Ways,” and many more.

Mavis Staples

From Sound Opinions | Part of the Sound Opinions Specials series | 54:00

As a member of her family group The Staple Singers and as a solo artist, Mavis Staples has used her huge voice to power the Civil Rights Movement and inspire generations. Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot revisit their intimate discussion of her life and career in celebration of the gospel and soul legend.

Mavis_small As a member of her family group The Staple Singers and as a solo artist, Mavis Staples has used her huge voice to power the Civil Rights Movement and inspire generations. Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot revisit their intimate discussion of her life and career in celebration of the gospel and soul legend.


Classic Specials

Her Music/Her Story

From Louisville Public Media | 01:58:29

Women at the top of the field in classical music pay tribute to the women who have inspired them. Luminaries like multiple Grammy Award winner JoAnn Falletta, BBC Proms soloist Jamie Barton, The Marvels composer Laura Karpman, and many more introduce music by composers like Florence Price, Clara Schumann, Lucija Garuta, as well as performances from Isatah Kanneh-Mason, Marian Anderson, and even Ella Fitzgerald.

Her_music_her_story_prx_240p_small Women at the top of the field in classical music pay tribute to the women who have inspired them. Luminaries like multiple Grammy Award winner JoAnn Falletta, BBC Proms soloist Jamie Barton, The Marvels composer Laura Karpman, and many more introduce music by composers like Florence Price, Clara Schumann, Lucija Garuta, as well as performances from Isatah Kanneh-Mason, Marian Anderson, and even Ella Fitzgerald.

Carole King's Tapestry at 50: An Appreciation

From Paul Ingles | 59:00

Hour-long radio program produced by top public radio music documentary producer Paul Ingles that offers a deep dive celebration of the 1971 Carole King masterpiece on its half-century anniversary (February10, 2021). Top music writers and scholars give their intimate reflections on the album, and its place in music history.

Tapestryhorizontalfilter2_small Two hour-long radio program produced by top public radio music documentary producer Paul Ingles that offers a deep dive celebration of the 1971 Carole King masterpiece on its half-century anniversary (February10, 2021).  Top music writers and scholars give their intimate reflections on the album, and its place in music history. 

Featured commentators are Ann Powers of NPR Music, music critic Holly Gleason, Beverly Keel - Dean of the Music and Entertainment Department at Middle Tennessee State University, Anthony DeCurtis of Rolling Stone Magazine and American Songwriter editor Paul Zollo.   Carole King is heard also from a 2012 archival interview.

PLAYLIST:  (coming soon)

The Emergence of Joni Mitchell

From Paul Ingles | 01:58:58

Two-hour or one-hour exploration of the seminal work of heralded songwriter Joni Mitchell. Over 50 Mitchell songs are featured in the recommended two-hour version. Special guests include music writers Ann Powers, Anthony DeCurtis, Paul Zollo, Lydia Hutchinson and Holly George-Warren. Also featured are musicians Shawn Colvin, Lucy Kaplansky and others.

Jonimitchellbybaronwolmansmall_small "The Emergence of Joni Mitchell," is a two-hour examination of one of the most heralded songwriters of her time. In this third installment of his series on the seminal work of important figures in popular music, Ingles and his guests explore how Joni Mitchell crafted her artistry and connected with audiences over four decades. Mitchell put the experience of being a woman and being human on artful display through her blatantly honest and confessional lyrics, innovative open guitar tunings and jazz-inflected vocals. The program focuses on Mitchell's key releases to illuminate the musicianship of the woman "Rolling Stone" called "one of rock's most daring and uncompromising innovators." By mixing Mitchell's music from these pivotal moments with informed commentary from musicians, fans, music critics and archival interviews with Mitchell herself, "The Emergence of Joni Mitchell" articulates what music lovers have found so compelling about this thoughtful and innovative writer and performer.  Over 50 Mitchell songs are featured.  Special guests include music writers Ann Powers, Anthony DeCurtis, Paul Zollo, Lydia Hutchinson and Holly George-Warren. Also featured are musicians Shawn Colvin, Lucy Kaplansky and others.

The two hour version is adaptable to a newscast necessary clock.  

Talk Music With Me: Bonnie Raitt (2012 Interview)

From Paul Ingles | Part of the Talk Music With Me series | 59:00

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and multiple Grammy winner Bonnie Raitt talks with Paul Ingles about her life and career in this extended interview.

Bonnie-raitt-dig-in-deep_small Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and multiple Grammy winner Bonnie Raitt talks with Paul Ingles about her life and career in this extended interview.  The interview was excerpted for Paul's 2012 program THE EMERGENCE OF BONNIE RAITT.  This presentation focuses on the Raitt interview alone with music excerpts sprinkled in.  Bonnie talks about her early influences, her early days as a 20-something blues phenom, her brush with addiction and obscurity, then her rise back to the top with a string of Grammy awards and commercial success.

Songlist:

Love Sneaking Up on You (excerpt)
Women Be Wise (excerpt)
Give it Up or Let Me Go (excerpt)
Under the Falling Sky (excerpt)
Love Has No Pride (excerpt)
Angel From Montgomery (excerpt)
BREAK MUSIC - Give it Up of Let Me Go (excerpt #2)
Used to Rule the World (excerpt)
Right Down The Line (excerpt)
Million Miles (excerpt)
Not Cause I Wanted To (excerpt)
BREAK MUSIC - Fool's Game (excerpt)
Thing Called Love (excerpt)
God Only Knows (excerpt)
Gypsy in Me (full song in 59:00) (excerpt in 54:00)

WHER: 1000 Beautiful Watts

From The Kitchen Sisters | Part of the Lost & Found Sound series | 58:40

The story of the first all-girl radio station in the nation

Wher1_small WHER, the first all-girl radio station in the nation, went on the air in Memphis on October 29, 1955. It was the brainchild of sound legend Sam Phillips, who created the groundbreaking format with money he raised from selling Elvis Presley's Sun Studios contract.
 
Women almost exclusively ran WHER. On the air they read the news, interviewed local celebrities, and spun popular records. Behind the scenes they sold and created commercials, produced and directed programming and sat at the station's control boards. 

Bette Midler

From South Carolina Public Radio | Part of the Song Travels with Michael Feinstein News Friendly Version series | 53:00

Singer, actress, and comedian Bette Midler is Feinstein’s guest for an hour of pure radio fun. Midler unpacks stories and favorite tunes from her record collection –from Louis Jordan to vintage Hawaiian music to Destiny’s Child. Feinstein presents her with “I’ll Be There,” a song written for Midler by the legendary songwriting team Marilyn and Alan Bergman.

Songtravelslogo_small Song Travels is a one-hour series distributed by NPR and hosted by the renowned "Ambassador of the Great American Songbook," Michael Feinstein. As host and artistic director, Feinstein uncovers the intimate journey singers and songs take with one another, each changing the other through the course of a lifetime.  For Feinstein, American music is really a travelogue, with art that exists only because it has traveled through artists' lives, generations, and passions: 

"In this series, we talk about songs, How important they are in our lives, how they've changed our lives and how sometimes they make life worth living." 
-Michael Feinstein 

Feinstein welcomes a new guest each week to explore the genre of American Popular Song, examining how these great songs have evolved through the years, changing with each interpretation and artist.

Each program features an even mix of ½ insightful conversation to ½ in-studio or recorded musical performances of  guests and Feinstein.

Shelby Lynne

From South Carolina Public Radio | Part of the Song Travels with Michael Feinstein News Friendly Version series | 53:00

Singer/songwriter Shelby Lynne has carved her own path as a respected independent artist. After years in Nashville she relocated to California, where the Grammy-winning artist continues to earn high praise with each new album. Lynne performs her own tunes and teams up with host Feinstein on “Gee Baby Ain’t I Good to You.”

Songtravelslogo_small Song Travels is a one-hour series distributed by NPR and hosted by the renowned "Ambassador of the Great American Songbook," Michael Feinstein. As host and artistic director, Feinstein uncovers the intimate journey singers and songs take with one another, each changing the other through the course of a lifetime.  For Feinstein, American music is really a travelogue, with art that exists only because it has traveled through artists' lives, generations, and passions: 

"In this series, we talk about songs, How important they are in our lives, how they've changed our lives and how sometimes they make life worth living." 
-Michael Feinstein 

Feinstein welcomes a new guest each week to explore the genre of American Popular Song, examining how these great songs have evolved through the years, changing with each interpretation and artist.

Each program features an even mix of ½ insightful conversation to ½ in-studio or recorded musical performances of  guests and Feinstein.

"Mother Tongue: Monologues from The Middle Passage to Today's Justice Movement"

From Dred-Scott Keyes | 58:04

The Mother Tongue Monologues present Black women telling it like it is, with all its' truths, brazen acts, shouts and silent revolutions, from slavery to civil rights, from welfare rights to Hip Hop Wars.

Mother_tongue_monologues_web_small The Mother Tongue Monologues present Black women as concrete cultural beings...living, loving, suffering, rejoicing, working, struggling and achieving in the context of a definite cultural community. The monologues focus on the lives they live and make for themselves within families, communities and the historical narrativethat make their lives and your lives, meaningful. Black women telling it like it is, with all its' truths, brazen acts, shouts and silent revolutions, from slavery to civil rights, from welfare rights to Hip Hop Wars.


Shorter Music-Focused Pieces

Kathleen Hanna: from Bikini Kill to Le Tigre

From David Schulman | Part of the Musicians in their own words series | 04:40

Original riot grrrl Kathleen Hanna remembers the DIY feminist punk scene she catalyzed in 1992 with Bikini Kill. (The band's first EP was re-released Nov 20, 2012, in 20th-anniversay vinyl). And she talks about how her musical energy takes new form in her current, much poppier band, Le Tigre.

Me-performing_small DIY!

To Be Somebody: The Hazel Scott Story

From WFIU | Part of the Night Lights Classic Jazz: Specials series | 59:00

A profile of the pianist, singer, actress, and civil-rights activist, whose music drew on influences from classical to boogie-woogie, and who was the first Black American to host a TV show.

Nightlightsfacebookbanner_small A profile of the pianist, singer, actress, and civil-rights activist, whose music drew on influences from classical to boogie-woogie, and who was the first Black American to host a TV show.