First of all, Paul Chuffo is not just a drummer. He's the drummer with one of the most melodic avant-garde rock bands I've ever had the good fortune to see.
Gutbucket.

I'm sure that Joshua Jackson has some other loves that he excels at as well.

This four-part series (which also could include the Newport 63-65 highlights as an addendum if you wish) is a must for Dylan fans AND neophytes.

They get some amazing interview pieces from Dylan himself from the 80s that may actually explain that his music from that decade did not descend into as the Rolling Stone reviewer put it "the Valley of Suckdom."

For every eye-opening experience from those who saw Dylan in No Direction Home, these collected observations are more laudatory but still sincere.

The first two discs are almost perfect, and that is a real compliment because he did so much of his "classic" work during this period. The songs selected frame the interviews and attract attention to his canon, not just play as a "greatest hits." Actually, one of my favorite moments in No Direction Home is how the camera captures Dylan napping while the radio in the car plays one of his pair of #2 hits "Rainy Day Women #12 and #35."

My only criticism of Disc Two is how they gloss over the brilliant "John Wesley Harding" to focus on "Knockin' On Heaven's Door." But, the version of "Forever Young" that ends that disc immediately renewed my interest in that often-covered standard of his.

Disc Three and Four are gems for their interview segments with the marvelous stories of David Mansfield and the artistic viewpoints of John Hiatt and Josh Ritter. The eye-opening experience of this pair is how adeptly they handle the criticism and confusion over Dylan's "Born Again" period and then expertly end with Dylan himself offering an astute explanation.

Now, the bad news. You are a programmer and you are staring at 4 (5 with the Newport addendum) hours of great programming and probably nowhere to use it. I suggest finding a slot where you could run the first two hours one day, and maybe the last two or three the next.

Why split it? Because it's a lot to take in. When Dylan speaks, everything may stop and send you running for the library. Or, that's just me, a Program Director who also writes and plays guitar, and just spent the last three days reading Greil Marcus' "Like a Rolling Stone", watching "No Direction Home" and reliving Dylan's beginnings again and again.

As a station that plays 11 Central Ave, I have the unique privilege of listening to the program before its broadcast.

However, this year, I decided not to listen to the program until it airs so that I could better understand the impact of just hearing it on the air as a listener would.

In recent months, the house has been abuzz with events and ideas that are torn from the pages of our current lives as they plumb the zeitgeist for both comedy and social commentary.

However, today, I was left speechless after this broadcast. We air this program after our largest newscast of the day at Noon Friday. After reading about the realities of a student who was so alienated by his classmates he built an arsenal and planned a horrible attack against them, I was struck by how hard it is to report these events day after day because we often see only a face or hear a name that will elicit
reactions and repercussions for a long time.

"The Birthday Present" is a brilliant story that brings out all of the levels of the reaction to any teenage tragedy.
And, it packs a serious wallop. Even as I type now, I am having to hold back tears as the concise and powerful story's repercussions continue to dominate my thoughts...and I still have to read that same story again.

If you have not given this program a chance because you think it is some silly character-driven comedy that no one will appreciate-you are robbing your audience of an opportunity to actually feel something for characters on public radio. I use that word 'feel' because, the program's cast of characters, multiple story threads are designed to elicit a variety of reactions from a broad swath of your audience.

I also use that word, because it is not often that public radio leaves you touched, shaken and struggling with actually knowing what to "feel."

Public Radio is sorely in need of some humour. And while you may not be able to add a full show to your schedule, 11 Central Ave presents a great opportunity for a short weekly that will engage audiences of all ages. What attracted me most to the show was the imaginative "image" they build. You hear the brushing of teeth, clanging of dishes and voices engaged in conversation like no other on radio.
In just five minutes, you are a part of life at 11 Central Ave, snickering at their witty repartee and able to engage someone at your own address in the very same irreverent conversation. While you are shopping for comedy, check out The Sound of Young America and my addiction in life, The Best Show on WFMU.

A truly wonderful concert. After a week of exhausting work preparing our station's holiday programming and stepping up the holiday music on air, I stopped everything to simply listen to the Helicon concert as we played it. This group plays some beautiful music in this concert, combining poetry and music from around the world into a broadcast that literally flies by. Helicon's musicians are virtuosos and once you think you've heard it all, they pick up another instrument and introduce something else into their mix. Highly recommended.