A musical journey that takes the most-West to the most-East. Not since Paul Pena's journey to Central Asia (Genghis Blues) has a documentary captured the universality of music so vividly. A group of American cowboys travel to Mongolia and find themselves speechless by performing artists who demonstrate versatility in both Eastern and Western music. Music cannot be separated from the lifestyle of cowboys in Mongolia and the spirituality is shared in different aspects of it. The piece ends with a tune, sung both in English and Mongolian, where the message is quite clear; you can't measure friendship in miles or meters. A must listen!

Texas music writer Joe Nick Patoski remembers hearing a ZZ Top song, some thirty years ago, titled 'I Heard It On The X'. Before that his impression of tha band had been, "Boogie music with funny cowboy hats." That all changed the instant Patoski heard what Billy Gibbons's song was about. Gibbons remembers listening to border radio as a child, switching dials late nights, trying to emulate sounds he heard on his guitar; the strange music thrilled him. Stations like XERA, XERF, and especially XERB from Tijuana/Rosarito area of Baja California, Mexico played music by Jimmy Reed, B B King and Muddy Warers, something local and Top 40 stations didn't. [ Border-blaster stations are licensed commercial radio stations that transmitted at very high power to USA from various points along the Mexican border. Not pirate radio, since they were licensed by the Govt. where they were located.]
Patoski felt Gibbons captured the feeling of listening to border-blaster radio quite well in the song and his opinion is shared by other writers and music producers. He also remembers listening to Wolfman Jack, who has been with XERF before moving to XERB. The song itself is a love letter to border-blaster stations and the piece explains why.

Chances are, you have skipped right by this title thinking, "I know birds sing. So what's new?" And therein lies the tragedy, because you'll probably never find out how music plays an integral part in their lifestyle, culture, and geography much as it does in ours.

So you thought birds of the same feather all sing the same tune. So you thought 'improvisation' and 'bird songs' don't belong in the same sentence. That's okay, I forgave myself too for having that impression.

Thankfully, there are people like Martha Foley and Prof. Curt Stager who, while casually chatting with each other, teach us a thing or two about nature without making it...well 'lesson-y'. The series is perfect for that time of the morning when you've just put on a pot of coffee and, instead of listening to it purring away, learn a new thing about nature.
Now, whether you actually learn anything new or not, the sounds of all the pieces alone will make a good morning feel great. Just you try it yourself.

Piece does a great job of portraying Slick Vic Low by letting the artist present himself to us in a way he knows best; his music. He talks about writers block, which he doesn't have, jazz, which he infuses skillfully to outfit his words, and poetry by way of being an MC. The sound of his music is relaxing and the presentation here, with in-between thoughts by the artist himself, makes listening to the piece a cool experience.

Slick's fine taste in words and music and the way he cooks them should be served as a smooth dish to a broader audience. And I hear Program Directors can make that happen.

For jazz guitar players or fans of jazzguitar, this program is like an orgy. And to top it off, the great Les Paul narrates it. Can't think of a better person to host this program. I didn't think an hour was sufficient to whet my appetite, but that makes for great programming, doesn't it?
The piece makes great use of audio clips from great players such as Christian, Reinhardt, Raney, Benson, McLaughlin and host of other legends. It helps listeners understand the evolution of the instrument. Deep down, I prayed there was a 3 hour version of the program.

A great hour of programming! Topics are well covered and the interviews are very thoroughly conducted. I especially liked the SHAM segment from this piece. I've always disliked Dr. Phil types and their programs and books, and this segment finally informs me why.

A brief, yet important, overview of reasons why text book prices have been increasing rapidly in the past two decades. Worth listening to by all back-to-schoolers...and their forced back-to-work-from-retirement parents.
How do you save money on text books? There ought to be a separate, half-hour piece devoted to that. One possible solution...eBook.

A candid conversation with two authors who are also life partners. We get to know a pair of lives who share not only a wonderful family, but a room where each creates her, and his, own universe with words. They open themselves to us and what we learn is not how good they are in what they do, but how open they are with each other, about things good or bad. When a couple sounds this good together, something is in tune.

This informative piece discusses the Bridges program, used by Evangelical Churches to convert Mormons by using methods that ultimately has the philosophy, 'Mormoms convert themselves'. The approach has the qualities of a Powerpoint presentation for prospective clients in business. Share information, share philosophy, and tell them why converting would bring a lot more to their lives, while never undermining their present organization. Piece successfully gives us a glimpse of the evolving techiniques of preaching.

Also known as the Texas street corner evangelist, Blind Willy Johnson's slide guitar playing influences guitar players to this day. Rock fans probably know, among his many haunting melodies, the song 'Ain't Nobody's Fault But Mine', covered by Led Zeppelin. Commonly perceived as the devil's music, blues music became Johnson's medium to preach the bible's words. The result, a sound that instantly grabs your attention and makes you stop and listen. Whether a blues player or a minister, the ability to do that goes beyond knowing what your talents are.

This piece searches for evidence of laughter as having healing power. It's the search itself that proves more meaningful than the answer. The stories shared by the Clown Doctors are inspiring and heartwarming. It seems that laughter is denied to people who need them the most. The story about an Italian man, bedridden with oxygen mask on, and the story about the patient and his stack of greeting cards are especially inspiring. So is the story about the little girl who was able to act her age just before she died, thanks to the Clown Doctors. It's not always about the laughs, though. To be able to cry together is important. We agree that all humor has some pain attached to it. So, it is natural to have both co-exist. The Clown Doctors realize that very important fact and they share that with everyone they come in contact with. Maybe we will never find a medical explanation of laughter as best medicine. It is, after all, a more spiritual treatment than traditional. We tend to forget that healing of the spirit is what makes a failing body rest in peace.

To use the sequence of letters coined in Instant Messagaing...LOL! While it's a very funny piece, it has the in-your-face (no pun intended) attitude towards people/critics who love to create controversy around cartoons.

Narrated by Andre Picher in a half whisper, this piece comes together beautifully in its writing, production, and sound. Being a little bit of a library nut myself, I related to a lot of the feelings shared by the author. I didn't just listen to the author tell us about the libraries. I was in those libraries.

A very delicate and well contructed piece. The composition of sounds with the voices are nicely knit. It has the feeling of an emotional journey to places where you've never been but you feel you're meant to. Liked the part a lot when the author carries us near the apartment where Langston Hughes had lived. Love the title!

Chuck Haddix writes about the 20s and 30s Kansas City Jazz scene in his new book. In this piece he lets in on a few specific tid bits from the book like, to give couple of examples, the cutting contest between Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins, and the musicans being treated like 'furniture'. There have been lots of documentaries on Jazz in Kansas City, but this piece manages to inform some more. A great preface to Haddix's book.