Today On Radio 2 21/01/09

"She flung herself full-length on the stage, drummed with her feet and, taking the corner of a small Persian rug in her teeth, worried it [while] I sat rigid and appalled on the sofa, pressed back against the chintz cushions."

Heh. Alec Guinness once wrote that, in an anecdote about the actress, Edith Evans. Thankfully this is NOT the kind of drumming you can hear tonight on The Signal. (But it is quite the image, isn't it -- couldn't resist posting the quote!)

Tonight is all about drumming of a non-tantrum order when host Laurie Brown presents a percussion-themed concert from Montreal. First, it's Metal Jacket by composer Nicole Lizée, a work inspired by Downing and Tipton (of Judas Priest fame). It explores the raw, gritty side of two instruments usually heard in non-gritty/raw (although often passionate, it must be said) musical context -- tabla and harmonium.

You can also hear Tactus, by composer Polo Vallejo -- it's a work for one percussionist playing 6 congas. Now that's the kind of conga line you want on your radio.

Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:

Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.) TBA

Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) TBA

Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) Music from some of Canada's top female artists like Kathleen Edwards, Chloe Albert, Roxanne Potvin, Sarah Harmer, Serena Ryder, Chic Gamine, and Amelia Curra

Tonic (6 p.m.) Soulful jazz from Take 6; Latin jazz from electric bassist/vocalist Sabrina Malheiros; Cole Porter played by Hammond B3 organist Mike LeDonne; tracks from Ella Fitzgerald, pianist Wray Downes, the Alex Cuba Band and pianist Joe Sealy with bassist Paul Novotny.

Canada Live (8 p.m.) Concert 1: Cuban-Canadian singer songwriter Alex Cuba Concert 2: Jazz from Cuban pianist Ernan Lopez Nussa

The Signal (10 p.m.) See Top Of Post

Nightstream (1:00 a.m./1:30 NT) Cover versions including Elliot Smith's Because and Allison Moorer's Ring of Fire; soulful sounds from The Sojourners and Solomon Burke; Jean Sibelius' Symphony #3.