NOTE: This page is no longer being updated, but is available for reference purposes. To see the new Radio 2 blog program highlights, visit the Radio 2 home page.
This weekend, Inside The Music Saturday Edition (12p.m., 1 AT, 1:30 NT), presents a documentary about Seeger hosted by Canadian author, doctor and undersea explorer Joe MacInnis, and produced by Ideas host Paul Kennedy: "90th Birthday Celebration Of The Life And Times Of Pete Seeger."
Of course Seeger's birthday is being noted in many ways -- including a gala at Madison Square Garden Sunday (Bruce Cockburn is one of the invited performers). But the Inside The Music doc will give you a special glimpse into Seeger the elder -- MacInnis recently spent time with Pete at his cabin north of New York City.
Inspiring music teachers truly are a wonderful thing -- their lessons stay with you for life. And Tom Allen, Rich Terfry and The Radio 2 Blog want to hear about your most inspiring music teacher, in honour of Music Monday (May 4th). Tom n' Rich will share some of your memories and anecdotes on Radio 2 Morning and Radio 2 Drive next week.
So do tell us about your most inspiring music teacher. (And of course, how they inspired you!)
Please keep reading for more specifics about Music Monday:
Diouf is two brothers who live in Montreal, but are originally from Senegal. Charmingly they call their music "Quebegalese." Their songs are accordingly in French and in Wolof, one of the main languages of Senegal (you'll recognize it if you've ever listened to Youssou N'Dour).
Tonight you can hear the Diof brothers (who have played percussion with Les Colocs and Cirque du Soleil) in concert on Canada Live (8 p.m.), featuring two special guest vocalists Lilison, originally from Guinea Bissau, and Brazilian-Montrealer Monica Freire.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing... and when it comes to the music of Duke Ellington, it meant a lot. Still does. 110 years after his birthday (today) admirers still pay tribute to his music.
Tonight Canada Live (8 p.m.) features two tributes, one a re-creation of a famous gig he did on Danish television in the 1960s, the other a celebration of some of his great songs.
Specifics on both concerts follow, but first why not enjoy a little music from the great Duke Ellington band. From 1943, It Don't Mean A Thing... with a sweet intro from jazz violinist Ray Nance.
Great, eh? (Or as one commenter over on YouTube said: "man u gotta love them classics!" Man u do.) And now for the full details about tonight's Ellington Extravaganza on Canada Live (8 p.m.):
HD, DAB, SAT, a forest of abbreviations that all lead to one clearing -- Digital Radio. Leaving aside the woodsy analogy, (since it goes no further than that, really) here is Radio 2's Resident Geek Peter Cook with the weekly Tech Q? column, clarifying any number of issues about SAT. Over to you, Peter:
On Tech Q we're in the midst of a series about "digital radio" in its various forms: HD Radio, satellite radio, and DAB. Of all the forms of digital radio, the one format you have heard the most about is almost certainly satellite radio. In fact some of you may subscribe to satellite radio.
Just to be clear I'm only going to talk about the direct to consumer satellite radio systems and only those available in North America.
XM Satellite Radio launched in the US in 2001, SIRIUS Satellite Radio in 2002. Canadian divisions of both companies launched at the end of 2005 following CRTC approval. There's some background information about how satellite radio came to Canada at wikipedia.
If the mighty Duke Ellington were with us today he would be 110. (And still swinging, no doubt.) But what is still with us is Duke's music, and tonight's Canada Live (8 p.m.) broadcast celebrates that with two concerts.
The first is a kind of re-creation of a TV session that he did in 1967. It was one of those "wow, that's totally amazing" gigs that lives on in the memories of fans. It also lives on in the hands of musicians -- including a Canadian group led by Edmonton pianist (and Senator!) Tommy Banks -- tune in to hear them recreate the music from that vintage Ellington TV broadcast.
The second concert is a different kind of Ellington tribute, a cabaret featuring songs most associated with Ellington, Caravan, It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing etc.
More about the broadcast and about Ellington later today on The Radio 2 Blog, for now please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
For the most part Canada Live (8 p.m.) is devoted to concerts by Canadian musicians, but every now and then a non-Canadian artist is featured -- from a Canadian festival. That's the case with one of this evening's concerts, which was recorded at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. It features one of the most lyrical bass players in jazz, Charlie Haden.
"I've been converted to the Church of Dans," says blogger M On The Side. No, not a new cult, but a response to a concert featuring Dan Mangan and Danny Michel -- a concert you can hear on this week's Canada Live Podcast.
The two Dan's played together as part of Ottawa's B.C. Scene, (still on 'til May 3). Here's your quick n' dirty Church of Dans Profile:
Hard Rubber Orchestra has been called "the Godzilla of the Vancouver jazz scene," but I'm pretty sure that was intended as a compliment. In other words, monstrous...in a good way. Or, to quote jazz journalist Mark Miller: HRO plays "..daunting, high-strung pieces full of surging rhythms, dissonant brasses, can't breathe effects, hot-wired, post-Hendrix guitar solos and fright-night crescendos."
Hear Hard Rubber Orchestra tonight in concert on The Signal (10 p.m.), featuring violinist/composer Cameron Wilson. His composition Two By Six is six vignettes inspired by the likes of Dmitri Shostakovich, Charles Ives and John Zorn. (Not to mention prog rock!)
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
From the bluest of blues to inspirational gospel, to dirty thirties jazz and dust bowl ballads -- tonight Canada Live (8 p.m.) reminds us that music is a great way to cope with the "R" word.
Tunes For Troubled Times: Songs From The Depression Era features mostly music written during the 1930s: Buddy Can You Spare A Dime and Pennies From Heaven, I'll Fly Away etc. Some of the songs are about the reality of the depression, some are escapist -- but funny how all of it is somehow comforting.
Of course it doesn't hurt that there are some fine performances, featuring singers from the east coast. (Where, it must be said, folks know from tough economic times.) Here's the lineup:
Rich Terfy has an alter ego, Buck 65, and this week his alter ego is touring the UK. (Rich is there as well. Heh.) But he's leaving Radio 2 Drive (3-6pm) in great guest-host hands.
Today and tomorrow it's Newfoundland's Tom Power, host of Deep Roots. Tom has excellent taste in music, is a fab story teller (and has a lovely accent to boot). He's also a musician -- as you may have gleaned from the photo.
On today's show he features some of his own favourites, including The Duhks, K-os, and what he calls the "Radio 2 Power Trio" - Luke Doucet, Ron Sexsmith, and Sarah Slean. (And, it must be said, his current favourite of favourites and mine too -- Fleet Foxes.)
It's Monday. The good news is -- there's music. And not only that, but some new concert music on Canada Live (8 p.m.) which has already received a glowing review at Concerts On Demand.
It's called called Tunes For Troubled Times: Songs From The Depression Era, and "Oldsbag" wrote: "I loved this concert. I would buy it in a minute to take to work and share with my seniors." Thank you, Oldsbag.
More about this concert later today on the blog, for now here are rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
After last week's Susan Boyle-athon nothing can grab the music blogosphere's attention with such single-mindedness. So although as usual on Sunday evening The Radio 2 Blog looks back at music matters blogged about the past week, this edition covers a couple of quieter music stories.
First B.C. Scene -- a mega event taking place in Ottawa as we speak. Canada Live (8 p.m.) broadcasts a couple concerts this evening recorded there -- Dan Mangan with special guest Shane Koyczan, and singer songwriter Danny Michel.
Musings On Music And Family Life does a splendid preview of the whole Scene, and among other recommendations gets behind the "Build Your Own Ukulele" workshop which comes up next Sunday May 3rd. "This isn’t a Kleenex box with rubber bands – this is a high-quality wooden instrument that will last for years."
Whatever the case likely you are no match for Jurgen Gothe. He has an extraordinary mental storehouse of musical "quirk." So today he unleashes Quirky Songs Part lll, but we are assured it will not be like the third Godfather movie. No, this edition of Farrago (Sunday 5pm/5:30 NT) is quality stuff, jam packed with interesting musical oddities.
One of Jurgen's perennial favourite quirky groups gets a spin today too, and for anyone who has not yet experienced their unique instrumentation have a look at the following. It'll get you right to the roots of the quirky music of the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra.
Three of the world's greatest pianists are featured today on Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1p.m., 1:30 NT). Here's what the lineup looks like:
Marc-André Hamelin with Les Violons du Roy under the direction of Bernard Labadie, performing Haydn (the "London" Symphony and the Piano Concerto In D Major) and Beethoven ("Coriolan" Overture and the Third Piano Concerto)
Leon Fleisher talks with host Bill Richardson about his remarkable life -- how he lost the use of one hand, how he regained it. (Also the subject of a documentary called Two Hands).
Louis Lortie, (who studied with Leon Fleisher) is heard in a recent appearance with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by another Quebecois musical superstar, Yannick-Nézét Séguin. Hear them in conversation with Bill and in performance, featuring the music of Ravel and Prokofiev.
All in all it's a pianistic feast!
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Music Monday is coming up May 4th -- the day when kids from coast to coast to coast all sing the same song -- at the same time. Literally hundreds of thousands of kids! The purpose is to raise awareness of music education, and the concept has spread from Canada to the U.S. and Australia.
There will be lots of neat Music Monday happenings on air May 4th (see Radio 2's Music Monday). And if you happen to be in the vicinity of Toronto tomorrow, Sunday April 26th, you can attend one of the big events connected to Music Monday live at the Glenn Gould Studio.
Twilight Of The Gods a.k.a. Götterdämmerung is Wagner's epic operatic conclusion to the also epic Der Ring des Nibelungenm.
And while Götterdämmerung is a mammoth undertaking with its prologue and three acts, as my Saturday Afternoon At The Opera colleague puts it: "The pace is fast and furious as the rope of destiny is paid out and a poisonous potion of love, jealousy and betrayal brings the drama to its cataclysmic end."
The cast includes Swedish Soprano Katarina Dalayman and German tenor Christian Franz -- described by the NYTimes as singing with "honesty, crisp rhythmic delivery, stylistic understanding and unflagging energy."
For more details, including the plot synopsis, please continue reading:
Today on Saturday Afternoon At The Opera the conclusion of Wagner's Ring, Götterdämmerung -- one of the longest operas in the repertory. (Causing both Inside the Music and In Tune to be pre-empted today.)
The broadcast begins at noon (1pm Atlantic, 1:30 NT), comes to you live from The Met and features Swedish Soprano Katarina Dalayman and German tenor Christian Franz as the romantically entangled couple, Brünnhilde and Siegfried. More on the opera later this morning on the blog, for now, please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Today the final installment of the series running between 5-6pm on Radio 2 Drive: Jian Ghomeshi In Conversation With...
This afternoon it's Diana Krall, and if you miss the broadcast you can also hear it (as well as Jian's interviews with David Foster, Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn and Leonard Cohen) streaming online at Radio 2 Drive.
Among other things Krall talks about the letter she wrote to Oscar Peterson when she was just a teenager (he later became one of her mentors) and why she no longer feels like the "peel me a grape girl."
She sure isn't just the "peel me a grape girl" anymore, nor do her fans relate to her that way.
It's all good! No, not becoming Relentlessly Positive Blogger, It's All Good is the name of the final preview track from Bob Dylan's upcoming album:
[Tracks have been removed as streaming period has concluded.]
The Q&A with Dylan wraps up today too -- it makes for fun reading. Quote of the day re: Dylan's early years:
"I was drawn to the traveling performers passing through. The side show performers - bluegrass singers, the black cowboy with chaps and a lariat doing rope tricks. Miss Europe, Quasimodo, the Bearded Lady, the half-man half-woman, the deformed and the bent, Atlas the Dwarf, the fire-eaters, the teachers and preachers, the blues singers. I remember it like it was yesterday. I got close to some of these people. I learned about dignity from them." -- Bob Dylan
The final interview in the series Jian Ghomeshi In Conversation With... broadcast on Radio 2 Drive comes up today when Jian talks with Diana Krall. As you may know, she's got a new recording out called Quiet Nights, with a sensual, Brazilian/bossa vibe.
Or as Krall puts it: "It’s not coy. It’s not ‘peel me a grape,’ little girl stuff. I feel this album’s very womanly – like you’re lying next to your lover in bed whispering this in their ear."
To hear Jian in conversation with Diana Krall tune into Drive between 5 and 6 pm, or listen anytime online at Radio 2 Drive. (You can also listen to Jian's interviews with David Foster, Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn and Leonard Cohen via that link.)
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
At a party recently I ran into the producer of Jian Ghomeshi's interview with Leonard Cohen, which you can hear today between 5-6pm on Radio 2 Drive. (Also streaming online.)
Cohen, the producer said, was everything you would expect (and hope) him to be. Gracious and thoughtful -- treating every member of the crew with equal respect. The interview happened at Cohen's place in Montreal, an unassuming place he's had for years, although he seldom spends much time there these days. The house was sparsely decorated, simple, and unmistakably the house of an artist.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen. Today in the third hour of Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.), you can hear Jian Ghomeshi in conversation with Leonard Cohen.
Ghomeshi and crew travelled to Montreal for the interview, recorded at Cohen's little place off of rue Marianne. Jian and Leonard talk about everything from changing light-bulbs to women. Yup.
If you miss it on air, note that all the entire series of feature interviews are streaming at Radio 2 Drive: David Foster, Gordon Lightfoot, Bruce Cockburn and Diana Krall. (Ms. Krall's interview will also be broadcast on the radio tomorrow, Friday.)
In a celebration of Earth Day this evening Canada Live (8 p.m.) broadcasts a unique concert recorded by CBC Radio 2 and Espace Musique: 7 Continents 1 Earth.
It features environmentally aware performers from around the world performing a wide range of music -- from the gorgeous Corsican singing of Petru Guelfucci to China's Mamer, described as "the Lou Reed of the grasslands." For full details, please continue reading.
Radio 2 Drive Presents "Jian Ghomeshi In Conversation With..." Today the ellipsis is the brilliant guitarist and songwriter, Bruce Cockburn.
You can hear the interview on air at 5pmish, or streaming online -- in fact if you miss any of the interviews (David Foster, Gordon Lightfoot, Cockburn, Leonard Cohen, Diana Krall) you can also listen at your computer. (At Radio 2 Drive.)
As for Mr. Cockburn in conversation with Mr. Ghomeshi, here's something of a poem about one listener's experience of hearing this interview -- quite charming:
Happy Earth Day! May your tulips bloom and your carbon footprint be ever-diminishing. Canada Live (8 p.m.) celebrates Earth Day with music of course, a special concert called 7 Continents 1 Earth. The lineup of global performers includes the legendary Corsican singer Petru Guelfucci and China's Mamer ("the Lou Reed of the grasslands") among others -- please see 7 Continents 1 Earth for full details.
And don't forget to stay tuned to The Radio 2 Blog for more new music from Bob Dylan, coming up a little later this morning. Also to the third hour of Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) to hear Jian Ghomeshi in conversation with Bruce Cockburn.
One final note: Fans of Peter Cook's excellent Tech Q? column -- it is on hiatus this week, but will return next Wednesday.
Yesterday you may have heard Jian Ghomeshi's interview with David Foster -- if not -- hear it streamed at Radio 2 Drive. (NoteAll Jian's interviews broadcast this week at 5pmish on Radio 2 will stream at Radio 2 Drive.)
Today, Jian talks with Gordon Lightfoot. Among other things, Gordie talks about worries while writing The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, and why at this stage of his life he's reticent to get involved with women. (The latter is one of those fascinating if slightly odd radio moments!)
Couple o' notes this morning. One, today Tom Allen draws for the winner of the Larrivee guitar on Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.), concluding the great Guitar Gurus series. Listen to the third hour of the programme (8ish) to find out who the lucky winner is.
Second, don't forget to tune into the third hour of Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) all week to hear Jian Ghomeshi in conversation with iconic Canadian performers -- today it's Gordon Lightfoot (followed by Cockburn, Cohen and Krall).
And third... "running" all week on The Radio 2 Blog -- new Bob Dylan tracks streaming, plus a pretty revealing Q&A with the Bobster. The next installment of the interview comes up a little later this morning on the blog; the next track goes up Wednesday.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Foster, Cockburn, Lightfoot, Cohen, Krall -- all week long you can hear Q host Jian Ghomeshi's interviews featuring that list of musicians, in the third hour of Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.)
Today, David Foster talks about his career as a hit-maker, explains why he took part in the Princes of Malibu, (which takes some explaining) among other things. He also takes to the piano and plays a bit, and altogether it makes for great listening. (NOTE: If you missed the radio broadcast -- have a look at the Radio 2 Drive page where the audio is streamed online.)
It's not much of a limb to go out on to say Foster has had an incredibly successful career as a producer/writer.
New music from Bob Dylan is always a big deal. But his upcoming album, Together Through Life, was kind of sprung on fans, which makes it even more exciting -- what will it be like?
There's something of an answer to that question this week on the Radio 2 Blog -- with a CBC Radio 2 exclusive. New Dylan tracks will be posted Monday, Wednesday and Friday, right here on the blog, plus excerpts from a great Q&A go up every day. Stay tuned for the first track -- coming up at around 5 a.m. eastern.
Another programming note (of note!): Tune in for a series of feature interviews by "Q"'s Jian Ghomeshi in the final hour of Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) each day this week. The first is with Victoria-born David Foster, one of the most successful producers and composers ever in the history of pop music. In this interview he essentially defends his career as "the king of Top 40 hits," and it's really excellent listening. You can hear it today, and the rest of the schedule is as follows:
Gordon Lightfoot -- April 21
Bruce Cockburn -- April 22
Leonard Cohen -- April 23
Diana Krall --April 24
Many seemed amazed that an apparently sheltered ("never been kissed" etc.), unglamorous woman from "a cluster of villages," could actually sing. This, frankly, amazes the Radio 2 Blogger. (Do we not all know some pretty good, not-famous singer who doesn't pay much attention to hairstyles?)
Well, here's what others in the blogosphere had to say about why Susan Boyle's performance has reduced so many to a big puddle of mush:
If you visited The Radio 2 Blog during the week you will know there was a lively discussion about Which Guitar Guru Deserves Greater Recognition? Probably even as we speak someone is adding yet another guitarist to the list.
So in his inimitable Jurgen Gothe way, in this week's edition of Farrago (Sunday 5pm/5:30 NT) Jurgen is not devoting the show to the guitar, but to a close cousin, the dobro. Called "Dobrology," the show features the steely slidey sound of the dobro.
If your response is "doh? what?" here is the Twitter version of what a dobro is: An acoustic guitar with that shiny resonator thing on the front. Apparently invented by the Dopyera Brothers, thus the name. (So, maybe two Tweets worth of explanation.) Anyway, you may want to visit Planet Dobro to get inculcated.
Featured artists on the show include Vancouver Island's Doug Cox, and American dobro master Jerry Douglas, among many others.
And speaking of Douglas -- here's a window into the world o'dobro, in this case played solo, and beautifully.
Talented Canadian pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin is featured in the second week of a four week spotlight on the pianist, on Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT). He was invited by Montreal's Pro Musica to put together a concert series; this afternoon you'll hear him accompanying soprano Karina Gauvin.
Plus Ian Whitman, a bassist with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, talks with host Bill Richardson about what it was like to play at Carnegie Hall this week -- as part of the inaugural YouTube Symphony.
That's what's on Sunday Afternoon In Concert, please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights.
In Tune is pre-empted today for the opera broadcast, but one story that Katherine has covered before came to its conclusion this week. Yes, after many months of build up, the YouTube Symphony finally happened. Its Carnegie Hall debut got a fairly positive review in the New York Times no less. (YouTube Orchestra Melds Music Live And Online.)
At the same time, online there's the companion piece, the "Internet Symphony Global Mashup," created from hundreds of video submissions of musicians playing the Tan Dun composition Internet Symphony, Eroica:
Today on Saturday Afternoon At The Opera (with an early start time at noon, and pre-empting both Inside The Music and In Tune) Wagner's monumental Ring Cycle continues, live from The Met. This week, Siegfried, with German tenor Christian Franz in the role of our hero.
It's been quite a time at The Met for cast changes lately, as a recent NYTimes article points out. Quite possibly it's also the first time the CFL has been written about in connection with The Met:
"Imagine an N.F.L. game in which the starting quarterback is replaced a day before kickoff. And his substitute, flown in from, say, the Canadian Football League, has to be fitted for a uniform, learn the plays and meet his backfield for the first time. When substitute singers are called on, there’s a good chance that the Met’s wig department already knows their head size. Happens all the time at the Metropolitan Opera."
Anyway, today's broadcast also features (barring any last minute changes!) James Morris as The Wanderer (Wotan) and the Swedish Soprano Iréne Theorin as Brünnhilde.
For full cast details plus the synopsis, please continue reading.
Which Guitar Guru Deserves Greater Recognition? There are some great answers to that question (and stories about guitars and guitarists) in the blog comments -- thank you all.
Here is the updated list as of 10 a.m.-ish. April 21th:
Kevin Breit, Antoine Dufour, Frank Marino, Pat Travers, Rik Emmett, Alex Lifeson, Oscar Lopez, Pavlo, Bobby Cameron, Eddie Patterson, Chuck Beal, Jack Semple, Grant Siemens, Matt Monsoon, Damon Mitchell, Chris Carmichael, Chris Sawell, Jason Nowicki, Rick Taylor, Don Ross, Madagascar Slim, Bruce Cockburn, Scott Arnold, Norbert Kraft, Ari Lahdekorpi, Colin James, Ed Bickert, Dale Kavanagh, Marc Atkinson, Ken Hamm, Big George Moody, David Gogo, Lenny Breau, Roy Buchanan, Jimmy James, Gordon Lightfoot, Erick Turnbull, Gerald Garcia, Andres Segovia, William Beauvais, Colin Cripps, Jason Fowler, Danny Michel, Stephen Fearing, Julian Bream, Jimmy Page, Sue Foley, Martin Simpson, Andres Segovia, William Beauvais John MacArthur, Norman Liota, Rob Wright, Bill Henderson, Rachelle VanZanten, Preston Reed, Leo Kottke, Stanley Jordan, Shawn Kellerman, Joni Mitchell, Randy Bachman, Rick Fines, Ford Pier, Martin Tielli, Richard Thompson, Phil Keaggy, Joe Bonamassa, Valdy, Bim (Roy Forbes), Tuck Andress, Amos Garret, Ted Quinlan, Django, Greg Keelor, Jim Cuddy.
Guitar Gurus concludes Saturday with concerts on Canada Live (8 p.m.) from Colin Linden and Roxanne Potvin.
But if you like you can ignore the advice of Frank Zappa ("Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar") and keep those Guitar Guru suggestions coming!
Very exciting news for Bob Dylan fans! Starting Monday, right here on The Radio 2 Blog, you can hear exclusive tracks from Dylan's upcoming recording, Together Through Life (which comes out April 28th).
Not only that, but you can also read (serialized each day) a great Q&A with Dylan, by author Bill Flanagan. Of course they talk about the new songs, but they also touch on a wide range of subject matter.
How wide? Try Dylan's views on his artwork, on President Obama, The Rolling Stones, the nature of acting...it's really quite revealing. (And as we know, "revealing" and Dylan aren't always part of the same interview!)
Specifically, this is what you will find each day (April 20-24) on the R2 Blog:
While some of us are busy thinking about Which Guitar Guru Deserves Greater Recognition? Guitar Gurus themselves are busy playing -- as you can hear tonight on Canada Live (8pm) with Colin Linden. The concert was recorded at the Glenn Gould Studio, a CD release show for Linden's latest, From the Water.
Linden himself is one of those guitarists many think deserve greater recognition -- partly because he's spent so much time as a producer (working with people like Bruce Cockburn, Tom Wilson, Allison Krauss and Robert Plant), and a sideman (with performers like Cassandra Wilson and The Rankins). But tonight's show is Linden the guitarist front and centre.
And before moving on to the rest of the day's highlights, Happy Record Store Day!
Sue Foley oughta be on that list of Guitar Gurus Deserving Greater Recognition -- she's been playing the blues for twenty some years, sharing stages with the likes of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Tom Petty, Joe Cocker, Rufus Thomas, Pinetop Perkins, Joe Ely and Lucinda Williams!
Happily some of that recognition is given to Sue Foley tonight when she performs in concert on Canada Live (8 p.m.)
Also note, on the Guitar Gurus front, this morning you can hear Tom Allen in conversation with Bruce Cockburn on Radio 2 Morning.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Ah, one minute of loveliness from Daniel Lanois. To hear far more than one minute (and more recently recorded minutes!) tune in tonight forr Daniel Lanois at Massey Hall, on Canada Live (8 p.m.)
Here's a great little description of what it was like being there:
The Lanois concert was recorded at Massey Hall, in fact it was his Massey debut -- and there was not an empty seat in the house. Reviews were glowing, evoking phrases like "The intense genius that is Daniel Lanois..." (Jam!)
The Band tribute took place on the 30th anniversary of the group's famous all-star concert, and features Blackie and The Rodeo Kings, with guitar gurus Colin Linden, Tom Wilson and Stephen Fearing, plus special guests.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Last week we heard all about what HD Radio is, in this week's Tech Q? column we learn where it is. Without further ado, over to Radio 2's Resident Geek, Mr. Peter Cook:
"HD Radio launched in the US in 2003 and six years later we haven't heard much about it. We could be excused in Canada since the format is not available here. But what about in the United States?
New York Times technology columnist David Pogue published a great article on HD Radio last week. He's got 100,000 Twitter followers and asked them who was using HD Radio. Sixteen people replied. Three of them worked in the radio industry. Of the latter, all were concerned for the future of the platform.
What's happened? Perhaps it's still early days. Or perhaps the product simply isn't compelling enough to sway sufficient listeners.
Guitar Gurus continues, with Tom Allen chatting with the great (yet so humble) Madagascar Slim on Radio 2 Morning.
Then tonight on Canada Live hear Tri-Continental, a trio of talented guitarists including Slim, and also featuring Bill Bourne and Lester Quitzau. The concert features their trademark blend of laid back folk and blues, with a little Malagasy music thrown in too. (Thanks to Madagascar Slim!)
In responding to the question: Which Guitar Guru Deserves Greater Recognition, one listener said Kevin Breit, ("Sisters Euclid, Folkalarm, Supergenerous, recorded with Wailin' Jennies, Cassandra Wilson, Norah Jones...") because he's a "drop dead amazing" player. And so he is, as you can hear tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.).
But not only Breit -- the guitarist is playing with Harry Manx, who does with blues and Indian ragas what no man has done before. He plays an instrument called the the Mohan Veena, a modified archtop guitar with drone strings, so it sounds kind of like a slide guitar crossed with a sitar. Together with Breit, the two enter their own musical zone that's impressive for any number of reasons -- including their combined, formidable chops.
The second concert on the show features Alex Cuba.
Although it may seem BillyBobGate is the only story The Week In The (Music) Blogosphere has to tackle, it is not so. But before we leave it totally behind us, have a look at Canadian singer Jeremy Fisher's interpretation of what really went on between Billy Bob and Jian, if you haven't already. Now onto other blog worthy news from the past week.
Some were agitated by the news that Frank Zappa may have conceived of file sharing...in 1983.
Note too that guitar-wielding gal Melissa McClelland is in the Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) studio to talk with Rich Terfry about her new recording, Victoria Day.
Early reviews look very promising -- Hero Hill says: "Melissa McClelland’s Victoria Day is a wonderful slice of Canadian twang meets Dixieland blues but even with those two stabilizing foundations, she still manages to fuse in 50’s goodness, dreamy melodies, tender piano and surprisingly heavy guitar work."
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Guitar lovers probably just had a little adrenaline rush reading those names. Yup, four masterful guitarists kick off Guitar Gurus, a week long celebration of matters six string, with concerts tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.).
First, Bruce Cockburn, currently touring solo in connection with his latest, Slice O' Life. And in fact the show you can hear this evening features Cockburn solo with acoustic. It was recorded at the Eric Harvey Theatre at the Banff Centre and by all accounts wowed 'em..
And starting Tuesday on Radio 2 Morning , Tom talks with a guitar guru a day: Colin Linden, Madagascar Slim, Jesse Cook and Bruce Cockburn. Also starting tomorrow: your chance to win a Larrivee guitar. (A real peach of a guitar, as you'll see if you click on that last link.)
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Funny how some subjects lend themselves to song. Like love. Or lack of love. Or unrequited love. Mustn't forget love gone wrong. Oh, and then there's the grape. (In fermented form.)
Yes, songs about vino are so rampant that one blog even posted a Top 100 Drinking Songs list (which implies there must be countless others).
On Farrago (5 p.m. 5:30 NT) today Jurgen, who is famous for his wine lore (see Grapes Of Gothe), sticks mostly to wine, with music from musicians as disparate as Handsome Ned and Lambert Hendricks and Ross.
'Tis Easter, and this morning Choral Concert (Sunday 8:00 a.m.) celebrates what host Peter Togni describes as "10 centuries of Easter." The show includes music from Gregorian chant and Bach, to the Blind Boys of Alabama, Igor Stravinsky and the unusual world of the Ukrainian baroque.
Canada Live features gospel tonight in honour of the day: The Evolution of Gospel Music featuring the Toronto Mass Choir. It traces gospel's history from African-American slave songs right up to the latest Kirk Franklin hit. The choir is augmented by rhythm and horn section for the occasion, plus great Canadian gospel soloists. Also in the lineup, a revival of a legendary 1990s gospel project known as Integrity Gospel.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
If you're ready to come out of the closet (or the shower) as an opera singer, take note. The Calgary Opera is holding a contest -- and among the prizes is a chance to sing with the company. It's one of the stories Katherine covers today on In Tune -- which, I should point out, has a delayed start because of the opera.
But back to Calgary. If your application is successful, you will perform in front of a live audience, and if you win, you will sing with the Calgary Opera Chorus next season, as well as having the opportunity to take some classes with the Calgary Emerging Artists Programme. But you'd better get cracking, the preliminary round takes place April 20th!
Reminds me a bit of Bathroom Divas, and just for the fun of it, here's a glimpse into the audition process on that show...those judges were sure going at it!
"Hoy-yoh-toh-oh!" Yup, an attempt to write down what is one of the most widely recognized passages in opera -- from Wagner's Die Walküre, broadcast live from the Met today on Saturday Afternoon At The Opera. (If you're trying to recall that theme here's a quick reminder.)
Die Walküre is the second and most popular installment of Wagner’s monumental operatic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). It features an incredible cast of gods, goddesses, giants, water-nymphs, and a few mere mortals.
When Wagner decided to write an opera based on Norse legends and Icelandic sagas he discovered as he advanced the story that he needed a prequel, then another, and well, you know how it goes -- Ring Cycle and "epic" are practically synonymous!
For full synopsis and cast and character details, please continue reading.
The Valkyries ride again! Today, the most popular portion of Wagner's epic Ring Cycle, live from the Met on Saturday Afternoon At The Opera, with an early start at 12 noon. This production stars Iréne Theorin as Brünnhilde, and James Morris as Wotan.
The NYTimes review (Wagner’s Tale About Absolute Power’s Limits) praises Morris for his "command of character...his Wotan an imperious, prideful and ultimately tragic figure."
More on the opera later today on The Radio 2 Blog; please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
People who like (and work in) radio tend to be aware, perhaps hyper aware of sound. (For example right now I really wish that mutt across the street would go to sleep.) Anyway, radio and sound go together like, well, radio and sound. So today's Radio 2 Video Of The Week is a little nod to three men who care passionately about sound, in their entirely demented way:
This weekend Inside The Music is preempted on Saturday for an extended version of SATO (for good reason -- the most popular opera of Wagner's Ring Cycle -- Die Walküre). But on Sunday'sInside The Music show you can hear a special that sounds really interesting: "Three Years Of Provisions And Two French Horns - Music Of The Moravian Inuit"
The first places in Canada to hear Mozart, Bach and Haydn quite likely were the coastal communities of Labrador, courtesy of Moravian missionaries, who also, circa mid-1700s, brought their own hymns and brass band music.
You can still hear old Moravian hymns (sung in English and Innuktitut) on the Labrador coast. But until the Memorial University Brass Ensemble (pictured here) revived some of the band music recently, it was all but lost.
Say amen, somebody. Or just quietly be uplifted by some gospel music broadcast tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.) It's performed by Montreal's Jireh Gospel Choir, who have performed with Cirque du Soleil among other claims to fame.
Canada Live recorded them just before they decamped to tour France this winter, and the results, as beautifully described by my Canada Live colleagues are: "committed, upfront, and joyful."
Also on the show -- a concert of inspirational music from Steve Bell, which one listener (Joanna Oznowicz-Davis) describes as "Music, in the truest sense of the word!" And she adds: "Someone said that 'Music has charms to SOOTHE...' Steve Bell's music does just that!! THANK YOU, STEVE. KEEP swimming against the tide!"
Quite the most bizarre musician interview I've ever heard happened yesterday on CBC. Billy Bob Thornton, interviewed about his band The Boxmasters, took umbrage (massive understatement) about a reference to his acting career.
Seems he is just the tiniest bit sensitive about how he is represented. (Musician vs. actor.) If you haven't already heard/watched it, you can do so here. It was so downright bizarre that the interview is making news around the world. (BBC's story Thornton Clashes With Radio Host as just one of many, many examples.)
Jian Ghomeshi at Radio 1's "Q" did the interview which leads me nicely to this Radio 2-related segue.
Fans of Ron Sexsmith take note -- tonight you can hear him in concert at Massey Hall, on Canada Live (8 p.m.) Speaking of fans, true fans tend to flock together (being fans of a feather). And even with Facebook etc., the tried and true message board is still a hub of fan-activity.
What's interesting about message boards is not the recounting of set lists (possibly the most sleep inducing thing since the invention of sheep). It's the way fans sometimes write about music -- at its best it makes for reading that is as or more interesting than any journalist's review. For instance:
Ron Sexsmith's most recent appearance at Massey Hall last fall featured songs from his recent recording, Exit Strategy Of The Soul. (Influenced by soul and gospel music, with a Cuban horn section.)
You can hear the concert on Canada Live (8 p.m.) tonight -- Sexsmith with longtime band members plus string and horn sections. And while we're on the topic of Mr. Sexsmith, fans take note of his very nice video page, which includes the Woodshed series and some of his best loved videos from the past.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Many of us understand the benefits of HD TV, or High Definition Television. We may know, for example, that in High-Def the rainy cobblestones on Coronation Street actually glisten. But HD Radio? That's a whole other kettle of media. Today in the weekly Tech Q? column Peter Cook explains:
Last week we looked at analogue radio broadcasts (AM and FM). This week we begin a short series on digital radio and we'll begin with "HD Radio". Should you read this post and be inclined to rush out and buy an HD Radio receiver, hold your horses. HD Radio broadcasts are only widely available in the United States.
HD Radio launched in the United States in 2003 as a free, over the air terrestrial broadcast service. This was about eight years after DAB – a completely different digital audio broadcasting system – launched in Canada, the UK and several European countries (we'll talk about DAB in a future column).
The documentary came out in 1965, and it's a real time capsule -- of culture, filmmaking, Montreal and of course, of Cohen. At that time he was still best known as a poet and novelist, and the focus is on that rather than music, but you still get a glimpse into Cohen as a performer.
Sometimes it's easy to think that everything has already been done, and it's all just recycling. That "everything old is new again" applies to the arts as much as it does to martinis. But in music there continue to be innovators who break the mold, and Sandro Perri is one. He's a guitarist/percussionist/singer/electronics guy who is a great fav of The Signal (10 p.m.).
Tonight you can hear Perri, with his "penchant for beautiful melodies and strange arrangements," as my Signal colleagues put it, in concert from the LOLA Festival in London, Ontario. (Chartattack described the concert as "ethereal folk music," so that should give you another idea of what to expect.)
Everyone has their little procrastinatory pleasures, whether it's watching Law & Order repeats (apparently broadcast 24 hours a day) or CrackFacebook. But why the guilt? Feh. If it's a pleasure it's a pleasure, right?
One regular in my list is Web Zen. And the current edition is devoted to the song. Song Zen will take you to such delights as Songs For Ice Cream Trucks. Despite the fact that it is snowing, yes snowing as I write, Songs For Ice Cream Trucks is a great way to musically feel like it's spring.
As informal recommender services go, listener concert reviews at Concerts On Demand increasingly help steer anyone who cares to be steered to some good live music.
'Fer instance, this review by a listener with the handle "Hodgkins," of the sitar-led group Ragleela:
"This is the best music I've heard in months. Thanks CBC radio 2 for augmenting our ears to such fresh music."
As a result, I'm listening to the Ragleela Concert On Demand as we blog. And very nice instrumental music to work by it is -- sitar, guitar, percussion, nice groove. Consider my ears augmented.
And it's just one concert of many that my CoD colleagues have been busy putting on the website -- here are some of the other concerts in various genres you may want to check out:
The Radio 2 Podcasts page has been tweaked a tad, making it easier to get directly to the Tuesday release of the Canada Live Podcast -- and to all the past editions. So that's where you'll find podcasts featuring musicians like The Duhks and Stars and Jenn Grant and Daniel Lanois etc. etc.
Today's CL Podcast is a singer-songwriter double-header from St. James Hall in Vancouver, featuring some tunes from up-and-comer Hannah Georgas and the catchy pop of Jeremy Fisher.
"April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire..." T.S. Eliot
Composer Harry Somers had T.S. Eliot in mind while he wrote the beautifully named Of Memory and Desire, a composition that The Signal broadcasts tonight, performed by the Esprit Orchestra.
Harry Somers died in 1999, and in reading about the end of his life I came across this gem: "Harry's preoccupations were music, tennis and the truth...As a young man he got his start with a scholarship to study composition in Paris - a hockey scholarship. The team wanted to honour a great hockey player with artistic talent...."
To hear the Somers' music, tune into The Signal (10 p.m.) tonight. Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
The Week In The (Music) Blogosphere begins with a much blogged about story, the Queen's iPod. It was a present, as you probably know, from the Obamas.
We know there were Broadway show tunes, but what else? The Guardian's Music Blog provocatively hopes they avoided numbers like: "Stone Roses' anti-royalist Elizabeth My Dear, the Smiths' The Queen is Dead, the Sex Pistols' anti-Jubilee anthem God Save the Queen..." I think we can safely say they did.
Next, to the economy -- music may make you feel better about your stock portfolio.
Who doesn't love the cello? You may now leave the room. The rest of us, those who revel in the rich gorgeous timbre of the instrument (even those prone to cello jokes) are in for a treat. Both Sunday Afternoon In Concert (1p.m./1:30 NT) and Farrago With Jurgen Gothe (5p.m./5:30 NT) celebrate cello music today -- full programming details at end of post.
But first, The Radio 2 Blog brings you the man who played 37 cello parts:
Cello(s) by Ethan Winer. And now to today's cello specifics:
If Radio 2 could wear a banner today it might read: Cellos! Cellos! Cellos! Or, to borrow the name of Jurgen Gothe's theme, it's "Cellocity." You could interpret that as either Cello City, man, or perhaps music that moves at the speed of cello. Either way, it's cello-centric programming on two shows.
First Sunday Afternoon In Concert (Sunday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT), with all the concerts and features involving cello, cellists including Antonio Lysy, Amanda Forsyth and Denise Djokic.
Second, Farrago With Jurgen Gothe (Sunday 5:00 p.m. 5:30 NT), where Jurgen features music for the cello but points out that none of it is composed by Bach! There are many neighbourhoods in Cello City...
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
That music has power to heal is an idea as old as the hills. Newer than the hills is the idea that we can understand how this works -- scientifically, in the brain -- and then prescribe music like medicine. You may have seen a feature article about this recently, Composing Concertos in the Key of Rx. It's a story Katherine will be covering today on In Tune today (5pm/5:30 NT).
My favourite quote, from the "chief wellness officer" at a "wellness institute" in Cleveland:
"Listening to finer music and attending concerts on a consistent basis makes your real age about four years younger...attending sports events like soccer or football offers none of these benefits."
You mean large quantities of greasy stadium food washed down by beer, in between screaming for your team isn't as healthy as soothing music in your living room? Shocking!
Love potion # Donizetti today, with the comedy L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love), featuring Angela Gheorghiu as Adina, and Massimo Giordano as Nemorino. It comes to you from the Met, and is broadcast on Saturday Afternoon At The Opera (Saturday 1:00 p.m., 1:30 NT).
The production is getting mixed reviews, but the New York Times (Playing Love And Potions For Laughs, Italian Style) was pretty hot on Gehorghiu, saying: "Her conception of a cool, wily Adina who only gradually softens was convincing; her singing, though a shade undersize at times, was stylish and technically secure. Ms. Gheorghiu’s scenes at the heart of Act II...were unquestionably the dramatic high points of the evening."
The story is one of those innocent-peasant-falls-for-snake-oil-salesman plots. (What, you didn't know that was one of world's five great narratives?) And it features the beautiful and soulful aria, Una Furtiva Lagrima. (That link will take you to a performance by Pavarotti.)
Headlining Canada Live tonight: orchestral, romantic indie rock from Montreal favourites The Dears. This concert comes from a sold out show at St. James United Church in Montreal, a benefit for the Every Kid Choir. Every Kid Choir seeks to "empower children through music." There were even kids singing at this concert -- as described in The Gazette's review:
"The 10 or so kids sang along for Saviour, the closing song on the Dears' new album Missiles. A gospel-tinged, soulbaring ballad, it was an odd but understandable way to start the night (the kids had to get to bed, after all)."
You can hear it tonight on Canada Live (8 p.m.). Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
After reading about the new (and bilingual) West Side Story on Broadway, it struck me that most musicals could use a fresh approach. Today's Radio 2 Video Fest is devoted to this cause, starting with Dame Judi Dench's reinvention of "16 Going On 17" from Sound Of Music. (Disclaimer: X-rated at 2:30.)
Then there's the sub-genre "reality musical," for instance The Food Court Musical:
The folks at the International Year of Astronomy chose to set the above beautiful montage to music by Sigur Ross Ros. Which brings me to Sky Music, a special this Sunday on Inside The Music (12pm/1230 NT). The topic -- music inspired by the stars and planets and night sky. The producer tells me it's a kind of "galactic musical crazy quilt."
So you'll hear music and comments from Philip Glass (who wrote an un-recorded opera about Galileo). And music from composers who have created modern "music of the spheres" via computer (including Canadian composer Barry Truax). And of course Holst, and Inuit legends and music...it really is a "galactic musical crazy quilt."
The week draws to its close, and with it one more Wordsmith -- tonight's broadcast on Canada Live (8 p.m.) features a concert by Emm Gryner, described in one review as "one of the most under appreciated talents on the Canadian music scene."
But many moons (or at least hours) before that, tune into Friday's Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) for an elegant performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 with Maurizio Pollini and the Vienna Philharmonic.
As the New York Times once put it, Pollini is one of the most respected pianists of his generation..."distinguished, cerebral, powerful, and precise." While Mr. Pollini (remarkably) does not appear to have a website, if you'd like a brief audio preview of Pollini in full flight, go to his Deutsche Grammophone page.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Canada Live's (8 p.m.) Wordsmiths series continues tonight with a concert featuring Ian Tyson. And that concert is followed by a concert from a younger singer highly influenced by Tyson, Corb Lund.
Lund is partly responsible for getting Tyson performing in public again -- Lund convinced Tyson that despite having injured his voice he should still record. The result was Yellowhead To Yellowstone And Other Love Stories, and a renewed performing career.
Tonight's concert features music from one of five sold out shows in January celebrating Tyson's 75th birthday, recorded at the Horizon Stage in Spruce Grove Alberta. But if you haven't heard him lately, don't expect to hear the Tyson of Navajo Rug or Four Strong Winds fame.
A song written by Twitter might go something like this (taken from real life "tweets"):
"Bought a new camera today.
Now I have to wait for Android to arrive in Canada (sigh).
Maybe the turtle ate your donut.
Is resting after bellydancing."
Even so, you knew it was only a matter of time before some songwriter capitalized on the massive outpouring of words that is Twitter, and invited fans to focus their tweets for the designated purpose of a composition. And that songwriter is the highly talented Somali-Canadian K'naan.
As reported in Exclaim and elsewhere, he's invited fans to write a song by Twitter (@ Dustyfoot) -- and you have until May 1st to make your contribution. You could view it as pure gimmick, but as K'naan tweeted yesterday (is there a past tense for tweet? there is now) "it's not help that i need to write a song... it's an opportunity for other creative people to feel inspired to write."
Continuing the week long Wordsmiths theme on Canada Live (8 p.m.) tonight, music from Ian Tyson. It features his "new voice." Literally. A few years back he damaged his voice through trying to out-sing a bad PA system. But now he has a renewed performing career, singing in that new voice -- as you can hear tonight in a recording Radio 2 made at one of five sold out shows celebrating Tyson's 75th birthday.
Please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
"It's the voice of a landscape, a geographic and emotional space that only seems to get wider and more mysterious the more we explore it."
That's how David Newland, host of this year's (7th annual) tribute to Gordon Lightfoot at Hugh's Room describes the man's music, and it would be difficult to better that description.
Tonight Canada Live (8 p.m.) broadcasts the tribute, which includes some of the obvious songs like Sundown, If You Could Read My Mind and Early Morning Rain, and the less obvious -- I'll Tag Along, Home From The Forest...and many more in both categories. (Performers include Jason Fowler, Liam Titcomb, Cadence, Ken Whiteley, Jory Nash, Royal Wood, Oh Susanna...a very nice lineup.)
Lightfoot, along with Cohen and Cockburn (the "other top-floor residents in the Canuck tower of song," as the Winnipeg Free Press recently put it), has been having something of a renaissance of late.
Before you do anything else, go to "continue reading" and have a look at the 1937 explanation of how modern technology like The Radio and The Microphone work. It's a charming glimpse of days of old. Then come back and start at the top for the full benefit of today's Tech Q? column, which Peter Cook devotes to both days of old and new...radio:
I've been wanting to do some posts at Tech Q about the various new "Digital Radio" formats. But as I started to write, I realized that it would be helpful to know a bit about analogue radio. This way we can distinguish what's new and improved with digital. And perhaps we'll appreciate some of the great things about analogue.
Let's start with some musicians on stage. The sound waves produced by the instruments travel through the air to the microphones. The microphones convert the varying sound waves into a varying electrical current. This electrical current is analogous to – or an analogue of – the original signal. We can amplify that signal and send it to a transmitter which broadcasts the signal through the air as radio waves.
There are some songs everyone seems to want to sing. Cohen's Hallelujah. Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven (OK, now I'm thinking karaoke). And just about anything by Gordon Lightfoot.
This evening on Canada Live (8 p.m.) you can hear many singers doing their best by Gordie, and it ain't karaoke. The performers include Oh Susanna, Rick Fines, Liam Titcomb, Ken Whiteley, Royal Wood and Jory Nash, and the music was performed at an annual tribute that's been running for 7 years at one of Canada's leading folk venues, Hugh's Room.
More about this tribute to Lightfoot later today on The Radio 2 Blog; please keep reading for the rest of the day's broadcast highlights:
Pete Seeger turns 90 on Sunday, May 3rd. And he's still an activist and a performer -- you may have seen him singing This Land Is Your Land at President Obama's inauguration with Springsteen and choir. 
Inspiring music teachers truly are a wonderful thing -- their lessons stay with you for life. And Tom Allen, Rich Terfry and The Radio 2 Blog want to hear about your most inspiring music teacher, in honour of 
HD, DAB, SAT, a forest of abbreviations that all lead to one clearing -- Digital Radio. Leaving aside the woodsy analogy, (since it goes no further than that, really) here is Radio 2's Resident Geek Peter Cook with the weekly 
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Everyone has their little procrastinatory pleasures, whether it's watching Law & Order repeats (apparently broadcast 24 hours a day) or 
Canada Live's (8 p.m.) 
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