There’s music from the great blues guitarist, Blind Willie Johnson - his most famous theme “Dark Was the Night.” Also, hear some of Phil Kline’s millennial mass “John the Revelator,” written for the early/new music vocal group Lionheart and the quartet ETHEL. Listen to atmospheric sounds of the Mellotron (as well as its precursor, the Chamberlin), in work by American musician Ross Goldstein where the sounds of a choir combine with droning strings, wind instruments, and baroque tidbits (Pop Matters). Also, hear wordless vocals in field recordings from Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan, made in the Parchman Farm maximum security facility in Mississippi. There were twelve men, ranging in age from 23 to 74; three are serving life sentences and six of them were newer arrivals or not on the debut album. In the last song recorded that day, “Six of the men huddled together and improvised a sublime, wordless expression of their pain and longing,” (Bandcamp liner notes). There’s also music from a Dust to Digital collection, and an improvisation from Bobby McFerrin and his Circlesongs Ensemble, as performed at WNYC in 1997. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik Program #4970, Songs Without Words (First aired 1/23/2025) ARTIST: Bobby McFerrin & Circlesong EnsembleWORK: Improvisation No. 3 [1:00]RECORDING: Live at WNYC, 1997SOURCE/INFO: https://www.wnyc.org/story/best-wnyc-live-volume-one ARTIST: Blind Willie JohnsonWORK: Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground [3:22]RECORDING: The Complete Blind Willie JohnsonSOURCE: Columbia/LegacyINFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, Spotify, YouTube ARTIST: Lionheart & ETHELWORK: Phil Kline: Dark Was the Night [5:50]RECORDING: John the RevelatorSOURCE: Cantaloupe 21047INFO: cantaloupemusic.com ARTIST: Tonu Kaljuste, conductor; Swedish Radio ChoirWORK: Schnittke: Psalm XII [8:25]RECORDING: Psalms of RepentanceSOURCE: ECM RecordsINFO: https://ecmrecords.com ARTIST: Ian Brennan/ Parchman Prison PrayerWORK: Parchman Prison Blues [2:27]RECORDING: Parchman Prison Prayer: Another Mississippi Sunday MorningSOURCE: GlitterbeatINFO: https://parchmanprisonprayer.bandcamp.com/album/another-mississippi-sunday-morning ARTIST: Deacon Tommy Tookes & CongregationWORK: The Lord Is Risen [5:19]RECORDING: Art of Field Recording Volume I: Fifty Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum SOURCE: Dust to DigitalINFO: https://dusttodigital.bandcamp.com ARTIST: Bobby McFerrin & Circlesong EnsembleWORK: Improvisation No. 3 [5:49]RECORDING: Live at WNYC, 1997SOURCE/INFO: https://www.wnyc.org/story/best-wnyc-live-volume-one ARTIST: Meredith Monk & Vocal EnsembleWORK: Astronaut Anthem [4:56]RECORDING: Meredith Monk: The RecordingsSOURCE: ECM RecordsINFO: https://ecmrecords.com ARTIST: Ross GoldsteinWORK: Obsidian Cat [3:44]RECORDING: TimokaSOURCE: Birdwatcher RecordsINFO: https://rossgoldstein.bandcamp.com/album/timoka ARTIST: Gary Lucas, Dean BowmanWORK: Dark was the Night [3:17]RECORDING: Chase the DevilSOURCE: Knitting Factory RecordsINFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, Spotify, YouTube
There’s music from the great blues guitarist, Blind Willie Johnson - his most famous theme “Dark Was the Night.” Also, hear some of Phil Kline’s millennial mass “John the Revelator,” written for the early/new music vocal group Lionheart and the quartet ETHEL. Listen to atmospheric sounds of the Mellotron (as well as its precursor, the Chamberlin), in work by American musician Ross Goldstein where the sounds of a choir combine with droning strings, wind instruments, and baroque tidbits (Pop Matters).
Also, hear wordless vocals in field recordings from Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan, made in the Parchman Farm maximum security facility in Mississippi. There were twelve men, ranging in age from 23 to 74; three are serving life sentences and six of them were newer arrivals or not on the debut album. In the last song recorded that day, “Six of the men huddled together and improvised a sublime, wordless expression of their pain and longing,” (Bandcamp liner notes). There’s also music from a Dust to Digital collection, and an improvisation from Bobby McFerrin and his Circlesongs Ensemble, as performed at WNYC in 1997. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4970, Songs Without Words (First aired 1/23/2025)
ARTIST: Bobby McFerrin & Circlesong EnsembleWORK: Improvisation No. 3 [1:00]RECORDING: Live at WNYC, 1997SOURCE/INFO: https://www.wnyc.org/story/best-wnyc-live-volume-one
ARTIST: Blind Willie JohnsonWORK: Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground [3:22]RECORDING: The Complete Blind Willie JohnsonSOURCE: Columbia/LegacyINFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, Spotify, YouTube
ARTIST: Lionheart & ETHELWORK: Phil Kline: Dark Was the Night [5:50]RECORDING: John the RevelatorSOURCE: Cantaloupe 21047INFO: cantaloupemusic.com
ARTIST: Tonu Kaljuste, conductor; Swedish Radio ChoirWORK: Schnittke: Psalm XII [8:25]RECORDING: Psalms of RepentanceSOURCE: ECM RecordsINFO: https://ecmrecords.com
ARTIST: Ian Brennan/ Parchman Prison PrayerWORK: Parchman Prison Blues [2:27]RECORDING: Parchman Prison Prayer: Another Mississippi Sunday MorningSOURCE: GlitterbeatINFO: https://parchmanprisonprayer.bandcamp.com/album/another-mississippi-sunday-morning
ARTIST: Deacon Tommy Tookes & CongregationWORK: The Lord Is Risen [5:19]RECORDING: Art of Field Recording Volume I: Fifty Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum SOURCE: Dust to DigitalINFO: https://dusttodigital.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Bobby McFerrin & Circlesong EnsembleWORK: Improvisation No. 3 [5:49]RECORDING: Live at WNYC, 1997SOURCE/INFO: https://www.wnyc.org/story/best-wnyc-live-volume-one
ARTIST: Meredith Monk & Vocal EnsembleWORK: Astronaut Anthem [4:56]RECORDING: Meredith Monk: The RecordingsSOURCE: ECM RecordsINFO: https://ecmrecords.com
ARTIST: Ross GoldsteinWORK: Obsidian Cat [3:44]RECORDING: TimokaSOURCE: Birdwatcher RecordsINFO: https://rossgoldstein.bandcamp.com/album/timoka
ARTIST: Gary Lucas, Dean BowmanWORK: Dark was the Night [3:17]RECORDING: Chase the DevilSOURCE: Knitting Factory RecordsINFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, Spotify, YouTube