Hear storytelling music that occupies the space between speech and song by Laurie Anderson, the late Robert Ashley, and Bob Samarotto. the late American composer Robert Ashley, responsible for the development of video- or television-operas. Revisit his work, “The Backyard,” featuring keyboard, tabla, and the composer’s voice, which is perhaps a comic opera about reincarnation (touching on bank robbery, cocktail lounges, geriatric love, adolescent elopement) and includes camera directions, because after-all, it is a “television-opera.” There’s a work by the late saxophonist, composer, and poet Bob Samarotto, recorded in our studios in 1990, his Little Piano Book, which is a series of poems about studying the piano. AND, hear a piece by Laurie Anderson, who holds forth on bowling and a pizza party with nuns, a postponed seminar on language, and a pilgrimage to Herman Hesse’s gravesite from a 1995 spoken word album. Program #5004, Musical Storytelling (First aired 5/2/2025) ARTIST: Bob Samarotto & ZeitgeistWORK: Little Piano Book [1:00]RECORDING: Zeitgeist, live, WNYC, 1990SOURCE/INFO: Live recording. This work is not commercially available. ARTIST: Robert AshleyWORK: The Backyard [23:06]RECORDING: Perfect Lives / Private PartsSOURCE: Lovely Music #1001 INFO: lovely.com ARTIST: Laurie AndersonWORK: Maria Teresa Teresa Maria [5:44]RECORDING: The Ugly One with the Jewels and Other StoriesSOURCE: Rhino/Warner Bros.INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube ARTIST: Bob Samarotto & ZeitgeistWORK: Little Piano Book [14:40]RECORDING: Zeitgeist, live, WNYC, 1990SOURCE/INFO: Live recording. This work is not commercially available.
Hear storytelling music that occupies the space between speech and song by Laurie Anderson, the late Robert Ashley, and Bob Samarotto.
the late American composer Robert Ashley, responsible for the development of video- or television-operas. Revisit his work, “The Backyard,” featuring keyboard, tabla, and the composer’s voice, which is perhaps a comic opera about reincarnation (touching on bank robbery, cocktail lounges, geriatric love, adolescent elopement) and includes camera directions, because after-all, it is a “television-opera.” There’s a work by the late saxophonist, composer, and poet Bob Samarotto, recorded in our studios in 1990, his Little Piano Book, which is a series of poems about studying the piano.
AND, hear a piece by Laurie Anderson, who holds forth on bowling and a pizza party with nuns, a postponed seminar on language, and a pilgrimage to Herman Hesse’s gravesite from a 1995 spoken word album.
Program #5004, Musical Storytelling (First aired 5/2/2025)
ARTIST: Bob Samarotto & ZeitgeistWORK: Little Piano Book [1:00]RECORDING: Zeitgeist, live, WNYC, 1990SOURCE/INFO: Live recording. This work is not commercially available.
ARTIST: Robert AshleyWORK: The Backyard [23:06]RECORDING: Perfect Lives / Private PartsSOURCE: Lovely Music #1001 INFO: lovely.com
ARTIST: Laurie AndersonWORK: Maria Teresa Teresa Maria [5:44]RECORDING: The Ugly One with the Jewels and Other StoriesSOURCE: Rhino/Warner Bros.INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube
ARTIST: Bob Samarotto & ZeitgeistWORK: Little Piano Book [14:40]RECORDING: Zeitgeist, live, WNYC, 1990SOURCE/INFO: Live recording. This work is not commercially available.