September 2002

Nickel Creek
There is a band of young musicians that's selling lots of records to fans of country and bluegrass music. The band is Nickel Creek. Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers reports this trio has been playing together since two of them were just 7 years old. They've gone on to win many fiddle, mandolin and guitar contests and their fame is growing. (4:00)

The latest CD by Nickel Creek is called This Side, on Sugarhill Records. See http://www.nickelcreek.com.

Cecilia Bartoli
Opera star Cecilia Bartoli is in the United States for a brief concert tour, singing selections from he new CD, The Art of Cecilia Bartoli. Host Robert Siegel talks with the famed mezzo soprano about the recording, and her love of 18th century music. (7:30)

The CD is The Art of Cecilia Bartoli on the Decca Music Group label, catalog # 289 473 380-2 DH. See http://www.ceciliabartolionline.com.

Learn more about the opera star and the other artists on Bartoli's new CD at iclassics.com.

Largo
Reviewer Tom Moon reviews the latest CD by jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, called Largo. Moon says it's the best blend of rock and jazz he's heard in a long while. (4:30)

Largo, by Brad Mehldau. Catalog#: 48114-2. Warner Bros., 2002.

William Rosenberg
Dunkin Donuts founder William Rosenberg died Friday of cancer at the age of 86. John Ydstie talks with Jessica Brilliant Keener, co-author of Time to Make the Donuts, about Rosenberg's life. (4:00)

Keener's book is published by Lebhar-Friedman Books, December 2001.

A New Deal for New York
NPR's Margot Adler talks to historian Mike Wallace about his new book, A New Deal for New York. The book proposes a new look for the city based on progressive ideals from the original New Deal. (6:30)

Bell & Weiland Publishers/Gotham Center Books; ISBN: 0972315519

The Anthropology of Turquoise
Host Howard Berkes talks to author Ellen Meloy about her new book, The Anthropology of Turquoise. It's a look at how color and light inform human behavior, and in particular, the color turquoise, which ties together cultures from the American Southwest to ancient Persia and Afghanistan. (7:15)

Pantheon Books; ISBN: 037540885

Patty Griffin
Singer Patty Griffin has released three albums. Her latest, 1,000 Kisses, is the most spare, the most acoustic, and perhaps the most heart-wrenching. Host Howard Berkes talks to Patty Griffin about the sadness in her voice and her lyrics. They also talk about Bruce Springsteen, singing in Spanish, and the power of a good Texas rain. (12:00)

1,000 Kisses is on ATO Records. www.atorecords.com. Patty Griffin's website is www.pattygriffin.com.

The Willies
Guitarist Bill Frisell tells the story of how his latest CD came to be. The album is called The Willies. It's a departure for Frisell, mostly filled with old-timey American music. In this musical essay Frisell tells us how he met Danny Barnes, a native of Texas and someone that grew up hearing and learning music in the oral tradition and how that brought the album about. (4:00)

The disc is The Willies by Bill Frisell. It's on Nonesuch records.

Vocal Sampling
Vocal Sampling, a group from Havana, Cuba, is nominated for three Latin Grammys tonight. They make unusual a cappella music, using their voices to imitate Cuban instrumentation. Reviewer Felix Contreras says that on this CD called Cambio De Tiempo these schooled musicians have put together a great mix of Cuban styles and have mixed it up with hip-hop and jazz -- all with their mouths. (4:30)

The CD is called Cambio De Tiempo by Vocal Sampling on Ciocan music. See http://www.ciocanmusic.com.

The Lives of the Muses
Jacki Lyden speaks with Francine Prose author of The Lives of the Muses: Nine Women & the Artists They Inspired. Men of great genius like Samuel Johnson, Dante Rossetti, Freidrich Nietzsche and George Balanchine carried on passionate and often bizarre affairs with women of great distinction. Their relationships led the men to great heights. But it was not always the same for the women who fueled their creative powers. Ms. Prose tells some of their stories. (7:45)

Patricia Barber
Music critic Jim Fusilli reviews the latest CD by jazz singer and songwriter Patricia Barber. The recording, called Verse, is a departure from her previous work. She wrote all of the tunes on this record. Her piano performance is less dominant on this album, but the recording is sustained by the band of musicians, including trumpeter Dave Douglas and drummer Joey Barron. (4:30)

The CD is Verse, by Patricia Barber. It's on Blue Note Records.

Bobby Bare Jr.
Meredith Ochs reviews Bobby Bare Jr.'s new solo album. It's called Young Criminals' Starvation League. The album can be called alt country, but its sound is unexpected nonetheless. (4:00)

The CD is on Bloodshot Records, ASIN: B000069B0O.

The Book of Illusions
Jacki talks with writer Paul Auster about his latest novel, The Book of Illusions. The stories of main characters David Zimmer and Hector Mann are thrown together with a number of other surprises. Auster follows the characters to find out what they do with them. (7:30)

The book is published by Henry Holt and Company, September, 2002.

Farm Women
Host Karla Davis talks to Lu Ann Jones, author of the new book Mama Learned Us to Work. It's a history of the southern farm women whose backbreaking work -- chopping cotton, plowing, and planting -- helped build the nation. (10:00)

University of North Carolina Press; ISBN: 0807853844

Gigi Gryce and Rat Race Blues
Even if you've never heard of Gigi Gryce, it's likely that you've heard his music. The saxophonist worked with and wrote for some of the giants of the industry, including Thelonious Monk and Quincy Jones. But after a short career, he gave it all up to become a schoolteacher. Karla Davis talks with the author of a new book about Gryce on All Things Considered. (10:25)

Rat Race Blues: The Musical Life of Gigi Gryce is published by Berkeley Hills Books ISBN: 1893163253

Blacklisted
Sarah Bardeen reviews the latest CD from Neko Case. Blacklisted is Case's third solo album. The CD is on Bloodshot Records.(3:30)

See www.bloodshotrecords.com for more information.

The Nose
Robert talks with Gabrielle Glaser, author of The Nose: A Profile of Sex, Beauty and Survival. In her recently published book, Glaser explores all things about the nose and how it defines us -- how we look and feel about the things we smell. She takes us from ancient Egyptian deodorants to the world of celebrity nose jobs, and she describes how scientists are unlocking the mysteries behind smell and the brain. The book is published by Pocket Books. (8:00)

Silence on the Mountain
Jacki Lyden talks with Daniel Wilkinson about his book, Silence on the Mountain: Stories of Terror, Betrayal, and Forgetting in Guatemal. About 200,000 people were killed during a 36 year period of civil war in Guatemala that ended in 1995. Wilkinson found that people were deeply reluctant to talk about the violence and atrocities that had occurred. He concludes that their silence is an indication that terror won in Guatemala. (7:30)

The publisher is Houghton Mifflin, September, 2002.

Anonymous 4
Host Linda Wertheimer talks with singer Susan Helauer of Anonymous 4 about the group's new album, La Bele Marie. It's a collection of 12th and 13th century songs in praise of the Virgin Mary. (9:30)

Big If
Host Linda Wertheimer talks with Mark Costello about his second novel, Big If. It's a darkly comic story about a Secret Service agent assigned to a presidential election campaign, and a computer game called Big If that plays out terrible scenarios. (7:15)

Big If is published by W.W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 0393051161

C.P.E. Bach Sonatas and Rondos
Tom Manoff reviews pianist Mikhail Pletnev's new CD of Sonatas and Rondos by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. (3:30)

The CD is Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Sonatas and Rondos by Mikhail Pletnev, from Deutsche Grammophon, catalog # 289 459 614-2.

Hank Dogs
Meredith Ochs reviews a new CD from the British folk trio, the Hank Dogs. It's called Half Smile. The music is gentle and melancholy, in the tradition of both American and British folk bards. (4:00)

The CD is on the SpinArt label; ASIN: B0000666Z7.

ECM Records Retrospective
Tom Moon takes a listen to a series of CDs released by the German label ECM. The series is a retrospective look at the label's long time and best known artists, such as pianist Keith Jarrett, saxophonist Jan Garbarek and guitarist Bill Frisell. (8:00)

The series is called Rarum on ECM records.

Frontera Dreams
Alan Cheuse reviews Frontera Dreams, by Paco Taibo II. Taibo's Mexican private detective Hector Shayne returns for another round of crime fighting. Taibo is a popular and prolific writer -- detective Shayne has already appeared in more than half a dozen novels. (2:00)