Cultural, Community, Information

Airs Friday, May 24 at 11 p.m.  KUT’s award winning Texas Music Matters unit revisits the story of Texas music by turning a spotlight on the women who’ve helped shape it –and who continue to keep Texas a vital voice on the world stage. Join us for Unsung: The Stories of Women in Texas Music. From the singing cowboys of depression era movies to the beer-drinkin’ good ol’ boys of modern country, Texas music has been wrapped in a Lone Star mythology that’s decidedly masculine. Yet from its earliest days, women like Cindy Walker wrote the songs the cowboys would sing. Some, like Janis Joplin, had to leave Texas to find acceptance on their own terms. Even now, the story of Texas music is only half told—glossing over the roles of pioneers like Big Mama Thornton or the struggles of modern movers and shakers from Ruthie Foster and Shawn Colvin to Sarah Jaffe and Girl in a Coma.

Airs Wednesday, May 22 at 2 p.m. "Barbershop: Made in the USA" is a program that explores the roots of a truly American art form--barbershop harmony.  While we've all heard barbershop quartets like the Buffalo Bills or seen the Dapper Dans at Disney World, few of us know how it came to be or what gives it such a special place in American music history and it was almost lost as an art form but is experiencing a resurgence.   A cappella music is sweeping college campuses now across the country and indeed across the world and barbershop is sort of the "martial arts" of a cappella music.  It's truly like nothing else---fun to hear and a lot of fun to sing. I'm a relative new comer to barbershop music having sung it for only about eight years now, but it has really provided me with an opportunity to perform for many people in many places and watch faces light up when you ring a chord the way no other music seems to touch people.  I hope you'll enjoy the show.

Airs Thursday, May 23 at 8 p.m. Tucked between Togo to the west and Nigeria on the east, the West African nation of Benin is one of the smallest on the continent, yet it has produced one of Africa's finest contemporary musicians. During the Spring of 2011, we premiered a special production featuring guitarist Lionel Loueke in a seven-piece ensemble under the direction of Robert Sadin. Working together, Sadin and Loueke crafted an extraordinary hour-long set built around original compositions and an array of stunning instrumentalists: Sadin conducted cellist Vincent Segal, violinist Mark Feldman, multi-reed and wind player Charles Pillow, along with Walter Blanding on bass clarinet, percussionists Cyro Baptista and Thioko Diagne, while Loueke sang and played guitar.

Airs Tuesday, May 21 at 9 p.m.  A classic male singer, Kurt Elling has an old-school vibe to everything from his mannered stage banter to his declamatory, full-chested delivery. But he isn't afraid to write brainy, twisty lyrics over an obscure jazz number, or take a pop song back to the drawing board. He can do a lot with his voice, you see, and the band featuring long-time collaborator Laurence Hobgood, a pianist, helps to set the stage. Also joining him on stage are guitarist John McLean, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Kendrick Scott.
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