“Conference of the Birds†is my weekly radio program on WNUR-FM.  It airs on Tuesdays from 5-7:30 am Chicago time (UTC-6). And, of course, when technology cooperates, you can just come here for the archives.
This week was my segment of WNUR’s annual phoneathon fundraiser. I’m afraid it was not an earth-shattering “take”, and the Jazz Show is severely underperforming it’s goal based on previous years. I don’t know if this is a sign of the economy, or a sign that WNUR’s jazz audience is dwindling… there’s still a couple of days in which you can donate, if you choose: call 847-491-WNUR.
This week’s show featured music from the Creative Music Studio, a remarkable place in Woodstock, NY, which brought together musicians from around the world to learn and teach for more than a decade in the 70’s and early 80’s. Today’s music selection featured people who were guiding artists and otherwise heavily involved in the CMS. (And as the incomplete list of guiding artists shows, 2.5 hrs is hardly enough to do it justice…)
Thanks to Bob Sweet, who donated several copies of his CMS history Music Universe, Music Mind to WNUR (there are still some available as premiums!), and thanks to WNUR’s Mike Corsa, who told me everything I need to know about conducting phone interviews. And most of all, thanks to Karl Berger, who made himself available for an interview. Segments of the interview are interspersed in the archive for this week’s show, and the full interview (with about ten minutes of not-quite-as-interesting-stuff which didn’t get played on the air) can be downloaded below.
complete program (142 MB, 2 hrs 35 min)
complete Karl Berger Interview (23 MB, 25 min)
Artist: “Track†– Album (Label)
David Holland Quartet: “Conference of the Birds†– Conference of the Birds (ECM)
Don Cherry Quintet: “Spring is Here†– Live at Cafe Montmartre, 1966 V. 2 (ESP Disk)
Karl Berger: “Part 1†– WNUR Interview, 2009-02-23 (WNUR)
Anthony Braxton: “Composition 51†– Creative Orchestra Music 1976 (Bluebird)
Karl Berger: “Part 3†– WNUR Interview, 2009-02-23 (WNUR)
Karl Berger and Edward Blackwell: “Time Is†– Just Play (Emanem)
Larry Chernicoff: “Woodstock, New York†– Gallery of Air (Muse/Art)
Mark Helias: “Police Story Blues†– Desert Blue (Enja)
Karl Berger/Edward Blackwell/David Holland: “Ornette†– Transit (Black Saint)
John Lindberg Ensemble: “Common Goal†– Bounce (Black Saint)
Barry Altschul: “You Can’t Name Your Own Tune†– You Can’t Name Your Own Tune (32 Jazz)
Garrett List/A-1 Band: “Rib Crib†– Fire and Ice (Lovely Music)
Karl Berger: “Part 3†– WNUR Interview, 2009-02-23 (WNUR)
Lee Konitz: “Free Blues†– Satori (Milestone)
Karl Berger: “Part 4†– WNUR Interview, 2009-02-23 (WNUR)
Codona: “Travel By Night†– Codona 3 (ECM)
Karl Berger/David Holland: “Fragments†– All Kinds of Time (Sackville)
Abdullah Ibrahim: “African Market†– Mindif (Enja)
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