The Turntable
I like The Turntable’s approach. They take on a tough subject, trying to explain music in words, in a way that is intelligent and entertaining. Each episode of this podcast takes a look at aspects of “Black Music including Soul, Jazz, Hip Hop, House, World and Rock”. The format is usually that of an interview with the artist or artists who created the music that is being spotlighted on the show. Sometimes the musicians speak with a panel of interviewers; sometimes just with the smooth voiced host, Charles White. For me, it is an interesting peek into genres and performers that I know a little about, like say Motown, as well as an exposure to contemporary sounds I am not familiar with, say the Brand New Heavies.
As an example in the category of the already familiar, I would chose a podcast I found to be very memorable; one which featured an illuminating discussion on the music of Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions. In this broadcast Mr. White did some particularly effective moderating and he was able to extract some great stories from several members of the group. Listeners such as me learned that the music of The Impressions was frequently derived from spiritual songs. Not from a specific song, mind you, just from the essence of the genre. And they were very young when they started in the business, either getting their parents’ permission or sneaking out to play gigs.
One of my favorite shows featured a contemporary artist and I came across it accidentally. I was reading the episode list and saw they had a podcast called “Coultrain”. I thought it would be about the legendary saxophone player. Instead it was an entirely different artist, a singer songwriter from St. Louis. So instead of a history lesson, I got to listen to some music I had never heard of before. And it was good, good, good. I would especially recommend a tune of his called “Green”.
Actually, the interview with Coultrain showcases a strength of the program and a weakness as well. On the plus side, the musicians are almost always asked who their influences are and the answers they give are usually thoughtful and cover a broad spectrum. On the other hand, the conversations tend to bog down whenever the artists are asked to categorize their own music. Either they completely resist or they give multiple choice responses which do not clarify anything. To me, the efforts to classify an artist’s sound as this or that constitute a slippery slope. The panelists themselves often acknowledge the inherent flaws with trying to squeeze into labels. They often mention how the meaning of “R and B” has morphed over the years. Fortunately though, when The Turntable goes down this route and stalls, Charles White gets everyone back on track by delivering a universal truth: Soul music is music from the soul.
During every podcast, The Turntable also presents samples of the music being talked about. These cuts are very generous in length which helps create a good feel for the subject under consideration. Interspersed with the regular interview shows, there is the occasional special episode to enjoy. I particularly liked one change of pace they had where the panel swapped examples of their favorite Christmas songs (to my ears Donny Hathaway’s version of “This Christmas” wins hands down).
On a final note, the website rocks. http://stage.ebonyjet.com/multimedia/podcast/coultrain.aspx It may be the most podcast friendly site I have seen. There are extra features like suggested play lists, bios, episode descriptions. Just fantastic. You will definitely be broadening your horizons when you take a spin on The Turntable.
I like The Turntable’s approach. They take on a tough subject, trying to explain music in words, in a way that is intelligent and entertaining. Each episode of this podcast takes a look at aspects of “Black Music including Soul, Jazz, Hip Hop, House, World and Rock”. The format is usually that of an interview with the artist or artists who created the music that is being spotlighted on the show. Sometimes the musicians speak with a panel of interviewers; sometimes just with the smooth voiced host, Charles White. For me, it is an interesting peek into genres and performers that I know a little about, like say Motown, as well as an exposure to contemporary sounds I am not familiar with, say the Brand New Heavies.
As an example in the category of the already familiar, I would chose a podcast I found to be very memorable; one which featured an illuminating discussion on the music of Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions. In this broadcast Mr. White did some particularly effective moderating and he was able to extract some great stories from several members of the group. Listeners such as me learned that the music of The Impressions was frequently derived from spiritual songs. Not from a specific song, mind you, just from the essence of the genre. And they were very young when they started in the business, either getting their parents’ permission or sneaking out to play gigs.
One of my favorite shows featured a contemporary artist and I came across it accidentally. I was reading the episode list and saw they had a podcast called “Coultrain”. I thought it would be about the legendary saxophone player. Instead it was an entirely different artist, a singer songwriter from St. Louis. So instead of a history lesson, I got to listen to some music I had never heard of before. And it was good, good, good. I would especially recommend a tune of his called “Green”.
Actually, the interview with Coultrain showcases a strength of the program and a weakness as well. On the plus side, the musicians are almost always asked who their influences are and the answers they give are usually thoughtful and cover a broad spectrum. On the other hand, the conversations tend to bog down whenever the artists are asked to categorize their own music. Either they completely resist or they give multiple choice responses which do not clarify anything. To me, the efforts to classify an artist’s sound as this or that constitute a slippery slope. The panelists themselves often acknowledge the inherent flaws with trying to squeeze into labels. They often mention how the meaning of “R and B” has morphed over the years. Fortunately though, when The Turntable goes down this route and stalls, Charles White gets everyone back on track by delivering a universal truth: Soul music is music from the soul.
During every podcast, The Turntable also presents samples of the music being talked about. These cuts are very generous in length which helps create a good feel for the subject under consideration. Interspersed with the regular interview shows, there is the occasional special episode to enjoy. I particularly liked one change of pace they had where the panel swapped examples of their favorite Christmas songs (to my ears Donny Hathaway’s version of “This Christmas” wins hands down).
On a final note, the website rocks. http://stage.ebonyjet.com/multimedia/podcast/coultrain.aspx It may be the most podcast friendly site I have seen. There are extra features like suggested play lists, bios, episode descriptions. Just fantastic. You will definitely be broadening your horizons when you take a spin on The Turntable.
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