Legacy Podcasts » BlackHistory

“I look cool but on the inside I’m a nervous wreck” - Nick Ashford. As they began their career as performers, Nick and Valerie found some challenges in appearing on stage, as Nick details in this podcast. ”In the early years, I was just uncomfortable. They would put towels around me I’d sweat so much before I’d even go on.” But they also found they enjoyed meeting most anyone could help with songwriting, as Nick explains “I get inspiration from the people I meet. Seems like everybody’s got a story. What people are feeling, that’s what we want to write about.” Their longevity and success may be built on this simple idea, and may be why President Barack Obama has a special version of one of their songs. As Nick says, “You can do it, if you have the energy and the will to do it.”

Songs included: “Found A Cure” “I’m Every Woman” “Solid (as Barack)”

Producer: Joyride Media

Recommended: Ashford & Simpson: The Real Thing

The story of Bill Withers continues with the artist, himself, thinking back to the the making of his debut album. The record was produced by legendary R&B keyboardist Booker T Jones. In an odd twist, the backing band was most of the Booker T & the MGs, but with Steven Stills subbing for Steve Cropper. The combination was perfect for Bill Wither’s acoustic soul. Critic Anthony DeCurtis adds some of his own insights about these sessions.

Producer: Joyride Media

Reccomended: Bill Withers catalog

Fats Waller’s famous compositions of the 1930s and 40s have attained an immortal, standard-level of recognition and have stood the test of time. But what is lesser known is that Fats Waller was also an entertainer par excellence, bringing the music he performed to life with jokes and asides to the audience. As historian Dick Hyman explains, “he was engaging in signifying - critiquing something while you are actually performing. Satirizing what he is singing in very sophisticated ways.” Playwrite and critic Murray Horowitz calls Waller “one of the greatest jazz musicians of the first 50 years of the music, but also one of the great comedians of the golden age of American comedy”!

Music included: “Ain’t Misbehavin’” “Bessie Bessie” “Christopher Columbus” “A Change in Me” “It’s a Sin to Lie” and “Your Feets Too Big”

Producer: Joyride Media

Reccomended: Fats Waller: If You Gotta Ask

In this podcast, musicians Herbie Hancock, David Amram and Jimmy Cobb address the music theory behind Kind of Blue, and how the feeling of the musicians was equally as important as the compositions themselves in its creation. Considered “Modal Jazz” as it is written from a few basic notes that form the structure of the song, it is as Herbie Hancock says “a new use of an old technique.” David Amram expounds: “Miles knew that music from India, the middle east and native music around the world would have a basic scale, and the sophistication would be in HOW you did it.” Herbie Hancock concurs with Amram on his interpretation of this historic album: “Musicians could easily learn the songs, of course the challenge was playing them.”

Songs included: “All Blues” “Blue in Green” and “Freddie Freeloader”

Producer: Joyride Media

Recommended: Kind of Blue -50th Anniversary Legacy Edition (2-cd)

Producer: Joyride Media