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They Don't Make Them That Big Anymore

Jazz critic Francis Davis reviews a new greatest hits collection of the late blues singer Big Joe Turner, whose voice and presence were larger than life.

06:45
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Other segments from the episode on August 10, 1987

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, August 10, 1987: Interview with Tracey Ullman; Review of Big Joe Turner's album "Greatest Hits"; Interview with H.F. Saint; Commentary on 1950s sitcom reruns.
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27:29

The Many Voices of Tracey Ullman

The British performer is an accomplished film, TV and stage actor who also had a number of hits on the British pop charts. Her Emmy-nominated variety show on the Fox Network, The Tracey Ullman Show, was just renewed for a second season.

Interview
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09:38

The Affliction of Invisibility

At age 40, H.F. Saint gave up his career as a real estate investor to write his debut novel, Memoirs of an Invisible Man. He discusses the central trope of his book with guest host Liane Hansen.

Interview
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03:44

Nostalgic Yearnings for Bygone Times

Guest critic David Marc looks at the growing popularity of 1950s TV sitcoms. He thinks the trend reveals a troubling desire for an idealized suburban culture where whiteness and paternal authority ruled.

Commentary

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Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.

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24:12

The Leading Clarinetist in Jazz

Jazz critic Francis Davis says John Carter's new album, Dance of the Love Ghosts, is both experimental and structurally sound; each "electrifying" track needs to be heard in its entirety.

Review
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06:52

Coming Out from Under Monk's Shadow

The members of Sphere are heavily influenced by Thelonious Monk; some of them even performed with him. Jazz critic Francis Davis says their original compositions fall short of Monk's tunes, but the musicians' individual solos are outstanding.

Review

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43:11

He's edited Caro, le Carré and 'Catch-22,' but doesn't mind if you don't know his name

At 91, Robert Gottlieb is perhaps the most acclaimed book editor of his time. He started out in 1955 and has been working in publishing ever since. The list of authors he's edited include Robert Caro, Joseph Heller, Toni Morrison, John le Carré, Katharine Graham, Bill Clinton, Nora Ephron and Michael Crichton. His daughter Lizzie Gottlieb's new film, Turn Every Page, centers on her father's decades-long editing relationship with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Caro.

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08:19

Sleekly sentimental, 'Living' plays like an 'Afterschool Special' for grownups

Living, is a sleekly sentimental new British drama adapted by Kazuo Ishiguro from Akira Kurosawa's classic 1952 film Ikiru, which means "to live" in Japanese. Starring the great Bill Nighy, it tells the story of a bottled-up bureaucrat in 1950s London who's led to examine the way he's spent the last 30 years of his life.

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