Segments by Date

Jazz composer and arranger Manny Albam currently teaches at Glassboro College in New Jersey in addition to taking commissions. Albam will be doing some work for the Philly Pops. A new collection of his work "Manny Albam: The Jazz Workshop," has recently been released. Albam joins the show to discus his career and share records.

Clarinetist Kenny Davern takes a lot of inspiration from the small jazz bands of the 1920s and 1930s, although he has worked in contemporary and avant-garde jazz. Davern started playing professionally in the 1950s and has worked with many jazz legends. In the 1970s he played soprano saxophone with Bob Wilbur in the group Soprano Summit. He now plays clarinet exclusively. Davern is in town to perform, and joins the show to discuss his distaste for "Dixie Land" music, his musical influences, and career in jazz.

Husband and wife Cecil Womack and Linda Womack are songwriters who have decided to step into the limelight with their album "Love Wars." The child of a gospel singer, Cecil Womack sung with his brothers, including Bobby, as The Valentinos. Linda and Cecil met in the studio. Their album was noted by many critics in 1983.

On this edition of Secret Harmonies, Ken Tucker looks at "City Slicker" by soul musician J. Blackfoot, "Doppelganger" by rock group Kid Creole and the Coconuts, fronted by August Darnell, and "Forget About the Danger Think of the Fun" by rockabilly group The Leroi Brothers. (PARTIAL REVIEW)

Journalist Fred Kaplan's latest book is "The Wizards of Armageddon," which looks at the politics of nuclear warfare and weapons. He joins the show to discuss Defense policy and the budget and the issue of nuclear war in contemporary politics. (Interview by Dave Davies)

Noted playwright Edward Albee is the author of "The Zoo Story" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," which was lated adapted into an Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton film. Albee has won many awards including two Pulitzer Prizes, one in 1967 for "Delicate Balance," and one in 1975 for "Seascape."

Robert Townsend is the author of the 1970 bestseller "Up the Organization," and his newly revised edition of the book is called "Further Up the Organization: How to Stop Management from Stifling People and Strangling Productivity." Townsend contends that most workers are "docile, bored, and dull," and advocates a type of "non-violent guerrilla warfare," in which workers dismantle all but those aspects of organizations that serve them. Townsend is known for his tenure at Avis and also worked at Twentieth Century Fox and American Express.

Humorist and reporter Calvin Trillin is staff writer for the New Yorker and a humor columnist at The Nation. Trillin recently joined the show to discuss his love of rich regional and ethnic food which he chronicled in his book "Third Helpings." His New Yorker Magazine series "U. S. Journal" ended in 1982, but a collection of 16 of his stories about murder have been collected in the book "Killings."

Jazz legend BILLY TAYLOR is a pianist who has worked with his own trio as well as musicians such as Billie Holliday, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Charlie Mingus, Art Tatum, and Miles Davis. Taylor is also a composer whose song "I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free" became a civil rights anthem. Taylor is also known for being the guiding force between the public radio programs "Jazz Alive" and "Billy Taylor's Piano Jazz." Currently, Taylor is the editor for the arts on the CBS Sunday morning program.

Activist Michael Harrington has been a leader of the American left for the last thirty years. In the 1950s, he was the associate editor of The Catholic Worker, a socialist, Catholic newspaper. In the 1960s, he worked with the Civil Rights movement, including joining Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Advisory Committee. He was also active in the labor movement and worked against the war in Vietnam. Harrington chaired the Socialist Party from 1968-1972, and has been the National Chair of the Democratic National Socialists of America since 1973.

STEVE RASH is the director of the film "The Buddy Holly Story," a bio-pic of the early rock legend starring Gary Busey. Rash is also the director of "Under the Rainbow," a story of the "Munchkin" auditions for the film "The Wizard of Oz." Rash joins the show to discuss Holly's music and life, share records and rare recordings, and share stories about the making of the film.

Activist Eleanor Smeal was the president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) from 1977-1982. She is also the author of "Why and How Women Will Elect the Next President." Smeal's book examines the political "gender gap," women's political issues, organizing women, getting out the vote, and women running for election. Smeal joins the show to discuss the women's movement and the upcoming election in which Smeal endorses Walter Mondale.

Jazz trumpeter, cornetist, and composer Olu Dara describes his music as "rhythmic fusion," and is the leader of the Okra Orchestra. His live shows are unusual among jazz concerts due to their dancing audiences. Dara joins the show to discuss his life, career, and contemporary jazz.

Activist and journalist Susan Brownmiller is known for her seminal work "Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape," one of the first to make the assertion that rape is about violence and not lust. Her new book os "Femininity." The book examines the aesthetic of femininity, explores it origins, and suggests its implications for women. Brownmiller describes femininity as a competitive survival strategy. Brownmiller is also the co-founder of Women Against Pornography.

Dr. Mary Steichen Calderone is known for her groundbreaking work in reproductive health and sexual education in public schools. Calderone attended medical school later in life, and from 1953-1964 was the Medical Director of Planned Parenthood. In 1965 Calderone founded Sex Information and Education Council in the United States (SIECUS), an organization devoted to establishing sexuality as a part of physical and mental health. Calderone delivers a talk on her life and career.

Godfrey Reggio is an experimental filmmaker whose work makes uses of montage and sound. His first film, a documentary, "Koyaanisqatsi," derives its title from the Hopi word meaning "unbalanced life." The film manipulates images of cityscapes, and Reggio describes it as showing "the beauty of the beast." The film's music is composed by Philip Glass. Reggio intends the documentary to produce a mind-opening experience for the viewer through the fusion of music and image--to be inspiration, not entertainment.

Jane Ira Bloom is a jazz soprano saxophonist and composer. Her most recent album is "Mighty Lights." She joins the show to discuss her choice in instruments as a child, working as a woman in the jazz industry, and branching out into producing her own music.

George Rochberg discusses his work and modern composers working in classical styles.

Judge William Marutani, who was appointed by President Carter to the United Commission on War Relocation and Internment of Civilians, opens up about what judges do, like, and think.