WPR's Higher Ground with Jonathan Overby

Higher Ground Podcasts

Higher Ground podcasts interviews and music from the World Music Spotlight.

The podcast also gives listeners an extra taste of the material from the show. Copyright law prohibits Wisconsin Public Radio from podcasting the on-air broadcast version of Higher Ground.

To subscribe to the Higher Ground podcast, copy and paste the link below into your podcast software:
http://wpr.org/higherground/podcasts/rss.xml

Already using iTunes on this PC? Just Click Here to Subscribe!

Wisconsin Public Radio Logo

Subscribe to the podcast

Frequently Asked Questions

Free Podcast Software

Songlines Podcast
Discover A World Of Music at
http://www.songlines.co.uk
or subscribe at iTunes - it's free!

Subscribe via iTunes
Copy the XML address below.
Launch iTunes, click on Advanced
Select "Subscribe to Podcast".
Paste address into box. Click OK.

http://wpr.org/higherground/podcasts/rss.xml

Special Programming
Listen to the 29th Annual Tribute And Ceremony honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in words and music, held in the Capitol Rotunda in Madison, Wisconsin on January 19th, 2009.
Use RealPlayer | Windows Media

And don't miss Wisconsin's 30th Annual Tribute to Dr. King starting at Noon on Monday, January 18th, 2010 in the State Capitol Rotunda in Madison. The celebration is free and open to all and will feature words and music in memory of Dr. King's life and legacy.



Miguel Ivery (Podcast #810)
Photo of Miguel Ivery
larger view
Jonathan talks again to Miguel Ivery aka 'DJ Seduce', who is the founder and owner of Afro:Baile Records. Ivery talks about his new compilation album called "Brasil:Sambossica 2" which continues his plan to introduce the world to the new fusion between Bossa Nova, Samba and Afro-Brazilian and other world music forms. Ivery talks about his plans to tour in 2010 in order to introduce Brazil's new sound to the world.

Listen Using Windows Media (32:23)

Lars Edegran (Podcast #807)
Photo of Lars Edegran
larger view
Jonathan talks to arranger, bandleader, talent scout, record producer, and performer Lars Edegran. He came to New Orleans from Sweden at the age of 20 and talks about his early experiences there. In 1967 he founded the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra which has toured the world and performed at many festivals including the renowned Newport Jazz Festival. He's been nominated for an Academy Award for the soundtrack for Louis Malle's film "Pretty Baby", and for a Grammy for his orchestrations for the off-Broadway smash hit "One Mo' Time". In 2007 he was honored as New Orleans Music Ambassador at the 19th Annual Big Easy music awards

Listen Using Windows Media (32:11)


Heather Rigdon (Podcast #802)
Photo of Heather Rigdon
larger view
Jonathan interviews jazz vocalist Heather Rigdon. She was raised in Texas where her father was an ordained Pentecostal preacher. She talks about how her strict religious upbringing effected her vocals. Rigdon performs frequently at the Bluebird Café in Nashville and released her debut album entitled Young & Naive in 2007.

Listen Using Windows Media (30:00)


Chantal Chamberland (Podcast #801)
Photo of Chantal Chamberland
larger view
Jonathan interviews Canadian jazz vocalist Chantal Chamberland about the attention she's beginning to receive for her work, including her latest CD release entitled "Other Woman".

She's appeared several times at the Montreal International Jazz Festival and has recently been nominated as Female Vocalist of the Year by the Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards. MySpace Page

Listen Using Windows Media (29:30)


Jorge Gomez with Tiempo Libre (Podcast #800)
Photo of Tiempo Libre
larger view
Jonathan interviews pianist Jorge Gomez who is the musical director of the Latin band Tiempo Libre. They talk about the history of Afro-Cubano music and how the band was formed. All the band's members were classically trained at La ENA, Cuba's premiere music conservatory. They've been nominated for Grammy awards twice. On Thursday, November 5th, they're performing in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater.

Listen Using Windows Media (28:23)



Miguel Ivery (Podcast #797)
Photo of Miguel Ivery
larger view
Jonathan interviews Miguel Ivery aka 'DJ Seduce' founder and owner of Afro:Baile Records. He talks about his compilation called "I love Bossa Nova" which was released in September 2009. The album has 12 tracks - all performed by women. Ivery believes that the new sound of Bossa Nova, with African and Jazz influences, could make a comeback.

Listen Using Windows Media (31:58)


Taj Weekes (Podcast #794)
Photo of Taj Weekes
larger view
Jonathan talks to internationally known Reggae artist Taj Weekes who was born and raised on the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean. The youngest of ten children, his family was always listening to local music on the radio. By age 13, he had his own music program on Radio St. Lucia. At 18, he left home for Toronto and later moved to New York where he formed his band Adowa. In 2005, they released their first album "Hope & Doubt" and in 2008 their latest album called "Deidem" which won the award for "Best Reggae Album" at the indie music industry's "Just Plain Folks" Awards Ceremony in Nashville.   View YouTube Video

Listen Using Windows Media (27:48)


Robert Figueroa (Podcast #792)
Photo of Robert Figueroa
larger view
Jonathan interviews Robert Figueroa, a well-known composer and perfomer in the salsa brava movement. Figueroa has honed his skills on stages from Puerto Rico to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he lives. He has pursued the integration of traditional Afro-Caribbean rhythms and techniques to popular music genres such as Jazz and R & B and even Hip Hop. He is the lead vocalist and composer for the original salsa project Nabori.   View YouTube Video

Listen Using Windows Media (31:18)



Stephen Kent (Podcast #789)
Photo of Stephen Kent
larger view
Jonathan interviews composer and instrumentalist Stephen Kent, one of the premier Didgeridoo virtuosos in the contemporary world. Born in the England and raised in East Africa, Kent has pioneered the use of the ancient Australian Aboriginal instruments. He has produced six solo CDs and collaborated on 14 others. He currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area and hosts a weekly "Music of the World" show on Pacifica radio's KPFA.
Listen Using Windows Media (32:49)



Freddy Clarke (Podcast #782)
Photo of Freddy Clarke
larger view
Jonathan talks to guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer Freddy Clarke. He is the leader of the fusion band Wobbly World based in Menlo Park with musicians and singers from Pakistan, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Morocco, Lebanon and the United States. He's been playing a unique style of flamenco/classical guitar for over 40 years. He talks about how his band started in a restaurant and never rehearses in order to remain "fresh".

View Freddy Clarke's Video of "Ear Responsible"

Listen Using Windows Media (32:21)


Juan Medrano Cotito (Podcast #781)
Photo of Juan Medrano Cotito
larger view
Jonathan interviews Juan Medrano Cotito, an artist of international prestige. His fine skills performing his instrument, the Peruvian Cajón, have allowed him to obtain recognition as a world class musician in genres such as Traditional, Word Music, Fusion and Electronic Music.

Since 1985 Cotito has developed an important musical work as part of the band of singer Susana Baca by rescuing ancestral rhythms and harmonies of the Afro-Peruvian music that provided the historical configuration of the Peruvian Música Criollla (Creole Music) and blending Spaniard, Flamenco, Portuguese, Arab, Andean and Congo elements. This musical contribution allowed Baca to obtain the "Latin Grammy".

"Cotito" has participated in more than 40 international tours throughout the world and 30 cities in the United States. He has offered percussion clinics and workshops in Europe and United States. He currently teaches at the Peruvian National Folklore Institute and the Peruvian Pontifical Catholic University. He's made extensive recordings with Susana Baca, Richie Zellon, Novalima, Pilar de la Hoz, Chichi Glass, Sophia Koutsovitis, and Eric Kurisnski among others. He is currently touring as the Musical Director of the ensemble "The Voice of the Cajón" which in spanish is the name of his first CD "La Voz del Cajón".


Listen Using Windows Media (28:45)


Dr. Carl MaultsBy (Podcast #773)
Photo of Dr. Carl Maultsby
larger view
Jonathan interviews Dr. Carl MaultsBy, who is a composer, arranger, organist, author, and has scored sacred and secular music for concert, musical theatre, film, and television. MaultsBy has also authored books, articles, and theatre pieces on the interrelation of music, culture, and religion. He received a Doctor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Arts degree from Lake Forest College and a Masters of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music.

Listen Using Windows Media (32:05)


DJ Seduce (Podcast #772)
Photo of DJ Seduce
larger view
Jonathan interviews DJ Seduce aka Miguel Ivery, founder of Afro:Baile Records, a world music record label specializing in the nu-age sounds of global music. Since 2007 this Arizona native has taken his love for world beats, and created his own unique sound & style drawing on heavy influences of Africa, Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica & Western Europe.

Listen Using Windows Media (31:30)


Stefano Zenni (Podcast #759)
Photo of Stefano Zenni
larger view
Jonathan talks again to Stefano Zenni, a renowned Italian musicologist, about the relationship between the composers and musicians of Europe and African-American music. He says there's a direct link between rhythms in Europe and those found in African-American music. Zenni is President of the Italian Society of African-American Musicology and editor of the Jazz section of the monthly "Il Giornale della Musica". His new book I segreti del jazz (2008) has been awarded in Italy the Best Book on International Music 2007-2008 at the First Music Book Fair in Sanremo.

Listen Using Windows Media (34:32)


Marissa Moorman (Podcast #756)
Marissa Moorman is an assistant professor of African History at Indiana University-Bloomington. Her research explores the dynamic relationship between politics and cultural practices (like music and dance) in late colonial and independent Angola. Increasingly, her work focuses on the technologies and imaginations that propel music and dance practices across and around the Atlantic. She is the author of "Intonations: a Social History of Music and Nation in Luanda, Angola, 1945-Recent Times." (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2008)

Listen Using Windows Media (31:45)



Greg Barz (Podcast #755)
Photo of Greg Barz
larger view
Greg Barz is an associate professor of ethnomusicology in the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University, with appointments in Anthropology and the Divinity school. He is the producer of the 2007 Grammy-nominated album, Singing for Life: Songs of Hope, Healing, and HIV/AIDS in Uganda, released by Smithsonian Folkways that draws on his field recordings in East Africa of the music of HIV+ women's groups. His research in Uganda was supported by a senior research fellowship with in Fulbright African AIDS Research Program. Barz's most recent research involves documenting the role of music on the radio broadcasts that led to the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s. He is author or editor of eight books including "Singing for Life: Music and HIV/AIDS in Uganda" (NY: Routledge) and "Music of East Africa: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture" (Oxford University Press, 2004)

Listen Using Windows Media (32:27)



Navan's Sheila Shigley (Podcast #753)
Photo of Celtic group Navan
larger view
Jonathan talks with Sheila Shigley, a member of the traditional Celtic Singing Group Navan featuring Amy Curl, Paul Gorman, Sheila Shigley & Elizabeth Simcock. Navan is a visionary Celtic quartet performing exclusively in the native Celtic tongues. Shigley, raised in Hong Kong, acquired an early love of Celtic music from the Royal Hong Kong Police Force Pipe Band and her parents' record collection, discusses the history, development, and the traditions associated with performing Celtic music.

Listen Using Windows Media (31:31)



Stefano Zenni (Podcast #752)
Photo of Stefano Zenni
larger view
Stefano Zenni is the most renowned musicologist in Italy on jazz and African-American music. He is President of the Italian Society of African-American Musicology. He's also the editor of the Jazz section of the monthly Il Giornale della Musica, one of the most important music magazines in Italy. He has published books on Louis Armstrong, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus (2004, the first book ever written on the analysis his music). His new book I segreti del jazz (2008) has been awarded in Italy the Best Book on International Music 2007-2008 at the First Music Book Fair in Sanremo.

Listen Using Windows Media (31:31)



Kia Karlan from Yid Vicious (Podcast #751)
Photo of Yid Vicious
larger view
Jonathan talks to Kia Karlen about the origins of Yid Vicious. Karlen is a member of the seven-piece band which was formed in 1995 in Madison, WI in order to "ameliorate the woeful dearth of klezmer in America's otherwise pleasant heartland." Klezmer is Yiddish folk music, music for dancing and celebrating.

The revival of Klezmer started in the 70s and is now played at weddings, at Bat and Bar Mitzvahs, luxurious ballrooms and festival stages and often drive crowds into flurries of "freylekh-fueled dancing fury." Their repertoire is drawn mainly from traditional secular Yiddish music.

There are seven members of Yid Vicious, playing clarinets, saxophones, fiddle, horn, vocals, guitar, accordion, tuba, drums and sometimes theremin. This interview includes several pieces from their new CD "Dollars to Doinas".


Listen Using Windows Media (30:17)



Wendy Hymes (Podcast #750)
Photo of Wendy Hymes
larger view
Jonathan interviews flutist Wendy Hymes who is known to exert definitive interpretations of standard repertoire from the Baroque era to 20th-century composers. She also sets the pace in intercultural music, performing at festivals in Ghana, Nigeria and England. Her new CD, "African Art Music for Flute," features music by composers from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. She has served on the music faculties at Louisiana State University, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and Jefferson College and performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, Union Avenue Opera and with many chamber ensembles. CD: African Art Music For Flute. African Music Publishers, 2008
Listen Using RealPlayer (30:02)



Ruth M. Stone (Podcast #743)
Photo of Ruth M. Stone
larger view
Jonathan interviews Ruth M. Stone, Professor and Chair of the Department of folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University. She has conducted research in West Africa as well as in the Middle East, emphasizing issue of time and rhythm in her work. Dr. Stone is the author of several books including: Music In West Africa: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture, published by Oxford University Press, 2005.

Listen Using RealPlayer (28:14)



Gwendoline Y. Fortune (Podcast #742)
Photo of Gwendoline Y. Fortune
larger view
Listen to Jonathan interview Gwendoline Y. Fortune, a social scientist-historian, classical soprano and author. Her novels include Family Lines. Her third publication will appear in 2009.

Listen Using RealPlayer (30:04)




Frequently Asked Questions about Podcasts

Podcasting describes the delivery of audio content, usually in the form of an MP3 file, to a subscriber's computer. This delivery is done through your internet connection. It is performed automatically on a scheduled basis, or requested manually within your Podcast software client.

  • The Subscription or Channel: The link between your computer's Podcast software and the content-producer's server. In the case of Higher Ground's Podcast, it's the address to a file that describes the podcast and tells the Podcast software where the MP3 file is located.
  • The Podcast or Feed: The actual content, usually an MP3-encoded audio file, which is downloaded or copied directly into your computer.

Podcasts tend to be relatively large files. If you have a cable modem or DSL, downloading a podcast may only take a few moments. Dialup users must connect to their Internet Service Provider before requesting a download, and it can often take 15 minutes or more.


Here are several sources for free Podcast software programs:

  • Postcasting News Software List - podcast software for all operating systems
  • Juice - (Formerly iPodder) One of the best known open-source clients for Mac and Windows users
  • iTunes - Now for both Mac and Windows users
  • WinAmp Media Player - A good general-use media player and podcast client for Windows