New Music techno links

Although I would never consider myself cutting edge, I would say I am least current on some of the technology out there and access it whatever spare minutes I have. Here are two that came my way and worth a share. As cabaret artists we can draw from a myriad of sources.

The first is a new table app that could hook me for hours. Old Time Radio Player. It is a media app that has been around for over a year now, but I just found it in the last week. Think of it as Netflix for the hey day of radio. Every imaginable program from Amos & Andy to Dragnet. Many I have heard about but never listened to. Burns and Allen - check. Orson Welles Mercury Theater - check. Sam Spade - check. Episodes are sorted by genre. They may not be the greatest in terms of sound quality - but in most cases I would say it is a wonder that they exist at all. Go at it! Some musical gems to be found here.

Old Time Radio Player

And then there is NPRs Piano Jazz podcast. It was hosted for many years by Marion McPartland who is a legend in herself. (Sadly, the day after this posting, Marion died at the age of 95.) Now it is helmed by Jon Weber. But her guests are an ecclectic mix of all sorts and have tons of great stories as well as archives of fabulous music. The recent listing that caught me was with Janis Siegel of Manhattan Transfer and she spoke much about finding the right collaborator that could listen to the lyrics as well as playing the notes to sing along with. Many are musicians alone, but the range of vocalists goes from Boz Scaggs to Tony DeSare to Barbara Carroll. Check it out as well.

NPR's Piano Jazz