Thursday, September 28, 2006

Reasons to Love NPR #827

While, two years after his departure, I still miss anchor Bob Edwards, Morning Edition is the most thorough news program on radio. And, at times, the most startling: Where else would one hear, literally back to back, a brief review of Cormac Mccarthy's new allegorical post-apocalyptic novel, The Road and an interview with ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro. The audio for both stories will be available at about 10:00 Eastern Time this morning; be sure to visit.

5 comments:

FletcherDodge said...

Don't know if you've seen it, but Jake Shimabukuro is a rising star on YouTube. Here he is kicking ass with a cover of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Truly gifted.

John B. said...

I hadn't heard of the guy before this morning, actually. At one point in the piece, they play a bit of "While My Guitar . . . "--it was quite nice. Shimbukuro, in fact, has a theory that George Harrison, because he always carried a ukulele with him when he traveled, might have composed many of his songs on the ukelele, seeing as they sound so good on that instrument.

Anonymous said...

When Bob Edwards left was when I started surfing the dial on my morning trek. He is one that may be irreplaceable.

John B. said...

Winston,
Edwards has a morning program on Sirius, but I don't have satellite radio, so that lets me out. But there's something about his voice and manner that are perfectly suited to a morning progam, and something about this tag-team dynamic that Morning Edition has now that is, um, less suited (though I've never minded that dynamic in All Things Considered). It's still not some Morning Zoo thing, though.

FletcherDodge said...

With his talent, I'm sure Shimabukuro could make just about anything sound amazing on the uke.

I think it would be cool to hear his take on all of the guitar rock classics (Stairway, Purple Haze, anything by Clapton, etc).