Podcast appearances and mentions of kevin legendre

To mark the 80th anniversary this week, we explore British culture around VE Day in 1945, reflecting on the music, books, films and theatre that defined the moment and the complex emotional landscape that followed the war's end. Songwriter and pianist Kate Garner joins us at the piano.Guests: Michael Billington, theatre critic; Ian Christie, film historian; Kevin Le Gendre, music journalist and broadcaster; Lara Feigel, Professor of Modern Literature, King's College London; Kate Garner, singer and songwriterPresenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Simon Richardson

Tom Sutcliffe is joined by journalist Kevin Le Gendre and critic Hanna Flint to review The Big Cigar, which tells the story of Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton; Elton John's Fragile Beauty exhibition at the V&A and IF, a family film about imaginary friends. Tom also announces the winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Claire Bartleet

Popularising calypso music, performing with Sinatra's Rat pack, Nana Mouskouri, Miriam Makeba and Charlie Parker, starring in films including Otto Preminger's Carmen Jones, the hip hop film he produced called Beat Street, Robert Altman's Kansas City and Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman: Harry Belafonte's career in film and music ran from 1949 to 2018 but he was also a tireless political activist who was inspired by Paul Robeson. As the BFI programmes a season of his films in December, Matthew Sweet is joined by Candace Allen, Kevin Le Gendre and Susanne Rostock.Producer: Torquil MacLeodOn the Free Thinking website you can find Matthew Sweet's interview with Harry Belafonte, recorded in 2012 after the publication of his autobiography My Song and the release of Susanne Rostock's documentary Sing Your Song. Susanne is currently working on another film that she made with Belafonte - Following Harry - that sees him meeting and talking to young activists. Also on the Free Thinking website are more episodes exploring Black History including a discussion about the career of Sidney Poitier and Radio 3 has a series of 5 Essays called Paul Robeson in Five Songs. Kevin Le Gendre's Edgar Allan Poe based musical project - Re:EAP - has just released its debut album 'Zoo For Barbers'.

Kate Molleson and Kevin Le Gendre dive into the lives and music of John & Alice Coltrane Coltrane is a name you're likely to have heard, even if you know little to nothing about jazz. More than half a century after his death, saxophonist and composer John Coltrane is hailed as a giant of American cultural history, and one of 20th-century music's greatest visionaries. But he's not the only Coltrane. His wife, Alice, was an accomplished keyboardist and harpist who made revolutionary music in her own right, and whose contribution to John's late output has not always been fully recognised. As soulmates and fellow seekers in sound, John and Alice both transcended cultural and genre boundaries, helping to pioneer avant-garde and spiritual jazz. But following John's premature death in 1967, Alice began her solo career and would take forward their journey of creative and religious expansion. This week, Kate Molleson is joined by journalist and broadcaster Kevin Le Gendre to dive into the lives and music of these monumental figures, and explore their contributions to the jazz world and beyond. Music featured: Straight Street (from Coltrane) Blue Train (from Blue Train) Miles Davis/John Coltrane: So What (from Kind of Blue) Giant Steps (from Giant Steps) Syeeda's Song Flute (from Giant Steps) Naima (from Giant Steps) Rodgers/Hart: It's Easy to Remember (from Ballads) Up ‘Gainst the Wall (from Impressions) Rodgers/Hammerstein: My Favorite Things (from My Favorite Things) Blues Minor (from Africa/Brass) India (from Impressions) Alabama (from Live at Birdland 1963) Bessie's Blues (from Crescent) Terry Gibbs: Sherry Bossa Nova (from Plays Terry Gibbs feat. Alice McLeod) Ogunde (from Expression) A Love Supreme, Pts 1 and 2 (from A Love Supreme) Expression (from Expression) Dear Lord (from Transition) Stopover Bombay (from Journey in Satchidananda) The Sun (from Cosmic Music) Lovely Sky Boat (from A Monastic Trio) Ohnedaruth (from A Monastic Trio) Blue Nile (from Ptah the el Daoud) A Love Supreme (from World Galaxy) Journey in Satchidananda (from Journey in Satchidananda) Spiritual Eternal (from Eternity) Sivaya (from Transcendence) Going Home (from Lord of Lords) Krishna Krishna (from Turiya Sings) Translinear Light (from Translinear Light) Rama rama (from The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda) Govinda Jai Jai (from Radha-Krsna Nama Sankirtana) Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Amelia Parker & Martin Williams for BBC Audio Wales For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for John and Alice Coltrane https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001s5st And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we've featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Annette Bening and Jodie Foster star in a new sports biopic Nyad, the eponymous story of Diana Nyad who attempted to swim between Cuba and Florida in her 60s. In an exclusive interview for Front Row, Tom Sutcliffe talks to them about meeting their real-life counterparts, the importance of on screen friendship and getting time to train in the ocean. Briony Hanson, British Council's Director of Film and Kevin Le Gendre, author and journalist, review Rustin, a film about Bayard Rustin, the influential gay Black Civil Rights leader responsible for the 1963 March on Washington, and the book Amazing Grace: A Cultural History of the Beloved Hymn by James Walvin. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Corinna Jones

For the poet Ezra Pound it was ‘year zero for Modernism' but what were people in Britain really reading, watching, listening to and looking at in 1922? To mark the BBC's centenary, Front Row reviews the popular culture of 1922: from the West End musical comedy The Cabaret Girl by Jerome Kern and PG Wodehouse to May Sinclair's novel The Life and Death of Harriett Frean, via the silent film epic Robin Hood with Douglas Fairbanks and a fond farewell to Gainsborough's portrait of The Blue Boy at The National Gallery, all set to a soundtrack of jazz, music hall and early radio. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by academic Charlotte Jones (Queen Mary, University of London), the writer and broadcaster Matthew Sweet and the music critic Kevin Le Gendre. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Kirsty McQuire Image: Enid Bennett, Douglas Fairbanks and Sam De Grasse in Robin Hood, 1922

From James Brown to Stockhausen, the influences which fed into Miles Davis's 1972 album On The Corner are explored by Matthew Sweet and guests, 50 years after its release. Bill Laswell, Chelsea Carmichael, Kevin LeGendre and Paul Tingen join Matthew to celebrate an album that was dismissed by some jazz critics as evidence of Davis 'selling out' when it came out, but that has gone on to be appreciated as an important and influential milestone. Producer: Torquil MacLeod Bill Laswell's many recordings and productions include Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969-1974. Chelsea Carmichael is a saxophonist and composer. Her most recent album is The River Doesn't Like Strangers. Paul Tingen is the author of Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991. Kevin Le Gendre is one of the presenters of BBC Radio 3's J to Z broadcast Saturdays at 5pm You can hear Matthew and Kevin exploring the politics, history and music which fed into Marvin Gaye's What's Going On in a previous episode of Free Thinking https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0011l7t Radio 3 will be broadcasting a range of programmes from the London Jazz Festival between Nov 11th and 20th https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0011l7t

From mariachi trumpets to calypso and ragtime, Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye continue the musical journey of discovery. Saxophonist Soweto Kinch and composer Hannah Peel help create this week's playlist, with a special appearance by pianist Richard Stilgoe, and Black music specialist Kevin Le Gendre on the significance of calypso. Presenters Cerys Matthews and Jeffrey Boakye Producer Jerome Weatherald The five tracks in this week's playlist: Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash The Match of the Day theme Brown Skin Girl by Sonny Rollins Abatina by Calypso Rose Jubilee Rag by Winifred Atwell Other music in this episode: Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) by Us3 Viva Mexico by Mariachi Las Adelitas UK Ring of Fire by Brian Eno (Love's) Ring of Fire by Anita Carter Soul Limbo by Booker T & the MGs Bullseye by London Music Works Brown Skinned Woman by Blind Snooks Eaglin PIMP by 50 Cent Pimp by Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band The Black and White Rag by Winifred Atwell

Kate Molleson visits Glyndebourne Festival Opera to hear about its new production of Ethel Smyth's ‘The Wreckers' – the first major staging of this tale of a hostile coastal community in many, many years, heard, as the composer intended, with its original French libretto. This new edition of the opera was researched and typeset by Martyn Bennett, Head of Music Library and Resources at Glyndebourne, using source material from the original score, with missing fragments orchestrated by Tom Poster, and additional help from the British Library. ‘Briefly: A Delicious Life' is a new novel by the writer Nell Stevens, a ghost story based around Fryderyk Chopin and his partner – the French novelist – George Sand, set in a monastery retreat in Mallorca. Kate meets the author to discover more about this tale of love, creativity and sexuality. The folk singer Angeline Morrison, writer and broadcaster Kevin Le Gendre and folk singer and academic Fay Hield all join Kate to discuss the overlooked black history in English folk music. And Tom Service meets conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, recovering from major surgery, still working, and in the UK recently to continue his long association with London Symphony Orchestra.

A "house on chicken legs” in Moscow designed by Viktor Andreyev, Virginia Woolf's novel Jacob's Room first published on 26 October 1922, Coal Cart Blues sung by Louis Armstrong drawing on his own experiences of pulling one round the streets of New Orleans where he started his teenage years living in a Home for Waifs; Duchamp's 1912 painting Nude Descending a Staircase, No 2 are picked out as novelist Will Self, art historian and literary critic Alexandra Harris, jazz and music expert Kevin Le Gendre and architecture writer Owen Hatherley try to nail down the elements that make something modernist; looking at the importance of rhythm, the depiction of everyday life and new inventions, psychology and how you describe the self and utopian ideas about communal living. The presenter is New Generation Thinker and essayist Laurence Scott. Producer: Luke Mulhall Image: Will Self in BBC Broadcasting House, London Part of the modernism season running across BBC Radio 3 and 4 with programmes marking the publication in 1922 of Ulysses by James Joyce, a reading of Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, a Words and Music playlist of readings from key works published in 1922 and a Sunday Feature on Radio 3 looking at the "all in a day" artwork.

Donald Macleod and guest, Kevin Le Gendre follow the jazz adventures of Carla Bley One of the most original voices in jazz, composer, arranger, performer and band-leader Carla Bley has been determinedly pursuing her own musical path for more than sixty years. Her back catalogue of some fifty plus recordings tell the story of a musician who's responded in her own unique style to all the current trends, from free and experimental jazz in the 60s and 70s to 80s soul, blues and R&B. In later decades, she's written for and created big bands recalling the musical landscapes of Count Basie and the Duke and in the last 20 years, she's refined a distilled, intimate style for smaller chamber ensembles, in particular performing in a Trio with her life partner, bassist Steve Swallow and the British saxophonist Andy Sheppard. Little wonder then, her fellow musicians affectionately call Bley 'Countess Bleysie' and 'Bleythoven'. Featuring a selection of recordings suggested by Carla Bley, Donald Macleod and Kevin Le Gendre follow Bley's musical adventuring from her early days writing for Paul Bley and Gary Burton, to her latest album for the Carla Bley Trio, released in 2020. Music Featured: King Korn Carla Bley/Paul Bley: Ictus Donkey Ida Lupino Escalator Over the Hill (Hotel Overture; Why; Little pony soldier) Walking Batterie Woman Dreams so Real Blunt Object Silent Spring Reactionary Tango in 3 parts Song sung Long Útviklingssang Walking Batteriewoman (vers. for piano and bass) Wildlife (Horns; Paws without Claws; Sex with Birds) The Girl Who Cried Champagne Lawns The Girl Who Cried Champagne ( Part 1) Fleur Carnivore Strange Arrangement Who Will Rescue You? On The Stage In Cages Doctor Wrong Key Donkey And then one Day Vashkar Wildlife Presented by Donald Macleod Produced by Johannah Smith for BBC Cymru Wales For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Carla Bley (b 1936) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0011lmc And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we've featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

Vietnam, ecological worries and poverty and suffering inspired the lyrics in Marvin Gaye's 1971 album What's Going On. Written as a song cycle from the point of view of a war Vet returning home, it was inspired in part by the letters he was receiving from his brother from Vietnam and from his own questions following the 1965 Watts riots. The Nu Civilization Orchestra is performing their version of the album at the London Jazz Festival tomorrow. Matthew Sweet is joined by jazz journalist Kevin Le Gendre, musician Gary Crosby, Dr Althea Legal-Miller - Senior Lecturer in American History & Culture at Canterbury Christ Church university and poet Roy McFarlane The Nu Civilization Orchestra, founded by Gary Crosby, perform their version of the album at the London Jazz Festival at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre 18th November @7.30pm, with subsequent dates in Birmingham, Liverpool & Canterbury. You can hear a host of programmes featuring performers from the London Jazz Festival on BBC Radio 3 including a special Jazz Through the Night. Free Thinking has a playlist of discussions devoted to influential artworks, books, films, music and plays called Landmarks of Culture with everything from the plays of Lorraine Hansberry to the film Jaws. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01jwn44

British-Jamaican audio artist and DJ Weyland McKenzie-Witter explores the sometimes uneasy relationship between the Black and the Green, as political movements and ideas. It's the untold story of their longstanding relationship, first as political movements developing in the United States, a wariness that continues today between new organisations such as Black Lives Matter and Extinction Rebellion – the latter (along with the wider environmental movement) criticised for being overwhelmingly white, idealistic and middle-class. Climate activists meanwhile have sometimes dismissed what they've called ‘identity' politics as too parochial in terms of looming global climate disaster. It's a real tension, with very different emphases between local and global; material issues vs idealism. As radical movements, both the Black and the Green have their roots in 1960s political consciousness and activism. But there were key cultural moments when they came together, around the release of Marvin Gaye's classic 1971 album ‘What's Going On' and in the work of eco-conscious, Black Power spoken word group The Last Poets. Both artists addressed environmental racism within the ghetto and the promise of a new Black ecology. By drawing on his Jamaican lineage, Weyland explores the deeper affinity between the Black and the Green, symbolically joined by the Jamaican national flag, the Black of the People and the Green of the land are inseparable, crossed by the Gold of the sun. But Jamaica and the Caribbean are also highly vulnerable to the devastation of climate change. Weyland writes: ‘As the climate catastrophe becomes worse, the effect it is having on our homelands is something affecting Black people uniquely. With the face of climate activism being so predominantly white, and with Black political attention elsewhere, which voices will be heard?" This feature explores the differences and reasons for separation of the movements, but asks if there might be a growing alignment between the Black and the Green with new thinking around ‘climate justice'. Contributors include founding member of the Last Poets Abiodun Oyewole, barrister and author Ulele Burnham, Professor Michael Taylor, a climate scientist at the University of the West Indies, theatre maker and actor Fehinti Balogun, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion Dr Gail Bradbury, Black Lives Matter organiser Adam Elliott-Cooper, journalist Greg McKenzie, author on climate justice Jeremy Williams and Kevin Le Gendre, who has written extensively on the history of Black music. Produced by Simon Hollis A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4

Tom Service is joined by the artist Edmund de Waal and composer Martin Suckling as they discuss the relationships between the crafts of porcelain and contemporary composition. We hear how Edmund’s book, The White Road, and his work as a master potter, inspired Martin to pen his flute concerto. The American composer, John Corigliano, speaks to Tom about writing music which chronicled the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, and looks forward to his new opera, The Lord of Cries. Ahead of a year-long festival at Kings Place, London, the journalist, broadcaster and author Kevin Le Gendre, and the historian and writer Leanne Langley share their perspectives on the way migration has shaped music making in the capital city. And the soprano Anna Prohaska tells Tom how, as well as making space for four recording projects during lockdown, she’s found room to concentrate on projects she might not otherwise have had time for.

Tom Hanks stars in Paul Greengrass's new film, News of the World. Hanks plays Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, a Civil War veteran who crosses paths with Johanna (Helena Zengel), a 10-year-old taken in by the Kiowa people six years earlier and raised as one of their own. Gavia Baker-Whitelaw gives us her verdict on the western. Songwriter Roger Cook discusses Thursday’s world premiere of Next Year in Jerusalem, the title song of a musical he wrote with Lionel Bart 47 years ago. Roger is now hoping to revive the musical they never managed to stage at the time, and shares an exclusive recording of one of the songs, sung by him and Lionel Bart. Mary Wilson was a founding members of The Supremes, one of the most successful and influential girl groups of all time to spring from the Motown stable. To celebrate her life, Kevin Le Gendre looks at what she achieved and her influence on the British beat group scene at the time. Jean-Claude Carriere, who died yesterday, aged 89, had an extraordinary career. He published his first novel in 1957. His first screenplay was filmed in 1962. He carried on writing novels and films - he acted, too - until 2019. He worked with Jacques Tati and wrote most of Luis Bunuel's later films, including The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and That Obscure Object of Desire. He collaborated with Peter Brook on one of the most important productions in 20th Century theatre, the nine-hour-long stage version of The Mahabharata. Critic Christopher Cook assesses Carriere's cultural significance, paying tribute to a great French artist and intellectual. Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Jerome Weatherald

The Great, a new ahistorical comedy from The Favourite writer Tony McNamara arrives on Channel 4 this month. Describing itself as “an occasionally true story”, it is a satirical drama about the rise of Catherine the Great, staring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult. McNamara talks period dramas, historical inaccuracies and contemporary characters. The great Irish poet Eavan Boland has just posthumously won the Costa Poetry Prize. Boland's collection The Historians continues her reflections on the power of history and memory, of secrets and hidden histories, and of centring women’s stories. Tom is joined by Jody Allen Randolph, a friend and leading scholar of Eavan’s work, and actress Niamh Cusack reads from the collection. The genre that helped define American music and describe the Black American experience is the subject of a new series of album releases which trace the genesis of blues, ragtime, hokum and gospel from the mid-1920s. Matchbox Bluesmaster Series claims to be the most comprehensive survey of the origins of Black American blues music - Kevin Le Gendre assesses the success of its first instalment. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Simon Richardson Studio Manager: John Boland

The death of actress Barbara Windsor was announced today. A household name from EastEnders and the Carry On films, she was also acclaimed for her early performances at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Royal Stratford East. Cultural commentator Matthew Sweet discusses her career. The DCMS announced today the latest release of money from the Cultural Recovery Fund. Previously they issued grants and this time they’re issuing loans. What will this mean for the UK’s arts sector? Front Row asks minister Caroline Dinenage. The Chorus of the Royal Northern Sinfonia is premiering a new choral version of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, using the text of the original hymn on which the fantasia is based. Chorus Director Timothy Burke and soprano Joanna Finlay join Front Row. Spike Lee’s latest film is David Byrne’s American Utopia, a recording of the Broadway stage performance by the former Talking Heads frontman of his 2018 studio album. Kevin Le Gendre reviews the film which also features a number of Talking Heads hits, including Burning Down the House and Once in a Lifetime. Zaina Arafat talks about her debut novel, You Exist Too Much, a coming-of-age story set between the US and the Middle East. It follows a young woman struggling with her sexuality, her Palestinian heritage and an emotionally distant relationship with her conservative mother. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Timothy Prosser Studio Manager: Nigel Dix

Clive Anderson and YolanDa Brown are joined by Juliet Gilkes Romero, Kevin Le Gendre, Welly O’Brien and Richard Herring for with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy. With music from Mica Paris and This is The Kit.

Chris reviews 4 gigs and a conversation that were held in the first half of this year's EFG London Jazz Festival (13-22 November 2020). All the gigs reviewed should still have their streams available to watch for free on the LJF website.Using a complex scoring structure(!) Chris reflects on performances from Guy Barker's 'Jazz Voice', Jasdeep Singh Degun, Emile Parisien & Vincent Peirani, Harold López-Nussa and a powerful conversation between Kevin Le Gendre, Carleen Anderson and Orphy Robinson,And since it was the presenters birthday when this podcast was recorded, there are a few (rarely to be repeated) clarinet interludes...Look out for the next episode when we'll be in conversation with Faye MacCalman from free jazz specialists Archipelago.No specific album recommendations but check out:Echo in the Bones by Renell Shaw (2020) - Prd. Renell Shaw. Available to watch on YouTube.Dread Beat an' Blood documentary (1979) - Dir. Franco Rossi. Available to watch from the BFI archives.SupportYou can help support the podcast and keep us ad free. Especially useful if you'd like to support the podcast and want to keep it ad free. Plus it makes Chris feel very happy indeed! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ChrisNewsteadShow infoPresenter: Chris Newstead.Theme: by SoundWorkLab, licensed through AudioJungle.Recorded 19 November 2020.

Chris explores all the gigs that are available at this year's London Jazz Festival (13-22 November 2020) and makes his recommendations for shows and acts not to be missed in this online, streamed and digital extravaganza of jazz!There are 'look outs' for so many great acts including Guy Barker's 'Jazz Voice', Tigran Hamasyan, Mornington Lockett, Jazz Plus Ensemble, Shabaka Hutchings, Tomorrow's Warriors, Kevin Le Gendre, Carleen Anderson and Oprhy Robinson, Tina Edwards, Shri, Seed Ensemble, Glasshopper, Toni Kofi, Gary Crosby, Abel Selaocoe, Yazz Ahmed, Judi Jackson, Binker Golding and Baba ZuLa and İlhan Erşahin.And if that's not enough there's also a tasty confectionery theme throughout!Look out for the next episode when we'll be in conversation with some of the artists.Recommended and selected album listing:Universal Beings by Makaya McCraven (2018). Prd. Makaya McCraven. Released on International Anthem.The Call Within by Tigran Hamasyan (2020). Released on Nonesuch.Istanbul Sessions (Solar Plexus) by İlhan Erşahin (2018). Released on Wrasse Records 000.SupportYou can help support the podcast and keep us ad free. Especially useful if you'd like to support the podcast and want to keep it ad free. Plus it makes Chris feel very happy indeed! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ChrisNewsteadShow infoPresenter: Chris NewsteadTheme: by SoundWorkLab, licensed through AudioJungle.Recorded 10 November 2020.

The Miss World beauty pageant in 1970 is probably best remebered for one thing: The Women’s Liberation movement's intervention. They staged a protest at the final and it got them on the front pages of newspapers around the world. And now it’s the subject of a new film called Misbehaviour starring Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Jessie Buckley. We speak to the film’s director Philippa Lowthorpe about bring this moment of history to life on screen. We continue our new series, J’Accuse, in which contributors get the chance to make a short, uninterrupted argument on an artistic subject that matters to them. Tonight John is joined by bestselling author Marian Keyes who shares her thoughts on the fiction genre often dismissed as Chick Lit. A daily 9 minute breakfast show, hosted by Love Island’s Chris Taylor and drag queen Ginger Johnson is the newest way that entertainment and technology have combined to improve mental health. A new app, Wakey, has been designed with scientists and television experts to come straight to your phone so you can watch as you start the day in a positive way. Founder Deborah Coughlin tells us how it works. The jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, whose death at the age of 81 was announced at the weekend, made his name playing alongside improvisational saxophonist John Coltrane before carving out his own career as a soloist, bandleader and composer. Music writer Kevin Le Gendre looks back over the life of the influential figure. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Oliver Jones

Nina Simone - singer, pianist, civil rights activist and black feminist icon -- Kevin Legendre, Ayanna Witter-Johnson and Zena Edwards discuss her achievements and legacy. Producer: Zahid Warley

Jazz and communist East Germany seem unlikely bedfellows. Yet in 1965 Louis Armstrong became the first American entertainer to play jazz there at the height of the Cold War. East Germans celebrated Armstrong, and his visit became a propaganda victory for East Germany, helping it to boost its reputation in the wake of its oppressive government building the Berlin Wall in 1961. On his brief and only tour through East Germany Armstrong played to packed houses. His popularity surprised the authorities very much considering not one record of him was available before 1965 and your passion for the music could land you in prison. Kevin Le Gendre peeks through the former Iron Curtain to discover the dangers jazz lovers faced to pave the way for these legendary concerts to happen while tracing the tour. He speaks to jazz journalist Karlheinz Drechsel who first risked his career for jazz but then, amazingly, had the privilege to accompany Louis Armstrong on the tour and announce his concerts. He tells Kevin what it was like meeting Louis Armstrong and seeing beyond the smile and laughter that Louis Armstrong was famous for. Armstrong not only had to navigate political sensitivities on the Cold War front between East and West, but also on the home front in the US, when questioned about the Civil Rights Movement, which was at its peak. The tour left a big impression on both sides. Armstrong was very taken by the enthusiastic welcome he received and East Germany, far from the authorities' intentions, developed a Free Jazz scene that became an unexpected export hit. Speakers include the journalists Karlheinz Drechsel, Siegfried Schmidt-Joos and Leslie Collitt; the jazz fan Volker Stiehler; the authors Ricky Riccardi and Stephan Schulz; pianist Ulrich Gumpert; and Roland Trisch, who worked at East Germany's Artists Agency, which enabled Louis Armstrong's tour. Archive material of the Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama on 7 March 1965 is courtesy of the Robert H Jackson Center. Producer: Sabine Schereck

Tomorrow sees the opening of an ambitious new multi-purpose arts venue, The Shed, in New York. This £360m building, featuring a vast telescoping outer shell which travels on rails, is at the heart of Hudson Yards, a major new £20bn property development in Manhattan, and sits alongside a new, copper-coloured ‘vertical park’ designed by the Thomas Heatherwick studio. Critic Sarah Crompton gives her response to the new structure. Last night saw the inaugural Premier League match at Tottenham Hotspur’s new £750m football stadium. The acoustic designer Christopher Lee, who’s designed more than 30 stadia on five different continents, discusses how he worked to create the best audio experience for the fans. American bestselling author Jonathan Lethem discusses his new novel, The Feral Detective, his first detective novel in two decades. Within it he explores the impact of Trump’s America, written from a female perspective. Music journalist Kevin LeGendre reviews Marvin Gaye’s never-released 1972 album ‘You’re The Man’, which coincides with the celebration of what would’ve been Gaye’s 80th birthday this week. Presenter: Janina Ramirez Producer: Ben Mitchell

Scottish artist Katie Paterson's exhibition at Turner Contemporary, Margate, explores our relationship with the vastness and mysteries of the universe, as she works with scientists who have pioneered research on the cosmic spectrum. The artist discusses her fascination with the physical world.So many successful TV shows have non-celebrities at their heart, from documentaries to reality programmes like Made in Chelsea and Great British Bake Off. But how do programme-makers find the contributors who will make interesting viewing? Co-director of production company Drummer TV Rachel Drummer Hay and TV critic Emma Bullimore give their perspective on what makes a good cast. The 2018 Ted Hughes Award highlights outstanding contributions made by poets to our cultural life. Front Row talks to the winner of the £5000 prize, live from the award ceremony, minutes after the announcement is made this evening.As a member of The Beat, Ranking Roger was one of the stars of British Ska, bringing his “toasting” skills to many of the band's big hits. To mark his death, music critic and broadcaster Kevin Le Gendre pays tribute.Presenter: Janina Ramirez Producer: Kate Bullivant

Twelve flights. Twelve travellers. Twelve stories. David Szalay talks about his new book, Turbulence, which features lives in turmoil, each in some way touching the next. David Szalay was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2016 – and Turbulence is an original Radio 4 commission. The 55th annual Golden Horse awards, dubbed the "Chinese Oscars", saw An Elephant Sitting Still win best picture. Created by novelist-turned-director Hu Bo, who adapted it from his own book, it tells the story of four people in a society plagued by cruelty and violence. As the film is released in the UK, critic Simran Hans gives her verdict and Asian film expert, Andrew Heskins, discusses the wider landscape of cinema in China and the way the industry is changing.This weekend UNESCO added the reggae music of Jamaica to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a programme that looks to protect and promote traditions or living expressions of cultural identity. To discuss the programme and the decision to include reggae on this year's list we speak to Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO Ernesto Ottone, plus music journalist Kevin LeGendre considers what this means for reggae. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Hannah Robins

Aretha Franklin, the "Queen of Soul" known for hits like Respect, Natural Woman and Say a Little Prayer, has died in Detroit at the age of 76. Broadcaster Paul Gambaccini and music critic Kevin Le Gendre assess her life and work. Actor David Suchet, discusses taking on the role of a 90 year-old furniture dealer in a revival of Arthur Miller's The Price at the Theatre Royal, Bath. It's 50 years since Miller's play was first staged in Broadway, but it also almost 50 years since David Suchet began his career on the British stage. The actor, who became a household name for his role as Hercule Poirot, explains why he starts with his character's voice and why he often plays outsiders. Singer and composer Laura Mvula talks about her new choral work, Love Like a Lion, commissioned for the BBC proms and performed by the BBC Singers, on which she has collaborated with the novelist and poet Ben Okri. Laura and Ben talk about their working relationship and Laura explains what it is like straddling the worlds of soul, pop, and classical music.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Hilary Dunn.

Festivali Jazzkaar parimaid hetki meenutavad Briti muusikaajakirjanik Kevin LeGendre ja Michelle Mercer USA rahvusringhäälingust NPR, samuti džässikriitik Marje Ingel ja poeet Jürgen Rooste. Eetris laupäeval kell 9 ja pühapäeval kell 12.

Jodie Foster was a child star who fulfilled that early promise with performances as an adult that won her two Oscars. She went on to direct - four feature films so far. Now she is turning to television, taking charge of an episode of Charlie Brooker's sci-fi series Black Mirror. She talks to John Wilson about this and, after a quarter of a century, the continuing power of The Silence of the Lambs.Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut Molly's Game, starring Jessica Chastain, is based on the true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target. Ellen E Jones reviews.Critic Ellen E Jones gives us her run-down of what films to see at cinemas this ChristmasAs the award-winning hip hop musical Hamilton transfers to London's West End from Broadway, critic Matt Wolf and music journalist Kevin Le Gendre discuss the hotly-anticipated musical phenomenon.With Radio 4 marking winter today as part of its Four Seasons project, the poet Imtiaz Dharker reads her specially commissioned piece, Thaw.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Edwina Pitman.

Across the globe, music has been an essential rallying-cry of revolution and social change: from the Marseillaise to Strange Fruit, from classical symphonies to hip-hop, music has accompanied some of the most vital changes to our world. How does music do it? Peggy Seeger, folk music icon and protest-song-writing genius, tells us how her life in music has been a clarion call for political and social activism, and writer and broadcaster Kevin LeGendre charts the story of music's role in the Civil Rights movement, from the 1960s to today. And through the music of Shostakovich and Prokofiev, we hear what happens when revolutionary fervour curdles into something darker: when does music protest a regime, and when does it support tyranny? A century and more of musical protests and revolutions on The Listening Service at the BBC Proms presented by Tom Service.

Kevin LeGendre and Claire Martin discuss Ella Fitzgerald

The British actor Christian Bale started his film career as a child star but has gone on to become a hugely successful adult actor. With the release of his latest film The Promise - an epic set in First World War Turkey - film critic Angie Errigo looks at his choice of roles and assesses what it says about Bale as a serious actor. The clash of creative differences at Shakespeare's Globe has put the role of Artistic Director into the spotlight. But what exactly is that role and what are the pressures facing the people leading theatres? Daniel Evans, who has just started his first season at the helm of Chichester Festival Theatre, and Tamara Harvey, now in her second year at Theatr Clywd, discuss. On last night's Front Row John Wilson hosted a debate about the future of museums with with Hartwig Fischer, the new director of the British Museum, Tristram Hunt, who's just taken up his post as director of the V&A, Sarah Munro, director of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary art in Gateshead, and Stephen Deuchar, director of Art Fund. The debate continued off air and in tonight's programme, and last night's podcast, you can hear the panellists discuss the importance of museums working with schools, local communities and each other.This week is the 100th anniversary since the birth of a singer who has been dubbed the Queen of Jazz. Ella Fitzgerald sold over 40m albums and won 13 Grammy awards. Singer Peggy Lee described her as 'the greatest jazz singer of our time, the standard by which each of us is measured'. To celebrate Lady Ella's centenary week, Kevin Le Gendre picks three stand-out moments from her vast canon of work which highlight what makes her so special.Presenter Kirsty Lang Producer Harry Parker.

Jim Broadbent stars as an elderly divorcee who receives a letter that unlocks memories of a relationship he had back in the 1960s. He and director Ritesh Batra describe how they've reinterpreted Julian Barnes' novel The Sense of an Ending for film.50 years ago this week Marvin Gaye finished recording a track that would go on to become one of the most iconic love songs ever written. To mark the moment, music journalist Kevin Le Gendre records his own tribute to I Heard It Through the Grapevine.Novelist Matt Johnson started writing as part of his treatment for PTSD after a career in the army and police. Author Johana Gustawsson tackled the horror of her grandfather's deportation to a Second World War concentration camp, to form a family bond that wasn't possible during his lifetime. They discuss how writing has helped them to process difficult life experiences. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Angie Nehring.

Leonard Cohen said of him 'all of us are footnotes to the words of Chuck Berry', while Bob Dylan described him as 'the Shakespeare of rock & roll'. Kandia Crazy Horse, editor of Rip It Up, the Black Experience of Rock'n'Roll, and music critic Kevin Le Gendre, discuss some key Chuck Berry songs to show what they reveal about Berry's influences, his stature as a world-class musician, and the huge influence he had on those that followed him.The Lost City of Z is a film inspired by the real-life adventures of explorer Percy Fawcett. Survival expert Ray Mears gives us his verdict. Continuing Radio 4's poetic celebration of the Spring Equinox, Patience Agbabi reads her poem Mr Umbo's Umbrellas, written especially for the occasion.Of all the paintings by the artist Sir Howard Hodgkin who died earlier this month, it was his portraits that were most often overlooked. However, this week the National Portrait Gallery stages the first exhibition of these works, which cover the period from 1949 to the present. One of Hodgkin's sitters, the writer Ekow Eshun, discusses the experience. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Hannah Robins.

Kevin Le Gendre presents a portrait of musician and spiritual leader, Alice Coltrane

Singer-songwriter and composer Laura Mvula meets jazz musicians Jason Yarde and Laura Jurd, and music broadcaster journalist Kevin Le Gendre, to discuss her musical inspiration, the visionary American jazz musician Miles Davis. 'He has always been and will always remain one of the greatest inspirations of my musical life. To me he was and is an icon, a pioneer, the unique innovator. He never held himself back - maybe that's what first attracted me to him and his sound'. Picking up on these opening remarks, and in the company of three contributors with contrasting perspectives on the man and his music, Mvula and her guests consider the impact and legacy of Miles Davis, a unique musician who repeatedly reinvented himself musically, and single-handedly shape-shifted the language of jazz, for nearly half a century. With glimpses of music from Miles Davis's vast discography, the programme paints a unique and personal portrait of one of the 20th century's greatest musical creators and iconclasts. Laura Mvula is one of the most exciting music talents to emerge in Britain in recent years. Growing up in Birmingham's Kings Heath to parents from Jamaica and St Kitts, Mvula cut her musical teeth singing in and directing local church and gospel choirs, and performing with soul group Judyshouse, before going on to Birmingham Conservatoire to study composition with, among others, composer Joe Cutler. After working as a music supply teacher in Birmingham schools, she sent demo recordings of her songs to record labels; the result has been spectacular international success that ranges from touring the world with her band, to composing for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Laura Mvula cites Miles Davis as one of her greatest influences - first urged by her father to watch documentaries about him, then given albums by a relative, her initial puzzlement grew into unbounded admiration for a black musician who refused utterly to be bounded by musical style or social position. His appetite for musical innovation and experiment, his dismissal of the idea of musical mistakes, his vision for successful creative collaboration - all of these characteristics and more combined to create a template for the sort of musician Laura Mvula has aspired to become. In this documentary feature, Laura sounds out her thoughts in the company of three guests, all of whom are equally great admirers of Miles Davis, but who approach him from different perspectives. Mvula's guests are: Kevin Le Gendre is a journalist and broadcaster with a special interest in black music. Deputy editor of Echoes, he contributes to a wide range of publications that include Jazzwise, MusicWeek, Vibrations and The Independent On Sunday and also appears as a commentator and critic on radio programmes such as BBC Radio 3's Jazz On 3 and BBC Radio 4's Front Row. Laura Jurd is a British award-winning trumpet player, composer and bandleader and BBC New Generation Jazz Artist for 2015-2017. Highly active throughout the UK scene, Laura has developed a formidable reputation as one of the most creative young musicians to emerge from the UK in recent years. In 2015 Laura received the Parliamentary Jazz Award for 'Instrumentalist of the Year' and in the past has been shortlisted for a BASCA British Composer Award, received the Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition and the Worshipful Company of Musician's Young Jazz Musician of the Year award. Her band Dinosaur is one of the most vital and creative new ensembles in the UK today, and in September 2016, the band's debut album 'Together, As One' was released on Edition Records. Jason Yarde is a saxophonist, composer, arranger, producer, and musical director who writes music across various styles including jazz, classical, hip-hop, fusion, free improvisation, broken beats, R&B, reggae, soul, song writing and for a variety of media: his BBC Proms compositional debut 'Rhythm and Other Fascinations' won the first ever BASCA award for 'Contemporary Jazz Composition' in 2010. Yarde began playing alto and soprano saxophones with the Jazz Warriors while a teenager, and went on to MD this landmark orchestra. He is a longtime sideman of Louis Moholo, and has appeared in the big bands of Sam Rivers, Hermeto Pascoal, McCoy Tyner, Manu Dibango, Roy Ayers, and Andrew Hill. Producer: Lyndon Jones for Music Department, BBC Wales.

Robert Rauschenberg was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, photographer and performance artist who worked with John Cage and Jasper Johns and has influenced artists today like Damien Hurst and Tracey Emin. John Wilson talks to his son Christopher Rauschenberg and curator Catherine Wood on the day a major retrospective opens at Tate Modern.This Friday sees the unveiling of a memorial stone to poet Philip Larkin at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey, 31 years after his death. Fellow poets Carol Rumens and Blake Morrison discuss Larkin's legacy.The trailer for new US comedy drama This Is Us has had a record-breaking 64 million Facebook views and 8.5 million on Youtube, so with its first episode about to be shown on Channel 4 on Tuesday 6 December, Katie Puckrik joins John Wilson to see what all the fuss is about.Plus, on the 50th anniversary of Barbados gaining independence from the UK, music journalist Kevin LeGendre looks at the Caribbean Island's influence on hip-hop, jazz and reggae.Presenter : John Wilson Producer : Dymphna Flynn.

David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike discuss A United Kingdom, a new film which tells the true story of Seretse Khama, the future King of Bechuanaland, and Ruth Williams, a clerk from South London. When they married in 1948 they not only faced fierce opposition from both of their families but from the British and South African governments. It had been claimed that the lost sketchbook from Van Gogh's time in Arles, France, has been discovered. However, in a statement released this afternoon, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has said they are of the opinion that these sketches 'could not be attributed to Vincent van Gogh'. We talk to the museum and the expert behind the 'discovery'.Cape Town City Ballet, the oldest ballet company in South Africa, has been resident at Cape Town University for eight decades. It's now caught in the long-running student protests for decolonisation of the curriculum. With the university deciding not to renew the company's lease, Gerard Samuel, Director of the School of Dance at Cape Town University and a Cape Town City Ballet board member, discusses the troupe's uncertain future.And 60 years after Ray Charles made his eponymous album, the music critic Kevin Le Gendre re-evaluates the moment that an artist who played rhythm & blues, the music from which rock & roll was born, was about to change the music world.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Ella-mai Robey.

Kevin Legendre reviews Baz Luhrmann's first TV project, The Get Down, a high-octane slice of life chronicling the birth of hip hop in 1970's New York. Kirsty speaks to writer Krys Lee whose debut novel, How I Became A North Korean, is set in one of the most complex and threatening environments in the world - the border between China and the 'hermit nation'. Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical Allegro was their third collaboration for the stage following Oklahoma! and Carousel. It opened on Broadway in 1947. With a new production in London, director Thom Southerland and critic Matt Wolf discuss its revival 70 years on. Front Row meets equine painter Elizabeth Armstrong, the artist in residence at Royal Windsor Racecourse. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Jack Soper.

Fracked! Or: Please don't use the F-word is a comedy in Chichester about shale extraction. Playwright Alistair Beaton explains how he keeps the play topical in times of fast political change, and how he cast actor James Bolam when he met him demonstrating against a potential fracking site in Sussex. The art of the self-portrait - why do artists portray themselves? From Rembrandt's unflinching treatment of his ageing reflection to Ai Weiwei's politically-charged use of social media, a new exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh sets out to answer that question. Moira Jeffrey reviews Facing the World.Someone Knows My Name is a Canadian historical drama which tells the true story of a West African girl who campaigns for her freedom after she is abducted into slavery in South Carolina. Kevin Le Gendre reviews this TV adaptation.Marcus Harvey first attracted public attention as a YBA with his portrait of the child killer Myra Hindley, created from a small child's handprints. Protestors picketed the Royal Academy when it went on show as part of Sensation in 1997. Harvey discusses new exhibition Inselaffe at Jerwood Gallery in Hastings, which explores what it means to be British.Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Angie Nehring.

As Blur and Gorillaz front man Damon Albarn joins the Orchestra of Syrian Musicians to open the Glastonbury Festival, John talks to Damon and Lebanese-Syrian rapper Eslam Jawaad about working and performing with the orchestra.In Inspiring Impressionism, the National Galleries of Scotland will stage the first ever large-scale exhibition to examine the important relationship between the landscape painter Charles-François Daubigny and the Impressionists, including Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh. Curators Lynne Ambrosini and Frances Fowle discuss.The Bethlem Museum of the Mind in South London is one of five museums and galleries in the UK to make the shortlist for Museum of the Year. In the third of our reports from the shortlisted venues, John Wilson visits the museum which cares for an internationally-renowned collection of archives, art and historic objects relating to the history of mental healthcare and treatment. The Jamaican guitarist and composer Ernest Ranglin is probably best known for Millie Small's 1964 ska version of My Boy Lollipop, but during his long career he has worked with the likes of Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley, and jazz pianist Monty Alexander. At the age of 83, Ernest is embarking on his farewell tour, starting with an appearance at this year's Glastonbury Festival. Music journalist Kevin Le Gendre looks back on the career of the musician, and explains why he's still a hot ticket after thousands of gigs and recording sessions over almost seven decades. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Rebecca Armstrong.

Alain de Botton discusses his first novel in twenty years. The Course of Love centres on the story of a couple called Rabih and Kirsten who meet, fall in love, and get married. The philosopher, author and presenter tells John why he wanted to explore the later chapters of a relationship, and why he has taken such a long break from fiction. The Hungarian feature film Son of Saul closely follows one inmate of the Auschwitz concentration camp who is a member of the Sonderkommando, responsible for disposing of the bodies of the victims murdered in the gas chambers. Jason Solomons reviews the film that won the Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film this year, as well as the Grand Prix at Cannes. Playwright Nick Payne and director Josie Rourke discuss the inspiration behind Elegy, a new play set in a world where medical advances mean that life can be extended at the expense of our memories. With Miles Ahead, starring Don Cheadle as jazz master Miles Davies, currently in our cinemas, and film depictions of Nina Simone and Chet Baker on the way; the music journalist and self-professed jazzhead, Kevin Le Gendre explores the challenges of the jazz movie.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Ella-mai RobeyMain image: Alain de Botton Image credit: Vincent Starr.

Singer Mica Paris remembers Prince who was her friend and mentor, and biographer Matt Thorne and journalist Kevin Le Gendre assess his legacy.As Opera North's Music Director Richard Farnes and General Director Richard Mantle prepare to present six complete productions of the company's much praised "austerity" Ring Cycle, they discuss the art of creating great opera on a budget. The Ring Cycle opens at Leeds Town Hall on 23 April and goes on to tour the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham, The Lowry in Salford, the Royal Festival Hall in London, and Sage Gateshead.Georgina Harding's latest novel, The Gunroom, opens with a description of the image of Don McCullin's Shell Shocked Soldier. It then becomes a work of fiction which explores the impact of taking that photo on the photographer as he endeavours to escape the horror of what he has seen. Georgina Harding discusses what inspired her to write this story. The Gun Room is out now.

With Kirsty Lang. In Johnny Depp's latest film, he plays Tonto, the loyal companion to the Lone Ranger, played by Armie Hammer. The masked hero and his Native American friend fought injustice together in the Wild West, in a popular American TV series of the 1950s - but will the 21st century cinema version of The Lone Ranger be as successful? Writer Matt Thorne gives his verdict. Artist Conrad Shawcross has transformed the Roundhouse in London into a giant clock for his latest work Timepiece. However, it's a clock with a difference, as it has no face and incorporates a sun-dial which casts shadows on the floor of the performance venue. With this year's Edinburgh Festival fringe now in full swing, Stephen Armstrong reports on the comedy which has caught his eye so far. Actress Gemma Chan nominates the 1987 film The Princess Bride for the Cultural Exchange. It's arguably the best of times of jazz fans hoping to build a collection of classic albums, as LPs by jazz legends of the past are re-issued on CD at bargain prices, often in box sets. Kevin Le Gendre considers the pleasures and pitfalls of the piles of cut-price jazz classics. Producer Olivia Skinner.

Ronnie McGrath joins us on May 9th for the Caribbean Literary Salon, in conversation with Kerry Young and Kevin LeGendre about his time in Jamaica and how it has influenced his writing. In the next few days we'll be publishing an interview we did with Ronnie, but in the meantime, here he is reading a short piece of his surrealist poetry.

Kerry Young was born in Kingston, Jamaica, to a Chinese father and mother of mixed Chinese-African heritage. Here she reads from her new novel, "Gloria", set in Jamaica in 1938, when a violent act forces sixteen-year-old Gloria Campbell to flee her hometown with her younger sister to forge a new life in Kingston. Kerry comes to Free Word on the 9th of May for the Caribbean Literary Salon, to talk about Jamaican writing with Kevin LeGendre and Ronnie McGrath.

With Kirsty Lang. Tracey Emin discusses how she feels about returning to her home town of Margate with an exhibition including new works conceived specially for Margate and exploring themes of love, sex and eroticism. In January 1937 in Peking the body of a teenage British girl was discovered, with her heart removed. She was the daughter of an ex-British consul and the crime, which shook both the Chinese and western community, was never solved. Writer and historian Paul French explains why he became obsessed by the story and how, 75 years on, he has come up with a solution to the mystery. Jason Solomons brings news from the Cannes Film Festival, as the jury prepares to announce the winners of the main prizes. Music and speech played an important role in the 1960s Black Power movement in America. Writer Pat Thomas has spent years tracking down rare recordings, which include spoken word discs from Motown's Black Power imprint. Music writer Kevin LeGendre joins Pat to consider how musicians and performers responded to political change. Producer Philippa Ritchie.

With Kirsty Lang. The first series of The Killing, the 20 part Danish crime drama, was widely acclaimed as a TV highlight of the year. Now Detective Inspector Sarah Lund returns with a new investigation. With a double-bill of the first two episodes of the second series being screened this weekend, writer John Harvey reflects on the appeal of this crime marathon. Perrier Award-winner Sean Hughes reveals why he decided to discuss his father's death in his new stand-up show. The comedian, writer and former Never Mind The Buzzcocks captain considers our reactions to death, and recalls his original route into comedy. The AIDS epidemic of the early 80s in San Francisco is the subject of a new documentary by the film-maker David Weissman. Five individuals who lived through it look back at a period when thousands of their friends were dying of a disturbing and unfamiliar illness. David Weissman discusses why he felt now was the right time to make his film We Were Here. A new bargain box set of music by jazz saxophonist Joe Harriott places him back in the spotlight, almost four decades after his death. Jamaican-born Harriott made Britain his home, and argued strongly that musicians here should not feel overshadowed by American stars. Kevin LeGendre looks back at his career. Producer Claire Bartleet.