Hey, y’all! Hope you’re doing your best this week. It’s Tuesday, so it’s time for yet another program schedule as we go over what we’re playing for tonight’s episodes of Talkie Time and The Jazz Program on datafruits.fm!
Talkie Time : New Adventures Of Nero Wolfe - Party For Death / A Slight Case Of Perjury
(This program schedule was originally aired September 19, 2023 .)
"Smoke if you got 'em" --Nero Wolfe, probably
I’ve said a lot about which of the old-time-radio detectives rank among my personal favorites, but Nero and, as Nero refers to him, AAAARRRRCHIIEEEE are easily my favorite duo of detective personalities. Their dynamic is goofy, deeply sarcastic, and always intriguing. Fact is, everybody loves Nero Wolfe, whether they’ve figured it out yet or not.
Archie Goodwin just never quite figures it out, but that won’t stop him from doing the legwork…and the case work…and most of the work in general for tonight’s programming.
We’ve got two episodes of the world’s biggest (in terms of weight class, anyways)[^15] detective and his favorite unwilling errand boy for you this evening.
First off, we’ll be listening to “The Party For Death”–originally aired on February 16, 1951–in which Archie hits up a cocktail party and finds, much to his chagrin, that the Marys aren’t the only thing that’s bloody at this shindig and he’s got some investigating to do that doesn’t involve figuring out where this place keeps the celery salt and highballs.
After that, it’s “A Slight Case Of Perjury”, which originally aired on October 25, 1950. In this one, a certain Tom Wilcox gets acquitted for the murder of a certain Keith Hanson, and then someone immediately tries to off him. Wilcox turns to Nero and Archie for help, because he totally can’t understand why anyone would want him dead. Definitely not. Nothing to hide here, man’s clean as the day he was born. How dare you think otherwise.
You can't deny how hard this cover art goes.
The Jazz Program: Hideo Shiraki - Plays Horace Silver (1962) / Plays Bossa Nova (1962) / In Fiesta (1961)
(This program schedule was originally aired June 13, 2023.)
The fantastic works of Japanese drummer Hideo Shiraki are an interesting introduction into the Japanese “funky boom” scene of the 60s, 70s, and 80s.
While not in the slightest bit unfamiliar with his own native land’s styles and instrumentation–1965 saw his quintet playing alongside a koto quartet at the Berlin Jazz Festival–Shiraki was at his best blasting rare grooves and providing the backbeat for (and leading role in) his legendary five-piece, whose music was beloved by a 1960s Japanese scene that craved a uniquely local take on the West’s hard bop sound.
We’ll be jamming the Hideo Shiraki Quintet’s “Plays Horace Silver” from ‘62, then “Hideo Shiraki Plays Bossa Nova” from the same year–hence the joke in the title of this week’s programming list. After that, we’ve got his fantastic 1961 release “In Fiesta” to close out the program.
Aaand that’s it for this week! Unfortunately, we’re back to re-runs again this week thanks to me being on deadline again; hopefully I’ll be off deadline soon, because I’m running out of old shows to pull from and I know you all want new ones. Don’t worry; whenever I’ve had a spare moment, I’ve been trawling the crates for new artists and old radio programs to bring you all. Hopefully I’ll have new material for you all soon.
If you’re reading this the day of, and you can make it in tonight, come hang out in the chat with us on Datafruits! We’ve got a good crowd of folks in the chat every week, and whether you have a suggestion for a future show or just want to hang out and chat with fellow jazz enjoyers, you’re welcome here with us.
You’re all amazing and don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not. Stay safe out there, and I’ll see you back again next week. Same time, same station.
Footnotes…