Ever heard of Philip Glass the plumber? Kurt Vonnegut the car salesman? On today’s show we pay homage to artists who didn’t quit their day jobs, even after hitting the big time, like poet/banker T.S. Eliot.
We'll also talk with pioneering jazz vibraphonist Gary Burton, he’s won seven Grammy awards and played alongside music legends from Stan Getz to B.B. King. Despite these accomplishments, he knows he won’t be remembered for a great solo, instead he’ll always be the guy that played with four sticks.
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Great (And Famous!) Artists Who Kept Their Day Jobs
Minimalist composer Philip Glass is widely acknowledged as one of the late 20th Century’s most influential music-makers. He’s worked with artists, musicians and filmmakers from David Bowie to Woody Allen, and famously collaborated with theater director Robert Wilson on the landmark opera “Einstein on the Beach” in 1976. Even after “Einstein,” Glass didn’t quit his day job as a New York cabby and some-time plumber…he was once called to install a dishwasher at the SoHo loft of a very shocked Robert Hughes, who was then the art critic for Time.
Clay Wirestone is Weekend Editor and Designer for the Concord Monitor and contributor to Mental Floss. He wrote about
Loving Math and Mime
By the end of High School, most students have had their fill of math, but teacher Tim Chartier is convincing his pupils to give things like fractions and partial derivatives one last try. Reporter Ari Daniel has the story.
You can listen to this story again at PRX.org.
Jazz Musician Gary Burton
Jazz musician Gary Burton is a 7-time Grammy award winner, the originator of the technique known as the “Burton Grip”--playing the vibraphone holding two mallets in each hand—and has spent most of his life, playing and teaching jazz. We spoke to him when his autobiography, Learning To Listen: The Jazz Journey Of Gary Burton was first released. It’s now available in paperback.
Jazz Musician Gary Burton
The Todd Glass Situation
Two-and-a-half years have passed since the groundbreaking moment on Marc Maron's podcast WTF when he came out on air, and Todd Glass writes about it in his new book The Todd Glass Situation: A Bunch of Lies About My Personal Life, and a Bunch of True Stories About My 30-Year Career in Standup Comedy.
