|
Below is a complete listing of stories acquired so far:
The Timeline
(05/10/2002)
 Conversation On Duke Street
As bombing began in Afghanistan, a college student and a Vietnam vet got together to talk about America during wartime – past and present…
Story Page
(03/04/2002)
Only Us Down Here
One of the few documentarians allowed at Ground Zero in the months since September 11th is the photographer Joel Meyerowitz. His Studio Manager, Susan Jenkins, found a way in too and has been gathering stories on tape from workers at the site.
Story Page
(02/04/2002)
The Sonic Memorial
To honor the voices stilled when the World Trade Center towers were
destroyed Sept. 11, a team of independent radio producers set out to compile
a “sonic memorial” — an audio project commemorating the life and history of
the World Trade Center. On All Things Considered, Jay Allison, the curator
of the memorial, shares a sample of the sounds contributed so far.
Listen | Story Page
(11/09/2001)
WCAI/NAN – A Call For Flags
(search
listener
lady)
Producer Jay Allison calls for personal reflections about the American flag on the WCAI/NAN listener line. Among the initial responses, a man from Nantucket recalls his ongoing quest to find a decent flag while they are in popular demand, and a woman from East Falmouth describes how her cynicism towards outwards display of patriotism has been transformed in lieau of recent events.
Listen
(search
listener
lady)
(10/14/2001)
Rookies React to September 11th
For the past few years, WNYC has been training New York City teenagers to produce their own radio stories. “The series is called Radio Rookies,” maybe you’ve heard of them. After the tragedy of September 11th, the producers asked some the of Rookies to share how they felt about the events.
Listen | Radio Rookies on Transom
(09/30/2001)
My Heroes Is
“A salute to the firefighters North, East, South, West, and in New York City.” By ‘CAI/NAN listener Colin Williams, a New Bedford fishing net manufacturer.
Listen | Story Page
(09/23/2001)
Firefighter Chris Merrick
An account of the scene in downtown Manhattan and of the firefighter fraternity; Boston area Firefighter Chris Merrick speaks with his sister.
Listen | Story Page
|
Podcast
Features
Comments
just because enough people don’t get information and discussion about alternatives and alternative points of view…
what do you think about how the stories are being framed and told?
[for example
======
LOOK BEFORE LEAPING
by Tamim Ansary
An Afghani-American says attacking his homeland to get Osama Bin
Laden might strengthen the Taliban’s grip, hurt untold innocents, and
lead to a much wider war. He says the Taliban WANT a military response from the U.S. so that there can be an escalation to WWIII…are we up for that too?
AUDIO and TEXT
http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/2001/09/16/index.html
=======
I am so glad to have public radio at a time like this.
Last Wednesday morning we had to wake up and realize, yes, it had
really happened. It wasn’t just a bad dream. and there was Alex
Chadwick on the air, like a good and wise old friend, talking about
how this is now a different country. And we heard "America the
Beautiful" written by Cape Cod’s own Katherine Bates.
In the evening Robert Siegel was there, going through artifacts in the
rubble, lookin at signs of daily life becoming signs of history while
we stand helplessly.
I’m so glad that these stations and this website are taking the next
step of encouraging and welcoming good ideas for positive action,
taking us beyond the helpless stage.
If only Katherine Bates were here to write some more verses about "our
planet the beautiful." People in countries around the world want to
support democracy and peace. We all take pride and joy in our natural
wonders and in the best in ourselves. I’d like to hear a song about
our whole beautiful world, with the same ending, "and crown thy good,
with brother hood, from sea to shining sea…"
Thank you, Atlantic Public Media, Transom.org, WCAI, WNAN and WGBH and
for making it possible to talk and work together at this challenging
time, bringing out the best hopes and action in all of us.
We’re all walking around with our hearts gaping open.
Our hearts may feel empty after going out to so many thousands of
people. But there still is a big part of my heart that goes out to my
neighbors who may now be feared because they may speak a foreign
language and may have a skin color seen less often here.
Neighbors, Hear me now . I know you didn’t do it. I know the numbers of
people involved in violence is so very small.
I want to feel safe. and I want you to feel safe too.
We are going to be posting stories and links as part of our special project "The Days That Follow." You can talk about it all here, and offer suggestions for more. Follow the links above.
Transom.org, Atlantic Public Media, and local public radio stations WCAI/WNAN in Massachusetts, along with the storytellers, citizens, and witnesses who collaborate with us, intend to channel stories & images arising from a range of sources. We’ll use both broadcast and the Internet to gather material, produce, and share it. We’ll do this both locally and nationally. We encourage you to participate.
This started out as a corporate something-or-other for an online newsletter. They took the other stuff, but not this. It’s about degrees of separation and how they’ll take us, not just closer to the world trade center, but to bin Ladin — maybe even W.
You’ll find "Degrees.mp3" at
http://homepage.mac.com/jnbraider
The CIA sponsored bin Laden when he was fighting the Russians.
And George Bush Sr. was head of the CIA and helped shape its policies and practices.
The CIA also sponsored Noriega, while the US Military trained McVeigh.
I believe some of the flight instructors who trained the terrorists are retired US Military personnel.
It’s called Blowback, and is a variation on the Oedipus Drama.
A beautiful piece, with a lovely curve to it that you don’t mind you swinged and missed. Carol’s voice: wonderfully matter-of-fact. Archangels are everywhere — get used to it. Does the fall-out of Robertson and Falwell (see C. King, editorial, at the Washington Post) make a dif?
>We have waved our flags, burned our candles, recited
>our prayers, and have begun burying our dead.
>Unfortunately, none of these things will solve our
>problem. And we DO have a problem.
>
>Our problem is that there is that some people out
>there are trying to KILL us, and they don’t care
>who or what they sacrifice-not even themselves–
>as long as they can act out their personal tantrums
>and cause Americans harm. They are not just Arabs, or
>just Muslims, or the subset who are both Arab and Muslim;
>they are an even smaller subset of idealogical fanatics,
>who do not share our consensual reality. They beleive that
>the Western world should not exist, that it is a blasphemy
>against God, and they are duty bound to destroy it.
>No prayers or vigils on our part will change this fact.
>
>The things we need to do, in the near future, to address
>this fact, are very difficult and ticklish tasks; some may
>even be impossible. Our media outlets have not, for the
>most part, focused on the "hard part". After all, Videos
>of prayers and candlelight vigils make better video, and with
>music, too. And most of the "real work" on the problem is, of
>necessity, being done in secret by the FBI, Defense department,
>and other, more shadowy agencies of our government. We will
>not hear much about the "hard part". But here is some of it:
>a) We need to drive a wedge, of some sort, between mainstream
>Muslims and their fanatical cousins. Traditionally Muslim
>groups and countries profess moderation to us, while winking and
>nodding to their crazy cousins, and, while they’re at it, slipping
>them some money on the side, for their "just cause". There are
>summer camps for children in the US which have visiting instructors
>from the fanatic groups, who teach the children death chants and
>the use of AK-47′s, which have been secretly taped. [Never mind the >middle east!]. How do sort out who is a "fanatic", and who isn’t?
>b) We need to cut off the support the fanatics receive from
>nations, banks, political groups, charities, etc… many of
>whom we regard as "friends". How do we sort out….? etc.
>c) We need human intelligence (spies on the ground) who can pass
>unnoticed through Arab or Muslim culture in more than 60 countries.
>How do get a great number of Arabic and Farsi speaking spies? Why
>would any of them want the assignment? It’s difficult and dangerous.
>It would take someone who is really committed, perhaps even…
>a fanatic(!!!)
>d) How do we have an open society, civil liberties, freedom of travel >and association, when just a few maniacs slipping into our "open >society" can cause so much harm?
>e) How can we retaliate, against any people, country, or location,
>without their brothers and cousins calling us genocidal, racist,
>warmongering, etc…
>f) How can we attempt to rein in the excesses of globalization, >and address poverty and illiteracy in the poorer
>countries which are the "breeding grounds" for such fanaticism,
>when they don’t want our "help"? They DON’T WANT to be westernized;
>that is what they are against!
>Our shock and anger may be starting to ebb; our grief continues.
>
>But our hard work on this problem hasn’t even begun, and it is a
task that would daunt even Sisyphus…
This is, roughly, about the ringing of the King’s Chapel Bell in Boston. The reference to Sept. 11 is only in passing. What this describes is how an event as momentous as the destruction of the World Trade Center can be absorbed into — for want of a better phrase — a greater continuity.
You’ll find it at:
"The Bell.mp3"
http://homepage.mac.com/jnbraider
Ken Mills just posted this to the AIR radio producers list and I’m putting it here for the record: "the Clear Channel list of songs that will not air on their 1,200 stations:"
LATER NOTE: Clear Channel denies this list. See next posting
Drowning Pool "Bodies"
Mudvayne "Death Blooms"
Megadeth "Dread and the Fugitive"
Megadeth "Sweating Bullets"
Saliva "Click Click Boom"
P.O.D. "Boom"
Metallica "Seek and Destroy"
Metallica "Harvester or Sorrow"
Metallica "Enter Sandman"
Metallica "Fade to Black"
All Rage Against The Machine songs
Nine Inch Nails "Head Like a Hole"
Godsmack "Bad Religion"
Tool "Intolerance"
Soundgarden "Blow Up the Outside World"
AC/DC "Shot Down in Flames"
AC/DC "Shoot to Thrill"
AC/DC "Dirty Deeds"
AC/DC "Highway to Hell"
AC/DC "Safe in New York City"
AC/DC "TNT"
AC/DC "Hell’s Bells"
Black Sabbath "War Pigs"
Black Sabbath "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
Black Sabbath "Suicide Solution"
Dio "Holy Diver"
Steve Miller "Jet Airliner"
Van Halen "Jump"
Queen "Another One Bites the Dust"
Queen "Killer Queen"
Pat Benatar "Hit Me with Your Best Shot"
Pat Benatar "Love is a Battlefield"
Oingo Boingo "Dead Man’s Party"
REM "It’s the End of the World as We Know It"
Talking Heads "Burning Down the House"
Judas Priest "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll"
Pink Floyd "Run Like Hell"
Pink Floyd "Mother"
Savage Garden "Crash and Burn"
Dave Matthews Band "Crash Into Me"
Bangles "Walk Like an Egyptian"
Pretenders "My City Was Gone"
Alanis Morissette "Ironic"
Barenaked Ladies "Falling for the First Time"
Fuel "Bad Day"
John Parr "St. Elmo’s Fire"
Peter Gabriel "When You’re Falling"
Kansas "Dust in the Wind"
Led Zeppelin "Stairway to Heaven"
The Beatles "A Day in the Life"
The Beatles "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
The Beatles "Ticket To Ride"
The Beatles "Obla Di, Obla Da"
Bob Dylan/Guns N Roses "Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door"
Arthur Brown "Fire"
Blue Oyster Cult "Burnin’ For You"
Paul McCartney and Wings "Live and Let Die"
Jimmy Hendrix "Hey Joe"
Jackson Brown "Doctor My Eyes"
John Mellencamp "Crumbling Down"
John Mellencamp "I’m On Fire"
U2 "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Boston "Smokin"
Billy Joel "Only the Good Die Young"
Barry McGuire "Eve of Destruction"
Steam "Na Na Na Na Hey Hey"
Drifters "On Broadway"
Shelly Fabares "Johnny Angel"
Los Bravos "Black is Black"
Peter and Gordon "I Go To Pieces"
Peter and Gordon "A World Without Love"
Elvis "(You’re the) Devil in Disguise"
Zombies "She’s Not There"
Elton John "Benny & The Jets"
Elton John "Daniel"
Elton John "Rocket Man"
Jerry Lee Lewis "Great Balls of Fire"
Santana "Evil Ways"
Louis Armstrong "What A Wonderful World"
Youngbloods "Get Together"
Ad Libs "The Boy from New York City"
Peter Paul and Mary "Blowin’ in the Wind"
Peter Paul and Mary "Leavin’ on a Jet Plane"
Rolling Stones "Ruby Tuesday"
Simon And Garfunkel "Bridge Over Troubled Water"
Happenings "See You in Septemeber"
Carole King "I Feel the Earth Move"
Yager and Evans "In the Year 2525"
Norman Greenbaum "Spirit in the Sky"
Brooklyn Bridge "Worst That Could Happen"
Three Degrees "When Will I See You Again"
Cat Stevens "Peace Train"
Cat Stevens "Morning Has Broken"
Jan and Dean "Dead Man’s Curve"
Martha & the Vandellas "Nowhere to Run"
Martha and the Vandellas/Van Halen "Dancing in the Streets"
Hollies "He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother"
San Cooke Herman Hermits, "Wonder World"
Petula Clark "A Sign of the Times"
Don McLean "American Pie"
J. Frank Wilson "Last Kiss"
Buddy Holly and the Crickets "That’ll Be the Day"
John Lennon "Imagine"
Bobby Darin "Mack the Knife"
The Clash "Rock the Casbah"
Surfaris "Wipeout"
Blood Sweat and Tears "And When I Die"
Dave Clark Five "Bits and Pieces"
Tramps "Disco Inferno"
Paper Lace "The Night Chicago Died"
Frank Sinatra "New York, New York"
Creedence Clearwater Revival "Travelin’ Band"
The Gap Band "You Dropped a Bomb On Me"
Alien Ant Farm "Smooth Criminal"
3 Doors Down "Duck and Run"
The Doors "The End"
Third Eye Blind "Jumper"
Neil Diamond "America"
Lenny Kravitz "Fly Away"
Tom Petty "Free Fallin’"
Bruce Springsteen "I’m On Fire"
Bruce Springsteen "Goin’ Down"
Phil Collins "In the Air Tonight"
Alice in Chains "Rooster"
Alice in Chains "Sea of Sorrow"
Alice in Chains "Down in a Hole"
Alice in Chains "Them Bone"
Beastie Boys "Sure Shot"
Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
The Cult "Fire Woman"
Everclear "Santa Monica"
Filter "Hey Man, Nice Shot"
Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly"
Korn "Falling Away From Me"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Aeroplane"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge"
Smashing Pumpkins "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
System of a Down "Chop Suey!"
Skeeter Davis "End of the World"
Rickey Nelson "Travelin’ Man"
Chi-Lites "Have You Seen Her"
Animals "We Gotta Get Out of This Place"
Fontella Bass "Rescue Me"
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels "Devil with the Blue Dress"
James Taylor "Fire and Rain"
Edwin Starr/Bruce Springstein "War"
Lynyrd Skynyrd "Tuesday’s Gone"
Limp Bizkit "Break Stuff"
Green Day "Brain Stew"
Temple of the Dog "Say Hello to Heaven"
Sugar Ray "Fly"
Local H "Bound for the Floor"
Slipknot "Left Behind, Wait and Bleed"
Bush "Speed Kills"
311 "Down"
Stone Temple Pilots "Big Bang Baby," Dead and Bloated"
Soundgarden "Fell on Black Days," Black Hole Sun"
Nina "99 Luft Balloons/99 Red Balloons"
Tanya Ott, more diligent and less impetuous than some of us, just posted this to the AIR list:
===========
Smelling a good story, I checked into this "list".
Here’s the press release I found at
http://www.clearchannel.com:
CLEAR CHANNEL SAYS NATIONAL ìBANNED PLAYLISTî
DOES NOT EXIST
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
San Antonio, TX, September 18, 2001…Clear Channel
Communications, Inc. (NYSE: CCU) today issued the
following statement as a result of numerous stories,
emails and calls concerning an alleged ìlist of banned
songsî on its U.S. radio stations following last
weekís tragedy in New York, Washington and
Pennsylvania:
ìClear Channel Radio has not banned any songs from any
of its radio stations.
Clear Channel believes that radio is a local medium.
It is up to every radio station program director and
general manager to understand their market, listen to
their listeners and guide their stationís music
selections according to local sensitivities. Each
program director and general manager must take the
pulse of his or her market to determine if play lists
should be altered, and if so, for how long.
ëIn the wake of this terrible tragedy, the nationís
business community is responding with a degree of
hypersensitivity,î explained Mark P. Mays, President
and Chief Operating Officer of Clear Channel. ìEven
some movie companies have altered some of their
release schedules in light of the mood in America
today. Clear Channel strongly believes in the First
Amendment and freedom of speech. We value and support
the artist community. And we support our radio
station programming staff and management team in their
responsibility to respond to their local markets.íî
=====
It remains an interesting list. Anyone know who made it?
And this from Rachel Maurer to the AIR list. I’ll stop now… I think.
>NPR’s Rick Karr did a story on this on Wednesday’s Morning Edition. He reported that a senior executive sent the memo of songs out. Clear Channel had no comment on the story. You can listen to the piece at NPR’s website. The date of the story was Sept. 19.
For a look at a commercial radio trade pub bulleting board:
http://www.radioink.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.radioink.com/goout.asp?u=/forum/default.asp
Radio Ink’s editorial take on this story? "What’s the big deal?"
I believe this list first appeared at fuckedcompany.com. Here it is. Clear Channel denies banning the songs, though the list was generated by the CC corp office and sent in a memo (email) to all CC affiliates. The memo did not ban the songs, it just pointed out that these songs may bring hate mail. From FC.com:
>I work for Clear Channel, and I’ve been in several markets the last two weeks. The songs (I got the original email) weren’t banned, just some dumb bitch busy body looking over the master library list picking out names and then sending some email. She had no authority, and did not demand them to be banned. Just a dumb, bored bitch, like I said. Our rock station here stopped playing two songs for the week when this happened. "Bodies hit the floor" and an AC/DC song – Highway to hell I think. The idea was to not have music on the air that would strike a bad nerve while we waited to see what was going on.
Dear Jackson,
You ask, in reference to an ATC commentary on angels, "Does the fall-out of Robertson and Falwell make a dif?"
Oh yes. Yes indeed.
Archangels – poetic symbols of human goodness and unexplained kindness – are everywhere. So is Lucifer, the metaphor we have at our disposal to speak about the unspeakable.
Human nature, in its mysterious confused turmoil, is everywhere.
Organized religion’s middle-managers have co-opted the shared poetic language of spirit for the exclusive use of their denominational interests.
Falwell and Robertson are not the only ones.
But they are the ones which made me squirm. Which made me worry that it was too late, by the time this commentary actually aired, to be using such vocabulary.
I believe this faintly heretical thing: that people of spirit or tradition are called, now, to stand up for the secular. For freedom from religion. For public discourse which does not use the private language of faith for its own political purposes.
In any event, the guy in the grocery store was real. Our conversation happened in real time. Make of that what you will.
Carol
The ever-interesting Nightline daily email has been referenced elsewhere on Transom. They are now offering a new service.
>Another reminder that the whirlwind of news coverage has produced a cottage industry of rumors and information that demands closer scrutiny. If there are stories you’d like us to check out, please e-mail us at niteline@abc.com and be sure to use the word "FACTCHECK" in the subject line.
>Tuesday, September 25, 2001
>Richard Harris
>Senior Producer
>NIGHTLINE Offices
>Washington, D.C.
…and speaking of call-in shows, as we are in the Chris Lydon topic, this "Factcheck" subject would make a good one.
Jay, have you been able to use your journalistic might to find out how Leroy Sievers is doing?
Our correspondents have been sending us links, for instance this one today on humanitarian aid from Mike Hawley, a professor at the MIT Media Lab:
http://www.media.mit.edu/~mike/pc.html
We’d also recommend TomPaine.com as a good source for alternative views:
http://www.tompaine.com
Feel free to post your suggested links here in this topic.
I realize that secular humanism feels kinda cosy right now. But I think the "freedom *from* religion" is — forgive me — a bit of a cop-out. Between Bush’s "crusade" and Rummy’s "infinite justice" to the psuedo-co-pilot’s call for the help of Allah in the Egyptair crash to Robertson and Falwell, there is no one out there proclaiming mercy. Not even the pope.
And archangels are frequently portrayed as warriors. That’s not a shish-kabob skewer in Michael’s hands, after all.
So, it’s not that I don’t appreciate what you’re saying, but these are not the people who should be allowed to own religion. These are the people who created "crusades" and "jihads" and "fatwahs" (sp?) in the first place. Should we let them decide what angels, archangels, saints, patriarchs, or matriarachs should wear at the Halloween Parade?
I have to beg to differ here w/ the last posting. the pope is ALWAYS proclaiming mercy. it’s pretty much the definition of his job. he is the catholic church’s staunchest anti death penalty no matter what you did point man.
CW, like I say…
Did you see the Onion’s press conference with God? A really extraordinary thing.
no i didn’t see it. but i will check it out.
i liked their whole "holy fucking shit" angle on their front page last week or whenever though. i’m in mississippi now for the weekend and sales of the koran here in the town where i am have skyrocketed. they’ve sold out of the koran– a mississippi first for this bookstore.
Was listening to Terry Gross’ interview with rock star Nick Lowe when NPR News broke in to announce the bombings taking place in Afghanistan. Ironically, the point at which the interview was interrupted was when Mr Lowe had just started talking about his 1970s hit, "What’s So Funny ’bout Peace, Love, and Understanding."
(WHAT’S SO FUNNY ‘BOUT) PEACE LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING?
By Nick Lowe (c) 1979
As I walk through
this wicked world
searching for light in the darkness
of insanity
I ask myself
is all hope lost
is there only pain and hatred
and misery?
And each time I feel like this inside
there’s one thing I want to know
What’s so funny ’bout
peace, love and understanding?
As I walk on
through troubled times
my spirit get’s so downhearted
sometimes
So where are the strong
who are the trusted?
Where is the harmony,
sweet harmony?
‘Cause each time I feel it slipping away
just makes me want to cry
What’s so funny ’bout
peace, love and understanding?
The steepest part of the trail is the one to the summit of understanding.
A lot of people are asking why this all happened, and are genuinely clueless. We seem to understand and approve of our own campaign of reprisals, but we don’t grok that the attacks on America are also reprisals against our decades long policies which have brought misery and suffering to the Third World.
Control dramas pitting Fear of Annihilation against Fear of Humiliation are a staple of history, literature, and scripture. Most of them end in the slaying of the first born.
How many times do we have to rerun this play before we finally understand the plot structure?
Are we perennially fated to play our reciprocal roles, robot-like, in this banal and recurring human drama?
"understanding."
What do we stand under when we understand?
maybe there’s a clue in your image of "the summit of understanding."
is it that concepts combine in overarching ones over our heads?
In German "understanding" also involves standing: "verstehen." The "ver" is "done" or "transformed" . So: "standing transformed"
In romance languages understanding comes from the idea of bringing together, with the suffix "com"
That would bring us to "together, standing transformed "
I wonder what the words are in other languages??
I sit alone
with only the sound of these square
plastic keys to remind me I am still
alive while so much
of what we knew
ceases to be. A dark age
is what they are after.
At least it is dark
where they left us. Each morning
the sun comes up as before.
But it cannot penetrate the ash
and the grey air which seems unwilling
or unable to move in the silent wind.
this from the producer of WGBH series From the Top…
——————————————
Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 16:55:43 -0400
From: Jennifer Hurley-Wales
Subject: Amazing Story
Hey — here is an incredible letter written by a kid who was on From the Top during our pilot season. It has been going around the internet. A perfectly demonstrated case for why our society needs to invest and celebrate kids/young artists like William.
Playing for the Fighting 69th Monday, Sept. 17
Yesterday I had probably the most incredible and moving experience of my life. Juilliard organized a quartet to go play at the Armory. The Armory is a huge military building where families of people missing from Tuesday’s disaster go to wait for news of their loved ones. Entering the building was very difficult emotionally, because the entire building (the size of a city block) was covered with missing posters. Thousands of posters, spread out up to eight feet above the ground, each featuring a different, smiling, face.
I made my way into the huge central room and found my Juilliard buddies. For two hours we sight-read quartets (with only three people!), and I don’t think I will soon forget the grief counselor from the Connecticut State Police who listened the entire time, or the woman who listened only to "Memory" from Cats, crying the whole time.
At 7, the other two players had to leave; they had been playing at the Armory since 1 and simply couldn’t play any more. I volunteered to stay and play solo, since I had just got there. I soon realized that the evening had just begun for me: a man in fatigues who introduced himself as Sergeant Major asked me if I’d mind playing for his soldiers as they came back from digging through the rubble at Ground Zero.
Masseuses had volunteered to give his men massages, he said, and he didn’t think anything would be more soothing than getting a massage and listening to violin music at the same time. So at 9:00 p.m., I headed up to the second floor as the first men were arriving. From then until 11:30, I played everything I could do for memory: Bach B Minor Partita, Tchaikovsky Concerto, Dvorak Concerto, Paganini Caprices 1 and 17, Vivaldi Winter and Spring, Theme from Schindler’s List, Tchaikovsky Melodie, Meditation from Thais, Amazing Grace, My Country ‘Tis of Thee, Turkey in the Straw, Bile Them Cabbages Down.
Never have I played for a more grateful audience. Somehow it didn’t matter that by the end, my intonation was shot and I had no bow control. I would have lost any competition I was playing in, but it didn’t matter.
The men would come up the stairs in full gear, remove their helmets, look at me, and smile. At 11:20, I was introduced to Col. Slack, head of the division.
After thanking me, he said to his friends, "Boy, today was the toughest day yet. I made the mistake of going back into the pit, and I’ll never do that again." Eager to hear a first-hand account, I asked, "What did you see?" He stopped, swallowed hard, and said, "What you’d expect to see." The Colonel stood there as I played a lengthy rendition of Amazing Grace which he claimed was the best he’d ever heard. By this time it was 11:30, and I didn’t think I could play anymore. I asked Sergeant Major if it would be appropriate if I played the National Anthem. He shouted above the chaos of the milling soldiers to call them to attention, and I played the National Anthem as the 300 men of the 69th Division saluted an invisible flag.
After shaking a few hands and packing up, I was prepared to leave when one of the privates accosted me and told me the Colonel wanted to see me again. He took me down to the War Room, but we couldn’t find the Colonel, so he gave me a tour of the War Room. It turns out that the division I played for is the Famous Fighting Sixty-Ninth, the most decorated division in the U.S. Army. He pointed out a letter from Abraham Lincoln offering his condolences after the Battle of Antietam…the 69th suffered the most casualties of any division at that historic battle. Finally, we located the Colonel.
After thanking me again, he presented me with the coin of the regiment. "We only give these to someone who’s done something special for the 69th," he informed me. He called over the division’s historian to tell me the significance of all the symbols on the coin. As I rode the taxi back to Juilliard…free, of course, since taxi service is free in New York right now…I was numb. Not only was this evening the proudest I’ve ever felt to be an American, it was my most meaningful as a musician and a person as well. At Juilliard, kids are hypercritical of each other and very competitive. The teachers expect, and in most cases get, technical perfection. But this wasn’t about that. The soldiers didn’t care that I had so many memory slips I lost count. They didn’t care that when I forgot how the second movement of the Tchaikovsky. went, I had to come up with my own insipid improvisation until I somehow (and I still don’t know how) got to a cadence. I’ve never seen a more appreciative audience, and I’ve never understood so fully what it means to communicate music to other people.
And how did it change me as a person? Let’s just say that, next time I want to get into a petty argument about whether Richter or Horowitz was better, I’ll remember that when I asked the Colonel to describe the pit formed by the tumbling of the Towers, he couldn’t. Words only go so far, and even music can only go a little further from there.
Your friend, William Harvey
–
Jennifer Hurley-Wales
Executive Producer
From the Top
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"From the Top," hosted by acclaimed concert pianist Christopher O’Riley, is a public radio program featuring the stories and musical performances of outstanding, young classical musicians. "From the Top" is a creation of Concert Productions, Inc. in association with WGBH Radio Boston and New England Conservatory, our home and educational partner. ***JOIN THE "FROM THE TOP" E-MAIL LIST*** Get the latest on broadcasts, tapings, talent recruitment and more! Go to http://www.FromtheTop.org and click on Register"
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It’s a wonderful lesson. Everyone writing / listening / producing / documenting here and elsewhere might fall victim to every note / second / word / image must-be-perfect.
Sometimes, simply doing, regardless of mistakes, is *enough*. Our duty as musicians, as humans, as citizens, is simply to be *there*, be *here* and testify. I suspect that every missed note you chalked up somewhere in your memory put you higher and higher on the Legions of Honor for the Fighting 69th!
that is an extraordinary story from young William -
reminds me I am glad to be human.
keep sharing that stuff Barrett. thanks, exactly what I needed this inexplicably darker night.
an audio vers of William 9/11 violin story at FromTheTop.org Green Room::
http://fromthetop.org/front/stage2A.asp?A=357&M=1&T=188367
I too am proud to be an American; especially with Americans like William Harvey who remind me how much it means to do whatever you can for whomever might need it.
A quick pointer to a new piece here in "During" section of the Days That Follow Timeline:
http://www.transom.org/shows/2001/20010911.days.crafting.joly.html
This is from Michael Joly and first appeared as a posting in Chris Lydon’s topic. Michael added sound and sent it to us. The sound is good.
What a beautiful poem-song-narrative, Michael Joly!
I hope many other people can hear it.
http://www.transom.org/shows/2001/20010911.days.crafting.joly.html
I reacted so strongly to the original text-only version, I wish I could pull back my memory to be able to react to this version with sound without the previous experience affecting it. I wonder whether others find the sound and narrative competing with eachother as I did at some points? I suspect not. I suspect I was feeling mother henish about the narrative, wanting others to have the same strong experience I did. ("Listen, Ya gotta hear this part…") Still, I was grateful for the separation between sound and narrative that naturally came when you started to play the notes.
Even my objections go along with your intent, I suppose. First conflict, then relief through sound…
Very very nice. Thank you. Nice art work too, David Joly, bringing dream and physical worlds together…
Thank you for the comments Nannette. Brother Dave and I have have known each other since we were kids so his graphics were right on.
I’ll keep your observation about the separation between sound and narrative in mind for future pieces. I’m ruminating on a leisurely kind of part sung, part spoken narrative ambient sound music. I don’t know what the heck that is actually, that’s why I’m ruminating on it. It might be mostly music and then a narrative appears. We’ll see what emerges from the studio. As a musician, sometimes I’d like to hear public radio get inverted – the current music transitions would become the principal content and spoken words would become the transitions to more music. But not in pop radio kind of way. In an NPR kind of way.
Go go go
Re: "I don’t know what the heck it is"… have you heard Harry Shearer sp??’s Le Show. You could hear it streaming from http://www.cainan.org late Sunday night (11) or I hope anytime at his own website. That’s comedy/music/commentary. Just to show how brilliant things can be outside categories. Yours sounds great, whatever it may be…
Yeah, Harry Shearer’s "Le Show". I’m not a regular listener, probably because its such a humbling experience. He’s a major cat – musician, voice talent, writer…did you hear Terry Gross’s interview with him after 911?
One of the occupational hazards of being a sound artist who listens to NPR/BBC a lot is the occasional ego bruising I get when I hear the incredible depth and breadth of great work being made by so many gifted people. Simultaneously humbling and inspiring.
I suppose that’s not so bad – inspired humility as a working impulse.
I’m reading this right now. It’s great. For a nice refresher on death and how Americans don’t deal with it well and preferably not at all…
this collection is great. And it doesn’t leave you depressed really either. Some people he interviews actually acknowledge and have a dialogue with death. Imagine that.
Was what I heard on ATC this evening something different from what was originally posted here? Maybe it was just that I became more aware of other voices in the piece this time around — the narrator’s colleague, for instance.
Whatever the case, it made sense to me this time. Good work! (though it would have been nice if they had credited Transom somewhere)
I too was confused when I heard the piece on ATC yesterday, but it wasn’t the same, although similar. The transom piece was a commentary with just Katie’s words and voice. She must have reworked it somewhat and added interviews with some of her kids and her colleague.
I felt that the explanation of why the kids weren’t that turned upside by sept 11th, as they are confronted by violence and risk on a daily basis, very enlightening, it added a lot to the original piece.
I confess that I am predisposed to liking the Kitchen Sisters — everyone here has reasons both personal and collective to love their work.
But upon first listening, I felt torn between feelings that this was either too long or too short. I loved the engineer talking about "biostops," and the LA comedienne caught something nice in her talk about the gas station that could never quite close. And yet, for all the thousands of miles travelled overland, I didn’t get a sense of different people from different places meeting face-to-face — creatures from different planets, I would have thought. People from the coasts confronting indigenous peoples in the heartlands (or so people from the coasts would think).
I hear some of the edits and wonder what was cut out. Did Leon Pinetta pump his own gas? Did Armistead connect with any of his fellow travellers? Why didn’t Sue stay for the couple’s wedding? These stories seem to drift into the horizon, going somewhere and yet not quite getting anywhere. We don’t need closure on all fronts, but even a simple getting home among any or all would have been nice. Didn’t Pinetta speak of the need to be with family?
Which leads me, finally, to the closing element — Sue’s experience at Burbank Airport. It’s not that what she says happened didn’t happen. The non-sequitor of the classic rock at the empty airport should have worked, but it felt strangely hollow to me. Perhaps if we could have heard the song after she warbles a bar or two.
But I felt no connection here — a piece that should have been surprising turns out to be somehow uninteresting.
Though I’ll keep "biostops" in mind for the future.
Jackson,
Interesting point and examples of the piece not extracting deeper connections between people. I think you’re right, but that disconnect was also part of the 911 experience and the Kitchen Sisters get that across, perhaps unintentionally.
My subjective response to the piece was a bit like reading "On The Road" when I was 14 – a vicarious experience but only at arm’s length. Years later, when I did drive cross-country a number of times and experienced the "radio play" of windshield wipers, engine rumble, random traveling companions and their dogs wrapped in the crackly shroud of AM transmissions, I remember thinking "is this it? I didn’t think it would be so mundane."
For me, the Kitchen Sisters "Across…" is a piece that subtly dispels the notion that "everything has changed" and is a reminder of the superficiality and disconnect we experience along our travels through life.
On the technical side, I enjoyed the well-crafted mix.
Good notes. Since posting the piece, I’ve discovered the Sisters are hoping to do a remix for national air, so your comments may be useful. I had sent these comments to the Sisters while we were installing the piece here on Transom.
>It was an interesting mix, the way the background elements stayed so distant, kind of a memory effect, but different from your usual technique.
>My only critiques, not that you asked but what the hell, were that that balls didn’t stay in the air long enough. The concept needed more time to play out. Or less, if the pace and setup had been punchier; it felt like a half-hour pace. It’s a tricky balance keeping each story moving forward at the same time each piece moves forward. And, of course, some people/stories are more interesting than others. Finally, i might have chosen a different cut for the end. Going to Noriega took me too far off course. I like "…they were married the next day" for an ending.
>I’ll shut up now.
Nikki wrote back to say that they’re still working on it and hope to make it longer, more woven, and that they have a much better cut for the ending from Armistead Maupin.
Michael:
I admit (oh, how very magnanimous of me!) to your read of "Across America". But I agree with Jay in the sense that such subtlety is only possible after a longer stretch of time and development (I hope, Jay, that’s what you’re at least implying). We who generally think in terms of seconds might be horrified to discover that 12:30 can actually be not long enough. And yet, with all the voices and issues at play here, 12:30 doesn’t quite scratch the surface.
So, I wonder if the Kitchen Sisters approached this piece with the kind of preconception I certainly would have brought to it. Right now, we look at 9-11 as an extraordinary moment of unification among all the peoples of the United States. I would have sought out elements in these tapes — along with the distinctive voices and observations — that reinforced that perception. Red necks and gay auteurs, for example, emotionally joined by events. A Clinton appointee sharing breakfast with Quaylites in Indiana. It sounds all so potentially, well, beautiful and heartwarming.
And if there was that perception (however false) informing the creation of the piece, would it not be unreasonable to introduce it into the narration somehow — even if only to let the facts smash it down later?
In other words, where is it (the piece) coming from, exactly? Nikki and Davia have to step in here, I think — if only to expain why *these* four voices, why *these* selections from their interviews.
I know I had certain expectations in approaching the listening of the piece. Michael, the Kitchen Sisters might very well have been subtle, as you suggest, but sometimes subtle can be all too subtle. Every once in a while, you need a good 2×4 to make a jackass like myself look in the right direction.