54 min
Benjamin Northey on conducting and community & remembering Clarence 'Frogman' Henry The Music Show
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- Music Interviews
Benjamin Northey picked up the baton as Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra only a few years after the devastating 2011 earthquake. In a wide-ranging conversation he talks to Andrew Ford about the rebuilding of the musical life of the city (there was a period where the CSO performed at an Air Force museum after many performance venues were damaged). He also looks back on his years learning under the great Finnish conductor Jorma Panula, and why starting his career as a saxophone player put him in perfect stead to be on the podium.
And we hear an interview with New Orleans singer and pianist Clarence 'Frogman' Henry. "I sing like a girl and I sing like a frog....." Clarence Henry croaked on his 1956 debut hit Ain't Got No Home, which earned him the nickname of 'Frogman'. In 2000 Andrew Ford crossed the Mississippi to Clarence's home in Algiers, New Orleans and sat down in his garden amongst the decorative frogs for a chat. Clarence Henry died on 7 April 2024 at the age of 87.
Music heard in this program
Title: (I Don't Know Why) But I Do
Artist: Clarence 'Frogman' Henry
Composer: Paul Gayten and Bobby Charles
Album: You Always Hurt The One You Love
Label: Viking AUSLP 1009
Title: Ain't Got No Home
Artist: Clarence 'Frogman' Henry
Composer: Clarence Henry
Album: Ain't Got No Home
Label: Chess CHD 9346
Title: McPancake
Artist: Apolline
Composer: Stuart Morison, John Morris Rankin, Jonathan Berkahn
Album: Home Home EP
Label: Blythe Records
Title: Finlandia, Op. 26
Artist: Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Jorma Panula conductor
Composer: Jean Sibelius
Album: The Very Best of Sibelius
Label: Naxos 8.552135-36
Title: Symphony in F sharp, Op. 40, ii. Scherzo: Allegro molto
Artist: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Daniel de Borah piano, Benjamin Northey conductor
Composer: Erich Korngold
Live recording: Courtesy ABC Classic, 2022
Title: Waratah Bay
Artist: Duo Windborne
Composer: improvised by Ryan Williams and Rodney Waterman
Album: Venus Bay Fireside Sessions
Label: Independent
Benjamin Northey picked up the baton as Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra only a few years after the devastating 2011 earthquake. In a wide-ranging conversation he talks to Andrew Ford about the rebuilding of the musical life of the city (there was a period where the CSO performed at an Air Force museum after many performance venues were damaged). He also looks back on his years learning under the great Finnish conductor Jorma Panula, and why starting his career as a saxophone player put him in perfect stead to be on the podium.
And we hear an interview with New Orleans singer and pianist Clarence 'Frogman' Henry. "I sing like a girl and I sing like a frog....." Clarence Henry croaked on his 1956 debut hit Ain't Got No Home, which earned him the nickname of 'Frogman'. In 2000 Andrew Ford crossed the Mississippi to Clarence's home in Algiers, New Orleans and sat down in his garden amongst the decorative frogs for a chat. Clarence Henry died on 7 April 2024 at the age of 87.
Music heard in this program
Title: (I Don't Know Why) But I Do
Artist: Clarence 'Frogman' Henry
Composer: Paul Gayten and Bobby Charles
Album: You Always Hurt The One You Love
Label: Viking AUSLP 1009
Title: Ain't Got No Home
Artist: Clarence 'Frogman' Henry
Composer: Clarence Henry
Album: Ain't Got No Home
Label: Chess CHD 9346
Title: McPancake
Artist: Apolline
Composer: Stuart Morison, John Morris Rankin, Jonathan Berkahn
Album: Home Home EP
Label: Blythe Records
Title: Finlandia, Op. 26
Artist: Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Jorma Panula conductor
Composer: Jean Sibelius
Album: The Very Best of Sibelius
Label: Naxos 8.552135-36
Title: Symphony in F sharp, Op. 40, ii. Scherzo: Allegro molto
Artist: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Daniel de Borah piano, Benjamin Northey conductor
Composer: Erich Korngold
Live recording: Courtesy ABC Classic, 2022
Title: Waratah Bay
Artist: Duo Windborne
Composer: improvised by Ryan Williams and Rodney Waterman
Album: Venus Bay Fireside Sessions
Label: Independent
54 min