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Return of the Prophet: Baldwin in the 21st Century

24th February 2017

Radio Open Source: Arts Ideas and Politics with Christopher Lydon

Ed Pavlic, author of Who Can Afford to Improvise?: James Baldwin and Black Music, the Lyric and the Listener(coming out in paperback: April 2017, 978-0-8232-7683-7) , hears in Baldwin’s words echoes of the black musicians Baldwin dearly loved – Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson et al. Above all else though, Pavlic reminds us of Baldwin’s deep love for Ray Charles, highlighting the concert Baldwin and Charles organized together at Carnegie Hall as part of the 1973 Newport Folk Festival.  Listen to the entire interview here.