A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Special Guests
Saturday, October 5, 2002

David Lehman

DAVID LEHMAN was born in New York City in 1948. He graduated from Columbia University in 1970, studied at Cambridge University in England, then returned to Columbia. Besides several works of literary criticism, he is the author of five poetry books, including "The Daily Mirror: A Journal in Poetry" (2000) and "The Evening Sun" (2002). Both contain 150 "daily" poems, reflecting Lehman's resolution to write a poem a day. He began this experiment in 1996 and, after turning in the manuscript of "The Daily Mirror" in early 1999, decided he liked doing it too much to stop. Thus was begun a new sequence of daily poems, culminating in "The Evening Sun." Lehman now teaches writing and literature to graduate students at both the New School in New York City and Bennington College in Vermont. With Star Black he is co-director of the Monday night poetry reading series at the KGB Bar in New York's East Village. He lives in New York City, an occasional subject and frequent backdrop in his poems.

SALSA DEL SOUL is a Twin Cities based, 10- piece orchestra performing various styles of dance music from the Spanish speaking regions of the Caribbean. Salsa del Soul was formed two years ago with the purpose to provide great dance music for Twin Cities' Salsa fans. The musicians of Salsa del Soul represent some of the finest musicians in the Twin Cities Latin music scene. These musicians include: Wilfredo Sanabria (vocals), Juan Bautista (vocals), Nelson Rosado (vocals), Sara Burk (Piano), Jorge Bringas (Bass), Jose "Freddie" Reyes (Congas), Shai Hayo (Timbales), Juan Navarro (Trombone), "Nachito" Herrera (Trumpet), and Leann Lindgren (Saxophone, Flute). Self described as a group of friends that enjoy hanging out and playing music together, Salsa del Soul's styles of music include Son Montuno, Cha-Cha-Cha, Meringue, Plena, and, of course, Salsa. Salsa Del Soul performs locally at The Quest and The Times Bar & Café, among other locations.

DAN LUND has been playing music professionally since 1969; in the early 70s he was part of a Bemidji group called Podipto, who had two national recordings and toured with James Taylor, Poco, John Sebastian, and the Carpenters. In the late 70s and into the 80s he was with Becky Reimer and the Sky Blue Water Boys, a group fondly remembered for its great players and its fearless approach to country music. He went from there into Minnesota Flats, Sweetwater, and a country-punk band called Tall Corn, all of whom won Minnesota Music Awards.

He has two CDs in his own name on the Kitty Hawk label and has done session work on dozens of others. He recently played a long-running show at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts called "Always Patsy Cline," and is currently with Becky Thompson (nee Reimer) and Old School, a traditional country group, and a variety band called Ringer.

BUTCH THOMPSON, described by Jazz Journal International as "the premier player in traditional jazz today," has been playing piano since he was three. It all started in Marine-on-St. Croix, Minnesota, where he began piano lessons at six and took an early interest in blues and boogie woogie. As a teenager, he played clarinet in the Stillwater High School band, formed his first jazz group (Shirt Thompson and his Sleeves), and played his first professional engagements.

While a student at the University of Minnesota in 1962, he took over the clarinet chair in Minneapolis' Hall Brothers New Orleans Jazz Band, and began a series of pilgrimages to New Orleans, where he met and played with veteran musicians, notably clarinetist George Lewis. He was among the few non-natives invited to play at New Orleans' Preservation Hall during the 6Os and 70s. By the early 70s his recordings on both piano and clarinet had been noticed abroad and he toured Europe, Scandinavia and Australia; he's been going strong ever since and has released a series of 9 CDs on the Daring/Rounder label. He writes articles and reviews on jazz and produces his own weekly show, Jazz Originals, on KBEM radio in Minneapolis. His writing has appeared in Down Beat, The Mississippi Rag, Keyboard Classics and New Orleans Music.