A Prairie Home Companion from American Public Media

Special Guests
Saturday, December 30, 2006

Bob Dorough

When Bob Dorough was growing up in Arkansas and Texas, he wanted to be a cowboy, but changed his mind once he began playing music. It was the right choice. His career in jazz took him to Paris in the mid-'50s, where he recorded with singer Blossom Dearie. Then it was on to New York. He collaborated with Miles Davis, the Fugs and Allen Ginsberg, and he served as musical director for ex-boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. He also launched his solo career with the album Devil May Care (Bethlehem). Then, in the early 1970s, he began a project that would endear him to generations of young TV watchers - even if they didn't know his name. "Schoolhouse Rock" (remember Dorough's jingles "Conjunction Junction," "Three Is a Magic Number," and "My Hero, Zero"?) was on the air from 1973 to '86, and has appeared from time to time in the decades since. Bob Dorough continues to write, perform and record. His latest album is Small Day Tomorrow (Candid Records).

Vince Giordano

Vince Giordano plays bass, tuba, bass sax and a number of other instruments, all of which suit his passion: music of the 1920s and '30s. He grew up on Long Island listening to old 78s on his grandmother's Victrola. At 14, he joined the musicians' union, and after high school, he joined the Navy and toured with the United States Navy Show Band. Back in New York, Vince continued to develop his musical talents, playing in Broadway pit bands, traditional jazz bands and recording sessions. With his own band, the Nighthawks, Giordano has released several albums, including Quality Shout! (Stomp Off Records) and a tribute to Bix Beiderbecke called Bill Challis' The Goldkette Project (Circle Records). Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks are on the soundtrack of Robert DeNiro's film The Good Shepherd, and Vince appeared in the Woody Allen film Sweet and Lowdown, and in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, for which the Nighthawks recorded a slew of vintage hits. Also a music historian and collector, Giordano owns more than 30,000 original jazz charts. He would love to see a venue where music lovers in New York City could hear early jazz and ragtime on a regular basis.

Prudence Johnson

That silky alto and striking style — you'd expect to find Prudence Johnson singing at a high-tone nightspot. And you might. But be it a concert hall, a little jazz club or A Prairie Home Companion, Pru is the perfect complement. As one music critic put it, "[There's] not a genre she hasn't interpreted with her ducky, sensual alto voice and terminally good taste." Her 10 album releases include Moon Country, featuring the music of Hoagy Carmichael, and 'S Gershwin. On the silver screen, she appeared in Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It, and in Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion. On the music front, a new CD of French songs — pop to classical — with accordionist Dan Chouinard is in the works for 2007.

Andy Stein

Andy Stein definitely has far-flung musical leanings, He collaborated with Garrison Keillor to create the opera Mr. and Mrs. Olson, and he's performed with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Eric Clapton, Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan.