The Joe Bev Experience "Lady Bird Johnson: Legacy of a First Lady"
This radio hour is an anthology series representing the depth and
breath of the 40-plus year career of Joe Bevilacqua (Joe Bev) in
audio storytelling, from documentary to radio drama, and new and
classic installments of "Joe Bev's" Cartoon Carnival.
One
of the most licensed audiobooks on The Public Radio Exchange and
iTunes, Lady Bird Johnson: Legacy of a First Lady is veteran NPR
producer Joe Bevilacqua's award-winning audio documentary examining the
challenges and achievements of this extraordinary woman. The hour
combines never-before-released archive audio, gleaned from thousands of
hours of recordings housed at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and
Museum, period news broadcasts, private conversations with Lyndon Baines
Johnson, and the words of Lady Bird Johnson from an interview that has
never before been released to the public. "Lady Bird did such wonderful work. I really enjoyed hearing the back story behind the Hy-way beautification act passed during the Johnson Administration." -Lorie Kellogg
Bevilacqua spent nearly five months listening to the rare tapes and
traveled to Washington, D.C., to interview Mrs. Johnson's colleagues
and friends. The program features Lyndon Johnson Administration
staffers Liz
Lady Bird Johnson
Carpenter, Bess Abell, and Nash Castro, Washington Post
owner Katherine Graham, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum
Director Harry Middleton, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Director Robert Glass Breunig; Lady Bird biographer Jan Jarboe
Russell, and First Ladies Betty Ford and Barbara Bush. Other voices
heard on the program include Kirk Douglas and Helen Hayes reading
from LBJ's and Lady Bird's love letters. The production was produced
in association with KUT Radio in Austin, Texas, and overseen by a
panel of scholars and experts, including Lewis Gould, retired
University of Texas (UT) at Austin Professor of History; Walt
Rostow, UT Professor Emeritus, Elspeth Rostow, former dean of the UT
LBJ School of Public Affairs; Carl Anthony, Washington, D.C.,
historian; and Don Carleton, director, The Center for American
History at UT.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
& Lady Bird Johnson
**** Informational, Inspiring
... a love letter to a woman admired ... "'Lady Bird Johnson: Legacy of a First Lady,' written,
narrated and produced by Joe Bevilacqua, is a love letter to a woman
admired not only by her fellow Texans but also by the world. The
one-hour program was among four winners in the best documentary
category at The New York Festivals." - Clay Smith, Austin American-Statesman
"Informational, Inspiring. This is an excellent, uplifting journey
through Lady Bird Johnson's life, and her growth and transition to
first lady under tragic conditions. It's wonderful to hear her
voice, rendered here in excerpts from interviews she's given and
speeches she's made. It is especially poignant to hear a portion of
her first audio diary entry, made the day after JFK's assassination.
Nuanced choices of music are a production plus, but the strength is
in the spoken word. Wisely chosen excerpts create a rich experience.
The hour contains a wide range of voices, from historians to those
who worked with her or know her, and they pinpoint her influence on
LBJ, and on the capital, and the nation -- particularly in the areas
of environment, race, and education. She truly is a force for good." - Atlantic Public Media
PubRadio Vet Joe Bev Reveals His Cancer Battle on NPR's Latino USA, premiering Friday, March 13, 2015.
The award-winning actor, writer, producer finds silver lining in prostate cancer: a Chilean immigrant named Patrick Nilo (owner of CJ Cabs, Ellenville, New York).
NAPANOCH, N.Y. -- A diagnosis of cancer is never welcomed by anyone. But for veteran public radio producer Joe Bevilacqua (Joe Bev), his diagnosis had a silver lining. He struck up an unexpected friendship with the cab driver who took him to his radiation treatments, a Chilean immigrant named Patrick Nilo (owner of CJ Cabs, Ellenville, New York) who came to the US in 1973.
Bev completed his prostate cancer treatments on December 1, 2015, with a clean bill of health after 48 radiation treatments.
In addition, the complete four hours of cab ride audio is coming out May 2015, as an audio book, "The Cancer Cabby Chronicles," internationally distributed through Blackstone Audio.
"As I told Patrick during one of our cab rides, I feel like getting cancer was my lucky charm. I met so many new people and had so many new experiences that have made me a better person. Patrick has called me "a winner" and has encouraged me to get my positive story out to the world," reveals Joe Bev.
The Jazz-O-Rama Hour with Joe Bev "Fletcher & Sidney" "I'm Just Wild About Harry", "Sing, Sing, Sing" and "Christopher Columbus" will be among the 78 RPM records heard on this week's edition of Jazz-O-Rama Hour.
Sidney Bechet was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important soloists in jazz (beating cornetist and trumpeter Louis Armstrong to the recording studio by several months and later playing duets with Armstrong), and was perhaps the first notable jazz saxophonist. Forceful delivery, well-constructed improvisations, and a distinctive, wide vibrato characterized Bechet's playing.
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr.
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast. Fletcher Henderson led the most commercially successful of the African-American Jazz bands of the 1920s. The smooth sound of his orchestra gave birth to the Swing style of the next decade. "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" is a 1936 song, written by Louis Prima and first recorded by him with the New Orleans Gang and released in March 1936 as a 78 as Brunswick 7628 (with "It's Been So Long"
Louis Prima
as the B side). It is strongly identified with the big band and swing eras. It was covered by Fletcher Henderson and most famously Benny Goodman. Originally entitled "Sing Bing Sing", in reference to Bing Crosby, it was soon retitled for use in wider contexts. The song has since been covered by numerous artists. The original version of the song by Louis Prima includes lyrics, but, due to the better-known Benny Goodman version being instrumental (and including many musical flourishes in its arrangement), many assume the song was written as such. On July 6, 1937, "Sing, Sing, Sing" was recorded in Hollywood with Benny Goodman on clarinet; Harry James, Ziggy Elman, and Chris Griffin on trumpets; Red Ballard and Murray McEachern on trombones; Hymie Schertzer and George Koenig on alto saxophones; Art Rollini and Vido Musso on tenor saxophone; Jess Stacy on piano; Allan Reuss on guitar; Harry Goodman on bass; and Gene Krupa on drums. The song was arranged by Jimmy Mundy. Unlike most big band arrangements of that era, limited in length to three minutes so that they could be recorded on one side of a standard 10-inch 78-rpm record, Goodman band version was an extended work. The 1937 recording lasted 8 min 43 seconds, and took both sides of a 12-inch 78. At its longest, a live recording (with impromptu solos) was recorded and took 12 min 30 sec. Mundy's arrangement incorporated "Christopher Columbus", a piece written by Chu Berry for the Fletcher Henderson band, as well as Prima's work.
Noble Sissle
"I'm Just Wild About Harry" is a song written in 1921 with lyrics by Noble Sissle and music by Eubie Blake for the Broadway show Shuffle Along. "I'm Just Wild About Harry" was the most popular number of the production, which was the first financially successful Broadway play to have African-American writers and an all African-American cast. The song broke what had been a taboo against musical and stage depictions of romantic love between African-Americans. Originally written as a waltz, Blake rewrote the number as a foxtrot at the singer's request. The result was a simple, direct, joyous, and infectious tune enhanced onstage by improvisational dancing. In 1948 Harry S. Truman selected "I'm Just Wild About Harry" as his campaign song for the United States presidential election of 1948. Its success in politics led to a popular revival.
Joe Bevilacqua (Joe Bev) has been producing radio in many genres since 1971 when he was 12. At 19 in 1980, Bev became the youngest person to produce a radio show for public radio. He co-hosted The Jazz Show with Garret Gega in the early 80s, a four hour a week mix classic jazz and comedy. Bev also worked for WBGO, Jazz 88 in Newark, NJ and produced documentaries for WNYC New York Public Radio on jazz legends including Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis, Count Basie, Woody Herman, Cab Calloway, and Lionel Hampton. Bev also produces, directs, writes and voices half of The Comedy-O-Rama Hour, and produces 14 other shows: The Joe Bev Experience, Cartoon Carnival, The Joe Bev Audio Theater, The Voice Actor Show, Lorie's Book Nook, Fred Frees Favorites, Audio Classics Archive, The J-OTR Show, The Lost OTR Show, Aroma Thyme Radio, What's Cooking?, The Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Celebrity Interviews, and the upcoming new show Movies on the Air.
The Joe Bev Experience
Bevilacqua spent nearly five months listening to the rare tapes and
traveled to Washington, D.C., to interview Mrs. Johnson's colleagues
and friends. The program features Lyndon Johnson Administration
staffers Liz 
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