Radio My Way Featuring Celebrity Profiles from Jazz, Opera, the American Songbook and More

by Della Chiesa, Ron

• ISBN13: 9780205190782
• ISBN10: 0205190782
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-10-25
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

With a voice as smooth as a Charlie Parker alto saxophone solo, Boston broadcasting icon Ron Della Chiesa has brought music and musical legends alive for over thirty-five years. These are the inside stories of Della Chiesa's career in radio. Discover Boston's vibrant music scene as only Ron can tell it: through his interviews with everyone from opera greats Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo, to jazz artists Dizzy Gillespie and Dave McKenna, beloved song legends Rosemary Clooney and Bobby Short, composers David Raksin and Andre Previn, the brilliant raconteur Jean Shepherd, to his close friend, musical legend Tony Bennett.

Author Biography

Born in 1938 in Qunicy, Mass., Ron Della Chiesa grew up in a home where they listened to NBC broadcasts with Toscanini and was influenced by his fathers love of opera with Caruso or Lanza playing on the Victrola. His own musical interests expanded when his father took him to classical and jazz concerts and later, after graduation from Boston University, he began working in a variety of radio stations, developing his broadcast style and acquiring a loyal fan base in areas of jazz, ‘American standards,’ and opera.

During his nearly four decade career, Ron has hosted a number of popular radio programs and he has conducted hundreds of celebrity interviews. Well known as a longtime host of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he has also hosted, along with his wife Joyce, the WGBH-TV Learning Tours.

In 1995, receiving the Courage of Conscious Award, he was cited for being a classical and jazz scholar and for being a steward of intergenerational music that binds society and elevates cultural integrity.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Radio Kid	p. 1
Finding My Voice	p. 7
Steppin' Out	p. 15
Nice Work If You Can Get It	p. 31
A World of Joyce	p. 45
I Miss You in the Afternoon	p. 60
Fly Me to the Moon	p. 71
Profiles	p. 89
The World of Opera	p. 89
King of the HighÆs	p. 89
The Incomparable	p. 92
Viva Verdi!	p. 95
Esultate!	p. 98
Hip Heldentenor	p. 101
La Dolce Vita	p. 105
"Knew Them All!"	p. 108
The Opera Couple	p. 110
The Singing Actor	p. 113
Star Spangled Baritone	p. 115
Devils and Demons	p. 118
West Virginia Diva	p. 121
The Tasty Soprano	p. 124
After the Golden Age	p. 128
All That Jazz	p. 130
The Diz	p. 130
Gentleman Ben	p. 134
Jacquet's Got It	p. 138
Hot, Cool, and Swinging	p. 142
Super Drummer	p. 146
The Irascible	p. 150
A Lifetime of Swing	p. 154
Boston's Own	p. 157
It's Shearing You're Hearing!	p. 161
Three Handed Swing	p. 165
Born to Play	p. 169
Boss of the Blues	p. 172
The Great American Songbook	p. 176
The John Singer Sargent of Singers	p. 176
The Embodiment of Elegance	p. 184
His Own Way	p. 189
Style's Back in Style	p. 195
"Don't Call Me the Velvet Fogl"	p. 199
The Thrush of Columbus	p. 203
Blue Rose	p. 207
A Song's Best Friend	p. 212
Conductors and Composers	p. 217
The Maestro	p. 217
"Where the Word Ends"	p. 224
Wild About Harry!	p. 229
Grandfather of Film Music	p. 234
Musical Wunderkind	p. 238
Comics, Actors, and Everybody Else	p. 242
A Voice in the Night	p. 242
If You're For It, I'm Against It	p. 250
The Importance of Being Ernest	p. 256
What's Up, Doc?	p. 262
Dean of American Crime Fiction	p. 269
Fabulous People/Simple Food	p. 274
Acknowledgments	p. 281
Endnotes	p. 285
Credits	p. 290
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