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Christmas night with Saul Williams

It’s Christmas night. Poet Saul Williams joins Verity Sharp for a fireside adventure. Plus sounds to ward off darkness and a light-controlled performance from Leafcutter John.

Join Verity Sharp on Christmas evening by the fire with her special guest, acclaimed poet, actor, and musician Saul Williams. Saul dives deep into the outer recesses of his far-ranging tastes, to curate a late-night Christmas playlist unlike any other – and to share fireside stories from a life lived at the intersection of music, art and activism. As Christmas draws to a close, we’ll hear an intimate spoken word performance from Saul, who is revered for blurring the line between hip hop and poetry.

Elsewhere Verity shares sounds that celebrate light as part of Radio 3’s Light in the Darkness season, from Appalachian rising sun melodies to Norwegian jazz inspired by chiaroscuro, the Italian term for the balance of light and dark in art.

For the occasion, the artist Leafcutter John will perform on his homemade light-controlled instrument, a musical interface that is triggered by light. Sounds are created when light is shone upon the interface, sending information from the sensors to his computer and modular synth. He demonstrates his invention with a piece from his recent album but with a seasonal twist: he plays it with Christmas lights.

Produced by Katie Callin and Frank Palmer.
A Reduced Listening production for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3.

2 hours

Last on

Christmas Day 2020 23:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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Previous

Albums of the Year and a mixtape by clipping

Next

New Year, New Horizons

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Music Played

  • Richard Dawson

    Herald

    • Peasant.
    • Weird World.

  • Arve Henriksen

    Chiaro

    • Chiaroscuro.
    • Rune Grammofon.

  • Ashley Paul

    Light Inside My Skin

    • Ray.
    • Slip.

  • Laura Cannell & Kate Ellis

    Christmas Night

    • WINTER RITUALS.
    • Brawl Records.

  • Hallelujah Chicken Run Band

    Mudzimu Ndiringe

    • Take One.
    • Alula Records.

  • Leafcutter John

    Please Keep Going

    • Please Keep Going.

  • Leafcutter John

    Stepper Motor (for Christmas)

    • In session for Late Junction.

  • Mary Lattimore

    Luciferin Light

    • Luciferin Light.
    • Kit Records.

  • Saul Williams

    I Own The Night (Sufi Vision)

    • Encrypted & Vulnerable.

  • Pharoah Sanders

    Colors

    • Karma.
    • Impulse!.

  • Sussan Deyhim

    The Prayer 2

    • En Secret (Bande Originale Du Film).
    • Milan.

  • Tadd Mullinix

    Woman In The Dunes

    • Thousands Of Eyes In The Dark.
    • Ghostly International.

  • Fela Kuti & Africa 70

    Coffin For Head Of State

    • Coffin For Head Of State.
    • Kalakuta Records.

  • Moor Mother

    Parallel Nightmares

    • Fetish Bones.
    • Don Giovanni Records.

  • Kelsey Lu

    Dreams

    • Church.
    • True Panther Sounds.

  • Daphne Oram

    Just For You

    • The Oram Tapes: Volume One.
    • Young Americans.

  • DJ Elmoe

    Whea Yo Ghost At, Whea Yo Dead Man

    • Bangs & Works Vol.1.
    • Planet Mu.

  • Kinigi Musicians

    Birgimana

    • Polyphonie Des Twa Du Rwanda.
    • Fonti Musicali.

  • Saul Williams

    Born In A Celebrated Cell

  • Nina Simone

    22nd Century

    • Tell It Like It Is - Rarities And Unreleased Recordings: 1967 - 1973.
    • Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

  • Keiji Haino, Jozef Dumoulin & Teun Verbruggen

    Snow Is Frequent, Though Light, In Winter

    • The Miracles Of Only One Thing.
    • Sub Rosa.

  • Annette Vande Gorne

    Hiver: Jeux de pas sur la neige

    • ±α²ΉΓ―°μ³ά²υ.
    • empreintes DIGITALes.

  • Lisa O'Neill

    John-Joe Reilly

    • The Wren, The Wren.
    • River Lea.

  • Ola Belle Reed

    I Saw The Light

    • Rising Sun Melodies.
    • Smithsonian Folkways.

Broadcast

  • Christmas Day 2020 23:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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