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Labor Day Special: Workin’ - The Work Song in Jazz and Popular Music

Broadcast: September 3, 2023 at 4:00 p.m.

Listen to this episode: Click here.

Jazz for the Labor Day holiday

How did the influence of the work song emerge in the recordings of artists such as Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Nat Adderley, Dave Brubeck and other musicians?

Jazz historian Ted Gioia, author of Work Songs, presents a Labor Day look at the work song's relationship to jazz and popular music.

Other featured artists include Louis Armstrong (his ode to Pullman porters, "Red Cap"), Cassandra Wilson (her cover of Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman") and Sting (with saxophonist Branford Marsalis joining him for the tribute to English coal-miners, "We Work the Black Seam").