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Music Life: It’s everything but math! with Andrew Bird

Music

It’s everything but math! with Andrew Bird

04/11/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - Music Life, It’s everything but math! with Andrew Bird

Singer-songwriter Andrew Bird, Meshell Ndegeocello and Juana Molina in conversation

American Singer-songwriter Andrew Bird, Meshell Ndegeocello and Juana Molina in conversation about process, ego and all things musical.

Our host this week is American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Andrew Bird. His recordings combine the violin with loops and effect pedals, whistling and vocals. He started out playing in jazz acts before forming his own swing ensemble. In 2003 he released his first solo album Weather Systems and since then has produced 16 studio albums spanning swing music, indie rock and folk. His most recent album, Inside Problems, came out in the summer. 

He is joined by Meshell Ndegeocello, a German-American singer-songwriter, rapper and bassist who played a pivotal role in kickstarting the neo-soul movement in the 1990s. Her biggest hit was Wild Night, a duet with John Mellencamp, which went to number three in the Billboard Charts in 1994. She fearlessly used her music to make statements about sexuality and queerness, and continues to do so today.  

And joining them is Juana Molina, an Argentine singer-songwriter known for her unique ‘folktronica’ sound. Drawing influences from her home country and the Parisian culture she was surrounded by in her adolescent years, her music blends elements of ambient, electronic and folk. 

Together they discuss musical process, ego in composition and analysis versus intuition.   

In the second half of the programme, Meshell Ndegeocello takes us through a playlist she has called Sonder, a collection of songs which celebrate that everyone of us has our own story, featuring tracks from Parliament, Womack & Womack, Jeff Parker and more.

(Image: Juana Molina (L), Credit: Alejandro Ros; Andrew Bird (C), Credit: Alec Basse; Meshell Ndeogeocello (R), Credit: Charlie Gross)

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