Wise Buddah regularly produces specialist one off programmes focusing on some of popular music's most celebrated individuals and events for BBC Radio 2.
Recent programmes have included:
Jerseybeat - The Four Seasons Story - A 4-part story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, one of the most enduring American pop groups of all time, who are reaching a huge new audience 45 years after their first hit thanks to the smash hit, Tony award-winning Broadway musical based on their lives, 'Jersey Boys'.
Presenter: Paul Sexton
Producer: Paul Sexton
When Charles Met Wyclef - Charles Hazlewood meets a composer, arranger and producer who while rooted in hip hop, takes in all the musical spectrum, from rap and reggae, Miles Davis to Pink Floyd. Charles will dissect his hits, in his own inimitable style and interview him about how he makes his music and what inspires him.
Presenter: Charles Hazlewood
Producer: Julia Hayball
Radio review
Elisabeth Mahoney, The Guardian, Monday May 12 2008
When Charles Met Wyclef (Radio 2, Saturday) didn't, in truth, sound that promising. What, you couldn't help wondering, could conductor Charles Hazlewood, a man who got an organ scholarship to Oxford, and hip-hip producer and Fugee ("One time!") Wyclef Jean find to talk about for an hour?
The answer was music, and a shared passion for eclecticism. Jean talked of his love of Pink Floyd while Hazlewood brilliantly deconstructed Jean's arrangements on well-known tracks to show how they work. There were a couple of moments where Hazlewood's earnest enthusiasm seemed to tickle Jean, especially an extended analysis of Jean's liking for "unfurling narratives". "Yeah, yeah, huh, huh," chuckled Jean, noticeably not unfurling further.
But mostly they just chatted and played music together, and in doing so revealed precisely where Jean's musical style comes from. Growing up in Haiti, speaking Creole but loving American and British rock music on the radio, he began adapting tracks to sing in church. Van Halen's Jump took on an unlikely gospel vibe, and encouraged us to "Jump! For Jesus Christ!" In a vortex of languages, styles and influences, a music producer was born.
For more information please contact:
Maria Williams, Head of Programmes - maria@wisebuddah.com