A Self-Help Cosmic Journey

2017-05-28: Imagine your couch has turned into a spacecraft and let Jarvis guide you on a self-help cosmic journey, exploring inner and outer space as we question our place in the universe. Featuring intriguing excerpts from Walker Percy's book Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book. Along the way, we encounter a tap dancing Thora Hird; Cold War commotion with the aviator who landed in Red Square; a super-serene Jeff Bridges; and a thriller writer's lively appetite for scrambled eggs. Birthdays: Thora Hird, Ian Fleming, Walker Percy and György Ligeti (a unique choral composer). 

The Liverpool Mass and Rousseau's Dream

2017-05-21: Body art, a modernist Mass and a mesmerising painting… On 13th May, Jarvis introduced Pierre Henry's inaugural Mass at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. 50 years later than originally planned, the pioneering work by the musique concrète composer was staged in the space by his collaborator Thierry Balasse and arts organisation Bluecoat — we hear all about the event. During his trip, Jarvis was given a book which got him thinking about music and mysticism. Urging us to gaze at Henri Rousseau's painting The Dream, he reads the bewitching poem Yadwigha, On a Red Couch, Among Lilies by Sylvia Plath. Plus: notes from The Ivors awards; and on this day The Empire Strikes Back was released and two landmark solo Atlantic flights were taken. Birthdays: Noel Fielding (on tennis), Henri Rousseau, Martin Carthy ('I don't do jolly'), Mr T and Fats Waller.

Rodney Graham

2017-05-14: Artist and musician Rodney Graham joins Jarvis as a major new retrospective of his work opens at the Baltic in Gateshead. Jarvis recalls his first encounter with Rodney's music at a gallery, and how exciting it was to discover an artist who combined the worlds of art and pop music. He asks Rodney about his time in bands when he was starting out, his recently released album Gondoliers, his influences including Bob Dylan, writer's block and why Rodney returned to music after a long break. They also discuss the exhibition's title, That's Not Me, and how Rodney would describe himself to a customs officer. Birthdays: Bobby Darin, Sofia Coppola, David Byrne (on songwriting with irony) and Mark Zuckerberg (on the importance of friendship).

Sleep Until the Dawn Comes

2017-05-07: Last night (6th May), Jarvis attended a performance of Max Richter's project 'Sleep' at Old Billingsgate Market in London. He aims to give us a flavour of the event, describing the atmosphere, sharing conversations with musicians and audience members, and ending with a drowsy meeting with Max in the morning. Max talks about the challenge of keeping in time with the slow tempo and explains how the ensemble keeps going for eight hours. This is all interspersed with somnolent music and poems, a previous interview with Max, and extracts from the radio play The Dreams. Later, we are roused by clips from International Dawn Chorus Day over on Radio 4, with a poem about the dew, an account of medieval sleep patterns and a star-fade song for the larks. Birthdays: Matt Helders, Anne Dudley (on orchestration) and Michael Rosen (midnight feasting).