I’ve been a huge fan of the electronic music created in Detroit that has inspired the world. I’ve interviewed many of the people behind the movement. Yet it wasn’t until recently that I finally interviewed Juan Atkins, the visionary most often cited as Techno’s primary creator. Atkins’ fascination with science fiction that led to the…
Comments closedLiz Warner Posts
When Ryuichi Sakamoto died last year, the music community in Detroit felt the blow. Like most of the world, Detroit was first introduced to Sakamoto by way of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), heard on the airwaves and in the clubs in the early 1980s. Budding musicians and DJs from the techno community quickly gravitated to…
Comments closed
I remember the first time I heard Billy Bang. As I prepared my radio show in the once-robust music library at the WDET studios, fellow music host W. Kim Heron was airing his Sunday night avant-jazz-centric show in Studio A. Heron would drop some of the most amazing, out-there cuts, and his gift was on…
Comments closed
Each time I do a radio show, I refer to music of many different types and eras. No matter where that road takes me, I’m ultimately happiest when I discover new music. That’s the focus for the first show in 2023, where I look back to discoveries from 2022. This show does not pretend to…
Comments closed
I’m back on the decks! I guess I knew it would happen. I’ve been a DJ for years, and in a variety of settings outside of radio, including on hotel rooftops, at a swim club in the desert, on a float in the middle of a pond, at museums, galleries, clubs, lounges, and an opera…
Comments closed
About 15 years ago, something amazing happened. Alice Coltrane, who has produced some of the world’s most revered cosmic/spiritual/jazz recordings, was returning to Detroit for a live performance. It had been decades since her last visit for a performance, and there was excitement in the air. I was asked to interview Alice on stage for…
Comments closed
My mother has dementia. While that presents a wide variety of difficulties for her and for me, it has also opened up new pathways of thinking. She doesn’t always recall every detail of my life in its current state, but in each conversation, there is a steady refrain: People are better when they work together.…
2 Comments
People talk a lot these days about storytelling. It’s as if it’s a new idea. But storytelling is something I’ve been doing ever since I started on radio. In my case, storytelling often happens without words. Music highlights the connections found in-between the songs. Perhaps it’s an era? Maybe it’s the converging of two wildly…
Comments closed