Stairway to Paradise

Evening Music | May 6, 2010
We hear George Gershwin’s “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise,” which jazz critic Carl Van Vechten called “the most perfect piece of jazz yet written” when it was first performed in 1922. Also, Erik Satie’s cerebral “Vexations” and David Byrne’s “High Life for Nine Instruments."

Also Featured Tonight:

John McLaughlin / Girls with Red Shoes
Louis Andriessen / Workers Union
Randall Thompson / The Eternal Dove
Carlos Chavez / Sextet for Piano and Strings
Frederic Rzewski / Mayn Yingele

Music Playlists

View WNYC's music playlists dating back to 2001 (full playlists are generally posted the day after broadcast). For playlist inquiries, please contact Listener Services via email or at 646-829-4000.

WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations

Top Stories

One Refugee’s Journey Through ICE Detention

In 2025, ICE began detaining people at immigration hearings, an unprecedented step. The staff writer Jonathan Blitzer shares the story of one detainee whose life was turned upside down.
The New Yorker Radio Hour |

How an Empire of Craft Stores Pushed an Agenda of Christian Nationalism

All Of It with Alison Stewart |

Flood Watch issued for NYC as rain and storms move in after picture-perfect weekend

Spotty rain showers and a potential thunderstorm are expected to begin Monday afternoon before several days of rain and storms.
Gothamist |

Exploring an Olympics Bid for New York

NYS Assemblymember Robert Carroll talks about his vision for a joint upstate/downstate bid for the Winter Olympics.
The Brian Lehrer Show |
YOU ARE ONLINE