Cultural Manifesto

March is Women’s History Month, and this March is also the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vivian Carter, the co-founder of Vee Jay Records. During the 1950s, the label grew from a small independent operation into one of the most influential record labels in the history of American popular music. Today Vee Jay is regarded as the most successful Black owned record label of the pre-Motown era.

Kyle Long explores the musical legacy of Gary, Indiana’s Bud Pressner. His career in music stretched over 50 years, and covered an enormous terrain of musical expression, from big band music in the 1940s, to psychedelic rock, to Serbian-American folk music, to helping produce some of the most important electronic dance music records of the late 20th Century.

Kyle Long talks with Indianapolis musicians Oreo Jones, Sirius Blvck, and David “Moose” Adamson about their new project 81355 (pronounced “Bless”). The group has been signed to 37d03d, a record label founded by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National.

Explore the music of Note Records, an Indianapolis record label founded by brothers Mel and Jerry Herman during the 1950s. Note was perhaps the important Indianapolis record label of the early rock and roll era, issuing music from a variety of genres, including rockabilly, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, and jazz.

Enjoy words and music with this year's Art & Soul performers, including Yadin Kol, Bashiri Asad, Chris Pitts, Staci McCrackin, Clint Breeze, and Ashlee Baskin. Now in its 25th year, the Indianapolis festival celebrates Black voices across the city. While traditionally hosted at the Artsgarden, the festival has moved online in 2021 due to ongoing COVID-19 health and safety concerns.

Explore the work of the celebrated folklorist, musician, and painter Art Rosenbaum. During the mid-20th century, Rosenbaum made a series of field recordings of traditional Indiana music. Art's work documenting Hoosier musicians like blues guitarist Scrapper Blackwell and fiddler John W. Summers resulted in the production of several critically acclaimed albums during the 1960s.

From the murder of Greencastle's Pearl Bryan in 1896, to the killing of Indianapolis rapper Lil Bango in 2012, Kyle Long explores the ways musicians have attempted to humanize and memorialize the tragic loss of life in Indiana through song.

Kyle Long features an hour of historic music written and performed by inmates at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana, including country songs by Hank Ferguson, blues from Eugene Rhodes, a rare recording of Indianapolis poet Etheridge Knight singing, and an infamous 1974 recording of "John the Baptist", a rock opera written and performed by Indiana State Prison inmates.

Kyle Long continues his ongoing tribute to the country music pioneers of central Indiana, including Bobby Helms, D.C. Mullins, Bryant Wilson and The Kentucky Ramblers, Delmer Sexton, Ginny Allyn, and more.

Host Kyle Long looks back at some of his favorite interviews from 2020 - including a chat with the Bloomington, Indiana based Middle Eastern music ensemble Salaam.

On this episode of Cultural Manifesto host Kyle Long speaks with guitarist and electronic music producer Rafiq Bhatia, best known for his work with Son Lux. They talk about the new Son Lux album Tomorrows II, and also discuss Rafiq's latest solo release Standards Volume 1, a collection of radically reworked jazz standards.

On this edition of Cultural Manifesto host Kyle Long pays tribute to Ron Miner, better known as DJ Indiana Jones. Ron Miner passed away last week at the age of 50.

Host Kyle Long continues his tribute to the country music pioneers of Indianapolis with rare recordings from local country music record labels based in Fountain Square, Irvington, and Beech Grove. He also shares music from early Indianapolis country music radio stars like Darling Nellie Brown, and Evalina Stallard.

Jared Thompson of Premium Blend joins host Kyle Long to discuss the band's new concert documentary film 38th & Postmodernism.

On this week's show Kyle shares live audio from the Jazz Kitchen's Naptown Sound concert series. Some performances shared are from Premium Blend, Sophie Faught, and Bashiri Asad. Kyle also asks a wide range of Indianapolis jazz musicians to define the "Naptown sound."

This week on Cultural Manifesto Kyle's guest is jazz harpist Jan Aldridge Clark. We' discuss her new album Moving Forward. The Moving Forward album was produced by Clark's son Willis, a prominent Indianapolis-based rapper and beatmaker. Moving Forward features a unique mix of harp music and hip-hop.

On this edition of Cultural Manifesto host Kyle Long continues a look at the history of country music in Indianapolis. During the mid-20th Century Indianapolis was home to a vibrant country music scene. Music is shared from Judy Perkins, Arnold Keith Storm, Eldon Baker and The Brown County Revelers, Oscar and Jaunita Shehan, Emry Arthur, The Swanee River Boys, and Jame Cole, a Black Indianapolis fiddler player who was active in the 1920s and '30s.

Joining host Kyle Long on this eiditon of Cultural Manifesto are Carrington Clinton, Pernell From Pike, Chris Pitts, and Jared Thompson of Clint Breeze and The Groove. The group previews tracks off their upcoming album Endtime Overture.

On this edition of Cultural Manifesto host DJ Kyle Long shares recordings from Hoosier electronic music pioneers, including some rare unreleased music from composer Tom Jordan's 1978 multimedia performance Space Scape, which attracted over 4,000 attendees to the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

This week on Cultural Manifesto Kyle is joined by Indianapolis jazz guitarist Charlie Ballantine. In this episode there is discussion of Charlie's new album Vonnegut, which features nine original compositions inspired by the work of Kurt Vonnegut. Track list: Words of Wisdom - You Made Me Everything Flo Garvin - I’m On the Outside Looking In Curtis Mayfield - Pusherman Montiques - Take Another Look Kurt Vonnegut and Dave Soldier - Annihilation Life Kurt Vonnegut and Dave Soldier - Duo For Clarinet & Meade Lux Lewis Charlie Ballantine - Eloise Metzger Charlie Ballantine - The Mind of Dwayne Hoover Charlie Ballantine - Kilgore in Timequake Charlie Ballantine - No Damn Cat, No Damn Cradle