11.8.25 - Part 2

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to Celebrity Reader Week on RADIOI. We
have another special treat today and that is Michael Priestley.
We'll be reading Jazz Fly. It is a book about jazz.

(00:20):
This is Anne Glover. I'll be introducing him and then
turning the mic over to him for the reading. As
a reminder, RADIOI is a reading service for those who
are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
to read printed material.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
All right.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Michael is a lecturer of Voice at UK and he
has been for the last five years. He has also
the director and founder of Uniting Voices Lexington. American baritone
Michael Priestley is a rising star on the operatic stage

(01:00):
and is also known for a versatile singing ability and
style that allow him to cross between genres from classical
repertoire to pop, contemporary and Broadway. He has received critical
acclaim from many of his performances, including Phantom in Phantom
of the Opera, which is just about one of my

(01:21):
favorite sets of music is Phantom is Beautiful, Scarpia and
Tosca Ford in Falstaff, Marcceello and La bo M, The
High Priest in Samson and Delilah, and Porgy and Jake.
In Porgy and Bess, mister Priestley has performed with many
major and regional opera houses and orchestras in the United

(01:43):
States and abroad. Recently, mister Priestley competed a European tour
of Porgy and Bess, where he received great reviews for
his performance of both Porgy and Jake. He also toured
Russia in a concert series with New York based Opera,
debuted with Opera Memphis in the role of Marulo with

(02:05):
a Rigoletto cover, and Opera de Montreal in the role
of Jake. Michael made his debut with the Butler University
Symphony Orchestra opposite world famous soprano Angela Brown in a
beloved performance of The Porgy and Best Suite. Michael has
performed with Cincinnati Opera, Opera Company, Philadelphia Opera, Memphis, Kentucky Opera,

(02:31):
Cleveland Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, and Boem Opera of New Jersey.
Mister Presley's success on the concert stage has blossomed with
some of the nation's leading orchestras, including Oakland East Bay Symphony,
the Memphis Symphony, the Hamilton Fairfield Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra,

(02:52):
the Cleveland Pops, the Cincinnati Pops, and the Greater Trenton
Choral Society, as well as the American Spiritual Ensemble. Mister
Priestley has received numerous accolades. He was invited under scholarship
to participate in the International Vocal Arts Institute with Joan
Dorman and the Voice Experience with Cheryl Milne and Friends.

(03:17):
He was the first place graduate winner in the All
Tech Vocal Scholarship Competition at the University of Kentucky and
the recipient of awards in various competitions such as the
National Opera Association Vocal Competition Artist Division and the Fritz
and Jensen Vocal Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Currently,

(03:40):
mister Priestley is working on the release of his first album,
Spirituals and Hymns, followed by a series of concerts and
recitals in various venues across the United States. Michael resides
in Lexington with his wife, Letitia and three sons, Joshua,
Benjamin and Jace Brison. Well, Michael, we have some fun today,

(04:04):
I think with jazz fly. So tell us how you
came across this book. Have you has been something you've
been aware of a long time, or something that has
popped into your notice recently. Did you use it with
your sons?

Speaker 3 (04:22):
Actually, I had the pleasure of teaching at the Lexington
School for three years and there was one point I
don't remember exactly what point it was where I wanted
to read to them and it was really wanting to
expose them to other music, other types of music, and

(04:43):
so jazz popped in my head. And I colleague had
this book and the bookshelf and it looked interesting. Yeah, well,
this book is really nice. I liked this book and
I started to read it and it has all these
sounds about the instruments and also the insects. Oh, that's
in the book. So I thought that was really cool,

(05:04):
and I had this great time reading it, and I said,
you know, it would be nice to share this with
the world, and hints, we're reading it today.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
Awesome. Well, I will turn it over to you and
you're reading of the Jazz Fly.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
Off you go. The Jazz Fly written by Matthew Gollup,
illustrated by Karen Hankey. On the cover, we see the
jazz Fly in his tuxedo and playing his drum set.
The jazz Fly has huge eyes. He has a three

(05:44):
drum setup with a symbol on each side. His hands
are holding the drumsticks in a v and he has
a big smile. On the title page, we are introducing
to the cast the jazz Fly. We already heard about

(06:04):
him from the cover. Willi the Worm, who plays a
bass violin, which is a very big instrument, and Willie
plays with his tale. Nancy the Gnat who plays a saxophone.
Her eyes are big too, but not as big as

(06:25):
the jazz flies. And finally, Sammy the Centipede, he has
a lot of arms, who plays you guessed it, the piano.
This book was copywritten in two thousand by self publisher
Matthew Gallop. On this page, Willie the Worm and Sammy

(06:49):
the Centipede are bugging down. On the dedication page we
see Nancy the nat is in front of her dressing
room nearer putting on her lipstick. She wears a dress
with a short, ragged skirt and fancy high heels with

(07:12):
bows on them. To my family and to the children
everywhere who have learned to speak a second language. For
my mom and in memory of my dad, and with
love to Bob, Chris Becky and Doctor Brown. Pages one

(07:37):
and two, we see a dog and a jazz fly
flying over a frog on his log. It looks like
late evening and a round sunset z A fly buzzed by.
It was late in the day and he was long lost,

(08:01):
so he flew to a frog that was sitting on
a log and asked the frog which way to town?
Page three. Here is our frog on the log. The
jazz fly is hovering above him. Zi baza boozo bozi

(08:28):
Ooh whoa me? The frog didn't get the way. The
jazz fly talked ribbit. The frog answered ribb it, ribb it.
Oh my. We see the big backside of a very
large hog and the fence around the pigsty On page four.

(08:52):
The hog has a little curly tail and big ears.
He has black spots on his back. The jazz fly
is hovering above him too. The fly flew to a
hog in a bog. He stayed clear of the mud

(09:14):
to keep his black tucks clean, and asked the hog
which way to town. On page five, now we see
the head of the hog and the jazz fly sitting
on his nose. There is a half eaten piece of

(09:34):
watermelon near the hog. Maybe the jazz fly came to
eat dinner. Zi by zag booza zi why row me oink?
The hog answered, oink oink. Next, on page six, we

(09:55):
see the jazz fly hovering above a donkey. The donkey
has been ears and had several pieces of grass hanging
out of his mouth. The fly saw a donkey short
and gray, so he flew zz to ask him the
way ziby zah boozaba zi za rolln. The donkey just

(10:23):
begin to bray hee ah hee ah. On page eight,
finally we see a dog sitting in the doorway of
his doghouse. He's happy to see the jazz sply. At last,
the fly flew to a furry dog one more time.

(10:47):
He asked, zabay za boo zaby zi za.

Speaker 2 (10:51):
Roll n.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
Roof roof roof barked the pooch right away. She pointed
her nose to say, go that way. The jazz fly
passes buildings on both sides on page nine, their windows

(11:15):
all lit up for the evening. The jazz fly flew
past weeds and clover till he reached a street that
was paved all over. He leaned left down the alley.
Right through the door, he saw fancy waiters creeping all

(11:38):
across the floor. On this page, we see the jazz
fly go through a doorway and past the door we
see lots of tables with long tablecloths and waiters in
suits carrying drinks. Across the room. We see a little
corner of a stage with a drum that says jazz

(11:59):
Bugs on the side. On the next page, oh, now
we see inside the restaurant. There are lots of customers.
They are all bugs, and all the other members of
the band are there too, on the stage, and they
all have their instruments, except we don't see the jazz fly.

(12:23):
They are looking worried, and they are staring at a
clock on the wall. Beatles and maggots had come to
hear the show. They were dining with the locusts by
the fireflies glow. The band was looking antsy. It was
half past eight, they grumbled, Man, this fly is always late.

(12:47):
The fly tugged at his sleeves, strolled to his drums,
twirled all around his brushes, and counted off a song
Za zi a za zoo zoo ze. On the next page,
we see a green slash of light across the page

(13:08):
just like a spotlight, while the worm inched up and
down his base b B boo A boom boom, a
b b boom a boom boom on the next page.
Then another red flash of light. Nancy the gnat sat

(13:30):
shade with her sax.

Speaker 4 (13:33):
Zeez a n no zeeza nona on the next page.

Speaker 3 (13:42):
And then the fly goes crazy on the drum solo,
but not before Sammy the centipede hit the piano keys
like a man with a hundred hands.

Speaker 5 (13:54):
Dae d boog you wool get dad a boog you
wool get dad a boogie wool get dee oh. Then
the fly swished with his brushes, swish swish, thumped his
bass drum, made his cymbals ring. We see a close

(14:18):
up of the jazz fly getting down with the drums,
and then all the bugs do their things, having a
great time like a chef stirring dinner in a pot.
He put it all together and dished it out hot
zap tine Zaida. The baby booms out beside the DoD oohoo.

Speaker 3 (14:44):
The fly was jamming, not scamming, but swimming like a salmon.
The next page, the big queen Bee is sitting on
a stool and points at the jazz Fly. But then
the club's queen Bee set down with the huff. This

(15:05):
band plays good, but that's not enough. I want a
sound that'll make bugs shout. I want a new beat,
or this band is out. The jazz fly looks worried.
On page twenty, the fly, who'd been very confident until now,

(15:27):
suddenly felt kind of small. He knew he'd have to
come up with something different if the jazz bugs were
to keep their jobs at the jazz club. Hum So
he thought and thought until the jazz flies drumming it

(15:50):
up with all the spot lights on him. The Fly
recalled the sounds he had heard that day. He mixed
them all up in a brand new way. He crossed
the bridge, stepped beyond the line, took a chance, and
began to shine. Zoom zappadu ribbt ribbt zuperdy boom bang

(16:17):
ink ink schwaz zappazaba haul hee haw zuber uber rough
rough roof zabad hal rony on zabadaba hee har ribbid
rivet team Well, the Beatles and the Maggots stopped eating

(16:40):
their child. Willie and Nancy and Sammy said Wow, the cockroach.
Waiters shouted, go man, go dig that fly. He can
really blow on this page. There are all the bugs

(17:00):
and all the animals from the farm in a huge limmo.
Guests who come to see the new thing that's happening
at the jazz Bugs tonight the joint was hopping, hopping,
wringling all on the floor. They never heard a sound

(17:21):
like this before.

Speaker 4 (17:23):
Now word got out about the jazz Bug, sound about
the white hot drummer who broke new ground. Beatles packed
the club, Locusts came by swarm. The jazz Bugs' names
went up in lights. And to make sure he never

(17:45):
again lost his way, the fly picked up his friends
in a limmo each day on zaibadobad dae ooh by
bad Dadaba rum Abadi byo badab.

Speaker 1 (18:06):
Well, Thank you, Michael. That was a wonderful and very.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
Energetic book. Lovely, lovely book about jazz. This concludes our
reading for today of The Jazz Fly, written and performed
by Matthew Gollup and illustrated by Karen Hanke. Your reader
has been Michael Priestley. This is Anne Glover signing off.

Speaker 3 (18:37):
Now.

Speaker 1 (18:37):
Please stay tuned for continued programming on Radio I thank
you for listening and have a wonderful day.