Jessie Montgomery, In High Demand

Extra Eclectic kicks off our observance of Black History Month with a showcase of Jessie Montgomery's "Shift, Change, Turn," in addition to works by George Walker, James Lee III, Abbey Lincoln, Carlos Simon, and Jonathan Baily Holland. For the second hour, guest host Scott Blankenship turns an eye to the starry sky, with works honoring the deployment of NASA'S Webb Telescope.

Steve Seel possesses a broad knowledge of many musical genres, having hosted radio programs ranging from classical to jazz and even avant-garde music at public radio stations around the country. Steve came to Minnesota Public Radio in 1999 to be a part of its nationally-syndicated classical music programming. In 2005, he became one of the founding voices on MPR's eclectic station The Current, and has hosted various time slots from mornings to late nights, and conducted in-depth interviews with pop music luminaries ranging from Brian Eno to David Byrne to Tori Amos. 
 
Steve is an avid reader of political and social commentary as well, and he emcees The Current's popular Policy and a Pint community series, featuring discussions with noted scholars, politicians, community leaders, authors and big thinkers on important issues of the day. Steve is also a basement composer obsessed with all things both minimalist and slow, and might actually be incapable of writing anything that exceeds 75 beats-per-minute.
