Four Strings Like You’ve Never Heard

Jake Shimabukuro

In the hands of a master, the ukulele can be a most amazing musical instrument. Its four strings are capable of sounding like a classical guitar or like the rhythm section of a jazz ensemble or a sound only a uke can make.

In the hands of Jake Shimabukuro, the ukulele is all that and then something else entirely. The instrument becomes a portal to special world where music brings people together in a very special way.

Experience for Jake Shimabukoro: Life on Four Strings comes to Detroit Public Television Channel 56 on Sunday, May 12 at 5 p.m. The program tells  the heartfelt story of a musical sensation who has catapulted the ukulele to never-before-imagined heights as he touches the lives of the young and old who inspire his brilliance.

Learn more online and catch the trailer at www.lifeonfourstrings.com.

In Michigan, ukulele’s have become a craze on the local music scene. They can be relatively inexpensive to buy and easy to play and learn. Some stores are catching the wave and sponsor “Intro to the Ukulele” classes. A number of adult summer music camps are also offering ukulele programs, as well.

 

A Genius for Genius

David Geffen - American Master

“I have no talent … except for being able to recognize it in others.” — David Geffen

Discover the story of the man who launched the careers of some of the greatest talents in contemporary music and cinema, when American Masters presents “Inventing David Geffen” tonight on Detroit Public Television WTVS Channel 56 at 8 p.m.

David Geffen’s remarkable ambitions and achievements – as agent, manager, record industry mogul, Hollywood / Broadway producer and generous philanthropist – have helped shape American popular culture for the past 40-years.

He launched Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and Tom Cruise; Crosby, Stills and Nash and Guns N’ Roses; he co-founded DreamWorks; he produced Cats and Dreamgirls. One of the earliest, and consistently largest, contributors to the fight against HIV/AIDS, he became an important political voice.

With wit and candor, Geffen and everyone from Yoko Ono and Cher, Frank Rich and Maureen Dowd, Steven Spielberg and Barry Diller, David Crosby and Neil Young, Tom Hanks and Calvin Klein, Arianna Huffington and Rahm Emanuel illuminate his complex and compelling, rich and riveting story.

For more information on the program, click here.

Michigan’s Role in the War of 1812

PBS presents War of 1812

It was a small, but bitter war. Yet, the echoes from 1812 resound around the world and between neighboring giants today.

Discover the roles Michigan and the Great Lakes played in the War of 1812 in “The War of 1812,” a Michigan-based documentary that  airs tonight on Detroit Public Television at 9 p.m.

For two and a half years, Americans fought Against the British, Canadian colonists, and native nations. In the years to come, the War of 1812 would be celebrated in some places and essentially forgotten in others. But, it is a war worth remembering—a struggle that threatened the existence of Canada, then divided the United States so deeply that the nation almost broke apart. Some of its battles and heroes became legendary, yet its blunders and cowards were just as prominent.

The film shows how the glories of war became enshrined in history – how failures are quickly forgotten – how inconvenient truths are ignored forever. With stunning re-enactments, evocative animation and the incisive commentary of key experts, The War of 1812 presents the conflict that forged the destiny of a continent.

For more information, click here.

 

Women, War and Peace – The Passport

Women, War & Peace is a bold new five-part PBS television series challenging the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men’s domain. The vast majority of today’s conflicts are not fought by nation states and their armies, but rather by informal entities: gangs and warlords using small arms and improvised weapons. The series reveals how the post-Cold War proliferation of small arms has changed the landscape of war, with women becoming primary targets and suffering unprecedented casualties. Yet they are simultaneously emerging as necessary partners in brokering lasting peace and as leaders in forging new international laws governing conflict. With depth and complexity, Women, War & Peace spotlights the stories of women in conflict zones from Bosnia to Afghanistan and Colombia to Liberia, placing women at the center of an urgent dialogue about conflict and security, and reframing our understanding of modern warfare.

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Women, War and Peace – I Was in a Hurry

Women, War & Peace is a bold new five-part PBS television series challenging the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men’s domain.

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Women, War and Peace – A Doctor’s Mission

Women, War & Peace is a bold new five-part PBS television series challenging the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men’s domain.

[Read more...]

Finding Your Roots

Henry Louis Gates JrKnowing our own history and genealogy brings us a whole new understanding of the world we live in.

Please join Detroit Public Television Sundays at 8 p.m. as Finding Your Roots examines the histories and family genealogies of a number of well-known personalities.

Over the past decade, public television and Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. have produced 12 different series that have connected us all to a better understanding of who we are and where we come from.

Through a local-national partnership, DPTV has connected this important program to our local community through a series of features we produced here in Detroit. Click here for a preview.

Enjoy the program and have a great Sunday!