"Madagascar" BBC and Animal Planet

David Attenborough is virtually synonymous with top-notch natural history documentaries. His ten part series beginning with Life on Earth set the standard for wildlife programming, and he has continued to surpass himself with recent series such as The Blue Planet, and Planet Earth. His most recently released miniseries, Madagascar, stands alone as one of his best. This 150 minute series aired in three parts on the BBC and is apparently airing in two two-hour specials on Animal Planet, although getting actual details of the broadcast schedule has been difficult. In any case, the first part aired on Animal Planet was simply stunning, and I recommend that you set your DVR or DVD or VHS to record the episode when it airs next. You can also purchase the show in DVD and HD Blue Ray at Amazon.



While one expects quality nature programming from Attenborough and the BBC, what makes this documentary exceptional is the subject matter, which is both fascinating and rarely filmed. Madagascar is unique given both its position, at the southern end of the inhabited world, and given that it is an island that has been separated from the African and Indian continents (between which it was sandwiched in the age of the dinosaurs) for some 60 million years.

Two groups of animals for which Madagascar is famous, the chameleons, and the Lemurs, which are unique to the island, feature prominently in the documentary. But the island abounds with unique reptiles, birds and amphibians.



And its mammals, like the elegant fossa, not a cat, but an oversized mongoose, and the spectral aye-aye, a primate version of the woodpecker (below), are unique.



Particularly fascinating is the yellow-and-black striped tenrec, which looks like a porcupine or a hedgehog, but which is actually more closely related the the elephant and the aardvark.



Never filmed before, this animal is not only protected by its detachable spines, it can also, by shrugging muscles on its shoulders, rub its quills together to produce a chirp in the manner of a cricket.

Even if you are familiar with lemurs and chameleons (have you seen the inchworm-sized dwarf chameleon, and the pygmy lemur, a relic of our oldest primate relatives?) this documentary will wow you with its colorful animals and fantasy landscapes. But dont take my word for it. Watch the trailer:

Mbube (The Lion Sleeps Tonight)

Originally recorded in South Africa by Solomon Linda and The Evening Birds in 1939, the song Mbube, which most of us are familiar with as The Lion Sleeps Tonight, earned for its writer a one time fee and no royalties. It has been rewritten twice, and covered by such artists as Pete Seeger and the Weavers, The Kingston Trio, The Tokens, Miriam Makeba (famous also for her "Click Song"), and R.E.M. The song earned some $15 million dollars in licensing fees from the Disney movie The Lion King alone. It is arguably one of the most beloved and successful musical compositions of the Twentieth Century.

The song was written about King Shaka of the Zulus (1787-1828) who was refered to as The Lion and of whom it was rumored he had not died, but was asleep in the jungle and would one day return. The bastardized word "Wimoweh" which was the title of Seeger's version of the song is a corruption of the Zulu uyimbube, "you are a lion."



In its various versions the song was a hit in South Africa and Britain, and reached the top twenty in the US three times, reaching number one with The Tokens in 1961. Below are three versions of the song. The first is the original recording of Mbube by Solomon Linda and The Evening Birds from 1939. Second is Miriam Makeba's 1960 cover of Mbube. Third is the Token's 1961 number one US hit.

Simone sings Gershwin's "My Man's Gone Now"

While George Gershwin, 1898-1937, is noted as perhaps the most prestigious American classical composer of the Twentieth Century, his influence on modern popular music can be compared only with such greats as Duke Ellington and the Beatles. His folk Opera, Porgy And Bess, fuses the blues, jazz and classical forms. Summertime is perhaps the best known of the songs of Porgy and Bess, but My Man's Gone now is the most challenging and rewarding of its compositions.

Nina Simone, 1933-2003, was perhaps one of the most accomplished jazz performers of the Twentieth Century, a composer and pianist in her own right, her perfomances benefited from her composer's ability to adapt a work and her virtuoso skill as a singer. Her incredible power and emotion were showcased in a voice with exceptional range. In the West this High Priestess of Soul held a place comparable to that of Umm Kulthum on the Levant. Pegged in later life as a protest singer, and suffering from personal difficulties, she became an exile to Barbados, Liberia and France. This should not overshadow her musical accomplishment.

Here you can enjoy the fusion of these two great artists of the last century, with Nina Simone's signature recording of what I consider Gershwimn's greatest work, My Man's Gone Now, from Porgy and Bess: