EngAGE Stories

Tune in to Experience Talks, our “Radio Magazine for the Experienced Listener.” Saturdays 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles, 98.7 FM Santa Barbara, 99.5 China Lake, 93.7 N. San Diego, streaming live online and now syndicated on up to 100 Pacifica Network stations! You can also enjoy hearing all of our previous shows on the Listen Page of our Experience Talks website.

Saturday, 8/24: Host Bobbee Zeno with George Duke (interview from 2011)

In Tribute to George Duke (1946 – 2013)

Part Two of a Two-Part Interview. Part One was broadcast on August 10th and can be heard on the Experience Talks Listen Page.

GEORGE DUKE was a singer, and a piano and synthesizer pioneer. A multi-talented musician and multiple Grammy winner, his work spanned numerous genres as a recording artist, composer, record producer, professor of music, and music director. He made a name for himself with the album The Jean-Luc Ponty Exprience with the George Duke Trio. During the four decades of his career, he was known for his solo work as well as for his collaborations with other musicians, including Al Jarreau, Frank Zappa, Cannonball Adderley, Quincy Jones, Miles Davis, Billy Cobham and Stanley Clark.

Duke was devastated by the death of his wife, Corine, from cancer a year ago. He was unable to make music for months, but eventually overcame his grief to create an inspiring collection of mostly original compositions called DreamWeaver, which was released in July, just three weeks before his untimely death on August 5th. (Read more here in the LA Times obituary.)

As a tribute, Bobbee Zeno presents Part Two of an interview he conducted in 2011 with his friend, George Duke. Part One was broadcast on 8/10 and can be heard on the Listen Page of our website.

Join us for Experience Talks Online, exclusive podcast interviews posted on our website. Carrying on the same tradition as our KPFK-FM/Pacifica Network syndicated radio show, the podcasts feature talented, creative people with experience worth talking about. Find our podcasts on the Listen Page of our website. They’ll post on an intermittent basis, so read this blog for updates about new podcasts as well as new Experience Talks radio shows. You can also like Experience Talks on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to get the latest news. ET Online is produced and hosted by John Semper Jr. and Cynthia Friedlob.

Sunday, 8/18: Host John Semper Jr. talks with George Chakiris

Now Posted on our Listen Page!

The legendary George Chakiris is a dancer, singer, Academy Award-winning actor, and most recently, an internationally-acclaimed jewelry designer. He is best known for his appearance in the film version of “West Side Story” as Bernardo, the leader of the Sharks gang, for which he won both a Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 1962. (Thanks to YouTube, see him win the Academy Award here.)

Since then, he has starred in a succession of films, including “Diamond Head” with Charlton Heston, and “The Young Girls of Rochefort” with Catherine Deneuve. He has appeared in numerous popular television shows, including “Hawaii Five-O,” “Murder, She Wrote,” and “Dallas,” and has showcased his vocal talents on several albums.  In the ’90s, he returned to the stage, starring in “The King and I” and, in Great Britain, as Rochester in “Jane Eyre.”

Most recently he has focused on making jewelry, a former hobby that has blossomed into a new and satisfying creative career. See the beautiful George Chakiris Collection at his website.