Wanda's Picks Radio January 23, 2009

This morning we will have a tribute to William B. Lawsha, "Prince Lasha," born September 10, 1929 to December 12, 2008. Prince Lasha was born in 1929 in Fort Worth, Texas and went to school with Ornette Coleman. In1947, the two of them started playing saxophone in a school band (which also produced great musicians like Charles Moffett and King Curtis). They worked with Harold Land and Red Connors before going their separate ways. He lived in New York, Oakland, Germany, Italy, and France where he had the honor, he says, of playing with many great musicians such as Sonny Simmons who worked with Prince for six years; Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins recorded together—in fact he wrote "Music Matador that Eric Dolphy made famous. Wanda's Picks concludes with an excerpt of Matador (from …A True Story).

When he made his transition last month, Prince was working on releasing a new CD on his label Birdseye Records, called "Baritone Madness." I hope we'll see this CD in the near future. It features Woody Shaw, Ron Carter, Odean Pope and Eddie Gale. Prince Lasha Jr. said there's another release coming out in a few weeks and he'll tell us about it this morning. Perhaps I can get the producer, Prince Jr., to come on the air to talk about the project.

We will be joined this special 1 1/2 hour tribute by Prince's friends and family, including Odean Pope, Eddie Gale, Sonny Simmons, Chuck Fishman, Oluyemi Thomas, Destiny Muhammad, Leon Williams, Anthony Foster, and sons: Anthony, William and Prince. Wanda's Picks concludes with an interview with Kelly Whalen, co-director of Tulia, TX, a film about a small town's search for justice in the midst of blatant police misconduct in an attempt to rid the town of drug trafficking. The ITVS film is premiering at the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, near Civic Center BART. Visit : http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/tuliatexas/ and pbs.org/independentlens/getinvolved/

Lanier Pruitt, our beloved friend and colleague died suddenly. His funeral is today, Friday, Jan. 23, 12 Noon, at Cooper Mortuary, 1580 Fruitvale Ave., Oakland, CA.

I plan to play more Prince Lasha music on each show this month, so listen in for the continuation of our musical tribute of this great man's legacy. As long as we speak their names, play their music, walk in their footsteps, continue their work…those who die are not gone, they live on. Ashay!