Wanda's Picks Radio Show Wednesday, March 13, 2013

1. 

   Deepa Dhanraj, Director/Producer

   Deepa Dhanraj is a writer, director, and producer living in Bangalore, South India. She has produced and directed numerous an award-winning documentaries such as her latest film, Invoking Justice, which is a part of CAAM Film Festival 2013. Other films are: Something Like a War (Channel 4); The Legacy of Malthus (BBC 2); Sudesha (Faust Film/ARD); Nari Adalat/Women's Courts; and What Has Happened to This City? Her films have been screened on BBC, ARTE, ZDF, CBC, and SBS. Her films have been invited to festivals such as IDFA, Berlinale, Leipzig, Oberhausen, Films deFemmes, Creteil France,Tampere, Vancouver, and Chicago. She has a special interest in education and has created video materials to address challenges faced by first generation learners.

   
   
   Bill Bell, jazz pianist, composer, arranger has earned the title "Jazz Professor" for completing over 30 years of successful University and College jazz teaching.  Before retiring in 2001, he was chairman of the music department at the College of Alameda for the last twenty years of his tenure there.  He was widely known for directing award winning jazz bands and small ensembles at both the College of Alameda and at Stanford.  He also held an adjunct position in jazz improvisation at the University of California, Berkeley. Retirement in 2001 has allowed Bill Bell to focus on his performance career which has expanded to include international venues as well as the production of three stellar CD’s: “The Jazz Professor” in 1995, “Just Swing Baby” in 2001, and most recently “The Feeling of Jazz”, July of 2009. He was awarded the Beacon Award from the San Francisco Jazz for outstanding contribution to jazz education and performance in 2005.  With a proven background in jazz education, he maintains a busy schedule of workshops and lecture demonstrations with his trio and quartet “The Jazz Connection”.