Vindaloo

Cozying up to jazz greats - 6ft under

Woodlawn Cemetery is where many of New York's finest jazz musicians go to rest in peace. Now adjacent plots are for sale, and many are being reserved by die-hard fans of the genre. I talked to them, and Woodlawn's wonderful historian, for BBC Radio 4. Coming to the World Service soon too. Take it away Dr John....

Jazz Graves NY Matt Wells BBC story

 

Superheroes Gone Wild

Miscreant Superheroes have been running amok in Times Square of late, and now the city's going to regulate them, to identify the men and women behind the masks... What you maybe didn't know, is that the Times Square alliance wants to turn the Crossroads of the World, into a European-style plaza. This ran on BBC Radio 4 and World Service over the plast week.

Download Times Square BBC Matt Wells

Denim Blues

Levis still sells $4.5 billion-worth of clothes each year, but that's half the number of pants it used to shift a decade and a half ago. Some say it's the marketing, some say the market, but what's up with the world's favorite denim company? I went off to explore for BBC radio's PM programme. 

Levis Matt Wells BBC story

 

The Met opera meltdown. The fat lady, and everyone else, aint singing. Or budging.

It's the (allegedly) best-paid opera musicians, singers and stage hands (these guys REALLY know how to move stuff around a stage) in the world, vs the man who says he only wants to save a dying art form. Someone should write an opera about this. A lockout looms for July 31.  

Showdown at the Met Matt Wells BBC

 

NY's Mongolian dinosaur bones

One from the vaults, ie, a few weeks ago, but it's a ripping yarn, no? American tax payers should be proud, and Mongolia might soon have it's own dinosaur museum.

Mongolian dinosaurs Matt Wells BBC

 

Will Eno on Broadway: A fish on a bike?

He says himself, he's not sure how he got there, but The Realistic Joneses did very well, and just might foreshadow a return to darkly comic serious theater on the Great White Way. My take aired on BBC Radio 4's PM.

Will Eno Matt Wells BBC

 

Brooklyn: Free At Last

The strangely under-reported saga of Brooklyn's wrongfully-imprisoned men continues. Here's my pull-together of the story so far, for BBC Radio 4.

Exonerate Brooklyn Matt Wells BBC

 

Anyone For Tennis? Not in America much these days...

The glory days of Chrissie, Jimmy, John, Pete and Andre, are over. Only Serena flies the flag, and not for much longer it seems. So what went wrong with the tennis superpower? This for PM on BBC Radio 4. 

Tennis US fail BBC Matt Wells

 

New York Nigerians on #bringbackourgirls

Some surprising push back on how far America goes to help bring back the stolen young women. A fast turnaround commission from the Africa-centric Newsday show, at BBC World Service. 

Nigeria in New York Matt Wells BBC

 

The Memorial Museum finally rises

The press preview day, ahead of the beginning of the official unveiling by President Obama. It's a haunting, visceral place, and it's a shame that T-shirts have to be sold. Bloomberg says they have no choice. This ran on BBC World Service. 

Memorial Museum NY Matt Wells BBC