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Remaking the Music of Fred Rogers

Image from the Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood archive at the University of Pittsburgh, as featured in Library Video Magazine (vol. 2, no. 1) and the December 1987 issue of American Libraries.

  This conversation originally aired on January 31, 2018

A few years ago, jazz vocalist Keri Johnsrud was talking with another musician about the role of music in children's television programs. 

"We started talking about Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and how the music in that program was so integral to the advancement of the stories and messages that he was telling on the program. And how jazz was especially was an important part of the show," she says.

That led to recording and and the upcoming release of The Music of Fred Rogers, which is a collaboration with pianist Kevin Bales.

Johnsrud is originally from Iowa, and she joins host Charity Nebbe in this Talk of Iowa segment to talk about the music and the message that Rogers delivered on his show. We also hear some examples of the original songs followed by the remake.

Charity Nebbe is the host of IPR's Talk of Iowa