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Claude Debussy certainly gave his pieces picturesque titles—think of Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun, or La Mer, just to name a couple—but he was advised against a to-close reading of so-called “descriptive” music.

"I live in a world of imagination, which is set in motion by something suggested by my intimate surroundings rather than by outside influences, which distract me and give me nothing. I find an exquisite joy when I search deeply in the recesses of myself, and if anything original is to come from me, it can only come that way.”

Scherzo means “joke,” in Italian, but in Beethoven’s scherzos you won’t usually find anything that qualifies as out-‘n-out funny. What you usually will find is a certain playfulness, with lots of fast notes, abrupt accents, surprises, and quick changes of musical direction.

On our final episode of this season of ColaJazz Presents, saxophonist and Richland 1 Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon joins us to discuss his love of jazz and the importance of music education.

The word scherzo, which means “joke,” in Italian, had appeared in music as early as the 1600's, but it was Beethoven who gave the scherzo its modern character, and established a permanent place for it.

Much of the Beidler Forest is a swamp – a flooded forest where the water level fluctuates rather dramatically, some areas may occasionally be completely dry. The water doesn’t come from streams or springs but from rainfall draining from the four hundred and thirty thousand acres watershed above Four Holes Swamp, of which Beidler is a part. Think of a swamp as a massive porous surface – rainwater can slowly infiltrate the soil and pollutants – fertilizers, motor oil from roadways, industrial waste, sewage -- are broken down by soil organisms into non-toxic substances. The water level fluctuates with rainfall but inexorably slowly flows across the land, from wetter to drier sites before ending in the Edisto River. After excess rainfall events, that slow passage mitigates flooding of that River and adds cleansed water for the backup supply of Charleston’s drinking water.

“B” is for Bamberg County (393 square miles; 2020 population: 13,654). Bamberg County, located in the inner coastal plain in south-central South Carolina, was formed from the southeastern section of Barnwell County in 1897. It was named for Francis Marion Bamberg, the grandson of John Bamberg who arrived in the area in 1798. The town of Bamberg is the county seat. The South Carolina Railroad traversed the area in 1833 connecting it with Charleston. During the Civil War, Confederate forces lost a skirmish to General Sherman’s forces at Rivers Bridge. By the 1890s cotton fed the region’s economy, aided by such enterprises as the Bamberg Cotton Oil Mill. In the first decades of the twenty-first century, despite a declining agricultural economy, Bamberg County remained a heavy producer of corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and sorghum.

Our next guest followed and filmed five adult, special-needs ballet students through a year of dancing and living which brought to viewers of the film often unheard voices, a perspective frequently overlooked, and to the film director a filmmaking award.Mike Switzer interviews Sarah Shoemaker, director of “Invitation to the Dance”, named the best documentary feature at this year’s Beaufort International Film Festival. She is also the executive director International Ballet.

In a normal year, our next guest’s recent annual event would spin off more than $18 million in local economic impact each year. But of course, we’re not quite back to normal yet. Mike Switzer interviews Gillian Zoettler, executive director of the Charleston Wine and Food Festival in Charleston, SC.

The last time we interviewed our next guest, about a year and a half ago, her company had four employees. But then the pandemic hit, and it grew to twenty. Did they pivot to a COVID-related business?Mike Switzer interviews Donna Brin, CEO of bFIVE40 in Little River, SC.