Programme Information

Internationally renowned vocalist José James and Belgian pianist Jef Neve are in session at the BBC's Maida Vale studios as Jamie Cullum continues to showcase his love for all types of jazz and music rooted in jazz, from its heritage to its future.

The duo perform tracks from their new album For All We Know, which was released recently. They also chat about working together and how the album came about – and Jamie might even join them at the piano.

Presenter/Jamie Cullum, Producer/Karen Pearson for Folded Wing

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Jerry Hall considers the legacy of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix

Jerry Hall marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Jimi Hendrix (18 September 1970) by considering his legacy as one of the most creative and influential musicians of the 20th century. Recollections from musicians who experienced the thrill of seeing Jimi play live provide an eyewitness account that captures the chaos and excitement of Hendrix's career.

The programme charts a chronological path through Jimi's most important performances, beginning with his career as a backing musician for some of the biggest names in soul music and R&B including Ike and Tina Turner, Little Richard, Sam Cooke, the Isley Brothers, BB King and Jackie Wilson.

By 1966 Jimi was performing with his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames, in the Café Wha? in New York's Greenwich Village when he was spotted by Keith Richard's girlfriend, Linda Keith. She mentioned Jimi to the Animals' bass player, Chas Chandler, who was so impressed that he signed Jimi to a management deal and brought him to London that September.

One of Jimi's first gigs was to jam on the track Killing Floor with Cream at the Regent Polytechnic on London's Regent Street. Eric Clapton was particularly impressed and that week took Pete Townshend to see Jimi play at the Scotch of St James club in Westminster. Jimi's showmanship and virtuosity was a massive influence on dozens of the leading names in British rock and those who flocked to see him play included David Gilmour, David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Brian Epstein, Roger Daltrey, Phil Collins, Spencer Davis, Jeff Beck, Brian Jones, Donovan and Lulu.

In early 1967 Jimi supported the Walker Brothers on their farewell tour and set fire to his guitar at the Finsbury Park Astoria – a stunt he would repeat several times in the following years. Later that year Paul McCartney persuaded the organisers of the Monterey Pop Festival to book Jimi; his performance was acclaimed as a high point, leading to him being booked for every major music festival including Woodstock and Isle of Wight.

Contributors to this programme include Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney (who saw Jimi's London gig on the weekend that Sgt Pepper was released and Jimi played the album's title track), Monterey Festival organiser Lou Adler, Andy Fairweather Low, Tom McGuinness, Michael Wadleigh (who filmed Jimi at Woodstock), Donovan (who was on stage with Jimi at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970), Eric Burdon, Phil Manzanera, Marsha Hunt, Eddie Kramer, Nigel Kennedy, John Giddings, Michael Lydon, David Crosby, Keith Altham and roadie "Tappy" Wright. There are also archive interviews with Mitch Mitchell, Noel Redding and Chas Chandler.

Presenter/Jerry Hall, Producer/Des Shaw for 10 Alps

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

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Bringing a slice of Californian Americana to Janice Long's show tonight are Delta Spirit.

The band play live in the studio, performing tracks from their latest album, History From Below.

Presenter/Janice Long, Producer/Mark Plant for the BBC

BBC Radio 2 Publicity

Brown's Years Ep 1/3

Tuesday 21 September

9.00-9.45am BBC RADIO 4

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown

Political commentator Steve Richards tells the inside story of Gordon Brown's time as Prime Minister, based on revealing interviews with his close colleagues.

Interviewees include former ministers Peter Mandelson, David Miliband, Ed Balls, Harriet Harman, Jack Straw, Douglas Alexander, Alan Johnson, Hazel Blears, Peter Hain and Shriti Vadera; and several former Downing St staffers – including those responsible for policy, political strategy and polling – who speak publicly for the first time about what went on within Gordon Brown's Downing Street.

Presenter/Steve Richards, Producer/Martin Rosenbaum for the BBC

BBC News Publicity

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This week Neil MacGregor describes the impact of the European age of discovery, between 1450 and 1600.

Today he is with some of the best examples of African art – the great plaques of Benin. Neil looks at what happened when Europeans started trading in West Africa and first came upon the ancient culture of Benin, in present-day Nigeria. He describes the world of this hugely successful warrior kingdom and the culture that produced such exquisite artwork, and recounts what happened when the British raided Benin at the end of the 19th century. He describes the effect that these bronze portraits had when they first arrived in London.

Artist Sokari Douglas Camp reflects on the sculptures as art, while Nigerian poet and playwright Wole Soyinka reacts to the violent history of Benin and the loss of part of their great heritage.

Presenter/Neil MacGregor, Producer/Anthony Denselow for the BBC

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Brett Westwood introduces a special report by Saba Douglas-Hamilton from Samburu National Park in Kenya as the series examining the world of nature and the challenges of wildlife conservation continues.

Owing to its unique Earth history Africa is regarded as the cradle of much of the world's wildlife, when millions of years ago the world's land mass was concentrated around it. The continents have all moved but Africa, on the same scale, has remained in the same place. It is a vast continent, larger than the USA and Europe combined, with iconic wildlife.

Saba reports from Samburu national park where she and her family have studied the elephants and lions for decades. They see pressures of climate, local people and a new tide of foreign hunters impacting on the wildlife. Saba's report suggests it is the local tribespeople who hold the key to looking after their precious wildlife.

The programme also looks at the work of Earth Watch in the same national park and reports on a controversial project to reintroduce lions back into Zimbabwe.

Presenter/Brett Westwood, Producers/Sheena Duncan and Julian Hector for the BBC

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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The Revenge Of The First King Of Mars Ep 1/3

Tuesday 21 to Thursday 23 September

3.30-3.45pm BBC RADIO 4

To mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, BBC Radio 4 commissioned Nick Walker to write a short story that recaptured the spirit of American Fifties B-movies.

What followed, to enormous acclaim, was The First King Of Mars, the story of the first manned mission to the red planet. Unfortunately, the extreme isolation of space had a negative affect on the commander and his plans to become the all-powerful king of the red planet led to the first of many insurrections by his crew.

In The Further Adventures Of The First King Of Mars, Nick's five stories which came hard on the heels of the initial adventure, the king arrived on the planet. After a landing that could have gone better, the king discovered that there appeared to be no subjects for him to rule over. The progressive disappearance of his crew only made matters worse. Only in the final episode did the intrepid cosmonaut discover that monkeys had already colonised Mars underground, creating a well-ordered and tranquil society – a Nirvana in fact, so seductive that the crew had never been happier.

In this new series, The Revenge Of The First King Of Mars, which continues on Wednesday and Thursday this week, the eponymous hero takes on the monkey kingdom and its ruler, the rather aggressive Roger.

Producer/Karen Rose for Sweet Talk Productions Limited

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Matthew Parris presents Great Lives with this week's edition looking at the life of French writer Michel de Montaigne.

Michel de Montaigne is one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the essay as a literary genre and became famous for his ability to fuse intellectual speculation with casual anecdotes and autobiography. Montaigne's work continues to influence writers to this day.

Championing his life is surgeon, scientist, broadcaster and politician Professor Robert Winston and providing expert witness is writer Sarah Bakewell, whose recent biography, How To Live – A Life Of Montaigne In One Question And 20 Attempts At An Answer, was published to great acclaim.

Presenter/Matthew Parris, Producer/Paul Dodgson for the BBC

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

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Communities across the UK are being asked to volunteer to host permanent deep storage of the country's most dangerous radioactive waste. Tonnes of higher level nuclear waste are currently stored at Sellafield in Cumbria, but government policy – in line with international scientific consensus – is to find permanent storage, deep underground in a geological repository.

But so far, only communities around Sellafield have said they might be interested, and if they have second thoughts, or if the geology of the area is found to be unsuitable, then it's back to square one.

As one of the pioneers of nuclear power, Britain has a mountain of historic waste to deal with, yet – despite the scale of the UK problem – other countries are already decades ahead in identifying and developing storage sites hundreds of metres down into the rock.

BBC environment correspondent Richard Black visits the Onkalo site in Finland, where the world's first geological repository, 420m underground, is due to open for business in 10 years' time. He finds out why the Finns were so enthusiastic about volunteering, even competing, to host this nuclear waste store and considers how the same process, to identify a site here in the UK, could unfold over the crucial next 12 months.

Presenter/Richard Black, Producer/Fiona Hill for the BBC

BBC Radio 4 Publicity

5 Live Sport – League Cup 2010/11

Tuesday 21 September

7.00-10.30pm BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Mark Pougatch presents live coverage from the third round of the League Cup, including arguably the stand-out tie, Tottenham Hotspur versus their north London arch-rivals Arsenal at White Hart Lane.

Presenter/Mark Pougatch, Producer/Danny Garlick

BBC Radio 5 Live Publicity

Marc Riley is joined by Everything Everything, returning for their fourth session, and guest curator, poet Simon Armitage.

Everything Everything debuted in Manchester in 2007. The band musically fuse "three-part harmonies with scalding post-punk guitars; floor-filling bass lines with syncopated rhythms" and lyrically range from Naomi Klein to Edward Lear. Their debut album, Man Alive, finally emerged in August.

Multi-award-winning Yorkshire-born Simon Armitage is one of Britain's foremost poets, with nine volumes of poetry to his name as well as numerous writing credits for radio, television, film and stage. He also won an Ivor Novello Award for his song lyrics for the Bafta-winning film Feltham Sings.

The programme also features Rob Hughes's lowdown on Americana.

Presenter/Marc Riley, Producer/Michelle Choudhry

BBC 6 Music Publicity

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Gideon Coe breaks out concerts from the Penguin Café Orchestra and Scotland's Delgados, as well as a session from Scottish indie satirists the Pooh Sticks, an early Happy Mondays session, a rare John Peel recording of US art pop band Unrest and an early 1972 session from the Sutherland Brothers Band.

Presenter/Gideon Coe, Producer/Mark Sheldon

BBC 6 Music Publicity