words always give me melodic ideas, also rhythmic ideas because of speech rhythm.

And I walk around when I hear someone in the street and I hear them talk,

I notated in my head what it would look like on a page.

Time signature, what the rhythm would be, how, you know, if you think of a pulse behind what people are saying.

Welcome back to Working. I'm your host, June Thomas.

And I am your other host, Isaac Butler.

Isaac, it is always a pleasure to see you and to talk with you.

But tell me, whose voice did we hear at the top of the show?

We heard the voice of composer and jazz legend Anthony Davis.

And why did you want to speak with him right now?

Well, part of the reason is that he's a titan in his field and his press reps approached us and said,

hey, do you want to interview Anthony Davis? And any time you have the opportunity to interview someone of his stature,

intelligence, and artistry, you should take him, right?

But the reason why they brought it to our attention is that his first opera, X, the Life in Times of Malcolm X, which premiered in the mid-80s and has sort of not

been remounted very often, now has a new production that began in Detroit and then bowed at the Metropolitan Opera this fall.

And so since that was coming back, it was a good opportunity to speak with him.

Amazing.

I cannot wait to hear that conversation, but tell me Isaac, is there some exclusive

content just for Slate Plus members and if so, what will they hear?

You know there is, June, there always is.

And so it turns out that Anthony Davis is a big sci-fi head and so am I and so when I learned that

he is working on a long gestating opera adaptation of Ursula Legwin's extraordinary, the left hand of darkness.

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