''Sessions at West 54th'' is an American television program that featured music performances, and was in some ways a pop music variation on the theme set by the long-lived ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show to ...

'', though the featured musicians represented a number of

musical genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from '' musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are som ...

s. It was called ''Sessions at West 54th'' because it was taped at

Sony Music Studios Sony Music Studios was an American music recording and mastering facility in New York City. The five-story building was a music and broadcasting complex located at 460 W. 54th Street, at 10th Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen section of Manhattan ...

on West 54th Street in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Jeb Brien and Niki Vettel, APS senior v.p. for program development, developed the series after working on APS concert specials with Suzanne Vega and Ottmar Liebert. It was produced for

public television Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...

syndicator American Program Service (APS) (now

American Public Television American Public Television (APT) is an American nonprofit organization and syndicator of programming for public television stations in the United States. It distributes public television programs nationwide for PBS member stations and indepe ...

, Boston) and was carried on many public television stations. It first aired in most places on July 5, 1997, when it was included in the Saturday late-night lineup of stations covering 85% of the country. After the program ended, an edited for commercial television version also aired on the

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

Trio cable television network. It was first hosted by radio disc jockey Chris Douridas of

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to program ...

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

, while former

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

frontman

David Byrne David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

took over hosting duties during the second season and

John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded ...

was the host during the third, and final, season.

Episode list

Season 1 (1997)

Season 2 (1998)

Season 3 (1999–2000)

Releases

CD Releases

DVD Releases

VHS Releases

References

*Steve Behrens (June 23, 1997)
With public TV's new Saturday night concerts, younger viewers can 'eavesdrop' on diverse musicians at work.
''

Current Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (stre ...

''.

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0118459, title=Sessions at West 54th
KET: ''Sessions at West 54th'' Episode ListTV.Com: Episode guide: ''Sessions at West 54th''
1990s American music television series 2000s American music television series 1997 American television series debuts 2001 American television series endings David Byrne