Past Billy Joel Band Members and GIG ECONOMY Director Up Next On Tom Needham's SOUNDS OF FILM

Billy Joel Band's Liberty DeVitto and Richie Cannata, and THE GIG ECONOMY's Keif Roberts are Tom Needham's special guests this Thursday on WUSB's SOUNDS OF FILM.

THE GIG ECONOMY, a deep dive into the gig economy, reveals its promise and pitfalls through intimate portraits of workers and interviews with leading experts. The gig economy promises freedom, flexibility and entrepreneurship to workers, but does not emphasize the many problems. From award-winning documentary filmmaker Keif Roberts ("Sick School") comes THE GIG ECONOMY, a documentary about the precarious new world of app based work. Going on the job with workers and interviewing leading authors and scholars, THE GIG ECONOMY illuminates the perils and promise of the on-demand economy.

Keif Roberts is an award winning filmmaker. He has directed or co-directed several documentaries, including Anxious, South Bronx United, Under the Bus, Peter Pan Bakery, Working Horses, The Breach, Analog Dreams and Sick School. He has worked with ABC-TV, WPIX, NYRA, The ASPCA, DIY Network and New York Road Runners.

Longtime Billy Joel drummer Liberty DeVitto and musician Richie Cannata will also be special guests this Thursday on the Sounds of Film. Liberty played drums on every Billy Joel album from 1976-1993, including the albums Turnstiles, The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses, and An Innocent Man. He is also prominently featured in the documentary Billy Joel: A Matter of Trust - The Bridge to Russia. Richie joined them on the "Turnstiles," where he would play that amazing solo on New York State of Mind. Richie would continue to tour throughout the world and perform on albums for many years to come. Performing on multiplatinum records such as "The Stranger," "52nd Street," "Glass Houses,"and "Songs in The Attic."

Through the years, Liberty has worked with a variety of artists including Karen Carpenter, Meatloaf, Carly Simon and Stevie Nicks. For the last several years, he has been part of the popular rock group the Slim Kings. He is the author of LIBERTY: Life, Billy and the Pursuit of Happiness.

In 2014, Liberty and Richie were inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame along with fellow Billy Joel band members Russell Javors and Doug Stegmeyer. Recently, DeVitto, Javors and Cannata have been performing together as a group named the Lords of 52nd Street.

The Sounds of Film is the nation's longest-running film themed radio show. For the past 29 years, the program has delivered a popular mix of interviews and music to listeners all over Long Island, parts of Connecticut and streaming live on the Internet at WUSB.fm. Past guests include Billy Joel, director Michael Moore, Peter Fonda, Dionne Warwick, Jim Breuer, composer Carter Burwell and William H. Macy.

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