Nashua Telegraph

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Randy Armstrong may be no whiz in the kitchen, but he had no problem cooking up the score for PBS's four-part series "Dinner on the Diner," which will air in June, depending on local schedules.

"It's been a great opportunity for me to come up with new combinations of instruments and original compositions," Armstrong said.

A double-CD box set, recently released on the Ellipsis Arts label, includes a book of native recipes, travel logs and images from the four regions visited in the series: South Africa, Scotland, Southeast Asia and Spain.

"Dinner on the Diner" traffics in nostalgia for the lost era when trains were the only practical form of long-distance transportation, focusing on the dining car. The series features journeys to foreign lands with some of public television's biggest chefs as they prepare culturally appropriate dishes from the dining cars of historic luxury trains.

The series includes Martin Yan, of "Yan Can Cook," traveling from Singapore to Bangkok on the Eastern and Oriental Express as he creates a risotto with seafood; the former Galloping Gourmet Graham Kerr preparing prime fillet with Yorkshire pudding crepes in the Scottish Highlands aboard the Royal Scotsman; Mary Ann Esposito, of "Ciao Italia," preparing salmon baked in salt in southern Spain on the Al Andalus Express; and Dorinda Hafner, of the "Taste of ... " TV series, preparing spoon bread in South Africa on the Union Limited.

Although Armstrong did not accompany the production on location, he said he could hear the musical score play in his head the first time he viewed the tapes. "It was very natural," he said. "As soon as I saw the footage, I knew where I was going with it immediately."

Armstrong's musical flavorings range from the Gypsy guitar of "Baile de Gitano" (RealAudio excerpt) to his rendition of Ladysmith Black Mambazo leader Joseph Shabalala's "Thula Klizeo" (RealAudio excerpt), and from the Scottish reel "Devil in the Kitchen" (RealAudio excerpt) to the traditional Thai song "Khamen Sai Yok."

Armstrong, who lives in Nottingham, N.H., began delving into world music while attending an integrated high school in Columbus, Ohio. "The experience of having black and white kids and musicians together sparked my interest to see what other kinds of music are out there," he said. His pursuit began in his 20s, when he learned to play the sitar and the tabla.

Armstrong is the co-founder of Doah World Music Ensemble, with whom he toured nationally for 17 years, and the Armstrong-Nahrmann Group (formerly Unu Mondo). He plays a collection of more than 200 instruments, including guitars, sitar, balofon, djembe drum, koto, charango, mbira and many other percussion and stringed instruments. He also performs with the award-winning storytelling, music and movement duo Armstrong & Aichele.

Armstrong looks forward to more projects like this. He said there was some talk about more episodes of "Dinner on the Diner," with Cuba, Bolivia and Japan as possible future destinations. But if Armstrong had it his way, he'd want the crew to go to India. "I know I could play up the music really well," he said. "Indian music has always been an influence for me."

Cultural cuisine may be at the heart of "Dinner on the Diner," but Armstrong admits he is not a great cook. "I was always hungry when working on the segments," he said. "There was just so much good food."

— Holly Bedard