In this episode of This Old Tree, Doug introduces us to Santa María del Tule, a small town in the heart of Oaxaca, Mexico, home to a Montezuma Cypress more than 2,000 years old. Its trunk is considered the widest of any tree on Earth.

For over a millennium, the Tule Tree has drawn visitors: the Zapotec, Mixe, and Mixtec peoples, who revered it; Spanish colonizers; and traders from across Mesoamerica. Today, travelers from around the world make it a tourist destination.

In this episode, host Doug Still sits down in the tree's shade with the town's mayor, members of the Tule Tree Committee, and arborists from the Mexican Association of Arboriculture. A local historian shares the town's long story, and we hear the legend of King Kondoy, the hero whose planted staff became the tree.

But this giant is about more than size. How does it become the community's guiding light? What is an axis mundi? And what do the people of Tule sacrifice to keep the famous tree alive?

This week on Jazz After Dinner Joe features Vocalist Sarah Vaughn from 1995, Polygram/Verve Records compilation recording, titled “Jazz Masters 42.”

The RI Philharmonic Orchestra is the subject of this week's program with Ruth Reinhardt, Music Director. We talk about their upcoming concerts and listen to some of the music being presented on Saturday January 23rd, 7:30 PM at the Vets in Providence. For more information you can call 401-248-7000 or go to www.riphil.org