Soundcheck
558 episodes - English - Latest episode: 5 days ago - ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsWNYC, New York Public Radio, brings you Soundcheck, the arts and culture program hosted by John Schaefer, who engages guests and listeners in lively, inquisitive conversations with established and rising figures in New York City's creative arts scene. Guests come from all disciplines, including pop, indie rock, jazz, urban, world and classical music, technology, cultural affairs, TV and film. Recent episodes have included features on Michael Jackson,Crosby Stills & Nash, the Assad Brothers, Rackett, The Replacements, and James Brown.
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Episodes
Kiran Ahluwalia's Songs of Protest and Hope
May 16, 2024 14:56 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MBSinger Kiran Ahluwalia was born in India, grew up in Canada, and is largely based here in New York. Her music reflects her transcontinental upbringing, as she mixes the sounds of traditional South Asian song forms with Western rock and jazz. A two-time JUNO (Canadian Grammy) winner, Ahluwalia’s work has featured collaborations with leading musicians from the Celtic and Fado worlds, as well as Malian super group, Tinariwen. Her six-piece band includes electric guitar, tabla, drum kit, accordi...
Shabaka's Latest Adventure: Connecting to Nature and Breath With Flutes
May 13, 2024 18:47 - 41 minutes - 37.8 MBShabaka Hutchings, now Shabaka, has been a crucial and connected London-based musician for years, leading arena dance-jazz band Sons of Kemet, cosmic psych-dub-funk trio The Comet Is Coming, and the collaborative band Shabaka & the Ancestors. He began incorporating layered flutes on the last Sons of Kemet record Black to the Future, and kept on picking up more and other woodwinds, first on his 2022 ambient meditation, Afrikan Culture, and now on his new full-length, Perceive Its Beauty, Ackn...
José James Threads the Past Into Message-Music With Soul
May 09, 2024 16:00 - 38 minutes - 35 MBJosé James has often been called a “jazz singer for the hip hop generation,” having come to jazz through tracing hip hop samples and over the course of twelve records, he’s also incorporated R&B, soul, rock, funk, and Latin music into his songs. While he’s mostly sung his own music over the years, he has occasionally covered songs by some of his favorite artists: Bill Withers, Gil Scott-Heron, Erykah Badu and Billie Holiday. James has just released a new album called 1978, which sees him lo...
Community-Fueled Chamber-Pop By San Fermin
May 06, 2024 16:00 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBAmerican indie rock-chamber collective, San Fermin, has been making lush, wide-angled Baroque-pop songs for more than a decade. The band was founded by Brooklyn-based keyboardist Ellis Ludwig Leone, who has multiple creative outlets as a songwriter, classical composer, and founding partner (with bandmate Allen Tate) of a record label focused on collaborations. The latest batch of 'immediate pop' songs on the 2024 album, Arms, is about things falling apart, but the process of making it brough...
Cameroonian Composer Blick Bassy's Folk, Soul and Electro Songscapes
May 02, 2024 21:01 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBFrance-based Cameroonian musician and composer Blick Bassy’s quiet and beautiful songs fall somewhere on the spectrum of R & B, pop, and folk, while the sounds of West and Central Africa have continued to resonate. His Bandcamp calls it "Africanity at the crossroads of soul, folk, and electro". Past albums by Bassy have also referenced Delta blues, and his latest effort, Mádibá, dedicated to the theme of water, is full of modern electronic beats, delicate guitars, brass arrangements, and ric...
Lizz Wright Transforms the Beauty of the Visual Into Song
April 29, 2024 16:14 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MBVocalist and songwriter Lizz Wright is usually referred to as a jazz or gospel singer, and she certainly does sing both of those styles. But she’s also comfortable with blues and R&B and the Great American Songbook. Her latest album is called Shadow, and it features striking versions of songs by Cole Porter, Sandy Denny, and others. The record also includes a number of Lizz Wright’s own songs, which draw inspiration from her Southern upbringing in Georgia, and wander freely among the many st...
Reyna Tropical's Spiritual Survival Songs
April 25, 2024 17:55 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBReyna Tropical is led by guitarist, singer, songwriter and co-producer Fabi Reyna, who is the founder of She Shreds Media, dedicated to women and non-binary guitarists. Investigating landscapes of the tropical diaspora - from Cartagena, Colombia to Fajardo, Puerto Rico and Cuaji (la costa chica de Guerrero), the latest release, Malegría, is a collection of 20 tracks infused with the beat of all things tropical. The music is a blend of Latin rhythms with rock, dance music, and psychedelia a...
Producer and Rapper Erick the Architect Smiles Through It
April 22, 2024 13:56 - 32 minutes - 29.4 MBBrooklyn-born rapper, producer & founding member of Flatbush Zombies, Erick the Architect released his debut solo LP, I’ve Never Been Here Before, in February. While it’s full of trenchant social commentary, it’s also focused on dealing with loss and finding freedom in vulnerability. The tracks draw from funk, gospel, soul, reggae and jazz, with throughlines to musical greats like John Coltrane and George Clinton (who contributed to the album). Erick the Architect and his touring trio bring ...
Indie Fuzz-Rock Duo Deerlady's Shoegaze With Bite
April 18, 2024 22:12 - 33 minutes - 30.7 MBDeerlady is the name of the band led by singer and bassist Mali Obomsawin and guitarist and singer Magdalena Abrego. Mali was part of the folk rock trio called Lula Wiles; then she released her album of Indigenous jazz called Sweet Tooth in 2022, drawing heavily on her Abenaki heritage. Magdalena, a Chicago-born guitarist whose parents migrated from Mexico and Puerto Rico, has played with the minimalism-meets-jazz collective known as Numinous, as well as the improvising sax player Allison Bu...
London-Based Naturalist Cosmo Sheldrake's Marvelous Sound World
April 15, 2024 16:00 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MBLondon vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Cosmo Sheldrake creates songs and sound worlds out of people, places, creatures, plants, fungi, and collected sounds. With his combination of traditional instrumentation and electronic production, field recordings, and both human and more-than-human voices (birdsong and insect choruses), Sheldrake pursues adventures in song, capturing the childlike wonder of a curious tea party, and staying connected to the natural world throughout. Cosmo S...
Empress Of Explores Yin/Yang of Romance and Plays Intimate Songs, In-Studio
April 11, 2024 17:55 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBHonduran-American artist Lorely Rodriguez, known professionally as Empress Of, is a singer, songwriter, musician and record producer based in Los Angeles, California. Her albums are full of bright, indie pop that mixes dance music, electronica, trap, and on her most recent album, Latin music. Empress Of’s new album, her fourth, is called For Your Consideration, and it’s a mischievous exploration of heartbreak, affairs, regaining your sexiness, and pursuing lust and control. Empress Of plays ...
Welsh Musician and Songwriter Gruff Rhys Coexists and Persists
April 08, 2024 15:06 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MBWelsh musician and songwriter Gruff Rhys (of Super Furry Animals, the pop outfit known for their catchy songs and weird videos) poetically harnesses both the gritty and the trippy in his own music. But he’s also a composer, producer, filmmaker and author. His latest release, the 25th album of his career (individually, collaboratively and as a member of various bands), is a solo album called Sadness Sets Me Free, sung in English, and left open to chance. Rhys and his bandmates play some of th...
Genre-Less British Rock Band Bombay Bicycle Club, In-Studio
April 04, 2024 22:46 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MBFormed in North London, Bombay Bicycle Club is the sound of four best friends finding joy and savoring the connection in making music together and experimenting. They think of themselves as a genre-less band (The Independent), “not bound down by genre in a way that a lot of our contemporaries were”. With the 2023 release of My Big Day, and an EP called Fantasies, both of which feature a host of guest vocalists, it’s clear that they’re still freely mixing sounds and cover a lot of ground, son...
Singer and Producer Hatis Noit Connects Worlds With Her Voice
April 01, 2024 20:00 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBThe Japanese singer/composer/producer Hatis Noit, is originally from the northernmost island of Hokkaido. Her name, hatis noit ハチスノイト, means the stem of the lotus flower and is intended to serve as a connection between the living world (represented by the lotus flower) and the spirit world (the lotus root). Further, Hatis Noit feels that singing is not unlike Tai chi, and is a way to connect the physical world to the spiritual world and nature. Now based in London and using vocal techniques...
Spanish Singer María José Llergo's Flamenco Has Roots And Wings
March 28, 2024 15:55 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBSpanish singer and songwriter Maria José Llergo grew up in the region of Andalucia, the home of flamenco music, where she learned violin, and listened to her grandfather sing. From these roots, she grows her own flamenco - and it has "wings" - the sounds of contemporary pop, R&B, and electronica to augment and transform the style. Where there could be flamenco guitar and the "torn throat" crying vocals of flamenco singing, her music is soaring and buoyant global pop, showcasing her instrumen...
The Slow Pastoral Beauty of Roger Eno's Shifting Chords
March 25, 2024 21:28 - 39 minutes - 36.2 MBThe “distinctive style” of British composer and musician Roger Eno’s slowly unfolding sonic landscapes has “attracted a cult following” (Eno’s bio). As well as first collaborating with his brother Brian and Daniel Lanois in 1983 on Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks, he has made over a dozen solo albums and other collaborative pieces. He’s composed for theatre, TV, and film; formed the ambient music supergroup Channel Light Vessel in the 90s; collaborated with The Orb, Lou Reed, Laraaji, Ja...
The Songs and Prayers of Tibetan Singer Yungchen Lhamo
March 21, 2024 15:24 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBThe Tibetan singer Yungchen Lhamo was given the name Lhamo at birth by a Buddhist monk. The name means Goddess Of Melody, and Yungchen has spent her adult life living up to that title. After fleeing Tibet by walking over the Himalayas, in 1989, she established herself as a leading voice for Tibetan culture in the west, releasing a series of albums on Peter Gabriel’s Real World Record label and has become one of the signature voices on the global music scene, even singing for the Dalai Lama. ...
Daymé Arocena Infuses Spirituality and Pan-Caribbean Pop Into Afro-Cuban Jazz
March 18, 2024 15:01 - 32 minutes - 30.1 MBDaymé Arocena, an Afro-Cuban singer from Havana now based in Puerto Rico, has been performing semi-professionally since she was 8 years old. She was trained as a composer, arranger, choir director, and band leader (Wikipedia) at conservatory, in addition to being “a practitioner of the Santeria religion, and a master of its profound musical tradition,” (Afropop Worldwide). Arocena was also part of the band Maqueque, an all-female band of young Cuban artists blending folkloric Cuban music and...
Sheherazaad's Insightful Blend of Poetry and Music, In-Studio
March 14, 2024 16:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBThe singer and songwriter Sheherazaad blends the rich tradition of poetry and music from South Asia with Western instruments and production techniques. Her new album, Qasr, was produced by Grammy-winning Pakistani-American singer Arooj Aftab, and it offers a subtly colored, moody collection of songs that, in the tradition of the old collection 1001 Nights, tell stories. Stories that conjure "real strains of displacement, the push and pull of diaspora, and the depravity of erasure and forgott...
Composer and Flutist Nathalie Joachim Explores Family and Identity in Song
March 11, 2024 16:00 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBHaitian-American composer, flutist, vocalist, and educator Nathalie Joachim is half of the duo Flutronix, whose music blends classical flute playing with electronic sounds. She also played for a spell in the Grammy-winning contemporary classical music ensemble Eighth Blackbird. But in 2019 Nathalie began exploring her family’s roots in Haiti with a striking album called Famn d’Ayiti, using flute, string quartet, electronics, field recordings and her own singing. Now, she’s continued that exp...
Composer, Songwriter, Flutist Nathalie Joachim Explores the Depths of Family and Identity
March 11, 2024 15:48 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBHaitian-American composer, flutist, vocalist, and educator Nathalie Joachim is half of the duo Flutronix, whose music blends classical flute playing with electronic sounds. She also played for a spell in the Grammy-winning contemporary classical music ensemble Eighth Blackbird. But in 2019 Nathalie began exploring her family’s roots in Haiti with a striking album called Famn d’Ayiti, using flute, string quartet, electronics, field recordings and her own singing. Now, she’s continued that exp...
Mary Timony Recaptures Her Joy On 'Untame The Tiger"
March 07, 2024 17:32 - 30 minutes - 28.3 MBSinger, songwriter, guitarist, and educator Mary Timony has been a hugely influential figure on the indie and alternative rock scenes for over 30 years. Starting with the band Autoclave in 1990, she went on to front the group Helium for much of the 1990s, was a member of the supergroup Wild Flag, and is a guitarist and singer of the band Ex Hex. Her latest album, Untame The Tiger, is a solo record – her first in at least 15 years – is full of tasty guitar licks and thoughtful lyrics. Mary Ti...
Helado Negro's Return To What The Sun Feels Like
March 04, 2024 16:52 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBHelado Negro is the avant pop project of Roberto Carlos Lange, born in Florida to Ecuadorian parents but for many years based in Brooklyn. In recent years he’s moved around a bit (Marfa, TX!) and is now based in Asheville NC, which is where he made his new dreamscapey bilingual avant-pop album called Phasor. While it definitely has the dreamy, warm sound of an Helado Negro album, it also feels different - the grooves are more prominent and there are new sonic textures we haven’t heard before...
The American Patchwork Quartet Plays Songs of Enduring American Culture, In-Studio
February 29, 2024 21:04 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBThe American Patchwork Quartet is a group that reflects the American melting pot – the patchwork quilt of people who’ve come and made the U.S.A. their home. APQ features two-time Grammy winner Clay Ross, of the band Ranky Tanky, drummer Clarence Penn, and two musicians who immigrated from Asia: the singer Falu (from India) and bassist Yasushi Nakamura (from Japan). Their debut, untitled album is just out, and includes fresh, often Indian-tinged arrangements of old fiddle tunes, folk hymns, a...
Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra Find Their Twisted Bliss
February 26, 2024 17:00 - 33 minutes - 30.4 MBEthan Lipton writes plays, and songs, and sometimes, plays with songs. His musical No Place To Go won an Obie for its trenchant take on the decline of the American workspace, and in another musical, The Outer Space, a couple finds that they can flee planet earth but not its problems. Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra, according to their own biography, offer "modern lounge with a chewy singer-songwriter center" with songs that may present a melancholy wit and a cockeyed worldview. Ethan Lipton & ...
Vijay Iyer Trio Forges Telepathic Connections on 'Compassion'
February 22, 2024 16:53 - 48 minutes - 44.6 MBPianist and composer Vijay Iyer first got together with bassist and composer Linda May-Han Oh and drummer/composer Tyshawn Sorey in 2021, when they released their brilliant album Uneasy. But with all three musicians having such busy careers, it seemed like it might be a kind of musical summit – the sort of thing that only happens once. Now, those same three gifted players have released a second album called Compassion, on which the trio's connected interplay can seem telepathic, as the musi...
Good Time NYC Rock Unit Bodega Considers Consumerism
February 19, 2024 17:00 - 35 minutes - 32.2 MBNYC-based rock unit Bodega makes artful post-punk songs with brawny, catchy riffs and shouty gang vocals. Their lyrics contain politically-minded and perhaps cheeky commentaries on advertising, technology, pop culture, high art - and how we consume it all; oh- and on gentrification as well. They play bracing new tunes from the forthcoming album, Our Brand Could Be Yr Life, in-studio. -Caryn Havlik Set list: 1. Tarkovski 2. Shiny New Model 3. City Is Taken Our Brand Could Be Yr Life by BOD...
A Rich Harvest of John Leventhal's Lyrical Guitar Work
February 15, 2024 17:00 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBGuitarist and songwriter John Leventhal has spent almost a half century producing, playing for, and co-writing with some of the music world’s most familiar names – Elvis Costello, Shawn Colvin, Jim Lauderdale, Marc Cohn, Joan Osborne, Sarah Jarosz, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Willie Nelson, and of course, Rosanne Cash, to whom Leventhal is married. He’s won a fistful of Grammys, but the one thing he hasn’t done in all that time is a solo record. Until now. Rumble Strip is a collection of inst...
Bluesman Bobby Rush on Funk, Chicken Heads, and the Music Business
February 12, 2024 16:24 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBBobby Rush is in the Blues Hall of Fame, and he’s won three Grammy awards. The first came when he was 83, the second four years later, and the third most recently this month. Now 90 years old, Bobby Rush still tours, dancing around the stage like a guy half – no, a quarter of his age, and not even COVID could stop him from writing and recording his latest album, called All My Love For You. Bobby Rush demonstrates how he put the funk into the blues, recounts what it was like enduring within t...
Trumpeter/Songwriter Keyon Harrold Stretches and Expands Jazz
February 08, 2024 17:00 - 40 minutes - 37.3 MBTrumpeter, singer and composer Keyon Harrold gained a lot of attention for his contribution to the Don Cheadle film Miles Ahead, where he played all of the Miles Davis parts on that Grammy-winning soundtrack. But Keyon’s first professional gig was with the rapper Common, and throughout his career he’s moved effortlessly between the worlds of jazz, hip hop, soul and R&B, as a trumpeter, and, as a singer and songwriter. His new album, his third, is called Foreverland, and Keyon Harrold and his...
Ute Lemper Singt Cabaret Songs of Weimar Berlin, In-Studio
February 05, 2024 18:10 - 38 minutes - 34.8 MBThe German-born, New York-based singer and actress Ute Lemper's career has spanned a century of songs from the worlds of cabaret jazz, avant-garde pop, musical theater, even contemporary classical music. But when she sings the music of Kurt Weill, a much earlier German-born, NY-based artist, she has few equals. So when Carnegie Hall decided to launch its series exploring the music of the Weimar Republic, Ute Lemper had to have a featured role to play. On Friday, Feb. 9, she’ll be performing ...
London's The Wandering Hearts Spin Folk Tales For Hard Times
February 01, 2024 17:00 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MBLondon-based country-folk-pop outfit The Wandering Hearts are known for their deft fingerpicking, rousing choruses, dark-hued lyrics, and sweet, close vocal harmonies. Their music is a blend of Laurel Canyon and British folk sensibilities, heartfelt songwriting and storytelling, and was a great fit at the recent official Americana Fest showcase in Nashville, TN. The Wandering Hearts play new songs from their latest release, ‘Mother’, in-studio. Set list: 1. River to Cry 2. Not Misunderstood...
Singer Britti Embraces Retro Pop, Country, and Soul
January 29, 2024 19:22 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBThe singer Britti is from Louisiana, and her debut LP, winningly titled Hello, I’m Britti, is like being introduced to someone who somehow already feels familiar. Britti’s songs are full of the classic sounds of vintage soul, New Orleans funk, blues, and even country/heartland rock. Her sultry croon, ranging from Sade-meets-second line to shimmering country-pop (like her childhood favorite Dolly Parton), on her Dan Auerbach-produced debut album, lounges atop a hazy retro vibe with both count...
Sinkane Crafts Music For Community and For Shaking It
January 25, 2024 17:00 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBSudanese-American bandleader Sinkane, aka Ahmed Gallab, weaves the sounds of Afrobeat, disco, soul, even krautrock into his irresistible, dance-ready songs. With his latest, We Belong, due out in April, Sinkane found inspiration in Black Arts, Music and Culture and sought out collaborations across a New York community of artists, musicians, poets, and authors. Those full gospel harmonies, a deeper understanding of composition, and connecting with people all generate a message of hope and bel...
Pianist Lara Downes Aims To Expand Classical Music
January 22, 2024 17:00 - 37 minutes - 34.5 MBAmerican pianist Lara Downes has been redefining what it means to be a classical musician, often by expanding our definition of classical music. She’s championed the works of women and Black composers; she’s been a cultural activist and a broadcaster. Now, she’s commissioned a radical new arrangement of Gershwin's "Rhapsody In Blue" by Puerto Rican composer Edmar Colón, to mark the 100th anniversary of Gershwin’s iconic piece. Lara Downes and Edmar Colón play some of "Rhapsody in Blue, Reima...
Canadian-Based OKAN Fuses Afro-Cuban Chants and Rhythms With Jazz and Pop
January 18, 2024 12:03 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBCanadian-based Afro-Cuban duo OKAN takes their name from the word for heart/soul in the Afro Cuban religion Santeria. Both co-leaders, composers and multi- instrumentalists Elizabeth Rodriguez and Magdelys Savigne are classically-trained musicians (violin and percussion and orchestration); and their music combines the traditional chants and rhythms of the Afro-Cuban tradition with jazz, electronica, and pop. The Juno-Award winning OKAN plays compositions from their latest record, Okantomi, i...
Fantastic Negrito's Fiery Blues with a Punk Attitude (Archives)
January 15, 2024 17:00 - 29 minutes - 27 MBSelf-described “lifelong hustler,” Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, is better known by his stage name Fantastic Negrito, and makes “black roots music for everyone” - blues with a giant undercurrent of punkass. Fantastic Negrito’s songs tell of a hard life with some complete do-overs and a few near-death experiences. Coming from a crossroads with optional deals, his music might be informed just as much by California funk-punk (Bad Brains and Fishbone), hip hop, thrash metal, punk, Prince and his sel...
The Unique Songcraft of Catalan Singer and Guitarist Lau Noah
January 11, 2024 22:56 - 29 minutes - 26.6 MBThe singer and guitarist Lau Noah is based here in New York, but she’s originally from Catalonia in Spain, and her guitar playing reflects the sounds of Spanish classical and flamenco music. But there are also elements of Latin American music, jazz, pop, even bluegrass on her latest album. That’s because that record, called A Dos, is (as the title implies) a series of duets with people like jazz singer Cecile McLorin Salvant, mandolinist Chris Thile, and pop star Jacob Collier. Lau Noah with...
Americana Trio The Lone Bellow Celebrates 10th Anniversary, In-Studio
January 08, 2024 17:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBNashville-based Brooklyn-born The Lone Bellow blends passionate, acoustic-based blues, country, and roots music into folky Americana with three-part vocal harmonies. They first brought their ever-shifting blend of American folk music and heartland rock to our studio before that first album even came out, and they’ve joined us at various points during their 10 year journey. The Lone Bellow plays songs built around warm, twangy guitar riffs, and a single old-timey microphone, in-studio, to cel...
The Surreal Electro-Cajun Dreams of Louis Michot
January 04, 2024 19:25 - 37 minutes - 34.6 MBSinger and multi-instrumentalist Louis Michot won a Grammy with his band the Lost Bayou Ramblers, a group that takes the Cajun tradition and adds a healthy dose of punk energy and occasional electronics. Now, he’s released a solo album called Rêve du Troubadour – the troubadour’s dream – and it’s full of traditional Cajun sounds married to contemporary beats, whistled choruses, and guest musicians like Bombino, the Tuareg guitarist from Niger, and the cellist Layla McCalla. Louis Michot an...
Best of Soundcheck 2023, Part 2
January 01, 2024 17:00 - 30 minutes - 27.6 MBHear favorite live performances from the WNYC studios this year: music by Indigenous two-spirit song carrier and activist Jeremy Dutcher; electronically-enhanced piano-based work by German-Swiss duo Grandbrothers; and Irish garage-punk band Sprints. Also, there's the quiet thrill and expressive song-play of Argentinian vocalist Sofía Rei and Peruvian bass player Jorge Roeder. Plus, listen to partly composed, and partly improvised music from Serbian quartet EYOT. ARTIST: Jeremy Dutcher WORK:...
Best of Soundcheck 2023, Part 1
December 28, 2023 17:00 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBHear favorite live performances from the WNYC studios this year: including Mercury Prize-winning London Afrobeat-jazz-hip hop quintet Ezra Collective; drummer Allison Miller’s chamber jazz band (with tap dance!); and beatmaker/bandleader Kassa Overall’s jazz meets rap and sound design. Plus, the furiously exhilarating post-punk of Atlanta-born quartet Algiers; and Mexican singer Magos Herrera with members of Brooklyn’s own The Knights. Playlist: ARTIST: Ezra Collective WORK: No Confusion [...
Stewart Goodyear: A 'Nutcracker' for Flying Fingers (From the Archives)
December 25, 2023 17:00 - 27 minutes - 25.4 MBThe phenomenal pianist Stewart Goodyear, known as both an improviser and composer, famously played all 32 of Beethoven's sonatas in one sitting, when he turned 32 years old. In predictably jaw-dropping fashion, Stewart then turned his electrifying powers to Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker,' with his own transcription of the complete ballet. (The album, released in October 2015, was chosen by the New York Times as one of the best classical music recordings of 2015.) He has since recorded Ravel ...
JJJJJerome Ellis Plays Improvisations on Prayer-Inspired Longform Piano Work, 'Compline', In-Studio
December 21, 2023 17:00 - 41 minutes - 38 MBJJJJJerome Ellis describes himself as “a stuttering, Afro-Caribbean composer, poet, and performer.” His last album, The Clearing, was a brilliant mix of sax, electronic music, and storytelling, featuring his own, stuttering voice. But his new project doesn’t involve speech – though it is inspired by prayer. It’s called Compline, named after the old evening prayers of Western Christianity, and it’s a series of contemplative works for solo piano. JJJJJerome Ellis plays improvisations on Compli...
Nefesh Mountain, Live From The Greene Space
December 18, 2023 13:38 - 38 minutes - 35.4 MBNefesh Mountain has established itself over the past ten years as an unusual sort of bluegrass band, playing progressive, Jewish-themed music. The band is led by the husband and wife team of Eric Lindberg and Doni Zasloff and they’ve played with bluegrass legends like Jerry Douglas and Sam Bush. What is different about Nefesh Mountain is the way they incorporate Jewish themes and sometimes even Hebrew lyrics into a style of music that has its roots, in part at least, in Christian gospel musi...
Songwriter/Guitarist Anjimile Explores New Sonic Territory on 'The King'
December 14, 2023 17:00 - 30 minutes - 28 MBSinger and guitarist Anjimile made a striking impression with his 2020 album Giver Taker, a buoyant collection of indie folk pop. Now, he’s returned with a new record called The King, a much darker record that wrestles with Anjimile’s journey as a Black trans person in a divided America. The album draws on a wider range of sounds, including elements of metal and contemporary classical music. Anjimile plays solo, unplugged versions of some of these new songs. Set list: "Animal" "Anybody" "Th...
Indonesian Pianist Joey Alexander Stretches Out
December 11, 2023 17:00 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBPianist, bandleader and composer Joey Alexander was born in Indonesia and in 2013 at the age of 10, was invited by Wynton Marsalis to perform at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Gala. He spent his teenage years as an interpreter of many jazz classics, playing with Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding, and at major festivals and night clubs, worldwide. In 2022, he released an album of originals rich in melodic and harmonic interplay called Origin. His latest album, a second record of (mostly) his o...
Intimate and Thoughtful Songs by Saxophonist and Singer Braxton Cook
December 07, 2023 19:03 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MBBraxton Cook first made a name for himself as a teenager gigging on the Washington DC jazz scene; toured extensively alongside Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott), and worked in New York where he’s played sax with Jon Batiste (as part of the Soul soundtrack), Christian McBride, and others. But all the time, there was another side of Braxton Cook: the smooth R&B crooner. His latest solo album, Who Are You When No One Is Watching mixes jazz, soul, R&B, and some elements of hip ...
Dublin Band Sprints Throws Down Abrasive Authenticity
December 04, 2023 22:29 - 32 minutes - 29.5 MBSprints is a garage-punk band from Dublin where they’re known for take-no-prisoners live shows and claim among their influences the likes of early Pixies, Bauhaus, Siouxsie Sioux, King Gizzard, Savages and LCD Soundsystem. Their first full-length album is called Letter To Self, and amidst the crashing, searing, seething guitars, there is “an exploration of pain, passion and perseverance”, (dedication for the album), and some inward-looking lyrics. Sprints throws down a mix of deadpan deliver...
Producer Johan Lenox Enhances Chamber Music With Pop and Nostalgia
November 30, 2023 17:00 - 41 minutes - 37.7 MBJohan Lenox has one of the more unusual resumes in the music world. He’s probably best known as a producer, working with hip hop stars like Travis Scott and Big Sean. But he’s also a singer, pianist, and a composer of contemporary classical music. He’ll produce uncategorizable work with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid, write music for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and cover a Nirvana song, all as part of his omnivorous musical diet. Lenox’s 2023 release is called Johan's Childhood Ch...