Latest Cheff Podcast Episodes
Good Time NYC Rock Unit Bodega Considers Consumerism
Soundcheck - February 19, 2024 17:00 - 35 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsNYC-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...
A Rich Harvest of John Leventhal's Lyrical Guitar Work
Soundcheck - February 15, 2024 17:00 - 36 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsGuitarist 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 o...
Bluesman Bobby Rush on Funk, Chicken Heads, and the Music Business
Soundcheck - February 12, 2024 16:24 - 35 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsBobby 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 ev...
Trumpeter/Songwriter Keyon Harrold Stretches and Expands Jazz
Soundcheck - February 08, 2024 17:00 - 40 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsTrumpeter, 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 caree...
Ute Lemper Singt Cabaret Songs of Weimar Berlin, In-Studio
Soundcheck - February 05, 2024 18:10 - 38 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsThe 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...
London's The Wandering Hearts Spin Folk Tales For Hard Times
Soundcheck - February 01, 2024 17:00 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsLondon-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 ...
Singer Britti Embraces Retro Pop, Country, and Soul
Soundcheck - January 29, 2024 19:22 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsThe 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 c...
Sinkane Crafts Music For Community and For Shaking It
Soundcheck - January 25, 2024 17:00 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsSudanese-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 acro...
Pianist Lara Downes Aims To Expand Classical Music
Soundcheck - January 22, 2024 17:00 - 37 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsAmerican 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 arrang...
Canadian-Based OKAN Fuses Afro-Cuban Chants and Rhythms With Jazz and Pop
Soundcheck - January 18, 2024 12:03 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsCanadian-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 t...
Fantastic Negrito's Fiery Blues with a Punk Attitude (Archives)
Soundcheck - January 15, 2024 17:00 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsSelf-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-deat...
The Unique Songcraft of Catalan Singer and Guitarist Lau Noah
Soundcheck - January 11, 2024 22:56 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsThe 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’...
Americana Trio The Lone Bellow Celebrates 10th Anniversary, In-Studio
Soundcheck - January 08, 2024 17:00 - 28 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsNashville-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 ...
The Surreal Electro-Cajun Dreams of Louis Michot
Soundcheck - January 04, 2024 19:25 - 37 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsSinger 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 i...
Best of Soundcheck 2023, Part 2
Soundcheck - January 01, 2024 17:00 - 30 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsHear 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 ...
Best of Soundcheck 2023, Part 1
Soundcheck - December 28, 2023 17:00 - 31 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsHear 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...
Stewart Goodyear: A 'Nutcracker' for Flying Fingers (From the Archives)
Soundcheck - December 25, 2023 17:00 - 27 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsThe 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 h...
JJJJJerome Ellis Plays Improvisations on Prayer-Inspired Longform Piano Work, 'Compline', In-Studio
Soundcheck - December 21, 2023 17:00 - 41 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsJJJJJerome 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 inspire...
Nefesh Mountain, Live From The Greene Space
Soundcheck - December 18, 2023 13:38 - 38 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsNefesh 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....
Songwriter/Guitarist Anjimile Explores New Sonic Territory on 'The King'
Soundcheck - December 14, 2023 17:00 - 30 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsSinger 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 alb...
Indonesian Pianist Joey Alexander Stretches Out
Soundcheck - December 11, 2023 17:00 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsPianist, 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,...
Intimate and Thoughtful Songs by Saxophonist and Singer Braxton Cook
Soundcheck - December 07, 2023 19:03 - 39 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsBraxton 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, a...
Dublin Band Sprints Throws Down Abrasive Authenticity
Soundcheck - December 04, 2023 22:29 - 32 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsSprints 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 cr...
Producer Johan Lenox Enhances Chamber Music With Pop and Nostalgia
Soundcheck - November 30, 2023 17:00 - 41 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsJohan 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...
Minneapolis-Based Progressive Bluegrass Band Barbaro, In-Studio
Soundcheck - November 27, 2023 17:00 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsThe Minneapolis trio Barbaro grows out of the American bluegrass tradition, but the key words there might be “out of”, as Barbaro doesn’t race through banjo breakdowns and flashy fiddle solos, although they can do those things. The band is something of progressive version of bluegrass – using tr...
Mountain Man Looks for Peace and Joy Through Vocal Harmonies (Archives)
Soundcheck - November 23, 2023 17:00 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsMountain Man, the Appalachian a cappella trio, features the timeless sound of three voices singing in harmony, with an occasional strum of the guitar. They released an album in 2010, a trio of college friends who’d gotten used to singing together, but then went their separate ways after college....
Storyteller, Songwriter, and Scholar No-No Boy Finds Place
Soundcheck - November 20, 2023 21:31 - 42 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsThe musician known as No-No Boy is a Vietnamese-American singer and songwriter, real name Julian Saporiti, whose music incorporates the sounds of American folk but adds various Asian instruments and scales, as well as field recordings and found sound. Saporiti took the name No-No Boy from a post...
Migration, Movement, and Joyous Swing in 'Rivers In Our Veins' by Allison Miller
Soundcheck - November 16, 2023 17:00 - 40 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsNew York-based drummer, composer, and educator Allison Miller has played with singer/songwriters like Brandi Carlile, Ani DiFranco, or Natalie Merchant, but she’s best known for her own bands, and her own music, which is usually labeled jazz, but you’ll hear elements of rock, funk and folk in th...
Singer Laufey Honors Roots of Jazz In Modern Torch Songs
Soundcheck - November 13, 2023 17:00 - 33 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsIcelandic singer and songwriter Laufey Lín Jónsdóttir, known by the mononym Laufey (pronounced Lay-vay), is having a breakout year. Now based in L.A., the young singer with the timeless-sounding voice crafts songs which look to the great American songbook and the jazz-inflected pop of the mid-20...
Songwriter and Producer Raia Was Makes Lustrous and Cathartic Alt-Pop
Soundcheck - November 09, 2023 17:00 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsThe songwriter, pianist, vocalist, and producer Raia Was has become known for her dark art- and alt-pop. She was raised here in New York, and some of the city’s darkness, risk-taking, and energy flow through her songs which may oscillate between brooding intensity and cathartic euphoria. [“You A...
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