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WNYC's Soundcheck
Mary Timony Recaptures Her Joy On 'Untame The Tiger"
2024/03/07
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Singer, 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 Timony and her band play some of the new tunes, in-studio.
Set list: 1. Summer 2. No Thirds 3. The Guest
Helado Negro's Return To What The Sun Feels Like
2024/03/04
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Helado 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, perhaps due to inspiration from Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening, Foley sound art, and many other sources – including what the sun feels like.
Set list: 1. Echo Tricks Me 2. Out There 3. Best For You And Me
The American Patchwork Quartet Plays Songs of Enduring American Culture, In-Studio
2024/02/29
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The 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, and early blues. As the famed folksong collector and producer Alan Lomax said, “America has a patchwork culture made of the dreams and songs of all its people.” The American Patchwork Quartet performs their take on old folk songs in-studio.
Set list: 1. Wayfaring Stranger 2. Lazy John 3. Shenandoah
Ethan Lipton & His Orchestra Find Their Twisted Bliss
2024/02/26
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Ethan 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 & His Orchestra, his longstanding four-piece band, have a new album out, called Did You Do The Thing We Talked About, and they play some of these songs in-studio.
Set list: 1. Mess That Summer 2. To Have Done It 3. Crazy for New York
Vijay Iyer Trio Forges Telepathic Connections on 'Compassion'
2024/02/22
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Pianist 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 musicians imagine future possibilities with warmth and clarity. The Vijay Iyer Trio plays some of these newer works, in-studio.
Set list: 1. Tempest 2. Compassion 3. Ghostrumental
Good Time NYC Rock Unit Bodega Considers Consumerism
2024/02/19
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NYC-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 BODEGA
A Rich Harvest of John Leventhal's Lyrical Guitar Work
2024/02/15
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Guitarist 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 instrumentals, a few songs, and a surprising cover or two. John Leventhal plays some of these tunes in-studio.
1. Floyd Cramer's Dream 2. JL's Hymn No. 2 3. That's All I Know About Arkansas
Bluesman Bobby Rush on Funk, Chicken Heads, and the Music Business
2024/02/12
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Bobby 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 the music business (he owns all his own publishing), and tells tales while playing the blues, in-studio. -Caryn Havlik
Set list: 1. Let Me In Your House 2. Chicken Heads 3. Garbage Man
Trumpeter/Songwriter Keyon Harrold Stretches and Expands Jazz
2024/02/08
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Trumpeter, 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 band PLAY some of it, in-studio. (Serious emphasis on play. The band is a joy to watch! – Caryn Havlik)
Set List: 1. Find Your Peace, feat. Stout 2. Don't Lie, feat. Malaya 3. Beautiful Day, feat. Malaya and Stout
Foreverland by keyon harrold
Ute Lemper Singt Cabaret Songs of Weimar Berlin, In-Studio
2024/02/05
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The 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 her tribute to Weimar Berlin at Zankel Hall, and she’s in the studio to give us a preview of what that’ll sound like. Ticket info for Ute Lemper at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall in the round on Feb. 9 .
Set list: 1. Solomon Song/Pirate Jenny 2. Cabaret Songs (Medley of Sexual Liberation) 3. En Brecht/ Die Moritat von Mackie Messer
London's The Wandering Hearts Spin Folk Tales For Hard Times
2024/02/01
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London-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 3. About America
Singer Britti Embraces Retro Pop, Country, and Soul
2024/01/29
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The 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 country twang and a horn section. Britti plays some of these new songs in a stripped-down setting with just voice and guitar, in-studio.
Set list: 1. So Tired 2. Nothing Compares to You 3. Keep Running
Sinkane Crafts Music For Community and For Shaking It
2024/01/25
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Sudanese-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 belonging, and of shaking it. As Sinkane has quoted of late in some interviews, “Free your mind and your ass will follow!”
Set list: 1. Everything is Everything 2. How Sweet Is Your Love 3. We Belong
Pianist Lara Downes Aims To Expand Classical Music
2024/01/22
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American 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 c ommissioned 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, Reimagined", in-studio.
Set List: 1. Love Will Find A Way (Eubie Blake) 2. My Lord What A Mornin’ (trad/arr. H.T. Burleigh) / On Bended Knees (Burleigh arr of Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen) 3. Study in Blue (Gershwin/Edmar Colón)
Canadian-Based OKAN Fuses Afro-Cuban Chants and Rhythms With Jazz and Pop
2024/01/18
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Canadian-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 , in-studio.
Set list: 1. Oriki Oshun 2. Okantomi 3. La Reina del Norte
Fantastic Negrito's Fiery Blues with a Punk Attitude (Archives)
2024/01/15
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Self-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 self-taught ways - specifically Dirty Mind (according to this Guardian interview ) and the blues records he’d heard as a kid, visiting family in southern Virginia.
Lately, his tunes have been placed and licensed for TV and film series (Empire , Hand of God , and in the case of his song “Working Poor,” Bernie Sanders’ political campaign.) But back in the early 2000's he had co-founded a record label, which grew into Oakland-based multimedia creative collective, the Blackball Universe cooperative, fed and financed with the publishing royalties of his own musical alter egos Chocolate Butterfly, Me and This Japanese Guy and Blood Sugar X.
Fantastic Negrito's 2018 record, Please Don’t Be Dead, references his own near-fatal car crash, and is driven in part by political and social issues in these broken and fractured times. The record is full of heavy riffs, cheeky songwriting, playful musicianship, and a whole lot of surviving. It brings Fantastic Negrito to the studio to play some of these tunes. -by Caryn Havlik
Watch the individual songs below:
The Unique Songcraft of Catalan Singer and Guitarist Lau Noah
2024/01/11
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The 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 fellow singer Elliott Skinner, plays some of these duets, in-studio.
Set list: 1. Wooden Chair 2. Siete Lágrimas 3. If a Tree Falls in Love with a River
Lau Noah's album release show for A Dos is on January 23rd at Joe's Pub
Americana Trio The Lone Bellow Celebrates 10th Anniversary, In-Studio
2024/01/08
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Nashville-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 celebrate their tenth anniversary.
Set list: 1. Green Eyes and a Heart of Gold 2. Cost of Living 3. Honey
The Surreal Electro-Cajun Dreams of Louis Michot
2024/01/04
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Singer 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 and his trio play some of these old melodies, enhanced with field recordings and danceable beats, in-studio.
Set list: 1. Amourette 2. Rêve du Troubadour 3. Chanquaillie/Acadiana Culture Backstep
Best of Soundcheck 2023, Part 2
2024/01/01
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Hear 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: Honor Song [4:29]
RECORDING: Live on Soundcheck, Oct. 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: jeremydutcher.com
ARTIST: Grandbrothers
WORK: Blood Flow [5:55]
RECORDING: Live on Soundcheck , Sept. 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: grandbrothersmusic.com
ARTIST: Sprints
WORK: Up and Comer [3:44]
RECORDING: Live on Soundcheck, Dec. 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. The song appears on the album, Letter to Self
INFO: https://www.sprintsmusic.com/
ARTIST: Sofía Rei and Jorge Roeder
WORK: Días de Sitio [2:54]
RECORDING: Live on Soundcheck, Aug. 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. The song appears on the album, Coplas Escondidas
INFO: https://jorgeroeder.bandcamp.com/album/coplas-escondidas
ARTIST: EYOT
WORK: 557799 [5:57]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, May 2023
SOURCE: This performance is not commercially available
INFO: A version appears on 557799
Best of Soundcheck 2023, Part 1
2023/12/28
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Hear 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 [5:01]
RECORDING: Live on the Soundcheck Podcast
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. The song appears on the album, Where I'm Meant To Be
INFO: https://ezracollective.bandcamp.com/album/where-im-meant-to-be
ARTIST: Allison Miller
WORK: Hudson [5:12]
RECORDING: Live on Soundcheck, Nov. 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: allisonmiller.com
ARTIST: Magos Herrera, Members of The Knights
WORK: Aire [5:02]
RECORDING: Live on Soundcheck, August 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://magosherrera.bandcamp.com/album/aire
ARTIST: Kassa Overall
WORK: Make My Way Back Home [4:57]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, July 2023
SOURCE: This performance is not commercially available. A version appears on Animals
INFO: https://www.kassaoverall.com/
ARTIST: Algiers
WORK: Irreversible Damage [5:04]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, April 2023
SOURCE: This performance is not commercially available. A version appears on Shook
INFO: https://www.algierstheband.com
Stewart Goodyear: A 'Nutcracker' for Flying Fingers (From the Archives)
2023/12/25
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The 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 piano works, his own "Callaloo" Suite and Piano Sonata, and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. He was supposed to have toured with Chineke! Orchestra, playing his "Callaloo" Suite this past year, but well. Yeah. 2020. Instead, we'll revisit this 2015 in-studio performance of pieces from Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker.'
JJJJJerome Ellis Plays Improvisations on Prayer-Inspired Longform Piano Work, 'Compline', In-Studio
2023/12/21
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JJJJJerome 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 Compline , his new set of piano works, in-studio.
Set list: Compline Improvisation No. 4, Compline Improvisation No. 2, Compline Improvisation No. 3
Compline in Nine Movements by JJJJJerome Ellis
Nefesh Mountain, Live From The Greene Space
2023/12/18
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Nefesh 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 music. Nefesh Mountain plays a live set in The Greene Space.
Set list: Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning, The Narrow Bridge, A Sparrow’s Song, A Mighty Roar
Songwriter/Guitarist Anjimile Explores New Sonic Territory on 'The King'
2023/12/14
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Singer 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" "The King"
Indonesian Pianist Joey Alexander Stretches Out
2023/12/11
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Pianist, 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 own music, called Continuance , is just out, and it brings Joey Alexander to our piano, to play some of these tunes in a solo setting.
Set list: 1. Blue 2. Aliceanna 3. Why Don't We
Intimate and Thoughtful Songs by Saxophonist and Singer Braxton Cook
2023/12/07
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Braxton 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 hop production. The material also addresses current issues around injustices and racism, while giving a journaling spin to personal experiences. Braxton Cook and his band play some of these new songs and a tune from his 2018 record, No Doubt, in-studio.
Set list: 1. No Doubt 2. The Same 3. MB
Dublin Band Sprints Throws Down Abrasive Authenticity
2023/12/04
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Sprints 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 delivery and explosive emotion, playing new songs in-studio. - Caryn Havlik
Set list: 1. Adore Adore Adore 2. Up and Comer 3. Literary Mind
Producer Johan Lenox Enhances Chamber Music With Pop and Nostalgia
2023/11/30
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Johan 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 Chamber Nostalgia Album , which leans toward ambient music with an unfocused childlike spirit. Johan Lenox and a small chamber music trio play in-studio.
Set list: "Hopes and Dreams", "Boy With Blurry Eyes", "When I Was Your Age"
Web Extra: "Dumb" by Nirvana
Minneapolis-Based Progressive Bluegrass Band Barbaro, In-Studio
2023/11/27
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The 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 traditional instrumentation like fiddle and banjo, but drawing inspiration from electronic music and writing songs that may sound pastoral and folky but which often carry a bit of a bite. Barbaro plays new songs from their rootsy chamber music album, About The Winter, and chats about horse racing, in-studio.
Set list: "Subtle Hints", "Gardens", "All My Friends"
Mountain Man Looks for Peace and Joy Through Vocal Harmonies (Archives)
2023/11/23
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Mountain 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. All three of them toured for a long time as Feist’s backup singers, and lately Amelia Meath, one third of the trio, has been keeping busy as half of Sylvan Esso. Meath, along with Alexandra Sauser-Monnig and Molly Sarle are back, with their first album in eight years, Magic Ship.
As our colleague Justin Sergi writes, "their immaculate precision of timing and tuning and phrasing, comes from love and friendship and the elemental, historic 'fun' of singing three-part harmony with your friends." "It is a precision that can, perhaps, only be born from family. Which is what they are: family." The family of Mountain Man joins us to perform songs, chat about community in North Carolina, the internet, peace and joy, and Molly's cat, Magic Ship.
Set list:
Boat
Underwear
AGT
Watch "AGT":
Storyteller, Songwriter, and Scholar No-No Boy Finds Place
2023/11/20
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The 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-war novel about the treatment of Japanese-Americans after the notorious internment camps set up during the second World War. And his songs often tell stories of marginalized Asian communities that are wrestling with their place in the American melting pot. No-No Boy’s latest album is Empire Electric , and it brings Julian and his band to our studio.
Set list: 1. Jakarta 2. Little Monk 3. Two Candles In the Dark
Migration, Movement, and Joyous Swing in 'Rivers In Our Veins' by Allison Miller
2023/11/16
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New 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 there too. She’s the bandleader of the chamber jazz band Boom Tic Boom, and is part of the all-star jazz group Artemis along with many other collaborations. Allison Miller’s latest album, Rivers In Our Veins , features a new band, including several members of Boom Tic Boom but with tap dancers as well.
Allison Miller presents the full multimedia Rivers In Our Veins on Nov. 25 at Roulette.
Commissioned by Mid Atlantic Arts Organization and Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Rivers In Our Veins is inspired by five major rivers of the Northeast United States – the James, Delaware, Potomac, Hudson and Susquehanna – their history, how they serve the communities around them, and how those communities need to better upkeep them. Allison Miller goes deep with research about rivers and social movement — migratory movement — along rivers, as well as what she learned from the River Keepers. [Much more about Rivers In Our Veins .]
Her top-shelf band, with violinist Jenny Scheinman , bassist Todd Sickafoose , clarinetist Ben Goldberg , trumpeter Jason Palmer, and pianist Carmen Staaf, along with two phenomenally talented tap dancers, perform selections from Rivers In Our Veins , in-studio.
Set list: 1. Hudson 2. Of Two Rivers (Part 2) 3. Fierce
Singer Laufey Honors Roots of Jazz In Modern Torch Songs
2023/11/13
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Icelandic 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-20th century. Her roots are in both classical music (she’s a trained cellist) and in jazz and her mission is connecting multiple generations, especially her own, to both jazz and classical music. She plays modern torch songs from her latest album, Bewitched, in-studio.
[P.S. Check out Laufey’s online book club .]
Set list: “Promise”, “California and Me”, “From the Start”
Songwriter and Producer Raia Was Makes Lustrous and Cathartic Alt-Pop
2023/11/09
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The 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 Are" was featured in HBO’s Euphoria. ] Raia Was has just released her second record, called Captain Obvious , on a new cooperative record label called Switch Hit Records, and it brings her and her dream band of collaborators play in-studio.
Set list: “What It Feels Like” “Any Evil” “So Close” "Easy To Force It”
Watch "What It Feels Like":
Watch "Any Evil":
Watch "So Close":
Watch "Easy to Force It":
Speedy Ortiz Delivers Pop Stingers For the Times (Archives)
2023/11/06
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The 2018 release from American pop band Speedy Ortiz, Twerp Verse , speaks smartly to political and social situations of the present from a feminist perspective of truth-telling and is designed, on purpose, to make us uncomfortable lyrically and musically. With songs that airdrop aggressive, unpredictable chord progressions and disorienting rhythms behind enemy lines, this record is music for popping out from the cover of safety, armed with teeth and claws. Speedy Ortiz plays some of these tunes, in-studio. (From the Archives, 2018.)
Cumbia Punks Son Rompe Pera Do Not Play Their Dad's Marimba Music
2023/11/02
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Son Rompe Pera started as a street band in Mexico City, but the marimba-playing cumbia punks have spent the past six years honing an electrifying and buzzy mix of modern cumbia, tropical dance beats, hard-hitting punk, psychedelic guitars, traditional Mexican and Colombian rhythms, horns, and a pinch of dub and hip hop, (Kennedy Center program notes .) Their 2020 record Batuco , named after the band’s marimba player father, leaned more toward a folkloric, traditional sound by way of nine covers. However, their 2023 record, Chimborazo, delivers 12 originals that really bring the marimba to the mosh pit, including a song where the title is a Chilean expletive and is based on a dream about an alien abduction. Son Rompe Pera slays, in-studio. (-Caryn Havlik )
Set list: "Selva Negra", "La Muerte del Amor", "Chucha"
Watch "Selva Negra":
Writer, Rapper, Singer Dessa Defies Expectations and Offers Deeply Human Insights
2023/10/30
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Singer, rapper, and writer Dessa is a member of the long-running hip hop collective known as Doomtree, though hip hop is just one part of what she does. She has also performed concerts of her songs with the Minnesota Orchestra, published well-received books of essays and audio plays, and hosts the podcast Deeply Human . Dessa, along with harpist Aviva Jaye and saxophonist/keyboardist Joshua Holmgren, play new songs from her 2023 album, called Bury The Lede, in-studio.
Set list: "Hurricane Party", "Blush", "Tell Me Again"
Pascal Le Boeuf's New Music and Jazz Hybrid Plays With Tension and Release
2023/10/26
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Pianist Pascal Le Boeuf’s background is in both jazz and electronic music, and he has established himself as a sought-after composer of contemporary classical music. His work communicates tension and release, leaves space for improvisation, and explores the limits of a continuous high-energy work lasting as long as possible. There’s also a lot of trust and collaboration built into the process.
Le Boeuf performs in what might otherwise look like a classic jazz trio – piano, bass and drums – if it weren’t for the additional strings playing with them. Then, he also manipulates the strings inside our piano, and beats the outsides of the piano as well. Pascal Le Boeuf and his band play music from his 2023 album, Ritual Being , in-studio.
Set list: “Transition Behavior”, “Wanderlust”, “Obliquely Wrecked”
Pachyman's 'Switched On' Honors His Puerto Rican Roots
2023/10/23
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Pachyman is a one-man dub band; that one man is Pachy Garcia, and though he’s based in LA, he grew up in Puerto Rico, at a time when Jamaican music – especially dub reggae - was having a big impact on the island’s music scene. Pachyman’s new album is called Switched On , and is an homage to the era when musicians first began manipulating synthesizers to emit gloriously off-kilter bleeps, bloops, and whooshes - think Switched On Boleros and Switched On Bach . The new record brings Pachy and his dub-drenched sound system from another dimension to our studio.
Set list: "Trago Coqueto", "Lovers", "Switched On"
Watch "Trago Coqueto":
Watch "Lovers":
Watch "Switched On":
Switched-On by PACHYMAN
Chanteuse Ute Lemper Merges Past and Present on 'Time Traveler'
2023/10/18
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German singer and actress Ute Lemper’s career defies easy description. She’s a musical theater legend – starring in the original Paris production of Cabaret and adorning the sides of NYC buses when she starred in the Broadway run of Chicago . But she’s also a singer who has recreated the songs of Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, and Kurt Weill, and sung contemporary songs by Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, and Philip Glass. And in recent years, she’s been writing songs as well, taking inspiration from Hiatus Kaiyote, John Legend, Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan, Annie Lennox, Erykah Badu and/or Robert Glasper . Ute Lemper’s new album, Time Traveler, is a collection of her original works and she’s brought her band in to our studio to play some of them.
Set list: "Time Traveler", "Envie d’Amour"/"Magical Stone", "The Gift"
Irish Songwriter CMAT Distills Deep Dives Into Relatable Pop
2023/10/16
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CMAT might look like one of those specialized tests you have to take to get into a post-graduate program, but this stage name is actually the initials of Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, a Dublin pop singer whose cleverly-titled debut LP If My Wife New I’d Be Dead was a hit in Ireland last year. With cultural references that range from Belgian football manager Vincent Kompany to Gilmore Girls, (she also loves Patsy Cline), CMAT knows how to take a deep dive down a topical rabbit hole and make it into relatable pop. She distills her maximalist tendencies down to an unplugged, intimate setting, playing songs from her brand-new record, Crazymad, For Me , in-studio.
Set list: “Where Are Your Kids Tonight?”, “Rent”, “I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby”
Watch "Rent":
Watch "I wanna be a cowboy baby":
I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby! by CMAT
Singer and Guitarist Buffalo Nichols Envisions The Blues for the Present
2023/10/12
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Milwaukee-based blues singer and guitarist Buffalo Nichols, on his self-titled 2021 debut, showed how timeless the blues can be, both musically and emotionally. On his latest album, called The Fatalist, Nichols uses contemporary 21st century sounds and techniques to remind us that the blues have been and are always with us, intimately tied to present-day 2023. Buffalo Nichols plays some of these new songs, in-studio.
Set list; “Turn Another Stone”, “The Long Journey Home”, “The Difference”
Two-Spirit Song Carrier Jeremy Dutcher Celebrates and Explores Their First Nations Roots
2023/10/09
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Jeremy Dutcher, the classically trained Two-Spirit song carrier, composer, activist, is a Member of the Wolastoqiyik People of the Neqotkuk (formerly known as Tobique First Nation) in Eastern Canada. Dutcher burst upon the music scene in Canada in 2018, winning the prestigious Polaris Music Prize for their debut LP, where Dutcher performed with archival recordings of their Wolastoq ancestors. Dutcher has just released on October 6, called Motewolonuwok (People of great spiritual power), and it continues Dutcher’s exploration of their First Nations roots: celebrating the culture, addressing the endangered language and land rights, and correcting the record. Jeremy Dutcher's trio plays in-studio. - Caryn Havlik
Set list: "Skicinuwihkuk" (Indian Land), "Pomawsuwinuwok Wonakiyawolotuwok" (The People Are Rising), "Qonute" (Honor Song)
Watch ""Skicinuwihkuk":
Watch "Honor Song":
June McDoom's Homespun Blankets of Fancy DIY Sound
2023/10/05
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Growing up in a Jamaican family in Florida, June McDoom was surrounded by reggae; but she found herself drawn to the sounds of 1960's and 1970's folk. Now based in New York, she has released her debut EP, which surrounds those songs with touches of psychedelia, and arrangements that in their own homespun way seem to echo another sound of the 60s – Phil Spector’s so-called "wall of sound". In her intimate acoustic musings, June McDoom’s voice rarely rises above a breathy croon, following its own melody regardless of the kaleidoscope of sounds behind her. McDoom and her band play in-studio.
Set list: "On My Way", "Stone After Stone", "By June"
Watch "Stone After Stone":
June McDoom by June McDoom
Rival Consoles' Warm Ambient Electronic Music, In-Studio
2023/10/02
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The London-based electronic music composer and producer Ryan Lee West records under the name Rival Consoles, and he’s always been concerned with creating an organic, living quality to his experimental electronic music. He draws on both the arena-sized grooves of EDM – electronic dance music – and the more intimate sounds of ambient music without ever settling on one or the other. Rival Consoles plays in-studio.
Set list: “Pulses of Information”, “Articulation”, “Quiet Home”
Time-Warp Ambient Groove of LANZ and Kris Allen
2023/09/28
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Ballard is the name of the new album credited to LANZ & Kris Allen. Lanz is Benjamin Lanz, the trombonist and composer who plays with The National and Beirut and numerous other bands. Kris Allen is a sax player, bandleader and educator. But when you put them together, it's like Brian Eno and Sun Ra went to a My Bloody Valentine show, through perhaps a krautrock or post-rock filter. The result is a trippy batch of instrumentals built from highly processed electroacoustic sounds, sometimes maddeningly catchy and other times ambient and cool. LANZ & Kris Allen, along with drummer Robin Baytas, play some of this music, in-studio.
Set list: "Panenka", "Let Me, Please", "Rabona"
Ballard by LANZ & Kris Allen
Cooking Pepper Soup with Michael Olatuja
2023/09/25
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Bass player and songwriter Michael Olatuja has a career that spans continents and styles. He grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, spent his teenage years playing on the London jazz scene, and has spent much of his career here in New York, playing with everyone from Diana Ross to Shakira to the band for the Broadway hit Frozen . His latest album, called Lagos Pepper Soup , is a tribute to those three cities, and his c inematic Afrobeat sound contains jazz roots of Fela Kuti and Tony Allen, but also perhaps a bit of orchestration from his work with Broadway and Angelique Kidjo. Michael and his band play songs from the new album in-studio.
Michael Olatuja plays at Joe's Pub on Sept. 27.
Michael teaches you the recipe for pepper soup here:
Set list: “Brighter Day”, “The Hero’s Journey”, “Lagos Pepper Soup”
Watch “The Hero’s Journey”:
Watch "Lagos Pepper Soup":
Grandbrothers, Messing With Pianos and Trying Out New Ideas
2023/09/21
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The German-Swiss duo with the unlikely name of Grandbrothers draws on electronic dance music, ambient music, and minimalism. Their tag line is “messing around with grand pianos since 2012,” which captures the essence of their play: they use ALL parts of the piano to generate raw sounds –the notes of the keyboard but also striking the wooden case; or flossing, well, bowing the strings; and E-Bow-like contraptions that oscillate the strings – which are sampled, processed, and assembled in real time. The results are striking creations that are not out of place in either a cathedral or a dance club. Their latest record is Late Reflections , and it brings Grandbrothers, who are the Swiss engineer/mechanic/software designer Lukas Vogel and German-Turkish pianist Erol Sarp , to play in the studio on the occasion of their first U.S. tour.
Watch Bloodflow:
Watch What We See:
Watch Bloom:
Composer and Pianist Carlos Simon: ‘You Never Know Who’s Listening”
2023/09/18
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Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Atlanta, Carlos Simon has become one of classical music’s most eloquent and visible chroniclers of the Black American experience. Although it’s not just classical music – Carlos draws on jazz, R&B, and especially gospel music, as Simon is the son of a preacher. Music is his pulpit, and he says he uses music as therapy and to make sense of it all. He's toured from the back of a flatbed truck, done street-busking, and played cocktail piano music in bars, with an ever-optimistic outlook of "You never know who’s listening”.
He’s currently Composer-In-Residence at the Kennedy Center, and his 2022 LP called Requiem For The Enslaved was nominated for a Grammy. Now, he’s released two recordings in quick succession – first Breadth , an orchestral response to the killing of George Floyd, and just one week later, Together , a collection that features Carlos Simon performing solo piano works and a few small ensemble pieces. He plays some of these solo works at our piano, and a rendition of a well-known hymn, with special guest cellist Seth Parker-Woods.
Watch Amazing Grace with Seth Parker-Woods, cello:
Watch Memory of Summer:
Watch Traveling Song:
Singer Nellie McKay Offers Fresh and Timeless Perspectives, In-Studio
2023/09/14
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Singer Nellie McKay’s songs hearken to pre-Elvis pop and maybe even Tin Pan Alley, and are offered with charm and intimacy. She has also released a whole album of Doris Day songs and a record of 60s covers, in addition to her 2004 splash debut, Get Away From Me and appearances in Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. And while she still sounds like a singer from another time, she’s back with an album of originals called Hey Guys, Watch This . Nellie McKay plays new songs on both piano and ukulele, in-studio. - Caryn Havlik
Watch The Drinking Song:
Watch Driftin':
Watch Did I Catch You Dreaming:
The Dark and Heavy Sounds of Electronically-Enhanced Chamber Music by Pathos Trio
2023/09/11
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Brooklyn-based Pathos Trio consists of percussionists Marcelina Suchocka and Felix Reyes with keyboardist/composer Will Healy- all of whom are equally capable of playing acoustic chamber music or darker-hued electronically-altered sounds. The trio’s new album is called Polarity , and it’s a collection of works specifically written for the Pathos Trio by several composers - drummer/composer Ian Chang of Son Lux; percussionist and member of the International Contemporary Ensemble Clara Warnaar; and digital and electronic composer Phong Tran among them - with nods to alternative rock, progressive/black metal, minimalism, and electronic synthwave. The trio performs some of these newly-commissioned works, in-studio.
Set list: "Mega Cicada" by Ian Chang; "Home/Gone" by Clara Warnaar; "Split" by Phong Tran
Bill Frisell & Luke Bergman, From the 2023 New York Guitar Festival in The Greene Space
2023/09/07
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Listen to a set from contemporary jazz guitar legend guitarist Bill Frisell, together with guitarist, bassist, and vocalist Luke Bergman. Frisell is a singular player in the jazz world, consistently sticking to his roots and American folk, while trying out any other thing that may move him. Bergman is, in Frisell’s words, “a master harmonizer, organizer, orchestrator, imaginator” ( Program notes, Grace Cathedral ). Together they swapped musical ideas remotely during the pandemic and composed a number of pieces. Listen to some of those tunes, including “Waltz for Hal Wilner” from his 2022 album, Four (Blue Note), and other works. - Caryn Havlik
Set list: 1. "Claude Utley" 2. "Let Them Ring" 3. "Fathers Day" 4. "Canon" 5. "Waltz for Hal Wilner"
The Folk-Rock of Passenger, from Busking to 'Runaway" Hit-Maker
2023/09/04
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English singer-songwriter and folk-rocker Mike Rosenberg, formerly of the band Passenger, might be best known for his song “Let Her Go.” Originally from Brighton & Hove, Rosenberg busked his way through England and Australia in the early 2000’s and worked with a five-piece band until 2009, when he decided to continue under that name as a solo artist. He’s played giant stages and summer festivals in Europe, opening for old friend Ed Sheeran. Mike Rosenberg, aka Passenger, plays songs from his 2018 record, Runaway, in-studio. (From the Archives.)
Watch the individual songs below:
Songwriter Kendra Morris Breaks Out of Old Habits
2023/08/31
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Brooklyn singer-songwriter Kendra Morris draws on 60s pop, 70s funk, the indie rock of the 2000’s, and the timeless sounds of soul and R&B on her latest record I Am What I’m Waiting For. She’s also a visual artist who’s done videos for her own songs in the past as well as those by the hip hop supergroup Czarface and the producer MF Doom. Notably absent are “love songs” – instead, the record dives into her fears of flying, the mundane conflicts of domesticity and cohabitation, and a valiant attempt to expand the birthday song canon. Kendra Morris and her band play some of these songs, in-studio.
Set list: 1. Still Spinning 2. Dominoes 3. What Are You Waiting For?
I Am What I’m Waiting For by Kendra Morris
The Quiet Thrill and Expressive Song-Play of Sofía Rei and Jorge Roeder, In-Studio
2023/08/28
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Bassist Jorge Roeder is from Peru; vocalist Sofía Rei is originally from Argentina. Both of them are based here in New York, and have worked with a broad range of New York musicians ( John Zorn, Bobby McFerrin, Julian Lage, and many others); and that experience is reflected in the ease with which they move between Latin, jazz, and experimental music. ( Between them they’ve worked in classical music, jazz, avant-garde, Latin music, metal, and electronics.) Their brand new album together, called Coplas Escondidas , is just the two of them – voice and bass – and it's a collection of songs with a variety of quietly thrilling textures and dramatic melodies. Sofía Rei and Jorge Roeder play in-studio.
Set list: 1. Días de Sitio 2. Prestados 3. Negro Sobre Blanco
The Transformative Sound-World of Cellist MIZU, (fka Issei Herr)
2023/08/24
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Cellist MIZU, (fka Issei Herr) classically trained at Juilliard, creates expansive waves of sound through the processing and layering of her instrument. Her debut record, Distant Intervals , includes ambient soundscapes that explore openness, vulnerability, and a sense of wonder, and is full of titles that hint at transformation, both musical and personal. There also seems to be a Zen element in her layers; they’re contemplative, yet quite ordered as they build delicate crystalline structures. MIZU, (fka Issei Herr) plays some of those pieces, as well as a brand new work where her acoustic cello interacts with forest sounds, in-studio. MIZU, (fka Issei Herr) shared a bill with percussionist Matt Evans at the Noguchi Museum on Sunday. Aug. 27.
Set list: Prelude & Aubade, Flutter, Aveu (The Beginning Is a Farewell) feat. Maria BC
Watch "Prelude & Aubade":
Watch "Flutter":
Watch "Aveu (The Beginning Is a Farewell)" feat. Maria BC:
Junun Featuring Shye Ben Tzur and The Rajasthan Express (Archives)
2023/08/21
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Junun is a musical collaboration between India-based Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur, a group of Indian musicians called The Rajasthan Express, and composer (and Radiohead’s guitarist) Jonny Greenwood. The music is in the ecstatic Sufi music style known as qawwali (made famous by the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ), and it's devotional music—sometimes in Urdu, Hebrew, and Hindi, and is built on a percussion-dense and brass enriched groove with everything to love. In 2018, the band was opening for Radiohead on tour, but they joined us to perform some of these ecstatic tunes, in-studio. (From the Archives, 2018.) -Caryn Havlik
Watch the individual songs below:
Too Sad For the Public's Elastic Take on American Roots Music
2023/08/17
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The sounds of American roots music – folk ballads, fiddle tunes, early blues, New Orleans second line grooves – may seem like they belong to another century. But the NY-based collective called Too Sad For The Public takes those old songs and remakes them, often in surprising ways. Too Sad For The Public’s arranger and producer Dick Connette, along with a sextet version of the band featuring vocalist Ana Egge, play some of the tunes from the latest album, Vol. 2, Yet And Still , in-studio.
Set list: 1. Railroad Bill 2. Old Forty
Watch "Railroad Bill":
Watch "Old Forty":
Kinshasa Band Jupiter & Okwess Shares Music and Messages
2023/08/14
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From Kinshasa, the capital of Congo, comes the band known as Jupiter & Okwess, led by the charismatic singer Jupiter Bokondji. When we last met the band, in 2018, they had just released their second album, a star-studded collection called Kin Sonic . Jupiter & Okwess are touring around to support their latest record, Na Kozonga , which offers a striking mix of high-energy dance, funk, and Afropop, while mixing samba, New Orleans, and soul influences in different languages.
Set list: 1. Solobombe 2. Mieux que ca 3. Muba
Watch "Solobombe":
Watch "Mieux que ca":
Watch "Muba":
Na Kozonga by Jupiter Okwess
Sessa, From the 2023 New York Guitar Festival in The Greene Space
2023/08/10
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Brazilian singer/songwriter Sessa (born Sergio Sayeg in Sao Paolo) is heir to the great tradition of MPB – Brazilian popular music, in the vein of Gilberto Gil or Caetano Veloso. But he favors a stripped down approach that reflects his own love of the German minimalist group Cluster, and his lyrics – often about love, heartbreak, and the power of music – echo themes in Leonard Cohen’s songs and Sun Ra’s cosmic jazz. He plays songs from his latest, Estrela Acesa , or “Burning Star” at the 2023 New York Guitar Festival in the Greene Space.
Set list: Grandeza, Ponto de Faca, Pele de Estera, Sereia Sentimental, Flor do Real
Watch "Grandeza":
Watch "Ponto de Faca":
Watch "Pele de Estera":
Watch "Sereia Sentimental" :
Watch "Flor do Real":
Jazz-Fluid Singer Magos Herrera's Rich and Silky Lightness
2023/08/07
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The Mexican singer Magos Herrera has a distinctive, elegant, and expressive voice, and while she’s usually thought of as a jazz singer, she’s also done a lot of collaborating with artists from the worlds of pop and classical music. Largely based here in New York, Herrera has recently put out a new album, called Aire , which features her own sextet and a full orchestra – a kind of communal response to the isolation of the pandemic, when most of the songs were written. Her own band and members of the Brooklyn-based orchestra called The Knights present some of these jazz-fluid songs, rich with drama and feeling, in-studio.
Set list: 1.Aire 2. The Calling 3. Choro de Lua
Watch "Aire":
Watch "The Calling":
Watch "Choro de Lua":
Jiji, From the 2023 New York Guitar Festival in The Greene Space
2023/08/03
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Classical Korean guitarist and improviser Jiji has a penchant for blowing minds with her playing, improvising, and stage banter. She adapts the stunning and acrobatic Caprice No. 24 by 19th century virtuoso violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini. Plus, she plays a work by the Icelandic composer, guitarist and professor of electronic composition, Gulli Bjornsson. Both performances were recorded live at the 2023 New York Guitar Festival in the Greene Space.
Set list: Claudia Sessa (arr. Jiji): "Occhi Io Vissi Di Voi"; Gulli Björnsson: "Dynjandi"; Niccolò Paganini (arr. Jiji)- "Caprice No. 24"
Watch "Occhi Io Vissi Di Voi":
Watch "Dynjandi":
Watch "Caprice No. 24":
Black Belt Eagle Scout Heeds the Call of the Land
2023/07/31
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Black Belt Eagle Scout is the work of the singer and guitarist Katherine Paul, KP for short, whose music is deeply rooted in the culture of the Swinomish community on the coast of Washington. Black Belt Eagle Scout’s latest album is called The Land, The Water, The Sky, and it often pairs Katherine Paul’s quiet musings on land, love, and community with roaring guitars and pounding drums. Black Belt Eagle Scout plays some of these new songs, in-studio.
Set list: 1. Nobody 2. Don't Give Up 3. My Blood Runs Through This Land
Watch "Nobody":
Watch "Don't Give Up":
Watch "My Blood Runs Through This Land":
The Land, The Water, The Sky by Black Belt Eagle Scout
Altin Gün Glams Up Folk Tunes From Turkey As Dance-Psych-Funk, In-Studio
2023/07/27
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The band Altin Gün is based in the Netherlands but they’ve gained global attention – and a Grammy nomination – for their psychedelic, glam rock and disco-tinged versions of songs from Turkey in the 1970s. So, in the 70s the folk rock movement racing through the British Isles made its way to Anatolia, inspiring young Turkish musicians to recast old Turkish folk songs with electric guitars, synthesisers and the like. Forty years later, Altin Gun has been resurrecting the creativity and the energy of this corner of the music world, with their own hi-octane, dance-ready arrangements. Their latest album is called Ask, and they play new tunes, in-studio. AND they play at Brooklyn Steel on Monday, July 31.
Set list: 1. Su Sızıyor 2. Canim Oy 3. Doktor Civanim
Watch "Su Sızıyor":
Watch "Canim Oy":
Watch "Doktor Civanim":
Updated Chamber-Pop By Gracie and Rachel, In-Studio
2023/07/20
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The chamber pop duo known as Gracie and Rachel have always had a kind of yin and yang quality to them: Gracie Coates, the pop songwriter at the piano; Rachel Ruggles, the classically trained violinist. "Blending baroque elements, ethereal soundscapes, and penetrating vulnerability, the duo creates an emotionally haunting sound" with an electric energy, (Righteous Babe Records .)
The high school friends from Berkeley, California were operating out of Brooklyn, where the duo made its reputation, but Gracie has moved to upstate New York. Rather than signaling an end, though, Gracie’s move has spawned a new collection of songs, called Nowhere Now Here , which focuses on the continued connection between the two. Gracie and Rachel play some of these new songs, in-studio.
Gracie and Rachel play at Public Records on July 21.
Set list: "Middle Ground", "Sidelines", "Call Away"
Watch "Middle Ground":
Watch "Sidelines":
Watch "Call Away":
The Off-Kilter Experimental Pop of Goldfeather
2023/07/17
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Goldfeather is the work of vocalist and composer Sarah Goldfeather and guitarist/producer Mike Tierney. Sarah Goldfeather is also a founding member of the ensemble Excpetet, a group modeled on the instrumentation of Stravinksy's "L'Histoire du Soldat" and created to commission new works by living composers. In fact, all of the band members are classically trained, with experience and interests from bluegrass to experimental pop.
Goldfeather’s new album, Change , is a head-spinning blend of hyperpop filtered through the lens of contemporary classical and electronic music. With its processed voices, sudden shifts in rhythm and harmony, and catchy pop hooks, the new songs are off-kilter fun, even as they tell a serious tale of "uncomfortable self-reflection" The band plays some of these tunes in-studio.
Set list: "Who Am I When I Am All Alone", "The Animal", "Beautiful Tree"
Watch "Who Am I When I Am All Alone":
Watch "Animal":
Watch "Beautiful Tree":
Ondara Negotiates a Rebirth of Self
2023/07/13
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Singer and songwriter Ondara's story is that of a young person in Kenya falling in love with Bob Dylan songs and winning a green card lottery that let him follow his dream of moving to America. Now Ondara has released his third LP, Spanish Villager #3, and while it has a more produced, electric sound, he’s touring around doing solo acoustic performances. He plays solo acoustic songs in-studio.
Set list: "A Shakedown in Berlin", "A Nocturnal Heresy", "A Seminar in Tokyo"
Watch "A Shakedown in Berlin":
Watch "A Nocturnal Heresy":
Watch "A Seminar in Tokyo":
Phillip Johnston Trio Plays Loud Music for Silent Films
2023/07/10
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Sax player, composer and author Phillip Johnston lives in Sydney, Australia, but for many years he was a familiar figure on New York ’s downtown jazz and new music scene. He cofounded the Microscopic Septet – the band that did the theme song for the NPR show Fresh Air, led the band s Big Trouble, and the Transparent Quartet, and was an early pioneer in writing new music for old silent films. In fact, his book Silent Films/Loud Music , has just come out in paperback, and it brings Phillip and his New York gang to the studio to play some special trio arrangements of his film music.
Set list: "The Unknown. Part 1: 'Men’s Hands'", "The Mermaid", "Hydrothérapie Fantastique"
Louis Cato, From the 2023 New York Guitar Festival in The Greene Space
2023/07/06
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Producer, songwriter, and eclectic multi-instrumentalist Louis Cato is the bandleader for the newly renamed “The Late Show Band.” He has worked with has worked with many artists, including Bobby McFerrin, Snarky Puppy, Jon Batiste, Q-Tip and A Tribe Called Quest. Together with drummer Joe Saylor, he plays original and traditional tunes that draw on gospel, pop, rock, and FUN, from his headlining set at the 2023 New York Guitar Festival in The Greene Space. - Caryn Havlik
Set list:
Down in the River to Pray
In My Reach
Look Within
Anymore
You Got To Walk That Lonesome Valley
Back and Forth
Watch "In My Reach":
Watch "Back and Forth":
Steve Gunn, From The Greene Space
2023/07/03
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Steve Gunn’s solo far-out fingerstyle acoustic work may be influenced by the drones of Eastern music and the Western avant-garde; or his work with psych- and traditional folk artists, and/or collaborations with Mdou Moctar and Joshua Abrams’ Natural Information Society. Then, there’s the unbridled improvising freedom of his duo work with drummer John Truscinski; or his work with psych-folk band Hiss Golden Messenger or indie rocker Kurt Vile. Steve Gunn’s appearance at the 2023 Big Ears Festival playing trad folk songs with Jake Xerxes Fussell was just one side of this multifaceted guitarslinger. His most recent record is with David Moore, who records as Bing & Ruth. Steve Gunn plays original songs in The Greene Space, as part of the 2023 New York Guitar Festival.
Set list: "Way Out Weather", "On The Way", "Morning Is Mended"
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Crys Matthews, Activist and Troubadour of Truth
2023/06/29
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Songwriter and musician Crys Matthews uses the sounds of folk, gospel, folk rock, and country, to tackle some of the thorniest social justice issues facing our country today: migrant rights, LGBTQ rights, the Black Lives Matter movement, and more. She’s based in Nashville, but New York’s been a good place for her: in 2017 she was the grand prize winner at the New Song Music and Performance Competition in Lincoln Center. More recently, her song “Changemakers” was named Song Of The Year by the International Folk Music Awards for 2021. She plays some of her songs, with bonus foot percussion, in our New York studio.
Set list: "Cancel Culture", "Like Jesus Would", "Written in the Stars"
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Bayonne Finds Peace in an Airy Dark Pop Groove
2023/06/26
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The band called Bayonne is basically the work of American minimalist composer and electronic musician Roger Sellers, who is from Austin TX, not Bayonne NJ. Along with guitars and keyboards, his looping station, which can give hints of both Steve Reich and Owen Pallett, is a treasure trove of tiny melodies that stretch and expand over time. His latest album as Bayonne, is called Temporary Time , and it might be his most personal record yet - perhaps almost "emo", coming as it did after the death of Sellers’ dad. Roger Sellers with drummer Matt Toman play these new songs in-studio.
Set list: "Right Thing", "Perfect", "Words"
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Ben Harper Goes Minimalist in Masterful Songs
2023/06/22
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With influences from Bob Marley to Blind Willie Johnson to Bob Dylan, guitarist, singer, and songwriter Ben Harper sees songs in colors and can taste them when they’re ready. His Grammy wins have come in the categories of Blues, Traditional Soul/Gospel, and Instrumental Pop. His musical range is indeed that varied, one can expect anything from alt-folk to reggae to indie rock to an operatic tenor hidden in a cabaret song. His latest, Wide Open Light , is a spare, largely acoustic set of songs, raw, and mostly solo. Ben Harper plays some of these pieces in-studio.
Set list: "Masterpiece", "Giving Ghosts", "Love After Love", "Trying Not To Fall In Love With You"
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Emily King Untangles Complicated Feelings and Dances On
2023/06/19
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NYC-raised songwriter, musician, and arranger Emily King makes sophisticated pop with strong elements of R&B, funk, and soul. But her discography also includes songs with a more electronic texture and a whole project with the chamber ensemble known as yMusic. Her latest album is called Special Occasion and it might contain some heartbreak and complicated feelings, a few shoo-be-doos coupled with synth string sounds a la Paisley Park, and a country waltz dressed up as a pop ballad. Emily King plays some of these new songs in-studio as an intimate trio.
Set list: “False Start”, “Medal”, “Special Occasion”
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Radical Love, Timeless Melodies, and Peace From Ani Cordero
2023/06/16
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The singer and multi-instrumentalist Ani Cordero is a Puerto Rican musician living here in New York. She is bilingual, singing in both English and Spanish, as is her latest record, Anamores, a concept album rooted in many kinds of love – Platonic Love, Love of a Child, Love for our Ancestors.) Her music draws on her years of playing rock with bands like Pistolera, new wave synth influences, and the rhythms of the Caribbean – Clave and Bomba patterns. AND COWBELL. Ani Cordero and her band play some of these new songs, in-studio.
Set list: 1. One Hundred Years (de un siglo a aquí) 2. No Me Da La Coquí Gana 3. Se Acabó
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Larry & Joe Blend Venezuelan and Appalachian Folk Music, From Big Ears 2023
2023/06/12
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Venezuelan legend of Llanera music Larry Bellorín and GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and oldtime musician Joe Troop play as Larry & Joe. Larry was forced into exile and is an asylum seeker in North Carolina, and worked construction to make ends meet, although he has been a musician and educator all his life. Troop, a socially conscious “Latingrass” musician with Che Apalache, has written songs about migration, and works with asylum seekers; he relocated to North Carolina to be in this duo with Larry.
Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music come together on Larry’s custom-built Joropo folk harp and Joe’s fiddle and banjo, as they blend their musical inheritances and traditions as well as storytelling on their record, Nuevo South Train. The duo performs remotely from the 2023 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN. The duo plays at 6PM on June 15 at Rockwood Music Hall.
Set list: “Gabanjo”, “Caballo Viejo”
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Yasser Tejeda Celebrates the Shared African Roots of Dominican Music
2023/06/08
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Dominican guitarist, vocalist, composer, and producer Yasser Tejeda explores the African roots of Dominican music, and combines the folkloric with jazz, rock and Caribbean influences. Lately, he has turned to Congolese guitar, and Haitian rhythms (Hispaniola), New Orleans and Afrobeaty funk to highlight the way that music has crisscrossed the Atlantic. Tejada and his band tear it up in the studio with music from his latest, La Madruga , (Dawn/Dusk). Yasser Tejeda plays at TV Eye on June 15.
Set list: 1. "El Sol De La Madruga" 2. "En El Naranjo" 3. "Todo Va A Marchar"
Watch "El Sol De La Madruga":
Manchester Orchestra Finds A Tender Calm and Floating Optimism
2023/06/05
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Atlanta-based indie rock band Manchester Orchestra has long had a decidedly cinematic approach to songwriting, with tunes that grow in the telling and explode into grand, almost orchestral choruses. Now, they’ve released The Valley Of Vision , a stirring, emotional journey of healing inspired by a 1975 book of old Puritan prayers found in a suitcase. In these six songs and a VR film, Manchester Orchestra digs deep to find the peaceful floating zen of resolve and try on what it might mean to feel all right again. Songwriter Andy Hull and guitarist Robert McDowell play some of these tunes remotely in intimate arrangements.
Set list: “Capital Karma”, “Quietly”, “Rear View”
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Mike Peters of The Alarm, On Going Forwards With Euphoria
2023/06/01
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Since 1981, Welsh musician Mike Peters has been the voice of the hit-making British band The Alarm. After the band split up in 1991, Peters wrote and released solo work, before reconstituting The Alarm in 2000, (Wikipedia .) Since being diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in 2005 (he is also co-founder of the Love Hope Strength Foundation), Mike Peter’s career has been largely determined by the cycle of remission and relapse. But to listen to The Alarm’s upcoming album, pointedly called Forwards , and you’ll hear a man whose songwriting is as anthemic as ever, and, yes, determinedly forward looking. Mike Peters plays some of these new songs, as well as one of the band’s old hits, on acoustic baritone guitar, in-studio. (-John Schaefer)
Set list: "Forwards", "Next", "The Stand"
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Soundcheck
https://www.newsounds.org/shows/soundcheck
WNYC, 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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