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PODCAST

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,

arts performing arts

All Episodes

28:28

The Folk-Rock of Passenger, from Busking to 'Runaway"...

Soundcheck ·

2023/09/04

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

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29:42

Songwriter Kendra Morris Breaks Out of Old Habits

Soundcheck ·

2023/08/31

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

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31:34

The Quiet Thrill and Expressive Song-Play of Sofía...

Soundcheck ·

2023/08/28

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

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38:27

The Transformative Sound-World of Cellist MIZU, (fka...

Soundcheck ·

2023/08/24

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,

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41:31

Junun Featuring Shye Ben Tzur and The Rajasthan...

Soundcheck ·

2023/08/21

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

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34:02

Too Sad For the Public's Elastic Take on American...

Soundcheck ·

2023/08/17

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

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24:08

Kinshasa Band Jupiter & Okwess Shares Music and Messages

Soundcheck ·

2023/08/14

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

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25:33

Sessa, From the 2023 New York Guitar Festival in The...

Soundcheck ·

2023/08/10

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

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38:44

Jazz-Fluid Singer Magos Herrera's Rich and Silky...

Soundcheck ·

2023/08/07

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

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21:48

Jiji, From the 2023 New York Guitar Festival in The...

Soundcheck ·

2023/08/03

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):

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33:36

Black Belt Eagle Scout Heeds the Call of the Land

Soundcheck ·

2023/07/31

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

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26:14

Altin Gün Glams Up Folk Tunes From Turkey As...

Soundcheck ·

2023/07/27

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

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27:56

Updated Chamber-Pop By Gracie and Rachel, In-Studio

Soundcheck ·

2023/07/20

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

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31:02

The Off-Kilter Experimental Pop of Goldfeather

Soundcheck ·

2023/07/17

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

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31:38

Ondara Negotiates a Rebirth of Self

Soundcheck ·

2023/07/13

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

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36:20

Phillip Johnston Trio Plays Loud Music for Silent Films

Soundcheck ·

2023/07/10

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 bands 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

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40:53

Louis Cato, From the 2023 New York Guitar Festival in...

Soundcheck ·

2023/07/06

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

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28:03

Steve Gunn, From The Greene Space

Soundcheck ·

2023/07/03

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

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28:16

Crys Matthews, Activist and Troubadour of Truth

Soundcheck ·

2023/06/29

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

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30:28

Bayonne Finds Peace in an Airy Dark Pop Groove

Soundcheck ·

2023/06/26

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

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