NYC Radio Live

Soles of Duende - Podcast 305

A great discussion, originally broadcast live on WKCR, with Soles of Duende, Amanda Castro, Arielle Rosales and Brindha Guha.   They'll be preforming with Frank Malloy IV & Roshni Samlal at the Ragas Live Festival at 11pm.  
 
Birthed in East Harlem, the women of Soles arrived with a single, transparent question: how do they find truth, connection, and storytelling through the rhythms of their respective cultures? Based in the rhythms of Tap (Amanda Castro), Flamenco (Arielle Rosales) and Kathak (Brinda Guha), their mission created the fire that is Soles of Duende. They devote their work together to yield nothing but joy and music, and to bring clarity to how they connect given their beautiful differences. 

Lucibela Podcast 303

A chat with Lucibela the great singer from Capo Verde who is bringing her countries music to the US right now with a 14 state tour.   

Alexandre Tannous #302

We have a chat with Alexandre Tannous, a leading sound researcher, sound therapist and ethnomusicologist. 
On 9/18/19 Alexandre will lead an experiential exploration of the effects of this unique system of sound, consciousness, and spirituality with key members Brooklyn Raga Massive. To deepen the experience we sat had a wide ranging discussion about the effects of sound. 
Alexandre Tannous has been active as a musician, educator, composer, and as an ethnomusicologist. He holds a Bachelor of Music with a double major in Music Theory and Composition, and a Master of Arts degree in Music Education from Columbia University Teachers College. As a recipient of the Mellon Fellowship he also earned a Master of Arts and a Master of Philosophy degrees in Ethnomusicology from Columbia University where he was enrolled in the Ph.D. program. He has taught various music courses at the same institution. The works of Alexandre Tannous are frequently performed in the United States, Europe, and in Asia. The World Première performance of his orchestral composition “Métamorphose” under his baton at Carnegie Hall in 1995 received a standing ovation. As a film composer he composed two film-scores: The Seventh Dog (2005), and Jim (2009) www.jimthefilm.com.
 
As a musician, he has performed a variety of musical styles including classical, jazz, rock, and non-Western music on various instruments. Alexandre is also active as an ethnomusicologist. He has conducted fieldwork for 17 years in over 40 countries around the world. His ethnomusicological research investigates issues of acculturation, community, musical identity in an urban setting, and the concepts of talent, charisma, and leadership in music. He is a sought-after ethnomusicologist/composer consultant on projects in recording studios helping creating awareness in amalgamating various musical cultures.
 
For the past 17 years he has been researching the therapeutic and esoteric properties of sound from three different perspectives – Western scientific, Eastern philosophical, and shamanic societal beliefs – to gain a deeper understanding of how, and to what extent, sound has been used to affect human consciousness. This search has led him to the intersection where art, science, philosophy, and spirituality intersect. His ethnomusicological approach entails a social scientific study of sound use in several traditional contexts—religious, spiritual, holistic, and cultural—for various purposes and occasions in entertainment, worship, meditation, and rituals of healing and trance. Consequently, his approach in researching, understanding, experiencing, transmitting, and working with sound has always been based on a multidisciplinary approach.
 
The material he transmits about sound is based on thorough research over many years: observations he made during his fieldwork, scientific studies, personal experiences, and data collected from thousands of people he has worked with doing sound therapy. This has led him to a deeper understanding of how sound reveals and unlocks hidden powers we have within us to promote profound inner changes and healing.
 
Inspired by his findings, he designed a protocol of an integrated experience he calls “Sound Meditation” in which he shares the findings from his research, raising an awareness to how a specifically designed sound can have the ability to help us to disconnect from habitual patterns while judiciously listening to the specific traditional instruments he plays. He employs a phenomenological approach to study the effects of sound, using a method that empowers the participants to engage actively with tools that enhance their experience, using the consciousness-altering properties of sound to heighten self-awareness, to connect to the higher self, to fine-tune self-observation, and to attain self-realization.
 
Alexandre is a frequent guest-lecturer in major institutions such as Georgetown University, Princeton University, Columbia University, NYU, and in museums such as the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of New York, the Brooklyn Museum, the Rubin Museum, and the Museum of the City of New York.
 
He continues to do research on sound, currently works as a sound therapist, teaches this practice, and lectures about sound.
On 9/18,  Beginning with a presentation and a discussion which give context to this music, Alexandre will lead a sound meditation that will incorporate musical experiences from Neel Murgai (overtone loops), Arun Ramamurthy (Carnatic Violin), David Ellenbogen (guitar), Indrajit Roy-Chowdhury (sitar) and Ehren Hanson (tabla).Participants should bring eyemasks for a fully immersive experience.Brooklyn Raga Massive is a prolific artist collective who have gained accolades for “Expanding the notion of what raga—the immersive, epic form of Indian music—can mean…” (Wall St. Journal) and “Preserving the past while blurring genres in an inventive spirit,” (New York Times).All proceeds from the event will go to the Raga Massive 501-C3 non-profit to help produce the most ambitious event of the year: The epic 24 Hour/ 24 Set, Ragas Live Festival at Pioneer Works.

Samarth Nagarkar: Ragas Live 2018

A midnight set from the 24 Hour Ragas Live Festival 2018
Samarth Nagarkar (vocal)Rohan Prabhudesai (harmonium)Sandip Ghosh (tabla)

Ross Hammond Trio - Podcast 300

As we ramp up towards Ragas Live Festival 2019, we are sharing all 24 sets of last years incredible festival.  3AM-4AM was a special moment for us all.   Ross Hammond (guitar), Pawan Benjamin (sax/bansuri), Sameer Gupta (drums)
 
Special Guests Renald St. Juste (percussion), Morgan Zwerlein (percussion) join in for the last jams.  
 
Sacramento guitarist Ross Hammond has played on large stages and in small corners throughout the United States and beyond. His sound is equal parts jazz, folk, blues, spirituals and world music. 
He has played for Hillary Clinton, to audiences of five and all points in between. 
Ross has collaborated/gigged/recorded with:
Kevin Seconds, Oliver Lake, Pheeroan AkLaff, Vinny Golia, Vladimir Tarasov, Tetuzi Akiyama, Nicole Mitchell, Lizz Wright, Dwight Trible, Calvin Weston, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Alex Cine, Suzuki Junzo, Amy Reed, Nels Cline, Jeff Parker, Max Johnson, Steve Adams, Ken Filiano, Mike Pride, Catherine Sikora, Scott Amendola, Steuart Liebig, Sameer Gupta, Tony Passarell and more.
 
 
 

Rajeswari Satish at Ragas Live Festival 2018

A 9-10 am performance from Rajeswari Satish (vocal);Radhika Mani (violin) and Bala Skandan (mridangam) from the Ragas Live Festival 2018 at Pioneer Works.
 
Ragas Live Festival 2019 will take place at Pioneer Works October 19th and 20th. 

Chico Freeman

For Chico Freeman, Jazz is the family business.  His father played with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Ella Fitzgerald and his grandfather was an associate of Louis Armstrong.
Chico has had an amazing career playing with the likes of Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Sun Ra, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Celia Cruz, Charles Mingus, Tito Puente, to name a few.  We got to hang with the great musician, composer and producer and get the inside story on working with so many of these icons of music.
Chico also shares selections from some recent albums including  The Essence of Silence, All In The Family, Spoken Into Existence, and Elvin: Tribute to Elvin Jones. 

Martha Redbone with Brooklyn Raga Massive

As Martha Redbone and Brooklyn Raga Massive prepare to take the stage at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Fransisco this week, we share highlights from our first conversation with Martha and hear her first performance with BRM at the Outside (In)dia Series. This is burning set with
Martha Redbone – VocalsAaron Whitby – Keys, PianoMarvin Sewell – GuitarCharlie Burnham – ViolinTony Mason – DrumsFred Cash – BassSameer Gupta – TablaPawan Benjamin – BansuriNeel Murgai – Sitar
Special Guests:Soni Moreno – VocalsMichael Gam – Sarod, Percussion
Part Cherokee, Choctaw, European and African American, Martha Redbone is a pioneering voice of Appalachian and Native American song. Redbone’s music flows equally from her own unique, award-winning blend of Native American elements with funk and her deep roots in Appalachian folk and Piedmont blues favored by the matriarchy that raised her on a rich sojourn from Clinch Mountain, Virginia to Harlan County, Kentucky and beyond to Brooklyn’s Dodge City-esque mean streets. In this debut collaboration, Redbone was joined by Brooklyn Raga Massive’s community of Indian music-inspired artists for an exploration of Americana and raga intersections.
 
 

Shoko Nagai's TOKOLA Podcast 298

We hang out with Shoko Nagai and Satoshi Takeshi and hear tracks from her amazing TOKALA project... 
 
Shoko Nagai is a versatile musical artist who improvises and performs with world-renowned musicians on piano and accordion and composes original scores for films and live performances. As a teenager in her native Japan, Nagai was trained on Yamaha's electronic organ, the "Electone," to perform popular music. Since moving to the U.S. from Japan and studying classical and jazz music at Berklee, she has adapted her mastery of the keyboard to prepared piano, accordions, the melodica and other instruments, often inspired by the minimalist approach of composer Takemitsu Toru. Whether she is performing Klezmer, Balkan or experimental music, Nagai is a charismatic presence onstage, who hypnotizes audiences with her intense focus and virtuoso sound.
Since moving to New York in 1999 she has been dubbed an "MVP" of the downtown jazz scene, performing with John Zorn, Erik Friedlander, Ikue Mori, Marc Ribot, Frank London, Matana Roberts, Miho Hatori (Cibo Matto), Satoshi Takeishi, Butch Morris, Elliot Sharp, Jeremiah Lockwood and many eclectic performers. Nagai frequently tours internationally, performing in Sweden (2009 Nobel Prize ceremony for German writer, Herta Muller), Italy (Napoli Teatro Festival 2015), Austria (Saalffelden Jazz Festival 2014), France (Banlieues Bleues 2012), Switzerland (Rote Fabrik 2012), Holland (Bimhuis 2012),  Japan (Fuji Rock Festival 2012), Israel (Romanian Institute 2011), Canada (Suoni Popolo Festival 2008), Germany (Moers Jazz festival 2007), and Brazil (resfest 2007) and in the U.S. (Newport Jazz Festival 2015, Saratoga Jazz Festival 2008). She has received grants from JazzJants (Painted Bride Arts Center) in 2008 and the New York Foundation for the Arts in 2010.
Nagai's compositions for films include, L'amour Cache (2007), directed by Alessandro Capone and conducted by Butch Morris, as well as a trio of films directed by Linda Hoaglund: ANPO: Art X War (2010 Toronto, DOC NYC, Vancouver, and Hong Kong film festivals), Things Left Behind, (2012) produced by Japan's national broadcaster, NHK, and The Wound and The Gift, narrated by Vanessa Redgrave (Vancouver, DOC NYC, Tokyo FilmX 2014).
CARE (2016 DOC NYC, AFI DOCS, Sheffield Doc Fest, Reelworld Impact Award) directed by Diredre Fishel
 
“Connection beyond genre and contrasting elements, in quest for the essence” is what Japanese-born musician/improviser Satoshi Takeishi strives for in his performances, whether behind a drum set, a hybrid percussion set or computer-based electronics. 
With over 30 years’ experience in live performances and recording sessions around the world, executing in styles of Jazz, Rock, Contemporary Classical, Avant Garde, Experimental Electronic, Latin, South American, Arabic and African music, Takeishi moves among diverse musical environments. Rather than a specialist of any one style, Takeishi constantly strives for an integration of his diverse musical experience and knowledge. 

Partha Bose at the Ragas Live Festival 2018 - Podcast 297

Today we share the first of 24 sets recorded at the Ragas Live Festival 2018 Partha Bose (sitar) and Aditya Narayan Banerjee (tabla) played a late morning raga at 10am, recorded and broadcast from Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn.  
The Ragas Live Festival will return to Pioneer Works October 19-20th 2019!
Born on January 21,1962, Partha was initiated to the Sitar at the age of six and thereafter underwent intensive training in the tradition of Guru-Shishya parampara under the tutelage of Pandit Monoj Shankar of the famous Maihar Gharana. Partha has received overwhelming appreciation from  connoisseurs and critics of Hindustani classical music in India and abroad over two decades now. 
He has been a distinguished performer on radio and television and was invited by the Government of Indiato lead a cultural delegation to African countries on the historic occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of India's Independence.
His concert tours to the USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, Middle East & Bangladesh have featured him in major international festivals as well as reputed universities : in performances, workshops, lecture-demonstrations and teaching sessions.

Paul Winter Part 2 #296

5 years after our first conversation, we reconnect with Paul Winter.   Seven-time Grammy® winner Paul Winter has a body of work that chronicles his wide-ranging experiences in the musical traditions and natural environments of the Earth.  The saxophonist, composer and bandleader founded Living Music as the recording context for his ensemble, the Paul Winter Consort, and his community of colleagues, which includes some of the world’s finest jazz, world, and classical musicians, along with notable voices from the great symphony of wildlife.  His 24 Annual Summer Solstice celebration is coming up on June 22nd.
 
 

Dennis McNally - Podcast 295

This is a fascinating conversation with Dennis McNally, who tells the inside story of the Grateful Dead as revealed to him during a dozen years on the road with the band, by the members themselves, and from a mountain of research.  Ben Ratliff writes in the New York Times, that Dennis "had more access to his subjects and their trails of paper, recording tape and roach clips than almost all previous rock biographers."
With cameos from the Hell's Angels, the CIA, the Beat Poets, the Grateful Dead's adventures encapsulates the story of counter-culture America itself... and depending on your perspective, serves as a cautionary tale.  
Dennis is also the author of Desolate Angel: Jack Kerouac, The Beat Generation & Americaand Highway 61: Music, Race and the Evolution of Cultural Freedom. 
 
 

Andy Statman # 294

Celebrating the release of his new album, Monroe Bus, we get to hang out with Andy Staman!  Andy Statman is one of his generation's premier mandolinists and clarinetists, and has made major contributions to both Jewish music and bluegrass.  He describes his compositions and performances as "spontaneous  American-roots music and personal, prayerful hasidic music, by way of avant-garde jazz."

Ilusha Tsinadze - Podcast 291

We get to hang out with Ilusha and listen to selections from his new album, Yes & No.   Singer and guitarist Ilusha Tsinadze was born in Soviet-era Georgia and emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 8. Yes & No is a musical conversation between the contemporary sounds of Brooklyn and the traditional music his family left behind in Georgia.
Ilusha has become recognized for his distinct interpretations of Georgia folk music following his first album, Deda Ena (Mother Tongue), the wildly successful single, Mokhevis Kalo Tinao, and tours across the U.S., including a 2018 performance at Carnegie Hall. With a background in jazz and many years spent playing in the NYC music scene, he has found his own voice in the rich musical traditions of his ancestors.
In making his latest album, Ilusha collaborated with Grammy award-winning arranger and producer Kyle Sanna, in Brooklyn, NY. He also traveled to Georgia with a laptop and mics in hand, adding artists that have inspired him over the years. His American musical collaborators are considered some of best world and jazz musicians in New York City, including Peter Hess (clarinet, Slavic Soul Party), Chris Tordini (bass, Tyshawn Sorey) and Vitor Gonçalves (accordion, Anat Cohen).