NYC Radio Live
Live performances and in-depth conversations with extraordinary musicians, artists, writers, and thinkers from more than 40 countries. Hosted by David Ellenbogen and broadcast on WKCR 89.9 FM in New York City. Creator of the 24-hour Ragas Live Festival, which debuted as a broadcast on WKCR in 2012 and is now presented annually at Pioneer Works.
Episodes
Mar 12, 2017
Mar 12, 2017
39 min
Mitali Banerjee Bhawmik (vocal), Meghashyam Keshav (tabla), Ramachandra Joshi (harmonium) perform Raag Miyan Ki Malhar from 5-6pm at the Ragas Live Festival 2016 in Pioneer Works.
Mar 8, 2017
Mar 8, 2017
1hr 58 min
The talented violinist Trina Basu of Karavika joined us on WKCR to present an entire month of women led ensembles at the Brooklyn Raga Massive...we'll hear from Roshni Samlal, Yalini Dream, Ganavya Doraiswamy, Morely, Karavika, Alif Leila, The Epichorus and much more.
Feb 26, 2017
Feb 26, 2017
52 min
Montreal based Thanya Iyer, creates a compelling mix of Carnatic influenced vocals, impressionist classical composition and electronica. She brought her voice and keys to WKCR for a live set with Daniel Gelinas on Drums/Synths and Alex Kasirer-Smibert on bass/synths. The new album is called "Do you Dream"
Feb 20, 2017
Feb 20, 2017
47 min
Last night at WKCR 89.9 FM-NY, Brooklyn Raga Massive members created a sea of drones for raga based improvisation, based on the calls coming into the station it seemed to be just what the city needed!
The group "Unstruck Sound" will be performing this Friday Feb 24th at the Rubin Museum of Art.. Followed by a Sound Meditation with Acoustic Mandala Project at 9:30 pm
Info Tix here
Neel Murgai -Overtone singing, loops, Eric Fraser, Bansuri, Arun Ramamurthy - Violin, David Ellenbogen, Guitar
Feb 17, 2017
Feb 17, 2017
30 min
The mind blowing singer from Mauritania has been on our radio show before and she's coming to NYC to perform for World Music Institute at (Le) Poisson Rouge Friday, February 24, 2017.
We'll share our first encounter with Noura Mint Seymali when we recorded her in Timbuktu with her husband, Jeiche Ould Chighaly. It was an intimate acoustic recording with a single microphone.
We'll also here a highlight of one of our greatest podcasts ever when we connected next Noura Mint Seymali in New York City and recorded her and Jeiche with Brooklyn Raga Massive musicians Jay Gandhi and Ehren Hanson.
Jan 30, 2017
Jan 30, 2017
35 min
We get to hang with Albert Mazibuko an member of Ladysmith Black Mambazo for over 30 years. Albert talks about his memories of times with Nelson Mandela, and how this angel music was both born in the mines and the land of dreams. The group plays B.B. Kings March 8th.
Jan 16, 2017
Jan 16, 2017
26 min
Blato Zlato kicked the doors down at this year's Golden Fest, the amazing annual Balkan festival in NYC featuring over 60 bands. We got to talk backstage with Lou Carrig, Annalisa Kelly,Ruby Ross and check out selections from their new album Swamp Gold.
Formed in 2015, the band performs folk and composed music from the Balkans and Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on Bulgarian songs and improvisational, dreamy, full-energy arrangements.
Blato Zlato is:
Lou Carrig – Accordion, Vocals
Ian Cook – Violin
Annalisa Kelly – Vocals
Pete Olynciw – Upright Bass
Ruby Ross – Vocals
Boyanna Trayanova – Percussion
Jan 11, 2017
Jan 11, 2017
36 min
Hailing from Venezuela, Betsayda Machado & Parranda El Clavo made their New York debut at GlobalFest this week. The group's electrifying live set, complete with pitch perfect harmonies, dazzling dancers, and irresistible rhythms earned them legions of new fans and a feature in the next days's New York Times.
We sat down with Betsayda with her manager Juan Souki and learned more about the Afro-Venezuelan tradition. She talks us through a few tracks on their first album, Rural Recordings Under the Mango Tree, which is available through the Indiegogo campaign that brought them here.
Jan 5, 2017
Jan 5, 2017
1hr 30 min
Just before we left for Cuba to record for this podcast, Brooklyn Raga Massive's Raga Cubana feat. Roman Diaz, had an intimate concert to get ready for our sold out concert a month later at the Rubin Museum of Art.
Here we are trying new things and feeling the hometown energy and love from the Raga Massive Jam Session at the Art Cafe
With
Román Díaz (conductor, batá: iyá )
Giancarlo Luigi (shekere)
Clemente la Tierra (batá: okónkolo)
Melvis Santa (vocals)
Folasona Olorunsola (batá: itótele)
Ehren Hanson (tabla)
Jay Gandhi (bansuri)
David Ellenbogen (guitar)
Arun Ramamurthy (violin)
Michael Gam (bass)
Camila Celin (Sarod)
Jan 5, 2017
Jan 5, 2017
39 min
After three weeks of recording music in Cuba, we return with this special epsiode featuring a live performance from Groupo Folklorico 19 de Septiembre of Santiago de Cuba. Guided by their lead Bata' drummer, Roberto Maikel Fuentes, we'll learn about 3 rhythms: Guanguanco', Tumba Francesa and Columbia.
Jan 1, 2017
Jan 1, 2017
47 min
The seventh set of the historic, Ragas Live Festival 2016, live at Pioneer Works. Neel Murgai (sitar), Sameer Gupta (tabla). Neel and Sameer will be performing at the Raga Massive Concert and Jam Session at the Art Cafe (885 Pacific Street, Brooklyn) this Wednesday, Jan 4th 8pm.
Neel is a multi-instrumental performer, composer and teacher in New York City. He graduated with an MFA in interdisciplinary arts from Goddard College. His life long journey into the depth and beauty of sitar and Indian classical music began in Benares 20 years ago with Ravindra Goswami. Neel has studied sitar for the past 14 years with his guru and mentor Pt. Krishna Bhatt. Neel has studied and plays a variety of instruments ranging from the Persian frame drum to the kanjira, as well as the voice. Neel is interested in creating music that draws from not only Indian Classical Music, but other various traditions as well.
Ragas Live Festival 2016 is produced with the support of The Rubin Museum of Art
Dec 16, 2016
Dec 16, 2016
46 min
This is last minute post while I am in Cuba collecting great recordings for the all you listeners of the podcast!
A great performance from Dee Harris at Ragas live guitar..more to come.
Dec 4, 2016
Dec 4, 2016
44 min
The ninth set of the historic, Ragas Live Festival 2016, live at Pioneer Works. Roopa Mahadevan (vocal) Anjna Swaminathan (violin), Bala Skandan (mridangam), Kabilan Jeginathan (kanjira).
Roopa Mahadevan is a versatile vocalist rooted in the South Indian (Carnatic) classical tradition. Born and raised in San Jose, California, Roopa underwent her major formative training in Carnatic vocal music in under Asha Ramesh, disciple of the late Sangeetha Kalanidhi D.K. Jayaraman and Sri Nanganallur Ramanathan. In 2007, Roopa was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship by the U.S. Department of State to receive advanced Carnatic vocal training in Chennai, India under Suguna Varadachari, a senior guru of the Musiri Subramania Iyer tradition.
Roopa has been a regular performer of Carnatic vocal concerts in the U.S. and India. She has been performing in all of the major “sabhas” in Chennai, India during the December music season, including the prestigious Music Academy. She has received praise from the Carnatic music fraternity and notable press, including The Hindu. She has also performed at the well-known Cleveland Thyagaraja Aradhana, which awarded her the title ‘Kala Ratna’ for her commitment to the pursuit of Carnatic music as a young American. Roopa is also an accomplished Bharathanatyam dancer who has performed her arangetram under the training of the Indumathy Ganesh, disciple of Padmashri Chitra Visweswaran. Roopa is a regular vocal peformer for several of the leading Bharathanatyam and contemporary dancers of the South Asian Diaspora.
Roopa is the artistic director of the NYC-based Navatman Music Collective, an Indian Classical Vocal ensemble. Roopa received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Master’s degree in Cognitive Science from Stanford University. She is based in New York City, where she balances a career in public health policy with the passionate pursuit of her art
Recorded by James Clark mixed by Sameer Gupta.
Ragas Live Festival 2016 is produced with the support of The Rubin Museum of Art
Nov 19, 2016
Nov 19, 2016
38 min
We hang out with Olivier Conan, the band leader of Chicha Libre, and the owner of Brooklyn's most beloved listening room, Barbes. We'll hear some of the smoking tracks from his group and his Barbes Records label and get his take on what's happening in the world.
Barbes will be hosting a free and open event this Sunday about the general state of the union entitled What Now? Post Election Gathering at Barbès from 5pm-7pm November 20th 2016.
Our next upcoming podcast will be Innov Gnawa's explosive Sufi, Trance set from the same evening at Barbes.
About NYC Radio Live
Perhaps one of the only radio broadcasts to blossom into a major live event (Ragas Live Festival), NYC Radio Live is the podcast/archive of the musician and producer, David Ellenbogen. As broadcast on WKCR 89.9 FM-NY, it has featured over 300 live performances, interviews with musicians from over 40 countries, and conversations with great artists, directors, writers, and thinkers. Popular episodes have included members of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Sun Ra’s bands (McCoy Tyner, Jack DeJohnette, Reggie Workman, Knoel Scott); rock stars from the Allman Brothers, Steely Dan, and The Meters (Jaimoe, Walter Becker, George Porter Jr). legends of African Music (Toumani Diabate, Hugh Masekela, Ladysmith Black Mombazo); maestros of India (Zakir Hussain, Hariprasad Chaurasia); groundbreaking composers (Terry Riley) and even award winning directors (Alex Gibney). The Ragas Live Festival was born out of these increasingly ambitious radio shows, and began in the WKCR studio in 2012 when 50 musicians volunteered to play continuous sets for 24 hours, co-creating our historic first broadcast. In 2020, the event featured over 90 artists in 15 cities and 7 countries. The festival continues today as an epic 24 hour live event at Pioneer Works, in Red Hook, Brooklyn, which is simultaneously broadcast on WKCR and podcast on NYC Radio Live. To listen to your favorite Ragas Live Festival performances and to discover much more, subscribe below.