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
Dec 6, 2015
Dec 6, 2015
1hr 9 min
Recorded a few days ago at Brooklyn Raga Massive's weekly concert and and jam session at ShapeShifter Lab, this set of music suggests new directions in the between raga and jazz.
It will be broadcast in New York City, on Sunday Dec. 6 on WKCR 89.9 FM-NY 7-9PM and stream at www.wkcr.org
In the 1960's, led by the Art Blakey, The Jazz Messengers led the movement of hard bop which returned the music to its blues and gospel roots. The Raga Jazz Messengers too are exploring soulful territories, blues, swing and different emotional spaces which are not often associated with Indian-Jazz collaborations.
The Jazz Messengers are, Sameer Gupta, drums; Jay Gandhi, Bansuri, Pawan Benjamin - Saxophone, Sharik Hasan, Piano and Michael Gam, Bass.
Nov 6, 2015
Nov 6, 2015
1hr 9 min
To celebrate the upcoming release of her new album, From the Ground Up. musical polymath Hadar Noiberg brought her trio to Continental Records, to record a special live set just for us! This special podcast will also broadcast this week on the radio, WKCR 89.9 FM-NY and stream www.wkcr.org at 11pm EST on November 8.
It was really exciting to have her bring in an all star band:
With Phil Duke at the controls, we recorded 4 songs with Hadar Noiberg (flutes), Allison Miller (drums) and Haggai Cohen Milo, Double Bass. We also hung out with Hadar as she shares some gems from wide and varied musical journeys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA6C9K26uTI
Oct 10, 2015
Oct 10, 2015
1hr 49 min
Two weeks ago, on John Coltrane's Birthday, Brooklyn Raga Massive performed a stunning tribute to the Coltrane Legacy. Recorded in front of a capacity crowd at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYC Radio Live will share the concert in it's entirety. It will be broadcast on the radio at WKCR 89.9 at 7pm on October 11th. Musical Director Sameer Gupta joins host David Ellenbogen for an on-air discussion of the relationship between the music of these two worlds.
The all-star ensemble includes:
Sameer Gupta - Drumset/Tabla (musical director),
Brandee Younger - Harp,
Jay Gandhi - Bansuri,
Arun Ramamurthy - Violin,
Pawan Benjamin - Sax,
Trina Basu - Violin,
Neel Murgai - Sitar,
Ben Tyree - Guitar,
Rashaan Carter - Bass
Michael Gam - Bass
Special Guests:
Roopa Mahadevan - Vocal
Pyeng Threadgill- vocal
Anupam Shobhakar - Sarod
Jessica Lurie - Sax
Ken Shoji- Violin
Dawoud Kringle - Dilruba
Giancarlo Luigi - Chekere and Percussion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITeAOXxw_kE
Sep 16, 2015
Sep 16, 2015
14 min
One from the archives: There was much talk about Randy Weston on the last few episodes about Gnawa music. I thought I'd broadcast part 1 of an interview I did with him a few years back. This was first broadcast as a podcast that I never really got going with. If you haven't checked him out, I hope this will inspire you to check out some albums or see him in concert.
Part 2 coming soon...we hung out and spoke for hours that day.
Offical Bio:
After contributing seven decades of musical direction and genius, Randy Weston remains one of the world's foremost pianists and composers today, a true innovator and visionary.
Encompassing the vast rhythmic heritage of Africa,
his global creations musically continue to inform and inspire.
"Weston has the biggest sound of any jazz pianist since Ellington and Monk, as well as the richest most inventive beat," states jazz critic Stanley Crouch, "but his art is more than projection and time; it's the result of a studious and inspired intelligence...an intelligence that is creating a fresh synthesis of African elements with jazz technique".
Aug 17, 2015
Aug 17, 2015
46 min
In our first collaboration with the stellar Rubin Museum of Art, we presented at sold out concert, an Evening with the Brooklyn Raga Massive. It featured a first set of Dan Weiss and Sameer Gupta in a tabla duel followed by a second set of Max ZT, hammered dulcimer, Ehren Hanson, tabla, Jay Gandhi, bansuri and Arun Ramamurthy violin, plus a jam session/ party in the cafe afterwards. Here's the entire 2nd set.
Many thanks to Tim McHenry and the staff at the Rubin. We'll be back when over 15 members of the Brooklyn Raga Massive All-Stars perform Terry Riley's in C on August 28th.
Jul 21, 2015
Jul 21, 2015
2hr 1 min
Recorded live at Lincoln Center, Gnawa Diffusion are true rebel rockers who deftly slide from traditional Gnawa sounds to reggae, rock, dancehall and and million other styles. The group's leader and visionary is Amazigh Kateb who hails from Algeria. I was lucky to hang with Amazigh a few days later in Brooklyn, (along with Alexandre Tannous) and record our discussion.
Thanks to Meera Dugal for setting up these last two great Gnawa Podcasts !
Jul 14, 2015
Jul 14, 2015
1hr 6 min
This podcast features a live in-studio, late night recording of InnoVe Gnawa. It sounds as good as anything I've recorded at WKCR thanks to the help of Phil Duke from Continental Recording Studio.
We had a blast hanging out and recording, and this lines up with a big free concert they'll be playing this Thursday at Lincoln Center, and the release of their new self titled album.
InnoVe Gnawa is a musical band made of artists from different parts of morocco all the way to NYC gathering to Keep this ancient healing Gnawa music.
InnoVe Gnawa is a gnawa band comprised of artists from different parts of Morocco. Led by master Maalem Hassan BenJaafer, InnoVe Gnawa celebrates this ancient spiritual music of North Africa in NYC with an innovative, hypnotic, and ecstatic take on this trance-inducing folk tradition.
Jul 8, 2015
Jul 8, 2015
53 min
The 24 hour festival concluded with this beautiful performance from Tripti Mukherjee. She performed with Samir Chatterjee (tabla) and Jay Gandhi (bansuri)
Jul 8, 2015
Jul 8, 2015
38 min
Ustad Aashish Khan, accompanied by Anupam Shobhakar (Sarod) Dan Weiss Ragas Live performed the penultimate set at the Ragas Live Festival 2015 from 10pm-11pm
Jul 8, 2015
Jul 8, 2015
39 min
This set begins with Sanghamitra Chatterjee (vocal) with Samir Chatterjee (tabla) and is then followed by a Tabla Duet – Samir Chatterjee and Tejas Tope, which occurred from 9-10pm on the Ragas Live Festival 2015
Jul 8, 2015
Jul 8, 2015
24 min
Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar (sarod) and Nitin Mitta (tabla) performed from 8pm -9pm on the Ragas Live Festival 2015.
Jul 8, 2015
Jul 8, 2015
26 min
Krishna Bhatt composed his own raga for this very special occasion, based on a whole tone scale. Nittin Mitta, accompanies for this 7-8pm slot on the Ragas Live Festival 2015
Jun 26, 2015
Jun 26, 2015
41 min
Jay Gandhi (bansuri) and Yacouba Cissoko (kora) bring their duo project accompanied by Shivalik Ghoshal (tabla) and David Ellenbogen (guitar) from 6-7pm during the Ragas Live Festival 2015
Jun 26, 2015
Jun 26, 2015
33 min
Pradhanica:Jin Won (Kathak), Mike Lukshis (tabla), Kaumil Shah (djembe), and Vincent Pierce (cajon); Taalim Tabla Duet: Mike Lukshis (tabla), Kaumil Shah (tabla) performed a smoking set from 5-6pm at the Ragas LIve Festival 2015
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.