Soundcheck

The duo called Dalava has put out three albums based on old Czech, specifically Moravian, folk songs, sourced from melodies transcribed over 100 years ago by the great- grandfather of Dálava's singer, Julia Úlehla. Their latest record, Understories , uses symbolic birds and stories to set a series of progressively darker, more experimental arrangements that seem to cast those songs adrift in both...

Argentine singer-songwriter Marilina Bertoldi’s brand of rock 'n' roll contains multitudes between the old and the new. Her electric guitar, though it may only be a decade old, has all the markings of a seasoned instrument that has taken the stage at sweaty clubs and music festivals across the Americas and Europe. And the sound of it adds an unmistakably retro touch to Bertoldi’s music, which is o...

Canadian indie rock collective The New Pornographers has a history that spans almost three decades. Leaving nine albums behind, the band enters a new era with The Former Site Of,  which, as always, centers on frontman A.C. Newman’s introspective songwriting, studying self-destructive tendencies and character building with power pop soundscapes in the backdrop. While writing the new batch of songs,...

Experimental music composers Elori Saxl and Henry Solomon found common ground in electroacoustic duets in their collaborative album, Seeing Is Forgetting.  Solomon is a Los Angeles-based saxophonist who can improvise in any musical setting, whether he’s recording with Paramore, Miley Cyrus, and HAIM, or assembling a score for a film. Saxl’s intricate music writing also knows no bounds, dancing bet...

Martin Hayes is one of the great Irish fiddlers of our time, and one of the things that makes his playing so distinctive is the way he incorporates elements of jazz and contemporary classical music. Hayes is a founding member of the Irish-American supergroup The Gloaming, and he’s led a couple of ensembles, the Martin Hayes Quartet and the Common Ground Ensemble, that include musicians from the Ne...

As both a musician and an activist, Steve Earle has been a voice for people living on the margins. His songs blend folk, country, and rock, and among his many awards are a bunch of Grammys and his recent induction into the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. And yet, many people will be more familiar with Steve Earle’s work as an actor, on screen, on stage, and on TV series like The Wire and Treme . Add...

The young Mexican singer-songwriter Humbe is no stranger to posting short clips of his songs on TikTok. He feeds on the transparency between his artistic universe and the fans that flock to it like a moth to a flame. His authentic brand of soul, contemporary R&B, and Latin dance music triggers the algorithm time and time again, connecting with audiences across the globe. The latest album, Dueño de...

Spanish indie folk artist Guitarricadelafuente has come a long way since his days of posting covers on social media. Back then, he wasn’t only inspired by his own culture, but American folk music as well, reinterpreting songs of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Eventually finding his own vein within the art of storytelling, Guitarrica began drawing inspiration from folklore, viewing it as not a snapsh...

The singer and songwriter Niia has spent much of her career confounding expectations. She’s done smoky versions of old jazz standards as well as original songs that draw on dance music, hip hop and R&B, and live The self-dubbed "goth jazz princess" is something of a provocateur, with her sensual music "living in the tension between control and collapse".  Niia and her band play some of the songs f...

Singer-songwriter Justin Hicks spent years recording and touring with acclaimed bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, experiencing her genre-agnostic approach to music first-hand. In his debut album, Man Of Style,  he is just as hard to pin down stylistically as his long-time collaborator. Yet he manages to fuse a rich array of R&B, soul, rock, jazz, and folk music, dressing his songs in each genre effortl...

Composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Emily Wells works in the space between art-pop and neoclassical chamber music using electronic and acoustic instruments: synths, strings, and hip-hop production in elegant layers to support her singular and dramatic vocals. For her 2019 album, This World Is Too _____ For You she expanded her sonic palate to include a string quintet and French horn for a...

The spiritual and spirited sounds of Qawwali music, the Sufi devotional style from Pakistan, go all the way back to the 13th century. And incredibly, the Saami family of Pakistan has kept that tradition going in an unbroken line for almost 800 years. The Saami Brothers belong to the best known Gharana (a system of connection or “house” in Hindustani music) of Qawwali, the Qawwal Bachon Ka Gharana...

Drummer and composer Marcus Gilmore looks to the creative openness of his drum elders – like his grandfather, Roy Haynes, the late tabla master Zakir Hussain, or renaissance man and drummer Milford Graves - and underscores the drum set as melodic instrument – exploiting all of the potential of the components – bending notes, playing with the natural vibrations, or augmenting his set up with Sunhou...

As a violinist, Darian Donovan Thomas has played with alternative soul singer Moses Sumney, the chamber ensemble Mediaqueer, and the Pakistani-American singer Arooj Aftab, among many others. But Thomas is also a singer, songwriter and producer whose own music reflects his omnivorous musical experience. Hyper-pop, ambient electronica and contemporary classical music are all fair game in his latest...

Samora Pinderhughes is a singer, songwriter, and multimedia artist. His music exists at the intersection of jazz, hip hop, and community activism, and often deals with issues like racism, the prison system, and music as a place for healing - like The Healing Project(Opens in a new window).  Samora’s current project is a residency at the Museum of Modern Art that includes his film Real Talk and a s...

The rapper Heems first came to wide attention over 15 years ago as part of the alternative hip hop band Das Racist. His solo career has included collaborations with Childish Gambino, Blood Orange, and the actor Riz Ahmed, with whom Heems formed the group Swet Shop Boys. He’s also been a vocal proponent of the Punjabi and wider South Asian communities here in New York, and his songs often include a...

NYC's Latin X-Perimental band Zemog El Gallo Bueno , led by Brooklyn, New York based Puerto Rican born/Peruvian composer, Abraham Gomez-Delgado,makes music that draws from popular Afro-Puerto Rican, Cuban and South American Rhythms but is also inspired from German Cosmic music, Japanese Buto Dance, Punk Rock, Classical Minimalism and American Free Jazz. Sung in both Spanish and English, the songs...

Hannah Jadagu was just out of high school when she released her first EP, full of songs recorded on her iPhone. in 2023, while studying at NYU, she released her debut LP, Aperture , a studio creation that blended bedroom pop, indie rock, and R&B. Her latest album, Describe , captures her euphoric and reserved flow of feelings and ideas, and documents how she has played with new sounds and producti...

Arturo O’Farrill may be best known as the longtime leader of the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, but he’s done so much else, as a pianist, bandleader, and educator. He’s the son of the Latin jazz legend Chico O’Farrill, and his sons Adam and Zack have established themselves as leading players on trumpet and drums respectively. Sometimes their schedules line up and they play as The O'Farrill Family Band...

Iraqi-born, American-based composer and NEA Heritage Fellow Rahim AlHaj plays the oud, the Arab lute. Derek Gripper is a classical guitarist from South Africa who has somehow found a way to play West African music for the 21-string harp, or kora, on the six strings of his instrument. Both musicians have played in a wide variety of styles, and recently, they began playing together as a duo. Hear th...

Derek Gripper is a classical guitarist from South Africa who has somehow found a way to play West African music for the 21-string harp, or kora, on the six strings of his instrument. Iraqi-born, American-based composer and NEA Heritage Fellow Rahim AlHaj plays the oud, the Arab lute. Both musicians have played in a wide variety of styles, and recently, they began playing together as a duo. Hear so...

Guitarist Steve Gunn has established himself as a singer/songwriter and as an ace collaborator with artists like Hiss Golden Messenger and Kurt Vile. With over 20 albums to his credit, you might think he’s done it all, but until 2025, Gunn had never done an album of solo instrumentals. In August 2025 he released Music For Writers, a collection of sonic landscapes, and in very short order he was ba...

Klezmer music may have its roots in the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, but it found a home here in NY in the 1920s and 30s, and the klezmer revival that began almost a half century ago was also centered in New York. Clarinetist Michael Winograd has been a major figure on the klezmer music scene for a couple of decades now, both as a composer and as a kind of music historian. His current pro...

The British band Public Service Broadcasting describes their work as "Teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future", ( Bandcamp ). Their songs are often built on sampled speech, layers of melodies, and propulsive grooves. Public Service Broadcasting plays music from their latest project, The Last Flight , based on the enduring story of Amelia Earhart, (plus an older banger from...

Rebecca Foon is best known as a cellist – she’s been a pivotal figure on the Montreal scene, playing with bands like Thee Silver Mt Zion and her world music/chamber ensemble Esmerine. But Foon has also been making solo records, often including her vocals as well, and her latest, Black Butterflies , is a collection of songs that blends dream pop, minimalism, and ambient music. Rebecca Foon plays li...