The Tonearm

Today we're putting The Tonearm's needle on Patricia Brennan , a vibraphonist and composer who grew up in Veracruz, Mexico, playing salsa with her dad while listening to Hendrix and Zeppelin with her mom. She studied classical percussion at the Curtis Institute, performed with Yo-Yo Ma and the Philadelphia Orchestra, then found her voice and career in jazz and improvisation. Patricia’s latest albu...

Today we're putting The Tonearm's needle on drummer  Phil Haynes . Since moving to New York from Oregon in 1983, Phil's played on scores of recordings with artists like Anthony Braxton and David Liebman. Phil has joined me once already, in March 2024, to discuss his memoir,  Chasing the Masters: First Takes of a Modernist Drumming Artist. Phil’s with me today to discuss his band  Fr...

Today we're putting  The Tonearm 's needle on violinist and composer Bryan Senti . Bryan Senti won a BAFTA for scoring the BBC series  Mood . He's composed for films since 2015 and worked with artists like Regina Spektor and Mark Ronson. But his new album  La Marea  tells a different story—his father's story. La Marea  takes Cuban migration and turns it into sound. His pre...

Our recent episode featuring Wilco and creative music guitarist Nels Cline has proven to be a listener-favorite. This holiday season, we thought it might be fun to give you even more of what we know you love. So … we are excited to bring you another conversation with Nels, this one from the Wilco Will Love You Podcast. Wilco Will Love You is hosted by two fans who cover the music and influence of...

Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on Graham St John , a cultural anthropologist and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield in the UK. Graham has spent decades studying transformational events, psychedelic culture, and electronic dance music scenes. He's written ten books, and his latest is Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna , published by MIT Pre...

Today, we’re putting The Tonearm’s needle on guitarist Nels Cline . Most people know Nels Cline as Wilco 's guitarist for the past two decades. But his range goes far beyond indie rock. He's spent forty-plus years moving between jazz clubs, punk venues, and studios where the rules get bent or thrown out entirely. Rolling Stone put him on their list of the top 100 guitarists of all time, but that t...

Today, we're putting The Tonearm 's needle on pianist Marcus Roberts . Roberts plays jazz piano like he's lived through its entire history. His style pulls from Jelly Roll Morton and Fats Waller as much as it does from bebop. He spent years in Wynton Marsalis's band, has performed piano concertos with Seiji Ozawa, and today leads The Modern Jazz Generation, a 12-piece ensemble encompassing three d...

Show Notes Ned Rothenberg just released his first solo album in thirteen years, Looms & Legends , and it shows why he's been called America's most intimate composer and improviser. Ned’s improvisations and compositions display his use of extended techniques like circular breathing and multiphonics, while others tell stories through melody. He calls it music for an imaginary culture - sounds th...

Today, we're putting  The Tonearm 's needle on saxophonist and composer  Miguel Zenón . A MacArthur Fellow, Guggenheim recipient, and Grammy winner, Miguel has spent over two decades creating music that connects jazz tradition with Puerto Rican rhythms and modern composition. He's here to talk about his latest release,  Vanguardia Subterránea  - his quartet's first live album,...

Today we're putting  The Tonearm 's needle on bassist and composer  Linda May Han Oh . Linda's a Grammy winner who's recorded with Pat Metheny, Kenny Barron, and Joe Lovano. She was even the model for the bassist character in Pixar's 'Soul.' But it's her own work that brings us together. Her latest album,  Strange Heaven , explores why we choose familiar hells over strange heavens—w...

Today on The Tonearm, we're celebrating the inaugural  Jazz Forward Award  winners from  All About Jazz . Since 1995, All About Jazz has been a driving force for jazz discovery. Now they're recognizing industry trailblazers who actively promote jazz awareness and culture. We'll hear from four organizations reshaping how jazz connects with audiences worldwide. Ed Trefzger from JazzWe...

Hi, this is Lawrence Peryer with a quick update about some exciting changes coming to our show. Spotlight On is now The Tonearm —same name as our online magazine at thetonearm.com . Same conversations with the people and ideas moving culture forward, just a new name and a fresh look. The timing works out: this week marks one year since we launched The Tonearm online. We're also shifting from Thurs...

Today, the Spotlight shines On composer, trumpeter, and producer Peter Knight . Peter Knight has spent decades working in the spaces between genres and cultures. His latest project brings together 40,000-year-old Indigenous Australian songs with contemporary electroacoustic music through Hand to Earth's new album, the title of which translates as "the scent of home." The record finds Peter collabo...

Today, the Spotlight shines On  David Harrington , founder and violinist of  Kronos Quartet . For fifty years, David has led one of the most adventurous musical ensembles on the planet. Kronos has commissioned over 1,100 works, collaborated with everyone from Philip Glass to Nine Inch Nails, and earned three Grammys along the way. Their recent "Hard Rain" project brought together nearly...

Today, the Spotlight shines On guitarist, composer, and producer  Jeff Parker . For nearly three decades, Jeff has balanced solo work with his role in the post-rock band Tortoise. His 2016 album  The New Breed takes hip-hop beats and puts them in the hands of live musicians. Named after his late father's clothing store, the album just got the deluxe reissue treatment from International A...

Today, the Spotlight shines On organist, composer, and sound artist  Hampus Lindwall . Hampus started as a guitarist who cut his teeth copying Steve Vai solos but who now sits behind a 78-stop church organ. He has been the organist at Saint-Esprit in Paris since 2005, but his latest album,  Brace for Impact , throws tradition out the window. Recorded on a massive organ in Düsseldorf with...

Today, the Spotlight shines On writer  Chris O'Leary . Chris has spent over a decade and a half writing what's become the definitive study of David Bowie's songbook. His blog, Pushing Ahead of the Dame, covers every song on every album in Bowie’s extensive canon. The first post from 2009 covers David’s first single, 1964’s “Liza Jane”, and the most recent is about Chris’s latest work, a newly...

Today, the Spotlight shines On saxophonist  Donny McCaslin . Donny's new album,  Lullaby for the Lost , arrives September 26th on Edition Records, and what a record it is. It’s Donny’s saxophone with guitar-driven rock energy, drawing from influences like Neil Young and Nine Inch Nails, resulting in what Donny calls his most personal music to date. You might know Donny from his pivotal r...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Matt Piucci, founding member and principal guitarist of  Rain Parade . Rain Parade helped define LA's Paisley Underground scene in the early '80s, creating music with psychedelic textures with punk energy. Their 1983 debut Emergency Third Rail Power Trip remains a touchstone album of the era, cited as an influence by everyone from My Bloody Valentine to the Ston...

Today, the Spotlight shines On composer and pianist  Robin Holcomb  and cellist  Peggy Lee . These two musicians have been creating music together for the better part of two decades. Their new album,  Reno , out September 12, captures something rare: the kind of musical conversation that happens when two artists know each other's musical language inside and out. Robin's songs d...

Today, the Spotlight shines On bestselling author and journalist  Larry Tye . Larry's latest book,  The Jazzmen , tells the story of how Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie transformed America. But this isn't just another music biography. Larry explores nearly every aspect of the lives and music of these men and demonstrates how their artistry helped lay the groundwork for t...

Today, the Spotlight shines On tenor saxophonist  Rico Jones . Rico's new album  BloodLines  captures something you don't hear much anymore—a live recording that feels like a complete story. Recorded at Brooklyn's Ornithology, it's five original compositions that explore his multicultural heritage, from his Indigenous and Latino roots to his deep connection with Black American music...

Today, the Spotlight shines On musician, software engineer, and plug-in developer  Aqeel Aadam . Aqeel's got deep roots in Philadelphia's music scene—his grandfather was a jazz musician who gifted him his first guitar. That foundation led him from Princeton's computer science and music programs to a five-year stint at Google, and eventually to creating his own company,  Aqeel Aadam Sound...

Today, the Spotlight shines On guitarist and composer  Rez Abbasi . Rez's new album with his Acoustic Quintet,  Sound Remains , puts steel-string acoustic guitar at the center of a deeply personal meditation on presence and impermanence. The album adds master percussionist Hasan Bakr to Rez's long-standing quartet with Bill Ware, Stephan Crump, and Eric McPherson, creating what Rez calls...

Today, the Spotlight shines On someone we have not spoken to in a while… Over the years, we have periodically turned the tables by having friends and colleagues interview me, most notably in episode 100, or by airing talks and interviews I have done in other forums. Today is a little different. My longtime friend and colleague Jeremy Sirota is hosting a livestream series on LinkedIn called  C...