Media Room Podcast

Today I spoke with composer and pianist Amina Figarova, whose nineteenth album Flying High Above will be released tomorrow. You can listen and purchase it here . Amina and I talked about her musical education in Azerbaijan, how her synesthesia gives her a unique perspective on composition, and recording her three movement “Suite For Havana” (Part III below) in a Cuban studio with no power. Amina w...

Yesterday I spoke with American composer Jeremy Gill as part of Media Room’s Contemporary Composer Series. Jeremy’s work has been performed all over the world, including a 2019 world premiere at the Chautauqua Institution with Buffalo Philharmonic Music Director JoAnn Falletta. Jeremy and I discussed The Silmarillion , his recent recording with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project led by Gil Rose ....

Today I spoke with composer, saxophonist, and musician Jason Robinson, whose eleven movement suite about jazz pioneer Yusef Lateed was released today. You can listen and purchase it here . We had a fascinating discussion. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. November 6: Media Room Live! With Amina Figarova Join me next week when I talk with pianist and composer Amina Figarova. Her newest album, F...

Mouse is Kenny Riches’ fourth movie. It is the story of three low-level grifters who meet in Salt Lake. Kenny and I had an interesting discussion about how he developed the story, cast the movie, and its current theatrical distribution. Sarah Coffee (above) is the focal point of a love triangle and she gives a fine supporting performance. It is her voice you hear in the trailer below. Mouse is in...

I recently spoke with violinist and BPO Associate Concertmaster Amy Glidden, who will be performing Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 on October 23 and 24. Tickets and more information can be found here . By coincidence, Amy and I are both native Kansans and both of us graduated from the University of Kansas, neither of us with a degree in music. We had a lovely conversation about Wichita, Bruch’s fam...

Charissa Hoffman and I had a lovely conversation about music, college, child care, and the ukulele. Her debut album Horizon will be released tomorrow. Listen to an early single, “Love Is An Ocean,” featuring Béla Fleck (banjo) and Nina de Vitry (harmony vocals), below. October 22: Media Room Live! With Kenny Riches Mouse (trailer, above) is a movie by Japanese American writer/director/actor Kenny...

I recently spoke with Matt Isaac, producer of Dad Genes , which premiers tomorrow night at the Buffalo International Film Festival. The documentary tells the story of Aaron Long who, as college student in the mid 1990s, sold his sperm. Decades later, thanks to DNA ancestry sites, he discovered a number of biological children whom he later meets. The encounters change all of their lives in unexpect...

On Wednesday I spoke with Andy Grieve, editor of Knife: The Attempted Murder Of Salman Rushdie. We talked about Rushdie, the fatwa , and the making of the movie. I have been an admirer of Rushdie’s for decades. He produced a deep and important body of work in the three decades he has been the object of a sadistic, thuggish death threat. He responded with kindness and appeals for freedom of express...

On Saturday, October 10 the Buffalo Philharmonic will perform the world premiere of Richard Danielpour’s Francis: An Oratorio in Nine Scenes , a new work inspired by St. Francis of Assisi, marking the 800th anniversary of his death. Look for Media Room’s review Sunday morning, in time for the Sunday, October 11, 2:30PM repeat performance. On Tuesday I spoke with Sr. Margaret Carney, President Emer...

Today I spoke with Sam Hong and Zachary Mowitz of ensemble 132, whose album Masques And Marionettes comes out tomorrow, Friday, October 2. It can be heard on all streaming services. Sam, Zach, and I talked about ensemble 132’s formation in 2019, the future of classical music, and their upcoming album. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. They explained that “132” in the name refers to Beethoven’s...

Media Room’s coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival continues with The Stunt Driver , which premiered at TIFF September 10. It arrives in theaters today (September 25, 2026). It’s a biopic about “Mad Canadian” Ken Carter who planned a jump over the St. Lawrence River and died on September 5, 1983 attempting to jump a pond in Peterborough, Ontario in a rocket-powered Pontiac Firebird....

John Lehr and John McCray are, respectively, the creator of and historical consultant for the TV show Quick Draw (Hulu) (above). Messrs. McCray and Lehr are also my two oldest friends, and we spent most of our late childhoods and early adulthoods together. Their appearances on today’s Media Room Live! were, ostensibly, part of this publication’s “Top 25 Sitcom Episodes Of All Time” series. You can...

Ariel Quartet violinists Alexandra Kazovsky and Gershon Gerchikov joined me today to talk about the upcoming release of the final volume of their recording of Beethoven’s quartets. It was a fascinating discussion. September 24: Cast/Crew of Quick Draw Next week Media Room returns to its countdown of the 25 Best Sitcom Episodes Of All Time. The first ten have been revealed as well as an “ Honorable...

Media Room Live! With David Breskin David began as a freelance journalist before becoming one of music’s most sought after producers, working with such luminaries as Bill Frisell, Mary Halvorson, and Nels Cline. He has also published several books of poetry. His most recent is Timestamp: The Daily Practice of Poetry (above). We talked about the beautiful photo on the cover of his book, AI, music,...

Media Room Live! With Katherine Young Today I had a fascinating discussion with bassoonist and composer Katherine Young, whose album BIOMES will be released September 18. We talked about why she chose the bassoon, her musical background, and her expansive, multi-disciplinary project to musically depict diverse biomes. Media Room Live! With David Breskin Join me next week (September 10) when I will...

While audio posts are a paid subscriber benefit, this reading of Media Room’s review of Backrooms is free. You can read the review here . Cover image: Still image, Backrooms. Renate Reinsve . © A24. Media Room - An Independent Arts Publication is reader-supported, AI-free, quality arts writing. If it is of value to you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd...

Yesterday I spoke with pianist and composer Vijay Iyer. Among other things, we talked about Fifteen, his trio album with Henry Threadgill and Dafnis Prieto. You can read Media Room’s review of Fifteen here . You can purchase the recording here . Vijay spoke at length about Henry Threadgill and mentioned his acclaimed autobiography Easily Slip into Another World: A Life in Music (2023). The book wa...

Media Room Live! With Amber Weekes Today I spoke with Los Angeles-based jazz singer Amber Weekes who released her fifth album, To Oscar With Love , August 7. She talked about growing up around some of the most famous artists of the Harlem Renaissance, the L.A. jazz scene, and her relationship with singer, composer, and civil rights activist Oscar Brown, Jr. PAmber also mentioned the documentary Mu...

Media Room Live! With Mary Kouyoumdjian And Alan Pierson Today I spoke with composer Mary Kouyoumdjian and conductor Alan Pierson about Paper Pianos , a sonic documentary exploring the lives of refugees. We discussed human migration, multimedia art, and I struggled pronouncing Mary’s last name. The Paper Pianos album (above) will be released tomorrow at Cantaloupe Music . Click above for an excerp...

Media Room Live! With Dušan Bogdanović And Duo Goni-Perretta Today I had a wonderful conversation with composer Dušan Bogdanović, who was in Geneva, along with Antigoni Goni and Eleonara Perretta who joined us from Naples. We discussed Duo Goni-Perretta’s recording of Dušan’s music in their new album Music Gardens of the World. You can read Media Room’s review here . Media Room Live! With Mary Kou...

Watch my interview with Satoko Fujii, a Japanese pianist, accordionist and composer. On July 10 released Satoko Fujii’s Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra (below) , a recently discovered 2014 recording that lay hidden in the archive of concert producer Wolfgand Gross. On August 7 the Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe will release After The Storm (below) , c omposed the Covid pandemic. This fall she will release...

Watch my interview with Charlotte Hu, a Taiwanese classical pianist who recently released Goyescas . Charlotte talks about her musical childhood in Taiwan, Philadelphia, and New York and why she wanted to tell Enrique Granados’ tragic story of the majo . Media Room Live! With Satoko Fujii Satoko Fujii is a Japanese pianist, accordionist and composer. She is best known for her work in avant-garde j...

Bill Evans Bill Evans (1929-1980) is a towering figure. His unique style derived from early modern, musical impressionism and helped define the jazz trio format. Evans’ collaborations with Tony Bennett remains the standard for voice and piano and — as Fred Hersch mentioned in our recent interview — his duo recordings with Jim Hall are iconic for that instrumentation. Evans’ music means a great dea...

Watch my fascinating conversation with Emilie-Claire Barlow, above. Her album La Plus Belle Saison was released in February and she will be performing at Birdland three nights next week, July 9-11. We talked about her musical childhood, the history of Quebecois music, and her new recording. Below is “Dans Les Rues De Quebec.” Media Room Live! With Randy Ingram Next week, July 9, I will speak with...

In the 1970s, Esther, an American woman mourning her mother, received a letter that sets her on a journey to uncover a hidden chapter of her family’s history. With the help of Zayde, a university professor with secrets of his own, she began searching for a woman who lived decades earlier in British Mandate Palestine. The woman is Yehudit, whose arrival in a settlers’ village in the 1930s entangled...