Deep Focus

  2026.09.28 Henry Schroy on Bumba meu boi - 1 of 3 6 days ago   Let's admit it: we love to talk about individual achievement in music.   "You know this guy played the fastest."   "Yeah, but that one played the highest, and THAT ONE was the loudest!"   This conversation never ends. But what does the group know that the individual doesn't? What does the body know that the mind doesn't?   What about...

Let's admit it: we love to talk about individual achievement in music.   "You know this guy played the fastest."   "Yeah, but that one played the highest, and THAT ONE was the loudest!"   This conversation never ends. But what does the group know that the individual doesn't? What does the body know that the mind doesn't?   What about group consciousness?   What about ritual? What would the Greek g...

When we were coming up, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean was one of the main cats.  He, along with friends like Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, and Art Taylor, had emerged in New York City revering Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, yet he discovered his own unique sound.  We hunted for his well-worn Blue Note albums (not yet reissued at the time), and waited for him to play in NYC.  And waited, and wait...

When we were coming up, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean was one of the main cats.  He, along with friends like Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, and Art Taylor, had emerged in New York City revering Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, yet he discovered his own unique sound.  We hunted for his well-worn Blue Note albums (not yet reissued at the time), and waited for him to play in NYC.  And waited, and wait...

When we were coming up, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean was one of the main cats.  He, along with friends like Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, and Art Taylor, had emerged in New York City revering Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, yet he discovered his own unique sound.  We hunted for his well-worn Blue Note albums (not yet reissued at the time), and waited for him to play in NYC.  And waited, and wait...

This Monday's (8/17) Deep Focus is on pocket trumpeter and global troubadour Don Cherry, a dear, deeply missed friend of WKCR.  Back in the Eighties, Don was a frequent guest on Mitch Goldman's show.  Don would guest DJ, talk to the audience, bring guests... It was an ongoing Eighties NYC Don Cherry party.  And if there was a blank cassette handy, Mitch would make a recording.  The tapes got tosse...

This Monday's (8/17) Deep Focus is on pocket trumpeter and global troubadour Don Cherry, a dear, deeply missed friend of WKCR.  Back in the Eighties, Don was a frequent guest on Mitch Goldman's show.  Don would guest DJ, talk to the audience, bring guests... It was an ongoing Eighties NYC Don Cherry party.  And if there was a blank cassette handy, Mitch would make a recording.  The tapes got tosse...

This Monday's (8/17) Deep Focus is on pocket trumpeter and global troubadour Don Cherry, a dear, deeply missed friend of WKCR.  Back in the Eighties, Don was a frequent guest on Mitch Goldman's show.  Don would guest DJ, talk to the audience, bring guests... It was an ongoing Eighties NYC Don Cherry party.  And if there was a blank cassette handy, Mitch would make a recording.  The tapes got tosse...

What makes us love the musicians we love?  They do something magical that no one else had ever thought of before.  Or the magical thing they do is so outlandishly demanding that, if anyone else had thought of it, they simply would not have been able to execute it.  Allan Holdsworth was another of the handful of conjurers who deserves the title, “guitarists’ guitarist.” He passed away at 70 the mon...

What makes us love the musicians we love?  They do something magical that no one else had ever thought of before.  Or the magical thing they do is so outlandishly demanding that, if anyone else had thought of it, they simply would not have been able to execute it.  Allan Holdsworth was another of the handful of conjurers who deserves the title, “guitarists’ guitarist.” He passed away at 70 the mon...

What makes us love the musicians we love?  They do something magical that no one else had ever thought of before.  Or the magical thing they do is so outlandishly demanding that, if anyone else had thought of it, they simply would not have been able to execute it.  Allan Holdsworth was another of the handful of conjurers who deserves the title, “guitarists’ guitarist.” He passed away at 70 the mon...

This is a beautiful episode of Deep Focus, but unfortunately, only the middle portion of it was recorded successfully.  If you have the rest of it, please get in touch with us so we can post it. Enjoy!   How is it possible that no one has chosen Duke Ellington as a subject for Deep Focus? Maybe because it's just too daunting; no one has matched his brilliance as an orchestrator, his ability to lea...

On Deep Focus this Monday (7/6), a celebration of the life and music of James Blood Ulmer (February 8, 1940 – June 3, 2026), with guest Vernon Reid.  Our hearts are heavy, but spirits will be flying.  Please join us.   Tune in this Monday (7/6) from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or  wkcr.org .     Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or...

On Deep Focus this Monday (7/6), a celebration of the life and music of James Blood Ulmer (February 8, 1940 – June 3, 2026), with guest Vernon Reid.  Our hearts are heavy, but spirits will be flying.  Please join us.   Tune in this Monday (7/6) from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or  wkcr.org .     Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or...

On Deep Focus this Monday (7/6), a celebration of the life and music of James Blood Ulmer (February 8, 1940 – June 3, 2026), with guest Vernon Reid.  Our hearts are heavy, but spirits will be flying.  Please join us.   Tune in this Monday (7/6) from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or  wkcr.org .     Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or...

This episode of Deep Focus does not have a spoken introduction. It starts immediately after the previous episode ends.     The moment you invoke the name of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, the widow of John Coltrane, you open a door into other ways of understanding.  She was part of her husband's last working band, but after his death, and for the next 40 years, her music became suffused with h...

The moment you invoke the name of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, the widow of John Coltrane, you open a door into other ways of understanding.  She was part of her husband's last working band, but after his death, and for the next 40 years, her music became suffused with her spiritual practice and mystical experiences.  Her conviction was so thorough that some listeners found it alienating, bu...

The moment you invoke the name of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, the widow of John Coltrane, you open a door into other ways of understanding.  She was part of her husband's last working band, but after his death, and for the next 40 years, her music became suffused with her spiritual practice and mystical experiences.  Her conviction was so thorough that some listeners found it alienating, bu...

When they go deep, we go deeper.     We have been thinking about Miles Davis in anticipation of his centennial (May 26).  How about we explore a dark corner of his vast touring history, his so-called "Lost Quintet"?  We have so many questions about it, but who to ask?  How about the guy who literally wrote the book on the subject?     On this week's Deep Focus, host Mitch Goldman welcomes musician...

When they go deep, we go deeper.     We have been thinking about Miles Davis in anticipation of his centennial (May 26).  How about we explore a dark corner of his vast touring history, his so-called "Lost Quintet"?  We have so many questions about it, but who to ask?  How about the guy who literally wrote the book on the subject?     On this week's Deep Focus, host Mitch Goldman welcomes musician...

When they go deep, we go deeper.     We have been thinking about Miles Davis in anticipation of his centennial (May 26).  How about we explore a dark corner of his vast touring history, his so-called "Lost Quintet"?  We have so many questions about it, but who to ask?  How about the guy who literally wrote the book on the subject?     On this week's Deep Focus, host Mitch Goldman welcomes musician...

Fela Kuti has been the subject of at least half a dozen documentaries, a Broadway play, a shelf of books, and at least one richly lauded podcast series.  It's hard to imagine a time when Fela would have been considered an obscure musician from a largely unknown continent.  But that was very much the case in the seventies when bassist Melvin Gibbs heard his music blasting out of a record store on N...

Fela Kuti has been the subject of at least half a dozen documentaries, a Broadway play, a shelf of books, and at least one richly lauded podcast series.  It's hard to imagine a time when Fela would have been considered an obscure musician from a largely unknown continent.  But that was very much the case in the seventies when bassist Melvin Gibbs heard his music blasting out of a record store on N...

Fela Kuti has been the subject of at least half a dozen documentaries, a Broadway play, a shelf of books, and at least one richly lauded podcast series.  It's hard to imagine a time when Fela would have been considered an obscure musician from a largely unknown continent.  But that was very much the case in the seventies when bassist Melvin Gibbs heard his music blasting out of a record store on N...

Throw away the map.  Now, how are you going to find your way to your destination?  You will probably find many more answers than you may have thought you'd find when you were looking at that folded-up piece of paper.     The band Old and New Dreams didn't have to follow chord changes, disregarded time signatures, but their music was full of story-songs, each with a beginning, a middle, and an end....