NYC Radio Live

George Wein was one of the most influential producers in the history of American music.  Founder of the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport Folk Festival, and New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, he lived a life amongst the greatest musicians of our time.  He wasn't a bad pianist and singer either! We share a coversation I recorded sometime between 2005-2010 at his home in Manhattan, where he told s...

We chat with Joe Westerlund about his life changing experiences with Milford Graves, his early work with Megafaun, and the inspiration of the music of the ituri Rainforest on all of his work. Make sure to check out his latest albums Curiosities from the Drift.  Grotto a trumpet/drums duo with Trever Hagen and  Setting S/T a trio with Jaime Fennelly and Nathan Bowles, to be released on Thrill Jocke...

Booker Stardrum whimsically co-founded SML with bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann. Their recent releases How You Been and Small, Medium, Large have squarely placed them as one of the most exciting groups in improvised music/jazz today.   A literal heir of the legacy of Harry Parch and his parents, floutist Stefani Starin musicia...

John Scofield is one of the great guitarists of out time.  The multi-Grammy award winning musician, has played with countless legends like Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis, Billy Cobham, Charles Mingus, Tony Williams, Herbie Hancock, Mavis Staples, Charlie Haden, Phil Lesh, Dave Holland, Medeski, Martin and Wood...and on and on! John shares his story of how he got here and what he learned a...

One of the great percussionists of our time, the 2024 Grammy Award-winninga "Kanjira King," began a decades long mentorship with Zakir Hussain in 1990. He tells us one of the first things Zakir did was open his ears to artists like Weather Report, Frank Zappa, and Miles Davis. Don't miss his story about how Zakir tricked him into auditioning for John McLaughlin and Shakti!

Béla Fleck is a 19 time Grammy award winning artist.  He is recognized as the musician who has expanded the possibilities of his instrument, the banjo, and he keeps pushing own limits creatively. Béla is coming to NYC to celebrate his collaborator, the great Zakir Hussain at Carnegie Hall on March 6th.  

In this special conversation with the reknowned Sarod maestro, Alam Khan, we dig deep into what he learned form his father Ali Akbar Khan, family legends about his grandfather Allauddin Khan and what to expect at the upcoming concert at Carnegie Hall.   Alam will be at Carnegie on March 8th, 2026 celebrating the great tabla maestro as part of the  Zakir Hussain Eternal: Celebrating 75 Years of Gen...

A 2011 in-studio musical interview with Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar—torchbearer of an unbroken, 20-generation Dhrupad lineage dating back to the 15th century. 

This is an exclusive interview with the greatest living master of the bansuri, Hariprasad Chaurasia.  David Ellenbogen and Chaurasia's Senior disciple Jay Gandhi join the maestro at his Vrindaban Gurukul, in Mumbai.    This episode was originally broadcast in 2018 

This was an incredible opportunity to sit down with a living legend: Reggie Workman!!! In 1961, Workman joined the John Coltrane Quartet, replacing Steve Davis. He was present for the saxophonist's Live at the Village Vanguard sessions, and also recorded with a second bassist (Art Davis) on the 1961 albums, Olé Coltrane and Africa/Brass. Workman recorded frequently through the 1960s and performed...

North Americas largest Balkan Music festival is coming up this weekend! There is nothing like the Zlatne Uste Golden Fest and there is nobody like Matt Moran, both fixtures of New York's global music scene. Vibraphone and percussion virtuoso Matt Moran is most widely known for his ensemble Slavic Soul Party who played their first performance at the Golden Fest over 2 decades ago. We chat with Matt...

With roots playing with artists like Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings,  Antibalas, The Roots, David Byrne, Amy Winehouse, and Quincy Jones, saxaphone player Cochema is no stranger to the groove.  His hypnotic new album, Ancestros Futuros is the third in a trinity of recordings he composed and arranged and was picked as at to  NYC Radio Live Top 10 Album of the Year.   Cochema has some exciting shows...

NYC Radio Live's 2025 Album of the Year was the self-titled Saha Gnawa, an inspiring project that combines tradtional Morrocan trance music (embodied by co-founder Maâlem Hassan Ben Jaafar) alongside amazing jazz/contemporary musicians such as Jason Lindner, Guilherme Monteiro, and Gilad Hekselman. The result is incredible!  We have a great conversation Saha Ganawa's co-founder Daniel Freedman abo...

This episode was originally broadcast on December 16, 2014. Happy Winter Solstice! Seven-time Grammy® winner Paul Winter has a body of work that chronicles his wide-ranging experiences in the musical traditions and natural environments of the Earth.   The saxophonist, composer and bandleader founded Living Music as the recording context for his ensemble, the Paul Winter Consort, and his community...

Yuka Honda is serious about food. In fact, her famous group, Cibo Matto means "crazy food," in Italian. Her and Nels Cline (Wilco, Consentrik Quartet) are passionate about Star Root Farm, and are organizing an all-star fundraiser featuring them with John Medeski, Billy Martin, Scott Metzger and Sean Lennon. It's going to be on November 20th at the Bearsville Theater and it's going to be amazing! J...

Two weeks ago the world lost the jazz legend Jack DeJohnette, who changed music with his work with artists like Miles Davis, John and Alice Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Keith Jarrett and countless others.   We spoke for over and hour and broadcast parts of this interview in 2010 for WKCR-FM, but it has remained unheard since then, and the complete conversation has never been shared. In our conversat...

Kayhan Kalhor is one of the outstanding instrumentalists of our time. A virtuoso of the kamancheh, he has helped popularize traditional Persian music and collaborated with musicians from Yo Yo Ma and Toumani Diabate.      We connect with the Grammy Award winning artist at his home in Tehran and chat music, history, and philosophy Kayhan will be performing a not-to-be-missed concert at Town Hall on...

Final nineteenth set of the epic 24 Hour Ragas Live Festival.  Broadcast live from Pioneer Works from October 18-19th, 2025. Shahid Parvez (sitar) Nitin Mitta (tabla)   Visit  Ragas Live Festival  for more! Ragas Live Festival is produced by Pioneer Works in collaboration with NYC Radio Live, The Society for Arts and Culture of South Asia (Palo Alto), People of Rhythm Productions, and Brooklyn Rag...

enth set of the epic 24 Hour Ragas Live Festival.  Broadcast live from Pioneer Works from October 18-19th, 2025. L. Shankar (double violin, vocals) Selvaganesh (kajira, mridangam) Swaminathan Selvaganesh (kanjira) Amit Kavthekar (tabla)   Visit  Ragas Live Festival  for more! Ragas Live Festival is produced by Pioneer Works in collaboration with NYC Radio Live, The Society for Arts and Culture of...

Seventeenth set of the epic 24 Hour Ragas Live Festival.  Broadcast live from Pioneer Works from October 18-19th, 2025. Anand Avirmed (Mongolian throat singing & horsehead fiddle) Mari Tanaka (sruti Box)   Visit  Ragas Live Festival  for more! Ragas Live Festival is produced by Pioneer Works in collaboration with NYC Radio Live, The Society for Arts and Culture of South Asia (Palo Alto), Peopl...

enth set of the epic 24 Hour Ragas Live Festival.  Broadcast live from Pioneer Works from October 18-19th, 2025. Priya Purushothaman (vocal) Pratyush Goberdhan (sarangi) Tejas Tope  (tabla)   Visit  Ragas Live Festival  for more! Ragas Live Festival is produced by Pioneer Works in collaboration with NYC Radio Live, The Society for Arts and Culture of South Asia (Palo Alto), People of Rhythm Produc...

Fifteenth set of the epic 24 Hour Ragas Live Festival.  Broadcast live from Pioneer Works from October 18-19th, 2025. Mandolin U. Rajesh (mandolin)  Swaminathan Selvaganesh (kanjira)  Praveen Narayan   (tabla)    Visit  Ragas Live Festival  for more! Ragas Live Festival is produced by Pioneer Works in collaboration with NYC Radio Live, The Society for Arts and Culture of South Asia (Palo Alto), Pe...

Fourteenth set of the epic 24 Hour Ragas Live Festival.  Broadcast live from Pioneer Works from October 18-19th, 2025. NESOM honors Allah Rakha and Zakir Hussain  (tabla ensemble)   Visit  Ragas Live Festival  for more! Ragas Live Festival is produced by Pioneer Works in collaboration with NYC Radio Live, The Society for Arts and Culture of South Asia (Palo Alto), People of Rhythm Productions, and...

Thirteenth set of the epic 24 Hour Ragas Live Festival.  Broadcast live from Pioneer Works from October 18-19th, 2025. Purbayan Chatterjee  (sitar) Amit Kavthekar (tabla)   Visit  Ragas Live Festival  for more! Ragas Live Festival is produced by Pioneer Works in collaboration with NYC Radio Live, The Society for Arts and Culture of South Asia (Palo Alto), People of Rhythm Productions, and Brooklyn...

Twelfth set of the epic 24 Hour Ragas Live Festival.  Broadcast live from Pioneer Works from October 18-19th, 2025.   Vinay Desai (santoor)  Vivek Pandaya  (tabla)    Visit  Ragas Live Festival  for more! Ragas Live Festival is produced by Pioneer Works in collaboration with NYC Radio Live, The Society for Arts and Culture of South Asia (Palo Alto), People of Rhythm Productions, and Brooklyn Raga...