NYC Radio Live

In anticipation of his album release Feb 16 at Littlefield , the tabla/drumset maverick came to WKCR and shared some exclusive live tracks.      

We get to hang at home with Simon Shaheen!  He performs live on the oud and shares a few live performances.  We also had an in-depth discussion about maqam and the history of Arabic Music.  

I just got word that the great Hugh Masekela passed away.  This week we revisit a 2013 interview with him. Hugh Masekela is the most well known jazz musician from Africa.  His first big hit was in 1968 and he has sold millions of albums, won multiple Grammys and worked with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Dizzy Gillespie. Fresh off a tour with Paul Simon, he and his band are super-refined, with per...

Bakithi Kumalo is a four time Grammy Winning bassist who came to the world's attention on Paul Simon's Graceland Album.  We hang with him and here one of his new tracks.  

Hatim Belyamani returns with a new version of www.remix-culture.org and shares recordings he made in Brazil and China.    

Recored and broadcast live at the Ragas Live Festival 2017 from the Rubin Museum of Art, we hear the world premier of the new project:  Recalling the Valley.  Jay Gandhi (bansuri) and Max ZT's (hammered dulcimer) pay tribute to their world-renowned teachers, Shivkumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia.  With Ehren Hanson on tabla they will perform music inspired by their gurus’ beloved album, “Call...

This is a remaster of a broadcast I did in 2012 when I had just returned from almost a month in Mali making field and studio recordings. Very special stuff: Here's the original intro: I'm back from the Sahara, and, as promised, have a ton of recordings to share with you.  This special show was originally broadcast on WKCR on 89.9 FM-NY and features rough mixes of studio recordings with up and comi...

Hailing from Cameroon, but living now in France, singer and multi-instrumentalist,  Blick Bassy is creating a fresh, new sound with stunning vocals, banjo and luscious soundscapes from his bandmates.  His new album, Akö with his comrades Clément Petit on cello and Johan Blanc on trombone, are raising eyebrows with their totally original tribute to Skip James.    Blick sings in his native tongue,  ...

This week we revisit a classic interview with Hugh Masekela from 2013. Hugh Masekela is the most well known jazz musician from Africa.  His first big hit was in 1968 and he has sold millions of albums, won multiple Grammys and worked with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Dizzy Gillespie. Fresh off a tour with Paul Simon, he and his band are super-refined, with perfect vocal harmonies, deep grooves,...

Walter Becker, co-founder of Steely Dan, passed away this week. Today, I went digging through my archives and found  a 2010 interview we recorded upon the release of Roger Rosenberg's Baritonality, an album Becker produced.  I found it and wanted to share it immediately.  Walter's open spirit, humility, and excitement about the big and small things around music all come through.  We'll listen to s...

Samarth Nagarkar (vocal), Meghashyam Keshav (tabla), Rohan Prabhudesai (harmonium) perform a 6AM set at the Ragas Live Festival 2016. This year’s festival is October 21st 2017 at the Rubin Museum of Art. Samarth will perform at 10pm. Tickets here  

Max ZT Ensemble played a late night set at the Ragas Live Festival 2016 at Pioneer Works. 1am-2am Max ZT (hammered dulcimer), Sameer Gupta (tabla), Priya Darshini (vocal), This year’s festival is October 21st 2017 at the Rubin Museum of Art. At 4pm Max ZT and Jay Gandhi give a tribute to their world-renowned teachers, Shivkumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia.  The duo will perform a set inspired...

Adam Maalouf feat. Josh Geisler (bansuri) and Shiva Ghoshal Adam Maalouf (hand pans) , Joshua Geisler (bansuri, guitar, electronics), Shivalik Ghoshal (tabla) Adam is pictured here during their 4AM performance from the Ragas Live Festival 2016 at Pioneer Works Ragas Live is coming to the Rubin on October 21, 2017 Tickets here

Pradhanica with Mike Lukshis (tabla), Kaumil Shah (djembe), and Vincent Pierce (cajon), Indrajit Roy-Chowdhury (sitar) perform a 2-3am set at the Ragas Live Festival 2016 at Pioneer Works. This year’s festival is October 21st 2017 at the Rubin Museum of Art and the sitarist Indro Roy-Chowdhury will play at 11am. Tickets here

Abhik Mukherjee (sitar), Shankh Lahiri (Tabla) play the final set of Ragas Live 2016 at Pioneer Works. This year’s festival is October 21st 2017 Abhik will play at 6pm. Tickets here

Daisy Paradis performs a early morning set

Anupam Shobhakar plays a midnight set at Ragas Live Festival 2016. Anupam Shobhakar (sarod) Shankh Lahiri (Tabla) Live at Pioneer Works 12 am -1am Anupam is a dazzling performer and a virtuoso of the Sarod. He has appeared many times at the Ragas Live Festival. This year’s festival is October 21st 2017 at the Rubin Museum of Art. Tickets here    

The 9pm-10 Set Live at Pioneer Works with Snehashish Mozumdar (mandolin), Shiva Ghoshal (tabla) from the 24 Hour Ragas Live Festival. Snehashish is an explosive, dynamic performer who is pushing the boundaries of his instrument.  He has played on several Ragas Live Festivals in the past. This year's festival is October 21st 2017 at the Rubin Museum of Art.   Tickets here    

Here’s a great one from the archives! A beautiful live performance and discussion with Abdoulaye Alhassane Tourewith Deep Sahara at WKCR in 2010.  w/ Yacouba Diabate (Kora) Frederika Krier (Violin) and David Ellenbogen (guitar).  Abdoulaye is a guitarist and singer from Gao, Mali with roots in Northern Mali and Niger.  He brings all these regional sounds of this diverse part of the world into his...

Jean-Claude van Itallie, is a creative force across many genres.  Norman Mailer called one his works "possibly the best one-act play I have ever seen.” He's a poet, meditator, health-guru, translator, writer and it doesn't stop there.  We sit on the porch with Jean-Claude van Itallie at his inspriring retreat center, Shantigar.

Today we share a WKCR broadcast featuring musicians Amir ElSaffar, Awa Sangho, Roman Diaz, Martha Redbone, and producer Hans Taparia from the India Center Foundation. We were promoting Outside (In)dia a free concert series, at Lincoln Center featuring all those great musicians.  The opening event is this Friday with Amir El Saffar and we'll hear a discussion with Amir as well as music from all the...

Brooklyn Raga Massive's Coltrane Raga Tribute are about to drop their New Album - and the release party will be a free concert in Prospect Park at Celebrate Brooklyn June 23rd with Pharoah Sanders headlining! We hang with Sameer Gupta, the tabla upstart, drummer and musical director of the project and listen to a live performance from Pioneer Works. If you want to hear it all you'll have to get th...

Barbès is a small Brooklyn club which has been presenting music on a daily basis for now 15 years. Started on a shoestring budget in a former barber shop in the South Slope, Barbès has for years acted as a kind of laboratory for all different kinds of new projects and become a true community hub. They're in the hole $70,000K and have turned to the community for support. The community has answered...

For Chico Freeman, Jazz is the family business.  His father played with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Ella Fitzgerald and his grandfather was an associate of Louis Armstrong. Chico has had an amazing career playing with the likes of Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Sun Ra, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Celia Cruz, Charles Mingus, Tito Puente, to name a few.  We got to hang with the g...