NYC Radio Live

The day after a moving performance with Ravi Coltrane, Reggie Workman, Jeff Tain Watts an other giants of Jazz, we hung out at home with Jay Gandhi! After our short conversation he shares a special live performance. Jay is an artist who dedicated to the Hindustani tradition and is also bringing his instrument, the bansuri, into new territory.  

The nineteenth set of the historic, Ragas Live Festival 2016, live at Pioneer Works.  Samarth Nagarkar (vocal), Meghashyam Keshav (tabla), Rohan Prabhudesai (harmonium).  This is a great to chance to experience music created for the sunrise.  It was performed as the first rays broke through the evening sky. Samarth Nagarkar is a Hindustani classical vocalist, known for his captivating performances...

This was one of my favorite early episodes.  Cosmas Magya is a master of the Mbira ( a type of thumb piano) from the Shona tribe in Zimbabwe.  Here he performs and explains the way the instrument is used in ceremonies to contact ancestors.  We'll also hear a track he recorded with another powerful Mbira player and vocalist Beauler Dyoko. (Rebroadcast from 2011)

We get to hang at home with LADAMA!  We recorded some songs and chat with  Mafer Bandola (bandola llanera), Lara Klaus (percussion, drums), Daniela Serna (percussion)  Sara Lucas (voice, guitar) and Pat Swoboda (bass).   LADAMA is an ensemble of women musicians (joined by Pat for this session) who combine the rhythms and traditional instrumentation of frevo and maracatu from Pernambuco, Brazil;  j...

We're psyched to see that one of one of our favorite groups in NYC Innov Gnawa is combining forces with the great Vieux Farka Tourre this Thursday at BRIC. Last September, we got sit down and hang with Vieux Farka Toure, talk to him and record a little acoustic music…AND record his entire live set at Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan with his moking band!  Many thanks to World Music Institute and Le P...

With stirring vocal harmonies and luscious arrangements, Miramar breathe life into the classic bolero tradition.  We got to sit down with their music director and keyboardist, Marlyse Simmons and learn about the history of boleros and hear and learn about the muse of their new album Sylvia Rexach.  

The world-renowned Moroccan Festival Gnaoua et Musiques du MondeEssaouira celebrates its 20th anniversary with a debut NYC collaboration. Great Maalems (masters) and all-stars of the festival trace a musical journey of the ancient music of Gnawa during a night of trance and tradition. There will be events all week in NYC. In this WKCR broadcast we get to speak with master drummer, Will Calhoun; Sa...

Mitali Banerjee Bhawmik (vocal), Meghashyam Keshav (tabla), Ramachandra Joshi (harmonium) perform Raag Miyan Ki Malhar from 5-6pm at the Ragas Live Festival 2016 in Pioneer Works.

The talented violinist Trina Basu of Karavika joined us on WKCR to present an entire month of women led ensembles at the Brooklyn Raga Massive...we'll hear from Roshni Samlal, Yalini Dream,  Ganavya Doraiswamy, Morely, Karavika, Alif Leila, The Epichorus and much more.

Montreal based Thanya Iyer, creates a compelling mix of Carnatic influenced vocals, impressionist classical composition and electronica.  She brought her voice and keys to WKCR for a live set with Daniel Gelinas on Drums/Synths and  Alex Kasirer-Smibert on bass/synths.   The new album is called "Do you Dream"

Last night at WKCR 89.9 FM-NY,  Brooklyn Raga Massive members created a sea of drones for raga based improvisation, based on the calls coming into the station it seemed to be just what the city needed! The group "Unstruck Sound" will be performing this Friday Feb 24th at the Rubin Museum of Art.. Followed by a Sound Meditation with Acoustic Mandala Project at 9:30 pm Info Tix here  Neel Murgai -Ov...

The mind blowing singer from Mauritania has been on our radio show before and she's coming to NYC to perform for World Music Institute at (Le) Poisson Rouge Friday, February 24, 2017. We'll share our first encounter with Noura Mint Seymali when we recorded her in Timbuktu with her husband, Jeiche Ould Chighaly.  It was an intimate acoustic recording with a single microphone.  We'll also here a hig...

We get to hang with Albert Mazibuko an member of Ladysmith Black Mambazo for over 30 years.  Albert talks about his memories of times with Nelson Mandela, and how this angel music was both born in the mines and the land of dreams. The group plays B.B. Kings March 8th.

Blato Zlato kicked the doors down at this year's Golden Fest, the amazing annual Balkan festival in NYC featuring over 60 bands.  We got to talk backstage with Lou Carrig, Annalisa Kelly,Ruby Ross and check out selections from their new album Swamp Gold. Formed in 2015, the band performs folk and composed music from the Balkans and Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on Bulgarian songs and imp...

Hailing from Venezuela, Betsayda Machado & Parranda El Clavo made their New York debut at GlobalFest this week.  The group's electrifying live set, complete with pitch perfect harmonies, dazzling dancers, and irresistible rhythms earned them legions of new fans and a feature in the next days's New York Times. We sat down with Betsayda with her manager Juan Souki and learned more about the Afro-Ven...

Just before we left for Cuba to record for this podcast, Brooklyn Raga Massive's  Raga Cubana feat. Roman Diaz, had an intimate concert to get ready for our sold out concert a month later at the Rubin Museum of Art. Here we are trying new things and feeling the hometown energy and love from the Raga Massive Jam Session at the Art Cafe With Román Díaz (conductor, batá: iyá ) Giancarlo Luigi (sheker...

After three weeks of recording music in Cuba, we return with this special epsiode featuring a live performance from Groupo Folklorico 19 de Septiembre of Santiago de Cuba.  Guided by their lead Bata' drummer, Roberto Maikel Fuentes, we'll learn about 3 rhythms: Guanguanco', Tumba Francesa and Columbia.

The seventh set of the historic, Ragas Live Festival 2016, live at Pioneer Works. Neel Murgai (sitar), Sameer Gupta (tabla).  Neel and Sameer will be performing at the Raga Massive Concert and Jam Session at the Art Cafe (885 Pacific Street, Brooklyn) this Wednesday, Jan 4th 8pm. Neel is a multi-instrumental performer, composer and teacher in New York City. He graduated with an MFA in interdiscipl...

This is last minute post while I am in Cuba collecting great recordings for the all you listeners of the podcast!   A great performance from Dee Harris at Ragas live guitar..more to come.

The ninth set of the historic, Ragas Live Festival 2016, live at Pioneer Works.  Roopa Mahadevan (vocal) Anjna Swaminathan (violin), Bala Skandan (mridangam), Kabilan Jeginathan (kanjira). Roopa Mahadevan is a versatile vocalist rooted in the South Indian (Carnatic) classical tradition.  Born and raised in San Jose, California, Roopa underwent her major formative training in Carnatic vocal music i...

We hang out with Olivier Conan, the band leader of Chicha Libre, and the owner of Brooklyn's most beloved listening room, Barbes.  We'll hear some of the smoking tracks from his group and his Barbes Records label and get his take on what's happening in the world. Barbes will be hosting a free and open event this Sunday about the general state of the union entitled  What Now? Post Election Gatherin...

  As NYC and the world woke up to the results of an election, we gathered, as always, on Wednesday night, our inclusive, diverse music scene taking on a new meaning.    Tomchess and his quartet rose to the occasion and captured the moment with stunning soulful maquam based compositions informed by the free jazz improvisations of of Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane.  Hear the beauty and the promis...

The fourth set of the historic, Ragas Live Festival 2016, live at Pioneer Works.  Dan Weiss (Drumset) and Michael Gam (bass). Weiss has been studying tabla and Indian classical music with his Guru (teacher) Samir Chatterjee since 1998. With his Tintal Drum set Solo,  Dan takes the concept of a traditional Indian tabla solo and migrates it to a conventional drum set. When listening to Tintal Drum s...

This was an amazing experience. We got to hang in the studio with two legends of Afro-Cuban Jazz: Bobby Carcassés and Arturo O'Farrill! After the two recorded an improvised set we got to sit down and talk music. We also get to hear some music from Bobby's record celebrating his 50 years of creating music in Havana and NYC: 50 TH Aniversario, De La Habana A Nueva York.   ARTURO O’FARRILL, pianist,...

  This was an amazing experience!  We sit down with one of the great families of rhythm for a live performance and interview.  TH Vikku Vanyakram and family will be back in NYC, starting Oct. 24th teaching an incredible workshop on rhythm.   Recorded at the East Indian Music Academy, this is a legendary lineup: TH Vikku Vanyakram,  Uma Shankar -ghatam Selva Ganesh, Swaminathan - khanjira, konnakol...