Listen to the trio of London-based vocalist, violinist, and composer Alice Zawadzki, pianist Fred Thomas (who also plays the vielle and drums) and bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado fusing folk song, chamber music, and some improvisation in an adaptation of the Renaissance piece by Nicolas Gombert “Je Suis Trop Jeunette”. Let the teares and the dramatic stillness flow. Hear a bit of music by English composer Thomas Tallis, his motet “Spem in Alium” (1573) sung in Latin by a 40-voice choir. The work has had unusual arrangements, including a version for 40 stringed instruments (or 10 versions of the quartet), as arranged by Kronos Quartet.

Then, listen to music from the Hilliard Ensemble in collaboration with Norwegian sax player Jan Garbarek, from their worldwide hit recording of medieval works, Officium. There’s also music by 15th century composer Guillaume Dufay as treated by English composer Ambrose Field. From the album, Being Dufay, Field takes recordings of tenor John Potter singing Dufay’s songs as source material and electronically alters them into layered soundscapes.

Plus, hear an expansive sonic experience from violinist and composer Pauline Harris Kim in collaboration with the sound artist Spencer Topel. It’s an acoustic-electronic transcription for violin and electronics of “Deo Gratias,” a 36-voice work by the Franco-Flemish composer Johannes Ockeghem. Originally conceived of as a 36-part canon, “Deo” expands this idea of canon using delays, in an “ever expanding and infinite soundscape,” one that Pauline Harris Kim finds “as close to stopping time as I can imagine.” 
- Caryn Havlik

Program #4924, New Sounds From the Renaissance (First aired 9/19/2024)

ARTIST: Jan Garbarek, The Hilliard Ensemble
WORK: Parce mihi domine 2 [1:11]
RECORDING: Officium
SOURCE: ECM Records
INFO: ecmrecords.com

ARTIST: Alice Zawadzki, Fred Thomas, Misha Mullov-Abbado
WORK: Je Suis Trop Jeunette (Nicolas Gombert) [7:25]
RECORDING: Za Górami
SOURCE: ECM Records
INFO: ecmrecords.com

ARTIST: Jan Garbarek, The Hilliard Ensemble
WORK: Parce mihi domine 2 [4:51]
RECORDING: Officium
SOURCE: ECM Records
INFO: ecmrecords.com

ARTIST: Ensemble Bulgarka Jr
WORK: Credo III [2:47]
RECORDING: Palestrina: Missa Primi Domi
SOURCE: Celluloid / Ballon Noir/Lambarena
INFO: https://www.ivanlantos.com/palestrinauk.html

ARTIST: Alarm Will Sound
WORK: Josquin de Prez: Agnus Dei II [1:51]
RECORDING: a/rhythmia
SOURCE: Nonesuch
INFO: nonesuch.com

ARTIST: Kronos Quartet
WORK: Thomas Tallis: Spem In Alium [9:02]
RECORDING: Black Angels
SOURCE: Nonesuch 79242
INFO: nonesuch.com

ARTIST: Pauline Kim Harris
WORK: Deo III (based on Johannes Ockeghem) [10:35]
RECORDING: Heroine
SOURCE: Sono Luminus
INFO: sonoluminus.com

Hent IV Yann Tiersen EUSA Mute Records https://shop.yanntiersen.com 10/14/2025 23:00:00 1:20 1995 Ólafur Arnalds, Dagny Arnalds Island Songs Deutsche Grammophon https://store.deutschegrammophon.com/en/products/olafur-arnalds-island-songs 10/14/2025 23:04:38 4:02 In Åland Air Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer Recordings from the Åland Islands International Anthem https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/recordings-from-the-land-islands-ia11-edition 10/14/2025 23:08:36 3:14 Dalur Ólafur Arnalds, brasstrio Mosfellsdals Island Songs Deutsche Grammophon https://store.deutschegrammophon.com/en/products/olafur-arnalds-island-songs 10/14/2025 23:11:41 3:47 Hent IV Yann Tiersen EUSA Mute Records https://shop.yanntiersen.com 10/14/2025 23:18:40 3:22 Hent V Yann Tiersen EUSA Mute Records https://shop.yanntiersen.com 10/14/2025 23:22:02 1:08 Yuzin Yann Tiersen EUSA Mute Records https://shop.yanntiersen.com 10/14/2025 23:23:05 3:05 Duggdråper Sigurd Hole Lys/Mørke (Light/Darkness) Elvesang sigurdhole.bandcamp.com 10/14/2025 23:32:10 2:53 The Most Special Place Elori Saxl Texada Western Vinyl 10/14/2025 23:34:54 3:18 North Brother Island (Bonus Track) Hauschka Abandoned City Temporary Residence trr232 shop.temporaryresidence.com 10/14/2025 23:40:47 5:18 Stureby House Piano Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer Recordings from the Åland Islands International Anthem https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/recordings-from-the-land-islands-ia11-edition 10/14/2025 23:50:05 4:59 1995 Ólafur Arnalds, South iceland Chamber Choir Island Songs Deutsche Grammophon https://store.deutschegrammophon.com/en/products/olafur-arnalds-island-songs 10/14/2025 23:55:33 4:00

#5049 From the Soundcheck Podcast: Rachika Naya and Nina Keith present Disiniblud (First aired 9/16/25)

Listen to music for large ensemble by Cassie Kinoshi, the Mercury Prize-nominated Berlin/London-based composer, arranger and alto-saxophonist, and former member of Kokoroko. In addition to writing for and performing with her ten-piece ensemble seed. which features many top London-based improvising musicians, she also composes for contemporary dance, film, visual-art and theatre.Hear the movement from the “gratitude” suite that came about from how the winter sun would shine on her at her writing desk – what she describes as part of her gratitude practice.

There’s also music by Saapato, the music project of upstate NY-based multi-instrumentalist Brendan Principato. Listen to his blend of manipulated field recordings and lush electronic soundscapes which celebrates the untouched wilderness of Fire Island, along with “lamenting the scars left by human encroachment - from the pollution that threatens the marsh ecosystems to the steady retreat of the shoreline”, (Bandcamp)

Also, hear the bird sounds of South America collected from along the Magdalena River in Colombia, by Simón Mejía, founder and co-leader of Bomba Estéreo. It’s from his recording project, Monte, built on the sounds of these field recordings. Then, there’s recent work by London vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and producer Cosmo Sheldrake, who creates songs and sound worlds out of people, places, creatures, plants, fungi, and collected sounds. Plus, hear a sonic portrait of the Shropshire countryside from the artist Tiny Leaves, which features a mix of atmospheric soundscapes, strings, and piano melodies, intertwined with field and bio data recordings made at The Long Mynd, an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). That, and more.

Program #4873, Music That Celebrates Nature (First aired 4/22/2024)

ARTIST: Joceyln Pook with Melanie Poppenheim
WORK: Music for Singing With Nightingales [5:45]
RECORDING: Singing With Nightingales, Earth Day 2020
SOURCE: The Nest Collective
INFO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pr3CVt5paTM

ARTIST: Tiny Leaves
WORK: Mynd Plateau, Arrival [445]
RECORDING: Mynd
SOURCE/INFO: https://tinyleaves.bandcamp.com/album/mynd

ARTIST: Tiny Leaves
WORK: Runner, Messenger ii [5:01]
RECORDING: Mynd
SOURCE/INFO: https://tinyleaves.bandcamp.com/album/mynd

ARTIST: Brian Eno
WORK: Lantern Marsh [5:31]
RECORDING: Ambient 4: On Land
SOURCE: EG Records 20
INFO: Available at Amazon.com, AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube

ARTIST: Saapato
WORK: Morning Swale Song [5:26]
RECORDING: On Fire Island
SOURCE/INFO:https://saapato.bandcamp.com/album/on-fire-island

ARTIST: Cosmo Sheldrake
WORK: Flora's Pond [2:31]
RECORDING: Eye to the Ear
SOURCE: Tardigrade Records
INFO: https://cosmosheldrake.bandcamp.com/album/eye-to-the-ear

ARTIST: Monte
WORK: Mirla [3:54]
RECORDING: Mirla
SOURCE: youtube.com. also available via Apple Music or Spotify

ARTIST: Paul Winter Consort
WORK: Belly of the Whale [5:31]
RECORDING: Earth Music
SOURCE: Earth Music Productions
INFO: https://paulwinter.bandcamp.com/album/earth-music

ARTIST: Cassie Kinoshi's seed
WORK: sun through my window [3:42]
RECORDING: Gratitude
SOURCE: Int. Anthem
INFO: https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/gratitude

ARTIST: Ruby Colley
WORK:  Here Comes The Rayne [5:24]
RECORDING: Overheard
SOURCE/INFO: rubycolley.bandcamp.com

Shabaka Hutchings, now Shabaka, has been an essential London-based musician for years, leading arena dance-jazz band Sons of Kemet, cosmic psych-dub-funk trio The Comet Is Coming, and the collaborative band Shabaka & the Ancestors. He began incorporating flutes as a layer on the last Sons of Kemet record, and kept on picking up more and other woodwinds, first on his 2022 ambient meditation, Afrikan Culture, and now on his new full-length, Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace. On it, Shabaka plays flutes: the Slavic woodwind called svirel, Japanese shakuhachi, Andean quena, and even clarinet. Plus, rapper and flutist André 3000 contributes flute to “I’ll Do Whatever You Want”.

Hear that piece, along with Shabaka’s flute(s) in music by Tamil Nadu-raised and New York-born vocalist Ganavya– whose latest album was also produced by Shabaka and released on his record label, Native Rebel. There’s also new music from American saxophonist Kamasi Washington and his 2024 album, Fearless Movement, featuring Shabaka. Also, listen to Brazilian pianist Amaro Freitas and his latest, Y'Y, which offers connection to the earth and to the ancestors, and to the global Black avant-jazz community, featuring flute by Shabaka. Plus, from the brilliant album Black Classical Music by London-based drummer, composer, and producer Yussef Dayes, hear Shabaka’s flute featured on the tune, “Raisins Under The Sun”. All of that, plus new music from André 3000. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4872, Unexpected Flutists: Shabaka Hutchings and Andre 3000 (First aired 4/19/2024)

ARTIST: Keith Jarrett
WORK: Spirits [1:00]
RECORDING: Spirits
SOURCE: ECM 1333-34
INFO: https://ecmrecords.com

ARTIST: Sons of Kemet ft. Moor Mother
WORK: Pick Up Your Burning Cross [1:00]
RECORDING: Black to the Future
SOURCE: Impulse!
INFO: https://sonsofkemet.lnk.to/blacktothefutureIB

ARTIST: Shabaka
WORK: As The Planets And The Stars Collapse [1:00]
RECORDING: Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace
SOURCE: Impulse!
INFO: https://shabakahutchings.lnk.to/PIBAIG

ARTIST: Shabaka
WORK: I'll Do Whatever You Want [7:43]
RECORDING: Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace
SOURCE: Impulse!
INFO: https://shabakahutchings.lnk.to/PIBAIG

ARTIST: Ganavya
WORK: first notebook of songs [8:41]
RECORDING: Like the Sky, I've Been Too Quiet
SOURCE: Native Rebel
INFO: https://ganavya.bandcamp.com/album/like-the-sky-ive-been-too-quiet

ARTIST: Andre 3000
WORK: That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther And Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn’t Control ... Sh¥t Was Wild [10:23]
RECORDING: New Blue Sun
SOURCE: Epic; Sony
INFO: https://shop.andre3000.com/

ARTIST: Kamasi Washington
WORK: Dream State (feat_ Andre 3000) [8:40]
RECORDING: Fearless Movement
SOURCE: Young Turks Recordings, due out May 3
INFO: https://kamasiwashington.bandcamp.com/album/fearless-movement

ARTIST: Amaro Freitas
WORK: Y'Y, with Shabaka Hutchings [5:17]
RECORDING: Y'Y
SOURCE: Psychic Hotline
INFO: https://amarofreitas.bandcamp.com/album/yy

ARTIST: Yussef Dayes
WORK: Raisins Under The Sun (feat. Shabaka Hutchings) [3:56]
RECORDING: Black Classical Music
SOURCE: Nonesuch/Warner Records
INFO: https://yussefdayes.bandcamp.com/album/black-classical-music

Listen to some of his recordings, including work inspired by Ethiopian music but given a Moroccan title and from his 2024 release, Little Big Top, with trumpeter Volker Goetze; a little bit of hardcore punk by guitarist/composer Eliott Sharp and work by drummer/composer Bobby Previte from an alleged Polka record; and a string arrangement of his work, “Flying Vegetables of the Apocalypse” played by violinist Todd Reynolds. Also, hear a performance of a work for dueling accordions, featuring composer and radio host David Garland, performed in-studio in 1988.

From the city of Saint-Salvadour in France, hear the six voices, two tom-toms, twelve hands, and a tambourine of the group San Salvador who sing in Occitan, a language of the Southern Mediterranean. Their forceful combination of underground punk attitude and flawless polyphony is delivered and driven by call-and-response sections, clever drumbeats and handclaps, all to spine-tingling effect.

Then, listen to music rooted in the rural folk traditions of Portugal from musician, composer and digital artist Ana Lua Cainao, who  plays with traditional rhythms and vocals merged with electronic experimentation. There’s also music from the Catalan folk duo Tarta Relena, which ranges from the sacred to the secular, and often uses electronics. Their body of work so far reimagines Mediterranean folk, Georgian laments, and the 12th century mystic Hildegard von Bingen; they sing in Catalan, Spanish, Greek, Latin, English and Ladino. Hear a song in Greek, “Me yelassan”.

Hear music from Hysterrae, four musicians, all women, from three different traditions who draw on music from Afghanistan to southern Italy. Also on the show is taranta music from Italian singer/percussionist/dancer/actress Alessandra Belloni, along with a piece from Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, a seven piece band and dancer who perform a modern variation of Southern Italy's traditional Pizzica music. 

There’s a selection from the Estonian vocal group Greip (translates as “grapefruit”), who only do a capella music, whether calm ballads, jazzy pieces, pop/rock songs and also their own creation. Hear their inspired contemporary rendition of an Estonian folk song, “Vihma Loits,” (Rain Spell) featuring only their voices and beatboxed percussion. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4870, Updating Folk Roots (First Aired 4/15/2024)

ARTIST: San Salvador
WORK: La Grand Folie [1:00]
RECORDING: La Grand Folie
SOURCE: Pagans
INFO: pagans.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Ana Lua Caiano
WORK: Ando Em Círculos [2:46]
RECORDING: Vou Ficar Neste Quadrado
SOURCE: Glitterbeat Records
INFO: https://analuacaiano.bandcamp.com/album/vou-ficar-neste-quadrado

ARTIST: Alessandra Belloni
WORK: Canto Della Madonna Di Montserrato [3:30]
RECORDING: Taranatata - Dance of the Ancient Spider
SOURCE: Sounds True #0117
INFO: soundstrue.com

ARTIST: Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino
WORK: Nu Te Fermare [4:20]
RECORDING: Pizzica Indiavolata
SOURCE: Ponderosa Music and Art
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon.com

ARTIST: Tarta Relena
WORK: Me yelassan [2:32]
RECORDING: Fiat Lux
SOURCE: La Castanya
INFO: tartarelena.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Tartit
WORK: Tiliaden N'Asahara [3:29]
RECORDING: Amankor / The Exile
SOURCE: Riverboat Records TUGCD1120
INFO: worldmusic.net

ARTIST: Found Sound Nation
WORK: More Zablejala Vkla Ovca [2:31]
RECORDING: OneBeat Balkans Mixtape
SOURCE: One Beat
INFO: https://onebeatmusic.bandcamp.com/album/onebeat-balkans-mixtape

ARTIST: Veyrouz Mint Seymali
WORK: Dwaye [4:07]
RECORDING: Music from Saharan WhatsApp, Vol. 09
SOURCE: Sahel Sounds
INFO: veyrouzmintseymali.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: San Salvador
WORK: La Grand Folie [11:50]
RECORDING: La Grand Folie
SOURCE: Pagans
INFO: pagans.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Hysterrae
WORK: Aziz djun[5:19]
RECORDING: Hysterrae
SOURCE: Linfa
INFO: https://hysterrae.bandcamp.com/album/hysterrae

ARTIST: Värttinä
WORK: Sepän Poikan[3:21]
RECORDING: Iki
SOURCE: Northside Records
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon.com

ARTIST: Greip
WORK: Vihma Loits (Rain Spell) [2:59]
RECORDING: Üks Viis
SOURCE: Available at muusika24.ee  
INFO: greip.eu

Syrian American hip-hop artist, designer, poet and peace activist Omar Offendum makes music that combines his love for hip-hip and his desire to connect it to his Arab roots, specifically the poetic tradition of the Arab world. Listen to music from his show, “Little Syria”, which premiered at the Kennedy Center and had runs at BAM, UCLA, in Chicago, and other places. 

Then, listen to music from Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi, who made waves with her protest songs during the Arab Spring and whose songs pair electronica, pop, and hip-hop with North African references and traditional Tunisian instruments. Her forthcoming 2024 album, MRA, lifts up the sisterhood and spotlights the fight against [the] patriarchy, and veers into more pop and hip hop than ever before. 

Also, from Palestinian-American composer and oud player Simon Shaheen, hear a work from his tribute album to the Egyptian composer Mohamed Abdel Wahab. Then, listen to Palestinian multi-instrumentalist Tareq Abboushi, who plays “Arabic alternative music” using traditional instruments like the buzuq folk-lute and classical melodic modes known as maqam in a non-traditional way.

There’s more music by Lebanese-born, New York-based violinist and composer Layale Chaker whose music often blends Arab and Western classical sounds together with jazz.  Plus, listen to New York-based Iraqi-American trumpeter, santur player, and vocalist Amir Elsaffar and his Two Rivers project, named for the Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq. The project celebrates the two streams of influence in Elsaffar's work, the near-eastern classical and the western jazz. All that, and more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4869, Arab-American Music (First aired 4/11/2024)

ARTIST: Omar Offendum
WORK: The Little Syria Show [:45]
RECORDING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPLdys6hJ_k
SOURCE: YouTube
INFO: https://offendum.bandcamp.com/

ARTIST: Omar Offendum
WORK: The Little Syria Show [6:23]
RECORDING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPLdys6hJ_k
SOURCE: YouTube
INFO: https://offendum.bandcamp.com/

ARTIST: Gaida
WORK: Bint ElBalad [5:21]
RECORDING: Levantine Indulgence
SOURCE: Palmyra Recordings
INFO: Available at Spotify, Amazon.com, AppleMusic, YouTube Music

ARTIST: Emel
WORK: Layem [4:25]
RECORDING: Ensen
SOURCE: Partisan Records
INFO: https://store.partisanrecords.com/release/122934-emel-ensen?lang=en_US

ARTIST: Simon Shaheen
WORK: Sittel Habayeb [6:33]
RECORDING: Music Of Mohamed Abdel Wahab
SOURCE: Axiom 422-846 754
INFO: billlaswell.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Layale Chaker & Sarafand
WORK: Ushaq [3:59]
RECORDING: Inner Rhyme
SOURCE: In a Circle Records
INFO: https://layalechaker.com

ARTIST: The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma
WORK: Kinan Azmeh: Wedding [3:27]
RECORDING: Sing Me Home 
SOURCE: Sony Music Masterworks 
INFO: Available at Amazon.com, AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube

ARTIST: Amir Elsaffar/Two rivers Ensemble
WORK: Al-Badia [5:51]
RECORDING: Inana
SOURCE: Pi Recordings 41
INFO: pirecordings.com

ARTIST: Tareq Abboushi & Shusmo
WORK: Dal'ona [4:41]
RECORDING: Mumtastic
SOURCE: Tareq Abboushi
INFO: Available at Spotify, Amazon.com, AppleMusic, YouTube Music

Voda, the latest record from Montréal’s exploratory harpist Sarah Pagé, drifts and flows, revealing murky depths and phenomenal tenderness, and while there is harp, the music also incorporates electronics, oak branches, water bowls, waterphone, and koto.

Also, listen to music by Irish composer Linda Buckley, who draws on the water witches and sea witches of Celtic folklore. Water witches possessed magical abilities connected to the ocean and could summon storms and control the weather; a sea witch could manifest as a magical being such as a siren or selkie- her hypnotic voice could lure sailors to their deaths. In a work for piano & electronics premiered at New Music Dublin in 2023, Andrew Zolinsky performs “Water Witch” by Linda Buckley.

Hear Kronos Quartet in work by the late Sudanese musician Hamza El Din, Hamza El Din (1929-2006), was a master of the oud, a vocalist, and played tar (frame drum). Listen to one of his most famous pieces, Escalay (The Water Wheel). There’s also a piece by the same name from the chamber band Oregon, featuring guitarist Ralph Towner and reed player Paul McCandless. Plus, hear a selection from a career retrospective collection of work by Ohio-born “unguitarist” Rick Deitrick. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4762, Water Works (First aired 6/15/23)

ARTIST: Sarah Page
WORK: Vers les Abîmes [1:09]
RECORDING: Voda3
SOURCE: Backward Music
INFO: sarahpage.bandcamp.com/album/voda

ARTIST: Andrew Zolinksy, piano & electronics
WORK: Linda Buckley: Water Witch [16:09]
RECORDING: The Studio, National Concert Hall, Dublin, April 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: lindabuckley.org | newmusicdublin.ie

ARTIST: Sarah Page
WORK: Vers les Abîmes [1:09]
RECORDING: Voda3
SOURCE: Backward Music
INFO: sarahpage.bandcamp.com/album/voda

ARTIST: Kronos Quartet, with Hamza El Din
WORK: Hamza El Din: Escalay (The Water Wheel) [1:00]
RECORDING: Pieces of Africa
SOURCE:  Nonesuch 79275
INFO: nonesuch.com/albums/pieces-africa

ARTIST: Oregon
WORK: Waterwheel [6:30]
RECORDING: Out of the Woods
SOURCE: Discovery 71004
INFO: Available at Amazon.com

ARTIST: Rick Deitrick
WORK: Waterwheel [2:44]
RECORDING: The Unguitarist: Complete Works 1969-2022 
SOURCE: Tompkins Square Records
INFO: tompkinssquare.bandcamp.com

Hear music by Brazilian singer/songwriter, pop luminary, and musical revolutionary Caetano Veloso, who has been called the Bob Dylan of Brazil. Veloso famously co-founded the provocative Tropicália movement of the 1960s, and was subsequently arrested and exiled for so-called subversion. Listen to some of Caetano Veloso’s Estrangeiro, from 1989, which included guitarists Arto Lindsay, Bill Frisell, and Marc Ribot. We’ll also hear some selections from the compilation from the Red Hot organization: “Red Hot and Rio,” Vol. 2, including music from Caetano Veloso, remixed by Prefuse 73, and a song featuring David Byrne together with Veloso. There’s also a piece by composer, arranger, producer and multi- instrumentalist Jherek Bischoff in collaboration with Caetano Veloso and Greg Saunier of Deerhoof.

Plus, heavily percussive samba drumming from the group Oladum, as featured on Paul Simon's album, The Rhythm of the Saints; and music from a nine-part tribute suite to the various rivers of Brazil - Aguas da Amazonia by Philip Glass, written for the group Uakti, who play instruments that they designed and built themselves. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4866, The Brazilian Connection (First aired 4/05/2024)

ARTIST: Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd
WORK: Desafinado [6:16]
RECORDING: Jazz Samba
SOURCE:  MGM/Verve
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, Spotify, YouTube Music

ARTIST: Caetano Veloso
WORK: O Estrangeiro [6:16]
RECORDING: Estrangeiro
SOURCE: Nonesuch #60898
INFO: nonesuch.com

ARTIST: David Byrne + Caetano Veloso
WORK: Dreamworld: Marco de Canaveses [5:04]
RECORDING: Red Hot + Rio 2
SOURCE: Red Hot Organization
INFO: https://redhot.org/project/red-hot-rio-2/ | Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, Spotify, YouTube Music

ARTIST:  Moreno Veloso +2
WORK: Deusa do Amor [4:58]
RECORDING: Music Typewriter
SOURCE: Luaka Bop / Hannibal Records
INFO: https://morenoveloso.bandcamp.com/album/music-typewriter

ARTIST: Jherek Bischoff, Caetano Veloso & Greg Saunier
WORK: The Secret of the Machines [3:51]
RECORDING: Composed
SOURCE: Brassland HWY-027
INFO:  jherekbischoff.com | brassland.org

ARTIST: Caetano Veloso
WORK: Terra (Prefuse 73 '3 mellotrons in a quiet room' version) [5:04]
RECORDING: Red Hot + Rio 2
SOURCE: Red Hot Organization
INFO: https://redhot.org/project/red-hot-rio-2/ | Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, Spotify, YouTube Music

ARTIST: Carlinhos Brown, Timbalada and Os Zárabe
WORK: Candyall Beat [1:36]
RECORDING: Pulse : a STOMP Odyssey
SOURCE: Six Degrees #675036-1084
INFO:  sixdegreesrecords.com

ARTIST: Paul Simon (w/ Olodum)
WORK: The Obvious Child [4:07]
RECORDING: The Rhythm Of The Saints
SOURCE: Warner Bros.  / Reissued 2011 on Sony Music
INFO: Amazon.com, AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube

ARTIST: Carlinhos Brown, Timbalada and Os Zárabe
WORK: Candyall Beat (Remix by Mr. Bill and Mr. Ben) [4:38]
RECORDING: Pulse : a STOMP Odyssey
SOURCE: Six Degrees #675036-1084
INFO:  sixdegreesrecords.com

ARTIST: Uakti
WORK: Purus River [7:45] 
RECORDING: Aguas Da Amazonia – Music By Philip Glass
SOURCE: Point Music #259 464 064. 
INFO: Out of print. Reissued via Orange Mountain Music #0026
orangemountainmusic.com

 Listen to work by New York-based Lithuanian composer Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, from her latest record, Hadal Zone, which descends through the zones of the ocean depths from the Epipelagic zone (surface to 200 meters) to hadopelagic zone (6 to 11 km.) Written for bass clarinet, tuba, violoncello, contrabass, piano and electronics, the music is performed by the Lithuanian ensemble Synaesthesis, and features recorded samples of the San Francisco-based choral group Volti (conducted by Robert Geary.) Listen to several movements from the work, covering the uppermost surface of the ocean to the depths of the Mariana Trench, er… other ocean trenches.   

Then, listen to some of composer, producer, and violinist Matt McBane’s collaboration with Sandbox Percussion, Bathymetry -inspired by the ocean floor and a “reference to how bass synthesizers affect percussive sounds, mimicking how the ocean floor shapes the waves above,” (National Sawdust .) Hear a part of the multimedia song cycle, Black Inscription, inspired by the true-life tale of the free diver Natalia Molchanova, who descended into the ocean in 2015 and never resurfaced. The work is a collaboration between violinist, vocalist and composer Carla Kihlstedt, drummer and composer/vocalist Matthias Bossi, and multi-instrumentalist/composer Jeremy Flower.

Plus, listen to work in keeping with this theme from French harpist and composer Laura Peruddin, as well as the Berlin-based composer and audio technologist Floating Spectrum, and more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4751, a deep dive - music for the bottom of the ocean (First aired 5/17/23)

ARTIST: Matt McBane and Sandbox Percussion
WORK: Matt McBane: Proximity [1:12]
RECORDING: Bathymetry
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: mattmcbane.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Žibuoklė Martinaitytė & Synaesthesis
WORK: Part I Epipelagic - 1 Canticum Oceani [4:48]
RECORDING: Hadal Zone
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: cantaloupemusic.com/albums/hadal-zone

ARTIST: Rabbit Rabbit Radio (Kihlstedt/Bossi/Flower)
WORK: Blue Abyss [4:25]
RECORDING: Black Inscription
SOURCE: RabbitRabbit Radio 004
INFO: rabbitrabbitradio.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Žibuoklė Martinaitytė & Synaesthesis
WORK: Part I Epipelagic - 3 Canto del mar [6:47]
RECORDING: Hadal Zone
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: cantaloupemusic.com/albums/hadal-zone

ARTIST: Laura Perrudin
WORK: Mesopelagic [3:14]
RECORDING: Poisons & Antidotes
SOURCE: Volatine/Wrasse
INFO: lauraperrudin.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: JG Thirlwell/Manorexia; David Cossin, percussion; Leyna Marika Papach, violin; Elena Moon Park, violin; Karen Waltuch, viola; Felix Fan, cello
WORK: Armadillo Stance [5:01]
RECORDING: Manorexia: The Mesopelagic Waters
SOURCE: Tzadik Records
INFO: jgthirlwell.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Floating Spectrum
WORK: Descent to the hadal zone [3:57]
RECORDING: A Point Between
SOURCE: Temporary Residence
INFO: https://floatingspectrum.bandcamp.com/album/a-point-between

ARTIST: Matt McBane and Sandbox Percussion
WORK: Matt McBane: Proximity [4:41]
RECORDING: Bathymetry
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: mattmcbane.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Joby Talbot
WORK: Tide Harmonic: Hadal Zone [6:58]
RECORDING: Tide Harmonic
SOURCE: Signum Classic  
INFO: signumrecords.com

Composer, vocalist, and multimedia artist Pamela Z uses a looping station to create entire sonic tapestries out of her voice, whether spoken or sung, wordless or with text, operatic or abstract. A pioneer of live digital looping techniques, she processes her voice in real time, to build out rhythm tracks and harmony vocals, and tells stories over the top, sometimes mixing in other media. Listen to a 2008 work by Pamela Z called “Chalky Crystal Liquid Cave”.

Then, listen to what could be shape note singing by Berlin-based composer Holly Herndon which relies on an electronic pop choir of blended and processed human and A.I. voices generated by Spawn, a modified gaming computer. Hear work by Haitian-American composer, flutist, vocalist, and educator Nathalie Joachim (Flutronix, eighth blackbird) and her new album called Ki moun ou ye, or "Who Are You?" / "Who Claims You?". On it, her precisely assembled original songs and compositions explore ideas about family, ancestry, and identity using recorded voices of family members, along with her own flute riffs and voice, and percussive elements. 

Then, listen to music that won the Pulitzer Prize some of the Partita for 8 Voices by violinist and vocalist Caroline Shaw as performed by the vocal group Roomful of Teeth. There’s also music by Hysterrae, four musicians, all women, from three different traditions who draw on music from Afghanistan to southern Italy. Plus, hear music by the Toulouse-based Occitan trio Cocanha, whose vocal harmonies are often accompanied by body percussion (hands and feet), and sometimes the drone of Pyrenean string tambourine. And more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4864, Women's Voices (First aired 4/02/2024)

ARTIST: Pamela Z
WORK: Chalky Crystal Liquid Cave [1:00]
RECORDING: Bang on a Can Marathon 2008
SOURCE: This performance not commercially avaialble. 
INFO: https://pamelaz.com/work/chalky-crystal-liquid-cave

ARTIST: Cocanha
WORK: Suu camin de Sent Jacques (His way to St. James) [4:20]
RECORDING: Puput
SOURCE: Pagans Musica
INFO: pagansmusica.net

ARTIST: Ana Lua Caiano
WORK: Ando Em Círculos [2:46]
RECORDING: Vou Ficar Neste Quadrado
SOURCE: Glitterbeat Records
INFO: https://analuacaiano.bandcamp.com/album/vou-ficar-neste-quadrado

ARTIST: Hysterrae
WORK: Kholy [4:10]
RECORDING: Hysterrae
SOURCE: Linfa
INFO: https://hysterrae.bandcamp.com/album/hysterrae

ARTIST: Pamela Z
WORK: Chalky Crystal Liquid Cave [8:13]
RECORDING: Bang on a Can Marathon 2008
SOURCE: This performance not commercially avaialble. 
INFO: https://pamelaz.com/work/chalky-crystal-liquid-cave

ARTIST: Roomful of Teeth
WORK: Caroline Shaw: Partita for 8 Voices, Passacaglia [5:56]
RECORDING: Partita for 8 Voices
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records
INFO: roomfulofteeth.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Holly Herndon
WORK: Frontier [4:29]
RECORDING: PROTO
SOURCE: 4AD
INFO: hollyherndon.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Nathalie Joachim
WORK: Ti nèg  [4:48]
RECORDING: Ki moun ou ye
SOURCE: New Amsterdam/ Nonesuch Records
INFO: https://nathaliejoachim.lnk.to/kimounouye

ARTIST: Geoff Smith & Nicola Walker Smith
WORK: Six Wings of Bliss [6:34]
RECORDING: Fifteen Wild Decembers
SOURCE/INFO: https://thegeoffsmithband.bandcamp.com/album/15-wild-decembers

ARTIST: Nathalie Joachim
WORK: Zetwal [2:37]
RECORDING: Ki moun ou ye
SOURCE: New Amsterdam/ Nonesuch Records
INFO: https://nathaliejoachim.lnk.to/kimounouye

Built with the aim of offering a sonic resource for comfort and calming, composer Danny Clay and The Living Earth Show created Music for Hard Times and recorded it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Experimental, adventurous, and sculptural, the eight movement work was crafted using a series of composed "Calming Strategies," recorded independently in their homes using instruments, voices, field recordings, and found objects. At times,The Strategies ask players to use their own emotional responses as a gauge, becoming meditative exercises in the process. Strategy #1, for instance, is meant to last “slightly longer than you are comfortable, or until you feel it has made a significant effect on you”; #4 suggests adding “a small sound to your environment, to remind it you’re still there.” With these open-ended text instructions, composer Danny Clay zeroes in on “the uncomplicated pleasures of making and listening to beautiful sounds” and asks a fundamental question: “Is it possible for us to use the tools of classical art music to make people feel better?”, (program notes by Timo Andres).

Listen to #4860, Living Earth Show Plays Danny Clay, Part 1

View the Music for Hard Times handmade hardcover zine

A leaf from the zine, Calming: A Book of Strategies For The Living Earth Show, & Danny Clay, & Just about Anyone Else, Really - Spring 2020

(The Living Earth Show / NYPR)

ARTIST:  The Living Earth Show, Danny Clay
WORK: Danny Clay: Music for Hard Times, Book 2: Finale [5:05]
RECORDING: Music for Hard Times
SOURCE/INFO: https://tles.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-hard-times

ARTIST: The Living Earth Show, Kaufman Music Center Select Choir and Orchestra, David Baker, cond.
WORK: Danny Clay: Music for Hard Times: Book 2 [15:37]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live, Feb. 8, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: The work was recorded and is available here: https://tles.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-hard-times

ARTIST: The Living Earth Show
WORK: Danny Clay: Music for Hard Times: Book 1, 5-7 [11:27]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live, Feb. 8, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: The work was recorded and is available here: https://tles.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-hard-times

ARTIST: The Living Earth Show, Kaufman Music Center Select Choir and Orchestra, David Baker, cond.
WORK: Danny Clay: Music for Hard Times: Book 2, Epilogue [7:00]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live, Feb. 8, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: The work was recorded and is available here: https://tles.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-hard-times

Program #5006,  From Soundcheck, Ben Verdery, Peter Gregson (First aired 5/12/2025)

Program #4755, With Curtis Stewart (First aired 5/30/23)

ARTIST: Curtis Stewart
WORK: Trad.: Thalassaki Mou [1:50]
RECORDING: Live, in-studio, March 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO:  The work appears on "Of Love", available at curtisjstewart.bandcamp.com/album/of-love

ARTIST: PUBLIQuartet
WORK: Hildegard von Bingen: O ignee Spiritus [2:04]
RECORDING: Freedom and Faith
SOURCE: Bright Shiny Things
INFO: brightshiny.ninja/publiq

ARTIST: Curtis Stewart, Aaron Diehl
WORK: David Baker: Deliver My Soul, arr. Stewart/Diehl [4:38]
RECORDING: Live, in-studio, March 2023
SOURCE/INFO: This performance not commercially available.

ARTIST: Curtis Stewart, Aaron Diehl
WORK: Oscar Peterson: Hymn to Freedom, arr. Stewart/Diehl [5:53]
RECORDING: Live, in-studio, March 2023
SOURCE/INFO: This performance not commercially available.

ARTIST: PUBLIQuartet
WORK: Pavement Pounding Rose [3:38]
RECORDING: Live, March 21, 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: The work appears on What Is American? via Bright Shiny Things

ARTIST: PUBLIQuartet, with Eleanor Oppenheim, students from the Kaufman Music Center, Special Music School
WORK: Deep River [3:38]
RECORDING: Live, March 21, 2023
SOURCE/INFO:  This performance not commercially available.
 

ARTIST: PUBLIQuartet
WORK: Shelley Washington: Middleground [9:21]
RECORDING: Freedom and Faith
SOURCE: Bright Shiny Things
INFO: brightshiny.ninja/publiq

Listen to portions of Paul Simon’s Seven Psalms, a guitar-based song cycle containing Simon’s musings of life and death, faith and technology. Then, there’s music from a collaboration called “Songs from Liquid Days,” originally begun with David Byrne, where Philip Glass said “The words come first. ” From that song cycle, listen to Paul Simon’s “Changing Opinion,” a song exploring the possible sources of an electrical hum in a room.

Also, hear David Byrne’s collaboration with the dance music giant Fatboy Slim on the song cycle/music-theater piece called Here Lies Love.  The work is based on the life of Imelda Marcos, the wife of the former president of the Philippine, Ferdinand Marcos, and features the voice of Shara Nova. There’s more music featuring vocalist Shara Nova in Sarah Kirkland Snider's song-cycle for vocalists and chamber orchestra, Unremembered. Also, listen to Shara Nova (Worden), as part of the song cycle by Clogs, Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton. And more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4753, Excerpts From Song Cycles (First aired 5/22/23)

ARTIST: Paul Simon, ft. Marin Alsop, violin
WORK: The Late Great Johnny Ace, excerpt [1:11]
RECORDING: Hearts and Bones
SOURCE: Warner Bros. 7599239422
INFO: Available Amazon and iTunes

ARTIST: Paul Simon, Edie Brickell, Voces8
WORK: Seven Psalms: my professional opinion [5:27]
RECORDING: Seven Psalms 
SOURCE: Owl Records/Legacy Recordings
INFO: Available Amazon, Spotify, AppleMusic

ARTIST: Paul Simon & Philip Glass, ft. Bernard Fowler 
WORK: Changing Opinion [9:57]
RECORDING: Songs from Liquid Days
SOURCE: Cbs Masterworks #39564
INFO: philipglass.com/recordings/songs_from_liquid_days or try Amazon.com, iTunes, Spotify

ARTIST: Paul Simon, Edie Brickell, Voces8
WORK: Seven Psalms: wait [3:38]
RECORDING: Seven Psalms 
SOURCE: Owl Records/Legacy Recordings
INFO: Available Amazon, Spotify, AppleMusic

ARTIST: Philip Glass
WORK: A Gentleman’s Honor (lyrics by David Byrne) [3:17]
RECORDING: The Photographer
SOURCE: Sony Classical 73684
INFO: Reissued in 2013, Music On Vinyl, MOVCL 005

ARTIST: David Byrne, Shara Worden
WORK: Seven Years [5:40]
RECORDING: Here Lies Love : Original Cast Recording by David Byrne + Fatboy Slim
SOURCE: Nonesuch 
INFO: nonesuch.com

ARTIST: Sarah Kirkland Snider, Unremembered Orchestra, conducted by Edwin Outwater
WORK:  The Witch [6:30]
RECORDING: Unremembered
SOURCE: New Amsterdam Records NWAM 067
INFO: newamsterdamrecords.com

ARTIST: Clogs
WORK: On the Edge [4:02]
RECORDING: The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton
SOURCE: Brassland HWY 021
INFO: brassland.org | clogs.bandcamp.com

ARTIST:  Philip Glass Ensemble, Douglas Perry
WORK: Glass/David Byrne: Open the Kingdom[3:37]
RECORDING: Songs From Liquid Days
SOURCE: Cbs Masterworks #39564
INFO: philipglass.com/recordings/songs_from_liquid_days or try Amazon.com, iTunes, Spotify

Hear an ambient soundscape with a sense of wonder and self-discovery in the latest from the cellist and composer MIZU, Forest Scenes. The Juilliard-trained musician layers her cello, pulsating electronics, and hyperreal field recordings into what feels like an unhurried turn filled with moss, leaves, creatures, and branches, taking in everything that might be possible, and simultaneously “building scenes of self-discovery through a kind of ecstasy in the unexplored”, (MIZU’s Bandcamp).

Listen also to British electronic musician and synthpop songwriter (Erasure, Depeche Mode, Yazoo) Vince Clarke’s dark, moody ambient music made on modular synths, where each track has a drone. Then, hear slowly unfolding sonic landscape by British composer, musician, and sound artist Roger Eno. Then hear music of the desert’s vast, ragged landscape from the trio called Cowboy Sadness. Made up of members of The Antlers, Bing & Ruth, & Port St. Willow, listen for David Moore’s heavy, undulating organs, Peter Silberman’s melancholic guitars, and Nicholas Principe’s galloping, hypnotic drums, from their record, Selected Jambient Works Vol. 1.

There’s also ambient electronic music work from L.A.-based saxophonist, producer, and composer David Binney, and the latest from Grammy-nominated composer and pianist Dustin O’Halloran, from his recent release, 1001, and an electronic work that was recorded with analogue synths. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4862 Ambient Electronics (First aired 3/27/2024)

ARTIST: Roger Eno
WORK: Above and Below (Crepuscular) [1:00]
RECORDING: the skies, they shift like chords
SOURCE:  Deutsche Grammophon
INFO: https://dg.lnk.to/the-Skies

ARTIST: Vince Clarke
WORK: White Rabbit [4:41]
RECORDING: Songs of Silence
SOURCE: Mute Records
INFO: https://mute.ffm.to/vinceclarke_sos

ARTIST: Dustin O'Halloran
WORK: Harmonic Dream Sequence [9:30]
RECORDING: 1001
SOURCE: Deutsche Grammophon
INFO: https://dg.lnk.to/1001

ARTIST: David Binney 
WORK: Leaving Shelter [6:17]
RECORDING: In The Arms Of Light
SOURCE/INFO: https://davidbinney.com/album/2779813/in-the-arms-of-light

ARTIST: MIZU
WORK: Realms of Possibility [10:49]
RECORDING: Forest Scenes
SOURCE:  NNA Tapes
INFO: https://iammizu.bandcamp.com/album/forest-scenes

ARTIST: Roger Eno
WORK: Above and Below (Crepuscular) [6:54]
RECORDING: the skies, they shift like chords
SOURCE:  Deutsche Grammophon
INFO: https://dg.lnk.to/the-Skies

ARTIST: Cowboy Sadness
WORK: The Cowboy Way [7:18]
RECORDING: Selected Jambient Works Vol.1
SOURCE:  People Teeth
INFO: https://cowboysadness.bandcamp.com/album/selected-jambient-works-vol-1

Built with the aim of offering a sonic resource for comfort and calming, composer Danny Clay and The Living Earth Show created Music for Hard Times and recorded it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Experimental, adventurous, and sculptural, the eight movement work was crafted using a series of composed "Calming Strategies," recorded independently in their homes using instruments, voices, field recordings, and found objects. At times, The Strategies ask players to use their own emotional responses as a gauge, becoming meditative exercises in the process. Strategy #1, for instance, is meant to last “slightly longer than you are comfortable, or until you feel it has made a significant effect on you”; #4 suggests adding “a small sound to your environment, to remind it you’re still there.” With these open-ended text instructions, composer Danny Clay zeroes in on “the uncomplicated pleasures of making and listening to beautiful sounds” and asks a fundamental question: “Is it possible for us to use the tools of classical art music to make people feel better?”, (program notes by Timo Andres).

Listen to #4861, Living Earth Show Plays Danny Clay, Part 2

View the Music for Hard Times handmade hardcover zine

A leaf from the zine, Calming: A Book of Strategies For The Living Earth Show, & Danny Clay, & Just about Anyone Else, Really - Spring 2020

(The Living Earth Show / NYPR)

Program #4860, From New Sounds Live, The Living Earth Show plays Danny Clay, part 1  (First aired 3/21/2024)

ARTIST: The Living Earth Show
WORK: Danny Clay: Music for Hard Times: Entrance[7:44]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live, Feb. 8, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: The work was recorded and is available here: https://tles.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-hard-times

ARTIST: The Living Earth Show
WORK: Danny Clay: Music for Hard Times: Book 1[17:01]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live, Feb. 8, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://tles.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-hard-times

ARTIST: The Living Earth Show, Kaufman Music Center Special Music School Chorus, led by David Baker
WORK: Danny Clay: Music for Hard Times: Book 2, Part 4[12:59]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live, Feb. 8, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://tles.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-hard-times

ARTIST: The Living Earth Show
WORK: Danny Clay: Music for Hard Times: Book 8 [12:51]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live, Feb. 8, 2024
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://tles.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-hard-times

Listen to music from violinist, collaborator, composer & music director Rakhi Singh, who is also the co-founder of the Manchester Collective. From Singh’s debut album, listen to an arrangement of Julia Wolfe’s work ”LAD”, originally composed for nine bagpipes and reimagined for the violin. In Singh’s recording, the multiple violins manage to somehow retain the bagpipe flavor with the droning, grace notes, skirls.  

Then, listen to a long portion of “A Crimson Grail” by American musician and composer Rhys Chatham. The work was written as a commission for the city of Paris, and premiered at the basilica of Sacré-Coeur, and features 200 guitarists, 16 bassists, five conductors, and one percussionist. Although Chatham once played a central role in New York’s “downtown music” scene with a series of works for LOUD electric guitar, he‘s best-known most recently for high profile productions of his rugged noise symphonies written for hundreds of softly played electric guitars (and basses.)

There’s also some 15 layers of acoustic bowed strings music by Irish-born Princeton-based composer Donnacha Dennehy - his long-form work, "Tessellatum" for American violist Nadia Sirota, who is joined on the baroque viola da gamba by Liam Byrne. – Caryn Havlik

Program #4859, Music for Multiples and Alternate Tunings (First aired 3/19/2024)

ARTIST: Rhys Chatham (200 guitarists, 16 bassists, five conductors, and one percussionist)
WORK: Rhys Chatham: A Crimson Grail [18:11]
RECORDING: A Crimson Grail
SOURCE: Nonesuch 524138
INFO: nonesuch.com

ARTIST: Nadia Sirota, Liam Byrne
WORK: Donnacha Dennehy: Letter HH [3:43]
RECORDING: Tessellatum
SOURCE: Bedroom Community
INFO:  bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Nadia Sirota, Liam Byrne
WORK: Donnacha Dennehy: Letter NN [2:41]
RECORDING: Tessellatum
SOURCE: Bedroom Community
INFO:  bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Nadia Sirota, Liam Byrne
WORK: Donnacha Dennehy: Letter RR [2:52]
RECORDING: Tessellatum
SOURCE: Bedroom Community
INFO:  bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Nadia Sirota, Liam Byrne
WORK: Donnacha Dennehy: Letter UU [3:12]
RECORDING: Tessellatum
SOURCE: Bedroom Community
INFO:  bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Nadia Sirota, Liam Byrne
WORK: Donnacha Dennehy: Coda [1:33]
RECORDING: Tessellatum
SOURCE: Bedroom Community
INFO:  bedroomcommunity.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Rakhi Singh
WORK: Julia Wolfe: LAD [16:35]
RECORDING: Purnima
SOURCE: Cantaloupe Music
INFO: rakhisingh.bandcamp.com/album/purnima

Listen to music by Iranian-British composer Soosan Lollevar who combines Faraz Eshghi Sahraei’s santur (hammered dulcimer) with the London-based chamber orchestra Ruthless Jabiru, conducted by Kelly Lovelady. The orchestra performs in an alternate tuning to fit in with Persian tuning of the santur on the work, “I am the Spring, You are the Earth”; it’s a piece that considers Lolavar’s own "emerging sense of diasporic identity", (Ramp Global/nonclassical liner notes). Listen also to Constantinople, a Montreal-based ensemble of musicians from Armenia, Turkey, and Iran, who together create brilliant open-border music that speaks to the migration and the mixing of cultures of the Mediterranean and Middle East.

There’s music where microtonal jazz meets traditional Georgian folk songs, using harmonies that we don’t have in most western music. Hear a work inspired by the Svaneti region in the Northwestern Caucasus Mountains by Georgian pianist, composer, and arranger Giorgi Mikadze. Then, listen to a work from Found Sound Nation, which is the global arm of Bang on a Can. Listen to musicians from Armenia, Turkey and Georgia world who listened, exchanged and co-created original music in 2023.

Plus, hear music from the Guo Gan Trio, in a collaboration inspired by the Gobi Desert. Listen to Guo Gan’s erhu (Chinese fiddle), in collaboration with Emre Gultekin, playing a Turkish lute called the baglama, and Levent Yildirim, playing an Egyptian drum doholla from their album, Gobi Desert. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4858, Music of Armenia, Turkey, Georgia, and Iran (First aired 3/18/2024)

ARTIST: Constantinople
WORK: Devr-e-Raksan [1:00]
RECORDING: Passages
SOURCE: Buda Musique 
INFO: budamusique.com | constantinople.ca

ARTIST: Found Sound Nation
WORK: ABMT [7:28]
RECORDING: Sound Bridge Mixtape 
SOURCE: fsnrecords.bandcamp.com
INFO:  foundsoundnation.org

ARTIST: Giorgi Mikadze and Ensemble Basiani 
WORK: Lazhghvash [4:23]
RECORDING: Georgian Microjamz
SOURCE: RareNoise
INFO: giorgimikadze.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: AGA Trio
WORK: Hayrikis[5:08]
RECORDING: Araxes
SOURCE: Riverboat Records
INFO: https://orcd.co/4vvqmqo

ARTIST: Soosan Lolavar, Ruthless Jabiru, Faraz Eshghi Sahraei, Kelly Lovelady
WORK: I am the Spring, You are the Earth[8:22]
RECORDING: Girl
SOURCE: Nonclassical
INFO: https://ruthlessjabiru.bandcamp.com/album/girl

ARTIST: Constantinople
WORK: Devr-e-Raksan [7:44]
RECORDING: Passages
SOURCE: Buda Musique 
INFO: budamusique.com | constantinople.ca

ARTIST: Maria Farantouri, Cihan Turkoglu
WORK: Dyo Kosmoi Mia Angalia [5:07]
RECORDING: Beyond the Borders
SOURCE: ECM Records 2585
INFO: ecmrecords.com

ARTIST: Guo Gan Trio
WORK: Kocaoglan Paçarani [6:34]
RECORDING: Gobi Desert
SOURCE: Felmay Records 8260
INFO: felmay.it

Irish folk-drone band Lankum, on their latest record, False Lankum, go for radical softness in their harmonies and spacious arrangements, yet, there’s a sense of foreboding menace as songs stretch out, the dramatic musical textures build and the stories reach their climax. Hear suggestively sinister hurdy-gurdy, and drones on a murder ballad called “The New York Trader”.

There’s also “doom folk” from Cinder Well, aka Amelia Baker, an American singer and songwriter based in the west of Ireland. Hear one of her “wonderfully haunted” tunes from her lates, Cadence, which features Cormac MacDiarmada of Lankum, (John Schaefer).

Then, hear singer/songwriter Valerie June together with guitarist Bill Frisell from a tribute record to the legendary folk musician Doc Watson, I Am A Pilgrim– Doc Watson at 100. Also, listen to music from Irish traditional fiddler Martin Hayes with The Common Ground Ensemble. Plus, hear music from the Irish-American supergroup, The Gloaming, who are fiddle master Martin Hayes, the late guitarist Dennis Cahill, sean-nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, hardanger innovator Caoimhin Ó Raghallaigh and New York pianist Thomas Bartlett (aka Doveman). - Caryn Havlik

Program #4747, The Irish-American Connection (First aired 5/3/23)

ARTIST: Cinder Well
WORK: Two Heads, Grey Mare [1:11]
RECORDING:  Cadence
SOURCE: Free Dirt Records
INFO: https://lnk.to/cadence

ARTIST: Lankum
WORK: Lord Abore and Mary Flynn [8:40]
RECORDING: False Lankum
SOURCE: Rough Trade Records
INFO: https://lankum.ffm.to/falselankum

ARTIST: Cinder Well
WORK: Two Heads, Grey Mare [4:42]
RECORDING:  Cadence
SOURCE: Free Dirt Records
INFO: https://lnk.to/cadence

ARTIST: Martin Hayes & The Common Ground Ensemble
WORK: The Longford Tinker [3:37]
RECORDING: Peggy's Dream
SOURCE: 251 Records
INFO: https://251records.lnk.to/MHCGEPeggysDream | martinhayes.com

ARTIST: Valerie June, Bill Frisell
WORK: Handsome Molly [2:51]
RECORDING: I Am A Pilgrim: Doc Watson at 100
SOURCE: FLi Records/Budde Music
INFO: https://linktr.ee/iamapilgrim 

ARTIST: Lankum
WORK: The New York Trader [7:41]
RECORDING: False Lankum
SOURCE: Rough Trade Records
INFO: https://lankum.ffm.to/falselankum

ARTIST: Chris Eldridge
WORK: Little Sadie [4:09]
RECORDING: I Am A Pilgrim: Doc Watson at 100
SOURCE: FLi Records/Budde Music
INFO: https://linktr.ee/iamapilgrim 

ARTIST: Cinder Well
WORK: Crow [6:52]
RECORDING:  Cadence
SOURCE: Free Dirt Records
INFO: https://lnk.to/cadence

ARTIST: The Gloaming
WORK: Reo [6:52]
RECORDING: 3
SOURCE: Real World Records
INFO: realworldrecords.com

The idea was always for extreme slowness, with the intent to harness the sonic properties of The TANK Center for Sonic Arts —a nonprofit recording studio and concert venue centered around an extremely resonant empty water tank in the high desert of northwestern Colorado, known for its otherworldly acoustics, and its almost 40 seconds of sustained reverb. During the recording at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, the sounds of their performance were relayed to The TANK in Colorado and back into the headphones of the performers to allow each of the lush, Ludwiggy chords to ring out and fade within the extremely resonant confines of The TANK. The quartet had to adjust and slow their performance drastically so that the movement, which is usually around seven minutes in length, stretched out to a 44-minute epic. Listen to some of the time-expanding, intense feelings which may not be limited to meditation on grief, resolution, and existence itself, (Round Sound Bandcamp). - Caryn Havlik

Program #4746, Slow Beethoven, with Jeffrey Ziegler (First aired 5/2/23)

ARTIST: Emerson String QuartetWORK: Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131 [1:00]RECORDING: Beethoven: The String QuartetsSOURCE:  Deutsche GrammophonINFO: deutschegrammophon.com

ARTISTS: Lara St. John \ Violin 1; Miranda Cuckson \ Violin 2; Milan Milisavljevic \ Viola; Jeffrey Zeigler \ CelloWORK: Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131 [10:32]RECORDING: Slow BeethovenSOURCE:  Round SoundINFO: https://roundsound.tanksounds.org/album/slow-beethoven | tanksounds.org 

ARTISTS: Lara St. John \ Violin 1; Miranda Cuckson \ Violin 2; Milan Milisavljevic \ Viola; Jeffrey Zeigler \ CelloWORK: Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131 [13:06]RECORDING: Slow BeethovenSOURCE:  Round SoundINFO: https://roundsound.tanksounds.org/album/slow-beethoven | tanksounds.org 

ARTISTS: Lara St. John \ Violin 1; Miranda Cuckson \ Violin 2; Milan Milisavljevic \ Viola; Jeffrey Zeigler \ CelloWORK: Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131 [18:28]RECORDING: Slow BeethovenSOURCE:  Round SoundINFO: https://roundsound.tanksounds.org/album/slow-beethoven | tanksounds.org 

the late American composer Robert Ashley, responsible for the development of video- or television-operas. Revisit his work, “The Backyard,” featuring keyboard, tabla, and the composer’s voice, which is perhaps a comic opera about reincarnation (touching on bank robbery, cocktail lounges, geriatric love, adolescent elopement) and includes camera directions, because after-all, it is a “television-opera.” There’s a work by the late saxophonist, composer, and poet Bob Samarotto, recorded in our studios in 1990, his Little Piano Book, which is a series of poems about studying the piano. 

AND, hear a piece by Laurie Anderson, who holds forth on bowling and a pizza party with nuns, a postponed seminar on language, and a pilgrimage to Herman Hesse’s gravesite from a 1995 spoken word album.

Program #5004, Musical Storytelling (First aired 5/2/2025)

ARTIST: Bob Samarotto & ZeitgeistWORK: Little Piano Book [1:00]RECORDING: Zeitgeist, live, WNYC, 1990SOURCE/INFO: Live recording. This work is not commercially available.

ARTIST: Robert AshleyWORK: The Backyard [23:06]RECORDING: Perfect Lives / Private PartsSOURCE: Lovely Music #1001 INFO: lovely.com

ARTIST: Laurie AndersonWORK: Maria Teresa Teresa Maria [5:44]RECORDING: The Ugly One with the Jewels and Other StoriesSOURCE: Rhino/Warner Bros.INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube

ARTIST: Bob Samarotto & ZeitgeistWORK: Little Piano Book [14:40]RECORDING: Zeitgeist, live, WNYC, 1990SOURCE/INFO: Live recording. This work is not commercially available.

Listen to work that limns that art song/pop song divide from London-based, Italian-born composer, bassist, and vocalist Ruth Goller, from her album, SKYLLUMINA, made in collaboration with many different drummers, including British jazz drummer Mark Sanders and Berlin-based drummer Max Andrzejewski. Then, listen to Halifax-based cellist India Gailey, a composer, vocalist, and improviser who draws from many eras and genres to craft poetic narratives of sound. Hear one of the pieces of composed music written specifically for India by Tio'tia:ke/Montréal -based composer Sarah Rossy which combines influences of jazz and live-processed electronics. There’s also expansive and lush music for cello and electronics by NYC-based cellist and composer MIZU, from the album, Distant Intervals.

Plus, hear music by Caroline Shaw for the vocal group Roomful of Teeth from a work setting Shakespeare’s famous words from The Tempest; work by Czech violinist/vocalist Iva Bittova; and more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #4856,  Songs On the Border (First aired 3/8/2024)

ARTIST: Ruth GollerWORK: Reach Down into the Deepest White [1:10]RECORDING: SkylluminaSOURCE: International AnthemINFO: https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/skyllumina

ARTIST: Carrie Henneman ShawWORK: Melia Watras: Weeping Pendula [6:37]RECORDING: Play/WriteSOURCE: Planet M RecordsINFO: meliawatras.com/playwrite-album

ARTIST: Claire DicksonWORK: Your House [3:39]RECORDING:  The BeholderSOURCE: New Amsterdam RecordsINFO: https://clairedickson.bandcamp.com/album/the-beholder

ARTIST: Ruth GollerWORK: Reach Down into the Deepest White [4:27]RECORDING: SkylluminaSOURCE: International AnthemINFO: https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/skyllumina

ARTIST: India GaileyWORK: Sarah Rossy: I long [6:04]RECORDING: ProblematicaSOURCE:  People Places RecordsINFO: https://peopleplacesrecords.bandcamp.com/album/problematica3

ARTIST: MIZU, feat. Maria BCWORK: Aveu (The Beginning Is a Farewell) [4:53]RECORDING: Distant IntervalsSOURCE:  NNA TapesINFO: https://iammizu.bandcamp.com/album/distant-intervals

ARTIST: Iva BittovaWORK: River of Milk (Proudem Mleka) [4:46]RECORDING: River of MilkSOURCE:  Nonesuch 79455INFO: https://www.nonesuch.com/albums/iva-bittov

ARTIST: Ruth GollerWORK: All the light I have I hand to you [6:40]RECORDING: SkylluminaSOURCE: International AnthemINFO: https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/skyllumina

ARTIST: Roomful of TeethWORK: Caroline Shaw: The Isle II, Ariel [5:49]RECORDING: Rough MagicSOURCE: New AmsterdamINFO: https://roomfulofteeth.bandcamp.com/album/rough-magic

ARTIST: Roomful of TeethWORK: Caroline Shaw: The Isle III, Caliban [2:46]RECORDING: Rough MagicSOURCE: New AmsterdamINFO: https://roomfulofteeth.bandcamp.com/album/rough-magic

Dutch composer Jameszoo (Mitchel van Dinther) operates on the edges of contemporary classical, experimental music, and jazz and with his latest record, Music for 17 Musicians, he has created a new work for 16 musicians and a self-governing Disklavier. The title is a nod to Steve Reich’s groundbreaking 1978 album on ECM Music for 18 Musicians and the lone track that has been released from Music for 17 Musicians, the movement called "(Egg Modern)", is a feisty bit of angular and motoric process music. The work was written for and performed by Dutch ensemble Asko|Schönberg, percussion group HIIIT and Jameszoo’s own “blind” group: Niels Broos (organ), Petter Eldh (electric bass) and Richard Spaven (drums). There’s also new music from New York experimental-electronic composer Elori Saxl, and her soundtrack for Texada, a VR film exploring the smallness of human existence within the grand scope of geologic time, via Texada Island's limestone-rich landscape. Hear the piece, "The Most Special Place," which serves as a final bridge between the cosmic and the intimate, leaving a lasting impression of how deeply human lives are intertwined with the ancient geology beneath our feet. (Boomkat)

Listen to new jazz-ish trio music from Montreal double bass player and composer Philippe Massé, featuring a guest oud player, which adds hints of middle-eastern music and even a drop of metal. It’s from his brand-new album, Le Vent. Then, hear music from Greek singer Savina Yannatou’s latest album Watersong – where water is both life-sustaining, and a mortal threat, (ECM Records.) Shakespeare’s The Tempest with the spirit Ariel’s song, “Full Fathom Five”, provided a starting point for Yannatou and the Primavera en Salonico band in a project in which they are also joined by Tunisian singer Lamia Bedioui.

Hear new solo music by New York based singer-songwriter and musician Will Graefe, also known as session player and collaborator with artists like Cass McCombs, Anais Mitchell, Okkervil River, and Eleanor Friedberger. Graefe has released two different albums of instrumental guitar works – one acoustic, and one electric. Listen to “Shadow Country” from the acoustic album (Vol. 2). Then, listen to new vocal music by Swiss composer-clarinetist Jürg Frey, composed for the UK vocal ensemble EXAUDI. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #5003, New Releases, April 2025 (First aired 4/30/2025)

ARTIST: Jameszoo, Asko|SchönbergWORK: (Egg Modern)  [1:00]RECORDING: Music For 17 MusiciansSOURCE: due out May 30INFO: https://jameszoo.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-17-musicians

ARTIST: GoGo PenguinWORK: Fallowfield Loops [4:44]RECORDING: Necessary Fictions SOURCE: Due out June 20 via XXIM Records / Sony MusicINFO: https://gogopenguin.lnk.to/necessaryfictionsAY

ARTIST: Jameszoo, Asko|SchönbergWORK: (Egg Modern)  [6:43]RECORDING: Music For 17 MusiciansSOURCE: due out May 30 via BrainfeederINFO: https://jameszoo.lnk.to/mf17Yo

ARTIST: PidginsWORK: Results Oriented  [4:36]RECORDING: Refrains of the Day, Volume 2SOURCE: Lexical RecordsINFO: https://pidginsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/refrains-of-the-day-volume-2

ARTIST: Famo MountainWORK: My Struggle to Survive (I Refuse to Join a Music Gang) [5:39]RECORDING: For Those Left BehindSOURCE: Glitterbeat RecordsINFO: https://famomountain.bandcamp.com/album/for-those-left-behind

ARTIST: Will GraefeWORK: Shadow Country [5:01]RECORDING: Compositions for Guitar Vol 2SOURCE: Will GraefeINFO: https://willgraefe.bandcamp.com/album/compositions-for-guitar-vol-2-2

ARTIST: Philippe MasséWORK: Le Vent [5:33]RECORDING:  Le VentSOURCE/INFO: https://philippemasse.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Elori SaxlWORK: The Most Special Place [3:18]RECORDING: TexadaSOURCE: Western VinylINFO: https://elorisaxl.bandcamp.com/album/texada-original-score

ARTIST: Savina YannatouWORK: Full Fathom Five [3:03]RECORDING: WatersongSOURCE: ECM RecordsINFO: https://ecmrecords.com/product/watersong-savina-yannatou-primavera-en-salonico-lamia-bedioui

ARTIST: EXAUDIWORK: Jürg Frey: Landscape of Echoes [2:43]RECORDING: Jürg Frey: VoicesSOURCE: Neu RecordsINFO: https://neurecordsbcn.bandcamp.com/album/voices

Moira Smiley refers to herself as a song collector; she's also a singer, multi-instrumentalist (banjo, accordion, piano, and hand & body percussion), and songwriter. Smiley has sung in arenas, cathedrals, kitchens, back porches, sound stages, and on glaciers with the likes of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Tune-Yards, Tim O’Brien, Eric Whitacre, Los Angeles Master Chorale, New World Symphony and Solas. But she’s spent a good portion of her career collecting, arranging and performing traditional songs from Appalachia, The Balkans, The Republic of Georgia, Wales, and more. Her latest album is called The Rhizome Project, and features a string quartet along with many guests. Moira Smiley and a string quartet [Sara Caswell (violin), Dana Lyn (violin), Josh Henderson (viola), Jody Redhage-Ferber (cello)] perform in-studio. Harpist, soloist, collaborator (Harlem Chamber Players), educator, and arranger Ashley Jackson’s brand new album is called Take Me To The Water.  In the American spiritual tradition, water is a powerful metaphor for freedom and for moving from this life to the next. Jackson’s record takes listeners on a watery journey through works by Debussy, the jazz harpist Alice Coltrane, blues, and some classic spirituals. As Jackson declares in a statement about the record, ”Water is something that we all need. It sustains us, it gives us life. Take Me to the Water reminds us we have a choice: we can let water be the thing that divides us, or, it can allow us to come together through our shared humanity.” She plays some of her arrangements of spirituals on a sculpted maple harp, in-studio. - Caryn Havlik

Program #5002, From Soundcheck, Moira Smiley, Ashley Jackson (First aired 4/29/2025)

ARTIST: Ashley JacksonWORK: Take Me To the Water [1:00] RECORDING: Live for the Soundcheck Podcast, March 2025SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. INFO: https://ashleyjacksonharp.com The record, Take me to the Water is available via Decca Records 

ARTIST: Moira SmileyWORK: Awake Awake [:53] RECORDING:  The Rhizome Project SOURCE: Moira Smiley MusicINFO: https://moirasmiley.bandcamp.com/album/the-rhizome-project

ARTIST: Moira Smiley, String QuartetWORK: Go Dig My Grave [3:55] RECORDING: Live for the Soundcheck Podcast, Sept 2024SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.INFO: https://moirasmiley.com

ARTIST: Moira Smiley, Sam Amidon, Seamus EganWORK: Days of War [:37] RECORDING: In our VoicesSOURCE: Moira Smiley MusicINFO: https://moirasmiley.bandcamp.com/album/in-our-voices

ARTIST: Moira Smiley & VOCOWORK: Oj Jabukov (Trad. Serbian, learned from KITKA) [:37] RECORDING: Laughter Out Of TearsSOURCE: Moira Smiley MusicINFO: https://voco.bandcamp.com/album/laughter-out-of-tears

ARTIST: Moira Smiley, String QuartetWORK: Oh, Watch the Stars [5:14] RECORDING: Live for the Soundcheck Podcast, Sept 2024SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.INFO: https://moirasmiley.com

ARTIST: Moira Smiley, Dawn PembertonWORK: Oh, Susanna [:54] RECORDING: In our VoicesSOURCE: Moira Smiley MusicINFO: https://moirasmiley.bandcamp.com/album/in-our-voices

ARTIST: Ashley JacksonWORK: River Jordan [2:43] RECORDING: Live for the Soundcheck Podcast, March 2025SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. INFO: https://ashleyjacksonharp.com The record, Take me to the Water is available via Decca Records 

ARTIST: Ashley JacksonWORK: Rezende: Yemaya [1:40] RECORDING: Take Me To the WaterSOURCE: Decca RecordsINFO: https://ashleyjackson.lnk.to/tmttw

ARTIST: Ashley JacksonWORK: Deep River, Pt. 2 [2:16] RECORDING: Live for the Soundcheck Podcast, March 2025SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. INFO: https://ashleyjacksonharp.com The record, Take me to the Water is available via Decca Records 

ARTIST: Ashley JacksonWORK: Take Me To the Water [4:48] RECORDING: Live for the Soundcheck Podcast, March 2025SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. INFO: https://ashleyjacksonharp.com The record, Take me to the Water is available via Decca Records