Soundcheck

Berlin-based Danish singer, pianist, and composer Agnes Obel presents her ghostly, beautiful, classical chamber music-informed self-produced art-pop. Listen for luthéal (a kind of mechanism that can make a piano sound like a harp or cimbalom), piano, viola, cello, percussion, and lots of dreamy, ethereal vocals, asking questions about trust and doubt. For the latest record, Myopia, Obel experimented with recording processing, warping and pitching down vocals, melting and twisting the chamber music instruments strings, piano, celesta and lutheal piano – until she found a feeling of home in the soundworld she’d created. Agnes Obel and her band share some of these latest songs, in-studio. - Caryn Havlik Watch the session here: Set List:  Won't You Call Me Island of Doom Broken Sleep  

San Francisco-based Ethio-American singer, composer, songwriter and bandleader Meklit Hadero, is a TED Senior Fellow, National Geographic Explorer, and co-founder of the visionary pan-African Nile Project ensemble. With a sound that merges Addis Ababa, Los Angeles, New Orleans and San Francisco, Meklit’s approach as bandleader sees two percussionists, groovy sax and bass. Singing in both English and Amharic, she delivers Ethio-roots-jazz with a heavy dose of pop and soul that makes bodies move. Meklit and her band play in-studio. - Caryn Havlik Watch the session here:  From her TED Talk, "The unexpected beauty of everyday sounds":

Les Amazones d’Afrique is a creative collective of women from West and Central Africa, formed in Mali in 2014. At their strongest, they are 16 multi-generational vocalists spanning Africa, Europe and Latin America. The music blends electronic sounds, African traditional sounds, reggae and hip-hop elements together with cool harmonies and grooves, and the Congotronix-style production of legendary producer Doctor L (aka Liam Farrell.) Members of Les Amazones d’Afrique may come from many different countries, but face similar issues in their hometowns: violence against women and young girls, genital mutilation (or “cutting”), forced marriage, and gender equality. Using the ultimate force of music, they stand together for their rights. Les Amazones d’Afrique perform in-studio. - Caryn Havlik Watch the session here:   

French-born, NYC-based jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel, a leading player and improviser in "gypsy jazz," has recorded with mandolin legend David Grisman, toured with master violinist Mark O’Connor, and famously wrote a theme song for a Woody Allen film, Midnight In Paris. The Gitane guitar company has even named a model after him.  Wrembel honed his "gypsy jazz" skills in Roma campsites in the French countryside and has championed music of the brilliant Belgian-born Romani-French guitarist Django Reinhardt, hugely influential for his small ensemble works with the violinist Stephane Grappelli in the Hot Club all-string band in the 1930's. Guitarist Stephane Wrembel brings his small ensemble to perform impressions of Django Reinhardt tunes, and hopefullly Wrembel’s original compositions, in-studio. - Caryn Havlik Set list: Tea For Two Apocalypse Dark Eyes (Les Yeux Noirs) Watch the session here: 

The Attacca Quartet performs music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw and chats about collaborating with a living composer, gardens, and Star Wars. The music and interview were recorded live in the Greene Space for the 10th anniversary marathon in April 2019.  Set list:  Entr’Acte Plan and Elevation Punctum Valencia

The group Red Baraat has become synonymous with a raucous good time, a celebratory mix of bhangra – the dance music of the Punjab region, New Orleans horns, go-go and a bit of hip-hop besides. They’re led by drummer-composer Sunny Jain, who plays the dhol, a traditional two-headed drum slung over the shoulder. A talented and energetic army of horns, guitar, and percussion instruments rounds out the lineup, wedding the bhangra roots of the dhol to a N’awlins brass funk ‘n’ street party. The band played a set for us at Brooklyn Bowl in June 2019 and it ruled. Enjoy. (-Caryn Havlik) Set list:  Mast Kalander Tunak Tunak Tun Shruggy Ji Mehndi Laga Ke Rakhna Gaadi of Truth  

Hear some of the best performances from the Soundcheck Podcast series from 2019, including spacey folky confessional electro-pop by Helado Negro and new hooky pop from British guitar band Bombay Bicycle Club. Also, hear joyous folklore-infused electro-chamber music using Haitian women's voices, flute, and strings, from Nathalie Joachim & Spektral Quartet. Listen to “Worthy,” a mostly acoustic, yet powerful assurance from Grammy-winning singer/songwriter/producer India.Arie. Plus, sweaty cosmic funky arena dance jazz by London trio The Comet Is Coming.   

Hear some of the best performances from the Soundcheck Podcast series from 2019, like the tropical psych-rock from NYC-based quartet Combo Chimbita and the slamming wordplay in work by London's Kate Tempest, a poet, rapper, and spoken word performer. There's also collaborative music from soul singer Emily King and chamber band yMusic. Then, Baltimore-based electronic duo Matmos share some of their sampled "audio gold" mines from the sounds of nothing but plastics. Plus hear the crafty chamber-jazz by drummer Allison Miller, and her all-star band, Boom Tic Boom.

Banjo master Tony Trischka and sacred harp tunester and multi-instrumentalist Tim Eriksen, with fiddler Hannah Read, mandolinist Dominick Leslie, bassist Larry Cook, and drummer Sean Trischka play seasonal tunes turned loose on Bluegrass and Americana. Trischka and Eriksen and crew revel in little-known songs and carols, working in the haunting sound of shape note music that might date back to the Revolutionary era. Tony Trischka and friends play a few of these tunes, in-studio. - Caryn Havlik Watch the session here: 

From J.S. Bach to Biggie Smalls, Shostakovich to Nas, and the odd Tchaikovsky or Imagine Dragons, the classical-meets-hip-hop duo Black Violin continually challenges stereotypes with their music. Composed of classically trained violist and violinist Wil Baptiste and Kev Marcus, Black Violin combines musical ingredients of jazz, hip-hop, funk, and classical to create a distinctive sound that is described in their press as “classical boom.” Black Violin's Wil and Kev also connect with more than 100,000 students throughout the year as TurnAround Artists, part of a national education program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. They are championing accessible music education through student engagement and public performances, with the aim of inspiring kids to pursue careers in the arts.  Black Violin plays music from their latest, Take The Stairs, in-studio. Watch the session here:   

Black Belt Eagle Scout is the work of Oregon-based singer and multi-instrumentalist Katherine Paul, whose songs often draw on her Native American (specifically Swinomish) heritage. KP identifies as a radical indigenous queer feminist, and some of her lyrics touch on her being a water protector, connected to the land, and a womxn. Her latest record, At the Party With My Brown Friends, explores love, desire and friendship. Black Belt Eagle Scout and her band play some of these songs, in-studio. Watch the session here: 

During his four decades making music, Thurston Moore has been many things – guitarist, composer, improviser, collaborator, co-founder of the trailblazing rock band Sonic Youth. His new project might be his most ambitious yet.  It’s a 3-record set of expansive, guitar-driven sonic meditations called Spirit Counsel. Radical guitarist Thurston Moore and his co-conspirators present these altered states based in guitars, in-studio, and in tribute to some of the musicians and art that have influenced him (i.e. Alice Coltrane, and Glenn Branca.) Watch the session here: 

Son Little is a singer, songwriter, and multi instrumentalist based in Philadelphia, born Aaron Earl Livingston to a preacher and a teacher in Los Angeles. He cites Stevie Wonder and Jimi Hendrix as heroes, and has collaborated with both The Roots and RJD2. Little's music blends a bit old Philly soul with R&B and classic rock. But Son Little isn’t rehashing earlier styles – he’s made something new and personal out of those familiar old elements. His third album, called Aloha, comes out at the end of January, but today Son Little is here, solo, to play some songs in-studio. Watch the session here:   

New Jersey-born and Grammy Award-winning superstar singer Gloria Gaynor might be best-known for her disco-era hits, but she has deep gospel roots and with her 2019 release, Testimony, she gives powerful voice to these roots. She cites as influences Blind Boys of Alabama, the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, and watching her brothers perform as a gospel quartet (Cross Rhythms Radio.) While she had recorded a Christian music record to go with her 2013 book, We Will Survive: True Stories of Encouragement, Inspiration, and the Power of Song, it is just now in 2019 with Testimony, which was just nominated for a Grammy, that she partnered with producer Chris Stevens (TobyMac, Mandisa) to create a roots-gospel collection of songs. Blues-drenched and spiritual, there are soulful and brass-augmented originals that rely on Gaynor's songwriting interspersed with re-imagined versions of the classic "Amazing Grace" and "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," along with a funk-infused cover of Bob Dylan's "Man Of Peace." Gloria Gaynor sings some of these uplifting songs in-studio. - Caryn Havlik Watch the session here: 

Canadian musician, film composer, and songwriter Robbie Robertson is probably best known as the lead guitarist in The Band. He’s written written a wide variety of music over the years, not just for The Band. On the release of both the score for The Irishman and his first solo record in years, Sinematic, Robertson talks us through several main events.