Soundcheck from WNYC j2r4u

Denver-born songwriter, guitarist, singer, activist, and performer Jill Sobule, is possibly best-known because of her breakthrough hit of “I Kissed a Girl” (pre-dating Katy Perry by more a decade), and “Supermodel,” the anthem from the film Clueless. In her over seven albums, the troubadour has "mused on topics such as the death penalty, anorexia, shoplifting, reproduction, the French resistance movement, adolescence and the Christian right." She has also written music for TV and theater, been active in numerous social and political causes, and been a pioneer in the art of crowdfunding. On her 2018 album, Nostalgia Kills, released on her own Pinko Records, the songwriter/composer tackles adult topics, and looks back without sentimentality to “exorcise some junior high school demons.” The late Jill Sobule and her band ed us to perform some of these songs in-studio in 2018. (From the Archives.) - Caryn Havlik Set list: 1. Where Do I Begin 2. Island of Lost Things 3. I Don’t Wanna Wake Up

Since releasing his first solo album in 2010, William Tyler has become associated with the so-called cosmic country style – his music has tended to be expansive, atmospheric, clearly rooted in Americana but with an experimental edge. Now comes Tyler’s new record, Time Indefinite – an album that might, paradoxically, be his most modern or avant-garde sounding. “Crafted by razor blade and chainsaw, it’s destructive and hopeful, a mirror and a dream, internal and external, unsettled and peaceful, non linear and all at once, analogue and digital, broken and repaired then broken again, surprising and nostalgic, but it’s a product of its time, definitely”, (Jake Davis, via Instagram.) William Tyler, along with producer, engineer, and synthesist Jake Davis play some of the songs, in-studio.  Set list: 1. Star of Hope 2. Anima Hotel 3. Concern  

The artist, producer, and educator Jlin, born Jerrilynn Patton, first came out of the electronic dance music scene – specifically, the Chicago style of house music known as footwork. But she’s also become a sought-after composer, and one of her works was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her collaborators include Icelandic pop star Bjork, composer Philip Glass, experimental electronic musician Holly Herndon, dance companies, and lots more. Jlin’s unsettled rhythms, unexpected samples, and surprising sonic effects are layered, and played live (!) when she performs. Jlin s us to play a set of pieces that draw on her typically bewildering array of sound sources, including a piece in six, “Iris”. Set list: 1. B12 2. Iris 3. The Precision of Infinity

Macie Stewart is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer who’s been a key player in the Chicago music scene, and a go-to collaborator for her string arrangements for pop stars like SZA, or playing with leading improvisers like Makaya McCraven or touring with Japanese Breakfast. Her current project is an album called When Distance Is Blue, full of atmospheric and cinematic works, soundscapes really, that feature prepared piano, field recordings, strings and more. These soundscapes make music out of the places in-between, inviting a careful listen to one's surroundings, and allowing space for the silence and boredom. Macie Stewart, along with violinist gabby fluke-mogul, play some of these works, in-studio. Set list: 1. I Forget How to My Dreams/Tsukiji 2. Mouthful of Glass 3. Murmuration/Memorization

Because she is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, perhaps the most famous Indian classical musician of the past century, Anoushka Shankar is associated with that style of music. But though she plays the sitar, and does indeed play Indian ragas in the style of her illustrious dad, she has also drawn on jazz, flamenco, various world and electronic music traditions, and more. Her new record, We Return To Love, is the conclusion of a trilogy of EPs. The masterful sitarist, film composer, and imioned activist Anoushka Shankar presents the third chapter in her current trilogy of mini-albums, which explores her fascination with Goa Trance. She and her band perform live at National Sawdust, as part of the Grammy Museum's series, "A New York Evening With". Set list: Stolen Moments, New Dawn, Hiraeth, We Burn So Brightly, Amrita, Daybreak

The fiddler Mark O’Connor is probably best known for his million-selling Appalachian Waltz project – a kind of chamber/folk album with famed cellist Yo Yo Ma and bassist Edgar Meyer. Mark has also written string quartets, concertos, and orchestral pieces – and they all come from the same place as his solo fiddle sets – everything is rooted in the sounds of American music, especially bluegrass. Maggie O’Connor is also a fiddler, and singer, who moves easily between those two worlds, and together, this husband-and-wife team have been touring with a program called Beethoven and Bluegrass. There’s no Beethoven today for this session, but hear some O’Connor classics, old and new, in-studio. Set list: 1. Limerock 2. We Just Happened To Fly 3. Appalachia Waltz

The fiddler Mark O’Connor is probably best known for his million-selling Appalachian Waltz project – a kind of chamber/folk album with famed cellist Yo Yo Ma and bassist Edgar Meyer. Mark has also written string quartets, concertos, and orchestral pieces – and they all come from the same place as his solo fiddle sets – everything is rooted in the sounds of American music, especially bluegrass. Maggie O’Connor is also a fiddler, and singer, who moves easily between those two worlds, and together, this husband-and-wife team have been touring with a program called Beethoven and Bluegrass. There’s no Beethoven today for this session, but hear some O’Connor classics, old and new, in-studio. Set list: 1. Limerock 2. We Just Happened To Fly 3. Appalachia Waltz

Since 1981, Welsh musician Mike Peters has been the voice of the hit-making British band The Alarm. After the band split up in 1991, Peters wrote and released solo work, before reconstituting The Alarm in 2000, (Wikipedia.) Since being diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in 2005 (he is also co-founder of the Love Hope Strength Foundation), Mike Peter’s career has been largely determined by the cycle of remission and relapse. But to listen to The Alarm’s 2023 album Forwards, and you’ll hear a man whose songwriting is as anthemic as ever, and, yes, determinedly forward looking. Mike Peters played some of these new songs, as well as one of the band’s old hits, on acoustic baritone guitar, in-studio. (From the archives, 2023.) Set list: "Forwards", "Next", "The Stand" Watch "Forwards": Watch "Next": Watch "The Stand":

King Hannah is an indie-rock duo from Liverpool consisting of singer and songwriter Hannah Merrick and guitarist Craig Whittle. Their latest album, Big Swimmer, seems to be the result of Merrick’s observations after touring around the United States, where it wasn’t the big cities or expansive vistas that inspired her songs, but the little moments and conversations and observations – details that inspire songs that can be drily funny, unsettling, or both. She also toggles between a kind of pitched speech and outright singing over moody electrified rockenroll - sometimes fuzz-drenched, sometimes jangly. King Hannah plays in-studio. Set list: 1. New York Let's Do Nothing 2. Crème Brûlée 3. Big Swimmer

Bab L’Bluz is a French-Moroccan band playing a distinctive band of rock, one that’s built on the sounds of North and West African music, and on the Blues. The band was born from the dream of propelling Guembri (the Gnawa's guitar) on the international music scene of contemporary music, and has expanded to include electric mandole and electric ribab. They’ve released two albums on Peter Gabriel’s Real World record label, the most recent of which is called Swaken – kind of a “Losing yourself to find yourself” trance state, (Bandcamp's Swaken liner notes.) Bab l’BLuz plays their “Hot Psychedelic Gnawa Blues!”, in-studio. Set list: 1."Ila Mata" 2."Imazighen" 3."IWAIWA FUNK"

Aotearoa singer/songwriter Marlon Williams’(Kāi Tahu, Ngāi Tai) is a singer and songwriter from Lyttleton, New Zealand. He’s spent this past decade creating a personal blend of country, indie, and folk music; and he’s been an actor, and makes an appearance in the film A Star Is Born. But his new album is something different – maybe not musically, but Marlon Williams is from a Maori family and has chosen to sing in the Maori language on his new record, called Te Whare Tīwekaweka. He’s also the subject of a new documentary film, which follows Williams through international tours to quiet home life, all while working on the album. Marlon Williams chats about his journey with his ancestral tongue, his collaborators, and the process of writing his first te reo Māori album; he plays solo, in-studio. Set list:  1. Aua Atu Rā 2. Kāhore He Manu E 3. Pānaki

Immersion consists of the husband and wife team of Colin Newman, who you may know from the veteran English rock band Wire, and Malka Spigel from the band Minimal Compact. And Nanocluster is the name of a series of collaborations between the Immersion and various guests (Laetitia Sadier, German post-rock duo Tarwater, electronic musicians Ulrich Schnauss and Scanner, and others.) Vol. 3 of Nanocluster features the NY-based ambient country band called SUSS. The veteran musicians of SUSS - Pat Irwin (the B-52s, Raybeats, 8 Eyed Spy), Bob Holmes (numun, Rubber Rodeo), and Jonathan Gregg (the Combine, the Linemen) - combine pedal steel, mandolin, national steel guitar, and other textures with electronics to create their wide open sonic landscapes, (Swim). Immersion and SUSS play music from their open-minded and atmospheric explorations, in-studio. Set list: 1. Khamsin 2. In The Far Away 3. State of Motion

The British cellist, producer, and composer Peter Gregson has collaborated with some of the biggest names in contemporary music, including Max Richter, Gabriel Prokofiev and Jóhann Jóhannsson.  His own work includes soundtracks for film and TV, electroacoustic works, and a series of string quartets. Daringly, he has also “recomposed” J.S. Bach’s six cello suites for himself, a cello ensemble, and electronics. His latest album, Peter Gregson, is collection of contemporary songs without words for cello and a modular synthesizer that he built out himself. Peter Gregson plays some of these songs in-studio.  Set List: 1. Prism 2. Constellation 3. Vision

The Indian-born tabla player and composer, teacher, and advocate Zakir Hussain, son of Ustad Alla Rahka, who ed away in December of 2024, wasn’t just a virtuoso improviser - he was one of the world’s exceptional percussionists, working in many genres, and was the world’s preeminent tabla master. Zakir Hussain enjoyed the different challenges that each new collaborator would “ throw at him”. Just a few weeks before he ed away, Ustad Zakir Hussain ed Pandit Rahul Sharma, the son of illustrious santoor master Pandit Shivkumar Sharma, who established the pedigree of the santoor within Indian Classical Music to play in-studio. This Soundcheck Podcast session was recorded in October of 2024.

The Nigerian singer, songwriter and bandleader and Seun Kuti keeps alive the Afrobeat tradition founded by his legendary father, Fela Kuti, back in the 1970s. In fact, when Fela died in 1997, it was Seun, his youngest son, who took over the band, now called Egypt 80. Like his late father, Seun Kuti takes on topics like government corruption and corporate greed in his songs, setting his lyrics and his blazing sax solos to an insistent dance beat. Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 play tunes from their most recent album, Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head), in-studio. Set list: 1. Stand Well Well 2. Love and Revolution 3. Emi Aluta

New York-based Ruckus is an early music ensemble that plays with the energy of a rock band. Most early music groups feature instruments like the harpsichord and the viola da gamba, and Ruckus does too, but you’ll also hear synthesizer, guitar, bassoon, bass, and near Eastern frame drums. And on their new album, The Edinburgh Rollick, they focus on traditional Scottish folk songs and dances.  Set list: 1. The Gigg Set (Cairngoram Mountain, The Gigg, Lady Charlotte) 2. Robie Dona Górach 3.The Forrests Set (Lord Elcho, Dunkeld House, Forrest’s)

CocoRosie -the band founded by the sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady – blends elements of pop, freak folk and electronic music into a distinctly personal, idiosyncratic sound. The sisters use their voices, electronics, and found sounds – usually the sounds of toys – to make songs that can be whimsical, provocative, haunted, beautiful - sometimes all at once. CocoRosie plays new songs from their latest album, Little Death Wishes, in-studio. Set list: 1. Wait for Me 2. Cut Stitch Scar 3. Paper Boat 4. Give It to the Wind Little Death Wishes by CocoRosie

In 2010, we first fell under the spell of an extraordinary duo: Ballaké Sissoko, master of the West African harp or kora, and Vincent Segal, the French cellist. After a couple of albums together they added another duo, accordion virtuoso Vincent Peirani and sax player Emile Parisien, and that quartet has released an album called Les Egarés – those who stray – an apt name for a band that refuses to color within the lines. There is a unity and fluidity in the way the players listen without competing, return musical answers to questioning phrases, and maintain fluidity and a sense of play. The quartet, “a poetic asylum for the two duos” (Bandcamp) – where chamber music, French chanson, West African folk, and jazz all mix freely -  is performing here in the U.S. on tour for the fist time, and they play in-studio. Set list: 1. Esperanza 2. Orient Express 3. Banja

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. Set list: 1. River Jordan 2. Deep River II 3. Take Me to the Water I

New York composer and guitarist Rafiq Bhatia is part of the art rock band Son Lux, the experimental trio best-known for scoring the film Everything Everywhere All At Once. His new EP – his first new solo project in 5 years - features pianist and improviser Chris Pattishall and is called Each Dream, A Melting Door. In their electro-acoustic songs, Rafiq alters the audio output from his guitar in real time with effects software, while Chris responds at the keyboard - although sometimes Chris will lead the exploration. ("It’s basically a set of works for a piano that sounds like a piano and a guitar that sounds like anything and everything else", -John Schaefer.) The longtime friends and collaborators play some of their filmic, sculpted, and evolving soundscapes, in-studio.  Set list: 1. Occlusion 2. Ijen 3. Supplicant