Music Artists Episodes
June 12, 2025
Ingrid Laubrock: Purposing the Air with Music and Voices
The innovative composer discusses her new album, Purposing the Air, and the three-year process of transforming Erica Hunt's sixty cryptic koans into musical miniatures for four distinctive vocal-instrumental duos.
June 5, 2025
Kinan Azmeh: Live in Berlin, Rooted in Damascus
The celebrated clarinetist shares how compositions written during Syria's darkest years have taken on new meaning following recent political changes, and why he considers making art an essential act of freedom.
May 29, 2025
Tal Yahalom: A Guitarist's Mirror Image of Tradition
The Israeli guitarist and composer discusses his album 'Mirror Image,' which pairs his instrument equally with strings, woodwinds, and percussion to create chamber jazz, challenging the traditional guitar hero stereotype.
May 22, 2025
Claire Cope: Orchestrating Stories of Brave Women
The Manchester-based composer and pianist discusses her album 'Every Journey,' where she employs a newly expanded ensemble to present intricate musical narratives inspired by trailblazing women explorers.
May 15, 2025
Mike Scott of The Waterboys: The Ballad of Dennis Hopper
The mastermind behind 'The Whole of the Moon' discusses his four-year journey writing and recording an ambitious musical biography that chronicles Hopper's artistic triumphs, spectacular flameouts, and ultimate redemption.
April 10, 2025
Noah Preminger: A Veteran Saxophonist Tackles the Ballad
Boston-based saxophonist Noah Preminger discusses his surprising compositional preferences, his challenging education under Dave Liebman, and why his latest album, ‘Ballads,' might be his most accessible work yet.
April 3, 2025
Mary Halvorson & Sylvie Courvoisier: Bone Bells and the Art of Surprise
Swiss pianist Courvoisier and American guitarist Halvorson discuss their third album 'Bone Bells,' reflecting on the value of risk-taking and the slow-burning development of a creative partnership that continues to yield fascinating results.
March 27, 2025
Phillip Golub: Recording the Impossible Piano
Brooklyn pianist Phillip Golub splits the traditional octave into 22 notes for his innovative composition 'Loop 7,' demonstrating how microtonality can create mathematical precision on top of profound emotional resonance.
March 20, 2025
TJ Dumser (Six Missing): Inner Space, Sobriety, and Soundscapes
Austin-based ambient artist TJ Dumser shares how his decade of sobriety, move from New York, and love of vintage synthesizers shaped his meditative project Six Missing and its emotional new EP 'Gentle Breath.'
March 13, 2025
Jenny Scheinman: A Violin in the Wild
Violinist Jenny Scheinman's double album 'All Species Parade' draws from her childhood on California's remote Lost Coast, crafting a musical celebration that honors the land, its people, and the wild diversity of nature.
Feb. 13, 2025
Dorothy Lawson: ETHEL's String Theory for Quartets
As ETHEL prepares for their first Carnegie Hall performance, Dorothy Lawson reflects on decades of mixing classical precision with popular music's spirit.
Feb. 6, 2025
Jamie Baum: a flutist sets poetry in motion
Through her latest project with Septet+, the accomplished flutist transforms works by Adrienne Rich, Naomi Shihab Nye, and other poets into conversations between words and improvised music.
Jan. 30, 2025
Anat Cohen: Clarinet in Full Bloom
Fresh from a three-week European tour with Quartetinho, the accomplished clarinetist discusses how she transforms everything from Thelonious Monk to Brazilian choro into her own musical language.
Jan. 23, 2025
Marina Albero: from pianist to nomad of sound
The acclaimed pianist discusses her musical evolution from Barcelona to New Orleans, where she recorded her latest album on Ellis Marsalis's personal piano at his namesake center.
Jan. 9, 2025
Lisa Pegher: Rhythms, Circuits, & Artificial Intelligence
Percussionist and digital innovator Lisa Pegher discusses her mission to modernize classical music through AI technology while preserving the deep emotional core of human artistic expression.
Dec. 26, 2024
Küf Knotz & Christine Elise: when hip-hop meets harp
The Philadelphia-based hip-hop artist and classically-trained harpist discuss how they're bridging musical worlds and bringing healing performances to communities from urban yoga studios to the Alaskan wilderness.
Dec. 12, 2024
Marwan Allam: a Tunisian gateway to modern jazz
Innovative bassist and composer joins us to discuss his album 'Bab Bhar,' which deftly puts Arabic rhythms and Tunisian musical traditions into the hands of a contemporary jazz quartet.
Dec. 5, 2024
Joe Brent: mandolin magic from Vivaldi to Vinegar Hill
The acclaimed mandolinist and composer joins the podcast to discuss the history of his chosen instrument, the philosophy behind his Adhyâropa Records imprint, and the radical chamber music of his ensemble 9 Horses.
Nov. 21, 2024
Taylor Deupree & Joseph Branciforte: reimagining Stil.
The two renowned experimental musicians, mastering engineers, and label owners discuss how a classic electronic album guided and inspired an acoustic masterpiece.
Nov. 14, 2024
Anders Koppel: the Hammond's Danish master
The legendary Danish B3 player chats about his early days in the band The Savage Rose, memories of playing the Newport Jazz Festival in '69, and his recent album with drummer Brian Blade and his son Benjamin, Time Again.
Nov. 7, 2024
Christian McBride: jazz notes from the engine room
The universally acclaimed bassist, bandleader, artistic director, and prodigious collaborator joins the podcast to discuss his many ongoing projects, the evolution of jazz education, and how bass players are like baseball catchers.
Oct. 24, 2024
Josh Johnson: unusual objects and saxophone stories
The Los Angeles-based saxophonist, composer, and Grammy-winning producer discusses the creative philosophies and inspirations that led to his unique album, Unusual Object.
Oct. 17, 2024
Shawn Mativetsky: a tabla adventure through Temporal Waves
The renowned Canadian percussionist, tabla player, and educator discusses his lifelong embrace of Indian musical traditions and the fusion with synthesized textures that inspires his project Temporal Waves.
Oct. 3, 2024
Building Music Communities: thinking global & acting local
Author Shain Shapiro, trumpeter Thomas Marriot, and DJ collective Seattle House Mafia join the podcast to shed light on the past, present, and future states of local music scenes.