Soundcheck

WNYC Studios
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Performing Arts
  • Updated twice weekly

WNYC, New York Public Radio, brings you Soundcheck, the arts and culture program hosted by John Schaefer, who engages guests and listeners in lively, inquisitive conversations with established and rising figures in New York City's creative arts scene. Guests come from all disciplines, including pop, indie rock, jazz, urban, world and classical music, technology, cultural affairs, TV and film. Recent episodes have included features on Michael Jackson,Crosby Stills & Nash, the Assad Brothers, Rackett, The Replacements, and James Brown.

  1. 22 hr ago

    From the 2026 New York Guitar Festival: Gyan Riley; Ziggy & Miles

    Listen to a sampling of some of the 2026 New York Guitar Festival, with pieces by Gyan Riley and an arrangement of Debussy by Australian guitarist brothers Ziggy & Miles, plus,  recorded live in August at Bryant Park. Gyan Riley is the son of the groundbreaking minimalist composer Terry Riley, and began as the guitarist in his father’s All-Star Band.  He plays all the guitars - electric, classical, and bass– with chamber music elegance and brilliant virtuosity.  He was joined by drummer Kenny Grohowski (Imperial Triumphant, Titans to Tachyons, Secret Chiefs) and bassist Greg Chudzik, which made this an all-star lineup. Listen to their set, recorded live at the second night of the 2026 New York Guitar Festival. Then, Australian brothers Ziggy & Miles, who happened to be the first guitar duo (and, oddly, the first Australians) to be accepted into the Juilliard School’s Artist Diploma program play an arrangement of Claude Debussy’s “Claire de Lune.”  Plus, hear another piece by the Chicago-based duo of Goran Ivanovic and Fareed Haque, from night one of the 2026 New York Guitar Festival. Set list:  1. Debussy: “Claire de Lune”, arr. Ziggy & Miles 2. Gyan Riley – “Jibberjab” 3. Gyan Riley, Greg Chudzik, Kenny Grohowski – “Greymaxxing with Blue” 4. Gyan Riley, Greg Chudzik, Kenny Grohowski – “Because Today” 5. Goran Ivanovic & Fareed Haque – “Adventure”   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    From the 2026 New York Guitar Festival: Gyan Riley; Ziggy & Miles

  2. 3 days ago

    From the 2026 New York Guitar Festival: Goran Ivanovic & Fareed Haque, and Pierre Bensusan

    Listen to a sampling of some of the 2026 New York Guitar Festival, with pieces by the duo of Goran Ivanovic and Fareed Haque and Pierre Bensusan recorded live in August at Bryant Park. Guitarist Goran Ivanovic is Croatian-born, while Fareed Haque is of Pakistani and Chilean descent.  Both now live in Chicago, and their music is a deep dish pie of South Asian, Latin, and Balkan ingredients, liberally spiced with improvisation. Hear some of their Balkan-South Asian-Latin fusion, recorded live at the first night of the 2026 New York Guitar Festival. Topansko oro 2. IndoBalkan 3. Gypsy Circus Then, Algerian-born French guitarist Pierre Bensusan plays in the open tuning system known as DADGAD. Bensusan draws on Celtic traditional and North African music, adding improvisation, vocalise, and electronic effects to create his own sonic world. Listen to some of his set from the second night of the 2026 New York Guitar Festival. Hekimolu 2. The Alchemist 3. Intuit Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    From the 2026 New York Guitar Festival: Goran Ivanovic & Fareed Haque, and Pierre Bensusan

  3. 5 days ago

    Best of Soundcheck: Public Service Broadcasting; Em Spel

    The London band Public Service Broadcasting makes music out of history: the space race, the UK mining industry, and now, the final flight of Amelia Earhart, have all been turned into albums. Public Service Broadcasting plays live. Then, hear Em Spel, the folk-rock singer from Chicago, also known as Emma Hospelhorn, a classical flutist who is a member of Chicago’s experimental chamber music collective Ensemble Dal Niente. When she steps into the universe of her solo project, Em Spel, she writes and sings surreal, beguiling songs that fall somewhere in between dream pop, art rock, and folk music. Em Spel also plays live for this best of Soundcheck.  Public Service Broadcasting set list: 1. Electra 2. Arabian Flight. 3. Go! Em Spel set list: 1. The Poet 2. Sea Wall Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Best of Soundcheck: Public Service Broadcasting; Em Spel

  4. 20 Aug

    Flamenco Guitar Pyrotechnicians Rodrigo y Gabriela Spark It Up, In-Studio (Archives)

    The Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela first made a name for themselves busking in Dublin, Ireland, even though they spoke no English at the time. With roots in flamenco, classical, and thrash metal, they perform technical feats of wonder in both originals and incredible covers. The 2019 album, Mettavolution contains driving numbers, some incredibly fleet-fingered virtuosity, and a mind-altering psychedelic cover of a Pink Floyd tune. Rodrigo y Gabriela joined us for some stunning guitar precision in this 2019 session from the archives. Set list: 1. Mettavolution  2. Electric Soul 3. Terracentric Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Flamenco Guitar Pyrotechnicians Rodrigo y Gabriela Spark It Up, In-Studio (Archives)

  5. 17 Aug

    Dan Deacon's Joyous Electro-Acoustic Orchestra Ascends a Mountain, In-Studio

    Baltimore-based Dan Deacon has been a mad scientist of electronic music since releasing his debut album Spiderman Of The Rings in 2007.  He built a reputation for wild, dance-oriented live shows, but Dan is also classically trained and in recent years has been doing a lot of film music, along with scoring music for dance. His latest album is the score for a National Geographic documentary called Time and Water, and Dan Deacon, along with an electro-acoustic chamber orchestra -which includes the Bergamot Quartet, members of Baltimore-based contemporary music group Mind on Fire, and a Yamaha Disklavier (an upright bot-assisted piano) - perform in-studio.  Set list: 1.Weeping Birch 2. A Home For All Of Us 3..Become a Mountain Suite  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Dan Deacon's Joyous Electro-Acoustic Orchestra Ascends a Mountain, In-Studio

  6. 16 Aug

    Best of Soundcheck: Orquesta Akokán, Hannah Jadagu

    Sometimes music takes us back or far into the future. Other times, time and travel are at the very core of the music we listen to. On this edition of Soundcheck, the (mostly) Havana-based band Orquesta Akokán takes us on a musical time travel through the classic Cuban dance sounds of the mid-20th century, live from our studio. After a substantial dose of mambo, cha-cha-chá, rumba, salsa, and more, Dallas-born and now New York-based singer-songwriter Hannah Jadagu studies the themes of time and travel in her dreamy alt-pop songs, which contain layered vocals that are as light as air.  Orquesta Akokán's Setlist: 1.Con Licencia 2.Pan con Tibiri 3.Caracoles 4.Suave Suave Hannah Jadagu's Setlist: 1.Give Me Time 2.Normal Today 3.My Love Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Best of Soundcheck: Orquesta Akokán, Hannah Jadagu

  7. 13 Aug

    Dominican-Italian Singer-Songwriter YENDRY Weaves Delicate Melodies, In-Studio

    Dominican-Italian singer-songwriter YEИDRY has been around for over a decade, and in the span of her rich music career that’s lived many lives, she compiled highly personal songs, some of which would eventually end up on her debut album coming out this Fall. She called it “Como Agua”, which translates to “Like Water”, aptly summarizing not only YEИDRY’s way of making music, but also her way of life. In the process, she learned to go with the flow, taking her notebook filled with scribbled lyrics into the studio each day and getting comfortable with the cathartic moments of translating her experiences into music. Twice an immigrant with loved ones living all over the world, she hasn’t quite figured out where home is yet; she has found a sanctuary in her art instead.  Having already sustained through many years of her “expensive” music career, YEИDRY likens herself to the mythological character of Icarus, flying too close to the sun. “I’m going to fall at some point if I keep wanting more,” she says, but all that fear disappears as soon as she starts singing her delicate melodies for this edition of Soundcheck. - Sırma Munyar Setlist: 1.Amapolas 2.Mala Mia 3.Espejo Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Dominican-Italian Singer-Songwriter YENDRY Weaves Delicate Melodies, In-Studio

  8. 10 Aug

    Jazz / R&B Ensemble Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science Amplify Progressive Issues, In-Studio

    Grammy-nominated jazz and R&B ensemble, Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science, are back with their sophomore album, Trip the Night Fantastic, after a seven-year-long break. In line with their debut record, Waiting Game, the group has a new batch of songs dealing with a wide range of social justice issues, voiced in melodies and spoken words. “Once you open your eyes to any social issue, so many others go hand in hand, because they overlap. There are all these intersections, so I can’t really do anything without thinking about gender justice or even racial justice, because those are two huge parts of my identity,” says the bandleader Terri Lyne Carrington, whose day job as the founder and artistic director of Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice undoubtedly highlights the source material for the album. But, at the end of the day, Trip the Night Fantastic is a communal effort, with each member sparking the flame for a new creation which then becomes enriched with the input of guest artists such as Arooj Aftab, Brandee Younger, and Tarriona ‘Tank’ Ball. And though those artists are missing from this Soundcheck session, most of the Social Science band is present, with Terri Lyne Carrington on drums, Matthew Stevens on guitar, Morgan Guerin on bass, joined by guest vocalists Christie Dashiell and Ian Michael, who also plays our piano. - Sırma Munyar (Photo of Terri Lyne Carrington by Meredith Truax) Setlist: 1.Autonomy Song 2.Children's Song 3.Solidarity Song Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Jazz / R&B Ensemble Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science Amplify Progressive Issues, In-Studio
See All (298)

About

WNYC, New York Public Radio, brings you Soundcheck, the arts and culture program hosted by John Schaefer, who engages guests and listeners in lively, inquisitive conversations with established and rising figures in New York City's creative arts scene. Guests come from all disciplines, including pop, indie rock, jazz, urban, world and classical music, technology, cultural affairs, TV and film. Recent episodes have included features on Michael Jackson,Crosby Stills & Nash, the Assad Brothers, Rackett, The Replacements, and James Brown.

Information

  • Creator
    WNYC Studios
  • Years Active
    2005 - 2026
  • Episodes
    298
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © WNYC Radio
  • Show Website
    Soundcheck
  • Provider

More From WNYC

You Might Also Like