Soundcheck

WNYC Studios
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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. Best of Soundcheck 2025, Part 2

    2 DAYS AGO

    Best of Soundcheck 2025, Part 2

    Listen to music from South African-born, UK-based cellist and vocalist Abel Selaocoe; Hot Psychedelic Gnawa Blues By French-Moroccan band Bab L’ Bluz; guitarist, producer, bandleader Adrian Quesada of Black Pumas and his dramatic Latin pop 'Boleros Psicodélicos', featuring Grammy-winning Puerto Rican singer-songwriter iLe. Plus, composer and harpist Brandee Younger and her trio; and the Dublin-based brothers Ye Vagabonds with a preview of new songs for 2026. Set list:  ARTIST: Adrian Quesada, with iLe WORK: Mentiras con Cariño [2:02] RECORDING: Live for the Soundcheck Podcast, Aug. 2025 SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.  INFO: The tune appears on Boleros Psicodélicos ARTIST: Ye Vagabonds WORK: The Flood [3:05] RECORDING:  Live for the Soundcheck Podcast Nov. 2025 SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.  INFO: The album All Tied Together, comes out Jan. 30, 2026 | https://yevagabonds.bandcamp.com/album/all-tied-together ARTIST: Bab L' Bluz WORK: Imazighen [4:13] RECORDING: Live for the Soundcheck Podcast, April 2025 SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.  INFO:  The tune appears on Swaken ARTIST: Abel Selaocoe WORK: Ka Bohaleng  [3:13] RECORDING:  Live for the Soundcheck Podcast, Feb. 2025 SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.  INFO: The tune appears Hymns of Bantu  ARTIST: Adrian Quesada, with iLe WORK: Mentiras con Cariño [4:01] RECORDING: Live for the Soundcheck Podcast, Aug. 2025 SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.  INFO: The tune appears on Boleros Psicodélicos ARTIST: Brandee Younger Trio  WORK: BBL  [5:26] RECORDING: Live for the Soundcheck Podcast, July 2025 SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.  INFO: The tune appears on Gadabout Season

    30 min
  2. Best of the Soundcheck Podcast 2025, Part 1

    5 DAYS AGO

    Best of the Soundcheck Podcast 2025, Part 1

    Hear music by Portuguese fado singer Carminho; Grammy-winning classical quartet Third Coast Percussion performing music written for them by the late Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain; and Ethiopian-born singer and bandleader Meklit’s blend of jazz, pop, and soul. Also, music from Chicago-formed, New York-based American rock band Horsegirl; and the quartet Les Égarés, who are Ballaké Sissoko (kora) and Vincent Segal (cello) and Vincent Peirani (accordion) and Émile Parisien (sax). They combine chamber music, French chanson, West African folk, and jazz in a fluid and “wandering” mix of styles.

    38 min
  3. Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O, In-Studio (Encore Edition)

    25/12/2025

    Matt Wilson's Christmas Tree-O, In-Studio (Encore Edition)

    New York-based drummer and educator Matt Wilson has performed with and/or played on many recordings by other musicians - Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Charlie Haden, Lee Konitz, among others - and leads ensembles of his own, but at this time of year, the thing he might be best known for is his Christmas Tree-O. And yes, he went there – putting a pun right in the band’s name. The trio, featuring multi-reed player Jeff Lederer and bassist Paul Sikivie, takes holiday tunes as a whimsical jumping off point for a variety of jazz styles, from swing to free improv. Their recent album is called Tree Jazz – The Shape Of Christmas To Come, and they’re here to play their gleeful, irreverent, and sometimes nerdy takes on music of the season, in-studio. Set list: 1. Up on the Rooftop 2. Good King Wenceslas 3. Shine Your Light

    36 min
  4. Jazz-Leaning Donny McCaslin Band Grooves With Crunch, In-Studio

    22/12/2025

    Jazz-Leaning Donny McCaslin Band Grooves With Crunch, In-Studio

    Saxophonist and composer Donny McCaslin has been playing with jazz luminaries like Maria Schneider and Dave Douglas, and leading his own band, for a couple of decades. But he’s best known for his work with David Bowie, who basically hired Donny’s whole ensemble to be the band on his final album Blackstar. His latest, Lullaby for the Lost, is a  guitar-driven, rock-influenced, groove-laden beast (in the best way). Donny McCaslin and his band play some of the tunes live, in-studio.  Set List: 1. KID 2. Solace 3. Mercy

    37 min
  5. Composer and Producer Kelly Moran's Prepared Piano Meets Electronica, In-Studio

    18/12/2025

    Composer and Producer Kelly Moran's Prepared Piano Meets Electronica, In-Studio

    New York-based classically trained composer and musician Kelly Moran’s music draws on everything from classical to dance to metal, but ends up sounding like none of those. She has become known for her music for prepared piano – a regular piano whose strings have things like metal or wood placed on the strings to alter the sound. Moran has also worked with electronic keyboards, and has recorded music for unaltered, completely acoustic piano. (She has also composed for classical musician Margaret Leng Tan, toured with Oneohtrix Point Never and FKA Twigs, and worked with other visionary contemporaries like Kelsey Lu and Yves Tumor.) Her 2025 record, Don’t Trust Mirrors (Warp Records), combines all three kinds of keyboards. Kelly Moran has brought her audio interface, her tools, and her bags of screws and bolts. She has prepared our piano, and plays in-studio.  Set list: 1. Don't Trust Mirrors 2. Prism Drift 3. Vesela Kelly Moran on sampling her own instrument and production techniques Kelly Moran's Track by Track notes on Don't Trust Mirrors

    42 min
  6. Montreal's Psych-Art Rockers The Besnard Lakes, In-Studio

    15/12/2025

    Montreal's Psych-Art Rockers The Besnard Lakes, In-Studio

    The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse. The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night. The Besnard Lakes Are The Last Of The Great Thunderstorm Warnings. The Besnard Lakes are a rock band from Montreal with a knack for intriguing album titles. Their latest is The Besnard Lakes Are The Ghostly Nation, a collection of arty, often psychedelic songs about a society in crisis. The Besnard Lakes play live in our studio for the latest edition of Soundcheck Podcast. Set list: 1. Chemin de la Baie 2. Give Us Our Dominion 3. In Hollywood

    39 min
  7. Brooklyn Band Momma Plays Unplugged, In-Studio

    11/12/2025

    Brooklyn Band Momma Plays Unplugged, In-Studio

    The Brooklyn band called Momma revolves around the singing and songwriting team of Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten who combine gauzy vocal harmonies with walls of roaring guitars. Their 2022 album Household Name was a critical favorite, and their 2025 album, Welcome To My Blue Sky, builds on that success with songs about longing, infidelity, leaving people behind, and unknown futures. Etta and Allegra of Momma play uplugged versions of those songs, in-studio. Set list: 1. Bottle Blonde 2. I Want You (Fever) 3. Rodeo

    33 min
  8. Icelandic Pianist Eydís Evenson Shares Elemental Lessons of LIfe and Nature

    08/12/2025

    Icelandic Pianist Eydís Evenson Shares Elemental Lessons of LIfe and Nature

    The Icelandic keyboardist and composer Eydís Evensen has released three albums of music that blends classical lyricism with the repeating patterns of post-minimalist music. "Her compositions, guided by emotion, are intimate explorations of mourning, hope, reflection, and renewal—creating a world that invites listeners to feel their way through the music" (Lincoln Center event program). On her latest LP, Oceanic Mirror, one might hear reflections of Iceland’s landscapes – glacial stillness, volcanic tension, the power and motion. Eydís Evensen plays new songs from the album, in-studio. She plays in New York at Lincoln Center's David Rubenstein Atrium on Jan. 9, 2026. Set list: 1. OM, Helena's Sunrise 2. Drifter 3. Winter's Void, Somnolent

    38 min
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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
    221
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © WNYC Radio
  • Show Website
    Soundcheck

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