Media Room Podcast

Frank Housh
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Music
  • Updated Weekly

'Media Room’ is quality, multimedia arts journalism. No AI, no clickbait. The podcast includes audio from weekly episodes of Media Room Live!, film and TV reviews, and much more. mediaroom.substack.com

  1. Aug 13

    Media Room Live! With Amber Weeks

    Media Room Live! With Amber Weekes Today I spoke with Los Angeles-based jazz singer Amber Weekes who released her fifth album, To Oscar With Love, August 7. She talked about growing up around some of the most famous artists of the Harlem Renaissance, the L.A. jazz scene, and her relationship with singer, composer, and civil rights activist Oscar Brown, Jr. PAmber also mentioned the documentary Music Is My Life Politics Is Mistress (2005) and spoke at length about “The Snake,” above. Thanks so much to Amber for joining me. Media Room Live! With Linda May Han Oh Next week I will meet with bassist and composer Linda May Han Oh to talk about Beneath Lifted Skies, to be released on Blue Note August 21. It includes fifteen standards performed by Oh and saxophonist Melissa Aldana. Regular Media Room readers may remember Linda from our September 2025 interview, “Music In The Moment.” Above, the duo performs “Hallucinations” by Bud Powell (1950). Media Room - The Arts in Real Life is reader-supported, AI-free, quality arts writing. If it is of value to you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mediaroom.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Aug 6

    Media Room Live! With Mary Kouyoumdjian And Alan Pierson

    Media Room Live! With Mary Kouyoumdjian And Alan Pierson Today I spoke with composer Mary Kouyoumdjian and conductor Alan Pierson about Paper Pianos, a sonic documentary exploring the lives of refugees. We discussed human migration, multimedia art, and I struggled pronouncing Mary’s last name. The Paper Pianos album (above) will be released tomorrow at Cantaloupe Music. Click above for an excerpt. Media Room Live! With Amber Weekes Next week I will speak with jazz vocalist Amber Weekes about the release of her album To Oscar with Love, celebrating the birth centenary of singer, composer, and civil rights activist Oscar Brown, Jr. Above is the single “Afro Blue.” Media Room - The Arts in Real Life is reader-supported, AI-free, quality arts writing. If it is of value to you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mediaroom.substack.com/subscribe

    Media Room Live! With Mary Kouyoumdjian And Alan Pierson

  3. Jul 30

    Media Room Live! With Dušan Bogdanović And Duo Goni-Perretta

    Media Room Live! With Dušan Bogdanović And Duo Goni-Perretta Today I had a wonderful conversation with composer Dušan Bogdanović, who was in Geneva, along with Antigoni Goni and Eleonara Perretta who joined us from Naples. We discussed Duo Goni-Perretta’s recording of Dušan’s music in their new album Music Gardens of the World. You can read Media Room’s review here. Media Room Live! With Mary Kouyoumdjian Join Media Room Live! next week, Thursday, August 6, 2026, for my interview with composer Mary Kouyoumdjia. We will discuss Paper Pianos (2024 Pulitzer Prize in Music Finalist) a musical documentary exploring the lives of refugees. Media Room - The Arts in Real Life is reader-supported, AI-free, quality arts writing. If it is of value to you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mediaroom.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Jul 23

    Media Room Live! With Satoko Fujii

    Watch my interview with Satoko Fujii, a Japanese pianist, accordionist and composer. On July 10 released Satoko Fujii’s Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra (below), a recently discovered 2014 recording that lay hidden in the archive of concert producer Wolfgand Gross. On August 7 the Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe will release After The Storm (below), composed the Covid pandemic. This fall she will release three recordings with the Satoko Fujii Orchestra, Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin (September 4), Satoko Fujii Orchestra Nagoya (October 2), and Satoko Fujii Orchestra Tokyo (November 6). We had a fascinating discussion about improvisation, genre labels, and she recalled when Tower Records once put one of her recordings in the “J-pop” section. She said she might audition some dancers. Media Room Live! With Duo Goni-Perretta Join me next week, Thursday, July 30, when I will interview Antigoni Goni and Eleonora Perretta of the Duo Goni-Perretta. You can read Media Room’s review of their recent recording Music Gardens of the World here. Media Room - The Arts in Real Life is reader-supported, AI-free, quality arts writing. If it is of value to you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mediaroom.substack.com/subscribe

  5. Jul 21

    Audio TV Review: BritBox’s ‘Gone'

    I hope you enjoy this reading of Media Room's review of Gone. Cover image: Eve Myles (Detective Annie Cassidy). James Pardon/BritBox This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mediaroom.substack.com/subscribe

  6. Jul 16

    Media Room Live! With Charlotte Hu

    Watch my interview with Charlotte Hu, a Taiwanese classical pianist who recently released Goyescas. Charlotte talks about her musical childhood in Taiwan, Philadelphia, and New York and why she wanted to tell Enrique Granados’ tragic story of the majo. Media Room Live! With Satoko Fujii Satoko Fujii is a Japanese pianist, accordionist and composer. She is best known for her work in avant-garde jazz, but on July 10 released Satoko Fujii’s Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra (above), a newly discovered 2014 recording that lay hidden in the archive of concert producer Wolfgand Gross. On August 7 the Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe will release After The Storm (above), composed the Covid pandemic. Below is the Satoko Fujii Quartet performing “Burning Wick” from the 2025 album of the same name. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mediaroom.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Jul 9

    Media Room Live! With Randy Ingram

    Bill Evans Bill Evans (1929-1980) is a towering figure. His unique style derived from early modern, musical impressionism and helped define the jazz trio format. Evans’ collaborations with Tony Bennett remains the standard for voice and piano and — as Fred Hersch mentioned in our recent interview — his duo recordings with Jim Hall are iconic for that instrumentation. Evans’ music means a great deal to me, and I wrote about it in one of my first jazz essays, “Alexa Is My Collective Unconscious.” Randy Ingram’s Sound Within: A Celebration Of Bill Evans Tomorrow, Ingram and Chill Tone Records will release Sound Within: A Celebration of Bill Evans, featuring Evans trio alumni Joe La Barbera (drums) and Rufus Reid (bass). You can listen and purchase here. On August 12, 2026, Randy Ingram Trio feat. Rufus Reid and Joe La Barbera will host a record release party at The Pocket in New York City. Randy and I talked about Evans, his music, and the upcoming album. Media Room Live! With Charlotte Hu As regular listeners may recall, my June 18 interview with Charlotte Hu about her album Goyescas was postponed after lighting strikes blew a transformer a few feet from my office. Charlotte graciously rescheduled and our interview will be broadcast at Media Room Live! July 16. Media Room - The Arts in Real Life is reader-supported, AI-free, quality arts writing. If it is of value to you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mediaroom.substack.com/subscribe

  8. Jul 2

    Media Room Live! With Emilie-Claire Barlow

    Watch my fascinating conversation with Emilie-Claire Barlow, above. Her album La Plus Belle Saison was released in February and she will be performing at Birdland three nights next week, July 9-11. We talked about her musical childhood, the history of Quebecois music, and her new recording. Below is “Dans Les Rues De Quebec.” Media Room Live! With Randy Ingram Next week, July 9, I will speak with jazz pianist Randy Ingram. The next day, Ingram and Chill Tone Records will release Sound Within: A Celebration of Bill Evans, featuring Evans trio alumni Joe La Barbera (drums) and Rufus Reid (bass). Media Room - The Arts in Real Life is reader-supported, AI-free, quality arts writing. If it is of value to you, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.. . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mediaroom.substack.com/subscribe

See All (51)

Ratings & Reviews

About

'Media Room’ is quality, multimedia arts journalism. No AI, no clickbait. The podcast includes audio from weekly episodes of Media Room Live!, film and TV reviews, and much more. mediaroom.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Frank Housh
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Frank Housh
  • Show Website
    Media Room Podcast