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July 2006

Foday Musa Suso

Monday, July 31, 2006

For this New Sounds from the Vaults, we’ve unearthed a 1991 program with the Gambian-born, Mandingo griot Foday Musa Suso. (A griot is a musician/oral historian of the Mandingo people.) Suso is a virtuoso player of the kora – the West African 21-stringed harp lute- as well as a drummer, composer and founder of the Mandingo Griot Society, a group of jazz musicians who play new arrangements of Mandingo music. On this visit to the studios, Suso presented music by the Mandingo Grio Society, music of the Fulani people, and some of his own solo works.


Airs of War and Lunacy

Sunday, July 30, 2006

For this New Sounds program, there's some food for thought served up in songs with sociopolitical texts. Some, like David Byrne’s sly pro-American torch song “Empire,” take a stab at the recent savagery of American neo-colonialism. Others, like Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Sylvian’s “World Citizen,” redirect focus away from the national towards the global. Plus, hear some of Phil Kline's Zippo Songs, art songs for rock band, with texts lifted from inscriptions by American GIs in Vietnam on army-issue Zippo lighters.


Southeast African Music

Saturday, July 29, 2006

On this edition of New Sounds, there’s music from Southeast Africa, including works from Mozambique on the mainland, and music from the islands of Madagascar and Reunion. This is a program of music that shows the diverse influences of Indonesian traders, European colonialists, and African pop and folk music. Hear some Madagascan Afro-pop from Tarika, who combine valiha harp and a kobosy lute, with gorgeous vocal harmonies, lilting melodies and polyphonic beats to conjure a village party held along side the ocean. And, from the island of Reunion, is René Lacaille, the remarkable singer, accordion player, and guitarist, who has been called the “musical embodiment of the unique Creole culture of that Indian Ocean island.”


New Releases July 2006

Friday, July 28, 2006

It's that time of the month again for the new releases show on New Sounds. John Schaefer carefully sorts through the stacks, bins, and boatloads of new CDs which have come across his desk over the past month to present some of the finest new releases. Probable suspects include a Radio Netherlands CD sampler of world music exclusives only for broadcast, new music from horn master Steve Bernstein's bands Millennial Territory Orchestra and Sex Mob, and some Global Phatness. Now, if only he could find the desk...


Egghead Van Halen

Thursday, July 27, 2006

“You can excite an audience, you can anger an audience, you can even scare an audience, just don't bore an audience." This is the operating philosophy of guitarist, composer, and presenter Dominic Frasca. Equally as concerned with the visual aspects of performance as with the audible, Frasca’s concerts often contain multi-media works, incorporating video, power tools, erotic dancers and even lawn care equipment. He's also been dubbed the "Eddie Van Halen for Eggheads" by Entertainment Weekly magazine. On this edition of New Sounds, Frasca visits the WNYC studio to talk about his latest Olympic weightlifting exploits, the technical set-up of the surround sound at the Monkey - the performance space he operates, and oh yes – play some pretty amazing guitar, both 6 and 10 string.


West African Snap

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Hear some buoyant music from Mali, Bourkina Faso, Senegal, and more on this New Sounds program. We'll hear the latest release from Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra, one of Bamako's most popular bands. Their name refers to a balance between tradition and progress, and their contagiously danceable tunes range from age-old Mandé standards to Cuban-Senegalese salsa. Then there's the driving and energetic "West African Snap," by the World Saxophone Quartet, a most unusual jazz combo, who have been playing together for nearly 30 years, and whose repertoire has ranged from blues to funk, to an album of Jimi Hendrix covers in addition to their latest release, "Political Blues." [Worth mentioning, even though we won't hear any of it on this New Sounds, "Political Blues" is an eloquent musical statement which seethes in anger at the Bush administration's handling of New Orleans relief, homeland security, and racial issues (Justin Time Records.)] There's also music from Bourkina Faso by singer and djembe (a drum carved from a tree trunk) master Amadou Kienou Plus, selections from the final recording by Ali Farka Touré called "Savane."


Remembering Mícheál O Domhnaill

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

This New Sounds is devoted to music by the late Mícheál O Domhnaill, a guitarist who, according to some, created the blueprint for subtle and driving guitar accompaniment in Irish music. The guitarist and composer helped found one of the pivotal bands in the Irish folk revival, The Bothy Band, and went on to form the US-based outfits Nightnoise, Relativity, Puck Fair, and to play in various other settings that often moved well beyond the Gaelic tradition. O’Domhnaill passed away at his Dublin home at the age of 54, earlier this month.


Beyond Words

Monday, July 24, 2006

On this edition of New Sounds, listen to vocal music without texts, from the sort of angelic minimalism of Mary Jane Leach to the jazzical vocals of Bobby McFerrin. Also, "whole world" music from the Indian-influenced Shelia Chandra, and works from composer, singer, director, filmmaker, and choreographer Meredith Monk.


Sharp Wire

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Hear duo music from London on this edition of New Sounds. Ditchburn’s “Lower London” is a pilgrim’s progress through and under London, while Sharp Wire also blends words and music. London lads Matthew Sharp and Pete M. Wyer perform excerpts from their theatre piece "Adam's Apple," and other music with cello and guitar in the WNYC studio.


Quirky Songs

Saturday, July 22, 2006

This edition of New Sounds offers up songs by the band One Ring Zero, and more. The two-man band —Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp— culls music from anywhere they can in order to achieve the sound they want, using anything from claviola to toy piano, Theremin to kitty litter. ORZ’s most recent album, "As Smart As We Are," features a quirky collection of songs telling tales of hermaphrodites and Jesus to Golem lovers, scored to circus-klezmer tunes. And it’s a literary experience as well, with lyrics contributed by such authors as Jonathan Lethem, Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, Dave Eggers, A.M. Homes, Rick Moody, and Denis Johnson.


Under the Traditional Influence

Friday, July 21, 2006

On this New Sounds program, hear western music based on and infused with Middle Eastern influences. Sample the latest from Brooklyn-based Raquy Danziger and the Cavemen, a Turkish-rooted rock outfit. Listen to Axiom of Choice, an ensemble with roots in traditional Persian repertoire, but who blend Middle Eastern and African percussion together with Western instruments to create exotic and sensuous music. There’s also music by Reza Derekshani, a Persian instrumentalist whose latest release was arranged by Doors’ drummer John Densmore and combines devotional styles with jazz and rock. Plus, selections by Basya Schechter, from her latest release, “Queen’s Dominion,” a hypnotic instrumental album of oud, santur, percussion, and violin music.


New English Choral Music

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Up on this New Sounds program, hear some new choral music representing three different generations of English choral composers, including the recently premiered work "Path of Miracles" by Joby Talbot. Based around the 500-mile Catholic pilgrimage from Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees to the grave of St James at Santiago di Compostella in north-west Spain, the a capella song cycle’s four movements move with the ancient pilgrimage through privation and celebration. There’s also music by Ivan Moody, his Canticum Canticorum I, written for the Hilliard Ensemble. Plus, hear some of the mystical minimalism of John Tavener.


New Music from South Asia

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

For this New Sounds, experience gamelan pop from Indonesia, by Uun Budiman and the Jugala Gamelan Orchestra. Budinam Uun, got her start singing for puppet theatres, but was recruited to sing in the Jugala Orchestra led by Gugum Gumbira. It’s definitely a new and unusual unique sound, sort of a combo plate of traditional gamelan-type music with a bit of pop song form to it. Plus, there’s Indian classical music by the sitar master Shujaat Husain Khan from the most recent release "Gayaki Ang," where he "avoids the lure of showy, pointlessly virtuosistic playing" and opts instead for a more languid, fluid feeling. And lots more.


Early New Sounds Live

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

For more than 20 years, New Sounds has been presenting new and unusual music from inside and outside the WNYC studios. On this edition of the program, we’ll revisit some of the early years of the New Sounds Live concert series with music by David Borden, from a 1988 concert, played by the world’s first synthesizer ensemble, Mother Mallard’s Portable Masterpiece Company. There’s also music by the wide-ranging piano duo Double Edge - Edmund Niemann and Nurit Tilles – from a concert in 1989. Niemann is a long-time member of Steve Reich & Musicians, while Tilles has performed with the Mother Mallard band. Plus, Kronos Quartet performs Michael Daugherty’s Beat Boxer for string quartet and tape, and one of their African pieces from a live concert recorded in 1992.


Slightly Eccentric Journey

Monday, July 17, 2006

Michael Brook, the longtime electric guitarist, producer, instrument builder, inspired collaborator and composer joins us for this New Sounds program. He is responsible for the music behind the global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," and contributed compositions to Gregory Colbert’s traveling exhibition, “Ashes and Snow,” and has scored the film Who Killed the Electric Car, which just premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Inventor of the "infinite guitar," the Canadian ambient composer has done extensive work with Brian Eno, worked on many musical creations involving 4AD artists, contributed to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s “Mustt Mustt” and collaborated with him for “Night Song.” Brook’s latest solo release is called "RockPaperScissors," and he’ll present selections from this “slightly eccentric” travelogue, (along with tunes from a storied 25-year career of making music with folks like Daniel Lanois, Brian Ferry, The Pogues, and the Armenian duduk flute master Djivan Gasparayan) in advance of a rare solo live set at Joe’s Pub.


New Sounds of "Jazz Piano"

Sunday, July 16, 2006

On this New Sounds program, we have a new look at “jazz piano,” with the focus on innovators like Jason Moran, Matthew Shipp and the Bad Plus. This is definitely not jazz piano from the conservatory, but that which borrows from all walks and is not afraid to incorporate hip hop, rock, electronica and world music. Jason Moran is one of a new young bunch of percussive pianists, whose impulsive attacks are not soft around the edges, and a lot of his improvisations are eruptive and drumlike. Another non-conservatory jazz pianist is Matthew Shipp whose concept of jazz on a recent release, the electro-acoustic small combo groove “Equilibrium,” is jazz as ambient soundscape. Shipp has also played with Spring Heel Jack, the electronic drum and bass duo, improvising freely over the backdrop provided by the duo. Then there’s the Bad Plus, jazzmen who can improvise anarchically, have something classical to their melody and phrasing, and mess with just about anything that captures their fancy. On their most recent record, “Give,” they even tackle tunes by Black Sabbath and The Pixies.


Nosferatu Variations

Saturday, July 15, 2006

On this edition of New Sounds, it's another Theme and Variations program: Nosferatu. But instead of a series of variation on a musical theme, we’ll hear numerous responses to a visual one – the 1922 film “Nosferatu.” Hear several original musical scores by Art Zoyd, Mick Rossi, Clubfoot Orchestra, and the Alloy Orchestra to accompany the creepy classic film.


Banana / Dump Truck

Friday, July 14, 2006

Composer, Princeton University professor, and unrepentant electric guitarist Steven Mackey visits the WNYC studios for this edition of New Sounds. Mackey’s performance background is that of an accomplished Baroque lutenist who was also a “psychedelic” guitar player in Northern California rock bands during the late 1960’s and 70’s. As a composer, Mackey freely incorporates the influences of Led Zeppelin, Stravinsky, Monteverdi, Muddy Waters, Mahler, Monk, and others into his pieces. Listen to music from his new CD, Banana/Dump Truck, featuring the title piece, a concerto for cello, and two duos for guitar and cello intended to be performed with his friend, cellist Fred Sherry. And much more.


New Sounds Live Post-rocks Part II

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Bassoon rock. Chamber jazz. Delicate drums. Paradoxes or Post-Rock? That's for you to enjoy and if you like, decide, on this edition of New Sounds. Recorded from a recent New Sounds Live event at Merkin Hall, listen to concert hall instruments doing the rock thing, rock instruments plucked and finessed in something of a classical vein, and experimental music veering in a jazz improv way. This is part two of the concert, where you can hear some of each set of music from the Kentucky ensemble Rachel’s and NY-based group Clogs, plus a special encore tune.


Solo Strings

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

On this New Sounds, hear some solo works for plucked and hammered strings by the likes of pianists Eleanor Sandresky and Robin Holcomb, and avant-garde harpist Hélène Breschand. Paris-based Breschand is a creative harpist from the new-music end of things, though she’s also a member of several improvising ensembles. "Le goût du sel" is her first solo album as a leader where she finds a place between written music and risk-taking improvisation. Also, Eleanor Sandresky is a self-titled “Choreographic Pianist,” stemming from her idea of the concert-as-theatre. Her work, “A Sleeper’s Notebook,” which we’ll hear parts of tonight, is a cycle based on kinds of sleep, both rapid eye movement and dream states. The live experience of this piece intertwines music and dance, while exploring the connections between sound and how one creates it physically at the piano. Plus, there’s also the fragile solo piano pieces of Robin Holcomb and more.


Slavic Rocker Gets Serious

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Goran Bregovic, guitarist and composer, was a rock hero in the former Yugoslavia with his band Bijelo Dugme (White Button.) When he tired of that, he moved on to film scores, making incredible music to accompany the films of Emir Kusturica (Time of the Gypsies, Arizona Dream, Undreground.) Bregovic has written for Iggy Pop, Ofra Haza, and Cesaria Evora, to name a few. His compositions marry the sounds of a gypsy brass band with traditional Bulgarian polyphonies, those of an electric guitar and traditional percussion with an unmistakable rock accent. A rowdy brass band, bagpipes, a string ensemble, a tuxedo-clad all-male choir from Belgrade, and traditional Bulgarian and gypsy singers make up his dynamic Orchestra for Weddings and Funerals. Tonight, on this edition of New Sounds, John Schaefer talks with Goran in advance of the first major performance of his music in NY - a Thursday night 8PM show at the Lincoln Center Festival.


World Trance Music

Monday, July 10, 2006

It’s an hour of world dance music and ecstatic trance on this edition of New Sounds. Hear folktronic sacred DJ music from the Algerian native Cheb I Sabbah, off of his most recent release, “La Kahena.” This master mixer brings together Indian, Arabian and African musical traditions in an intoxicating frenzy of irrestible beats with contributions on the CD from Bill Laswell, Karsh Kale, and many Moroccan musicians. There’s also music by Mercan Dede, who combines modern settings with Sufi-inspired material to set up an hypnotic otherworldly space. From his latest, “Su,” listen to a piece called “Ab-I Verd” (which means rose water), and is dedicated to the famous Turkish singer Kani Karaca. Also, there’s music from Bachir Attar, the leader of the Master Musicians of Jajouka, an ancient family originating from the Moroccan village of Jajouka, whose ritual trance-inducing melodies can help achieve transcendence in music. Plus, hear exerpts from the ecstatic project by Shahram Shiva, “Lovedrunk,” - it's the poetry of Rumi, set to music for whirling.


British Folk Stories

Sunday, July 09, 2006

Ballads and laments "Drop, drop slow tears" on this edition of New Sounds, with an updated take on classic folksong tradition from the British Isles. Hear Steeleye Span rendering "When I Was On Horseback," Fairport Convention's version of The Quiet Joys Of Brotherhood, and Andrew Cronshaw doing "The Ship In Distress." Also, England’s The House Band plays "Bonnie Light Horseman," the song of a woman whose man has been killed in retreat during the Boer War in South Africa. And Joan Baez sings "All in Green Went My Love Riding", as arranged and produced by Peter Schickele.


"Concrete" Music

Saturday, July 08, 2006

There’s industrial strength "Concrete" music on this New Sounds program. Hear works that incorporate the sounds of typewriters, vacuum cleaners, cash registers, and construction equipment, among other things. Listen as composer Molly Thompson manages to turn an annoyance -the construction going on outside her window- into music, with her work "Draft of Shadows." Also, there’s music hidden in such things as escalators or typewriters, with "Project Soundwave," where you’ll hear Viennese based composer Thom Poe’s "Concert for Escalators." And much more.


Drawing From Hindu Scriptures

Friday, July 07, 2006

On this New Sounds program, listen to Western Music inspired by Hindu scriptures, including works by Benjamin Verdery, Douglas J. Cuomo, and Philip Glass. The texts of these works draw mainly from about 700 verses of sacred text known as the Bhagavad Gita, a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna which takes place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Philip Glass, in his opera “Satyagraha,” sets parts of the Bhagavad Gita in the classical Sanskrit, while embracing both Indian music and the political and spiritual philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi. We’ll listen to excerpts from the Glass opera and we’ll also hear a work that shares the same name, Benjamin Verdery’s “Satyagraha.” Verdery’s piece is based on an eight-note raga, with nods to both Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Johannes Brahms. Rounding out the show is music by Douglas J. Cuomo (perhaps best known for writing the theme for Sex And The City), also with text from the Bhagavad Gita. We’ll listen to Cuomo’s new acoustic opera/music-theatre work, “Arjuna’s dilemma,” which combines Eastern and Western vocal and instrumental music, Qawali style sufi singing, and jazz improvisation.


New Blues

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Take part of some new blues on this edition of New Sounds. As part of the overwhelmingly successful film (and its soundtrack), "O Brother Where Art Thou," Louisiana bluesman Chris Thomas King seems to be a bridge between blues and hip-hop, with his rapped lyrics and dj scratching. We’ll listen to some music by King along with music from Cassandra Wilson’s latest rootsy jazzy, electronica-y blues release, "Thunderbird." And as always, lots more.


What's Up with Gavin Bryars

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

English composer Gavin Bryars first made his musical reputation as an improvisational jazz bassist in the mid-sixties, but he abandoned improv to work for a time in the United States with John Cage. He last stopped by the WNYC studio to present excerpts from his 2001 collaboration with Merce Cunningham, “Biped.” Besides his works for theatre and dance, Bryars has written prolifically for the concert hall and has written three full-length operas to date. Among Bryars’ fans and collaborators are the songwriter Tom Waits, guitarist Bill Frisell, and early music specialists The Hilliard Ensemble. On this edition of New Sounds, English composer Gavin Bryars joins John Schaefer in the studio to unveil new works not yet heard in the States.


A Musical Calendar

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Thirty days hath September, April, June... On tonight's New Sounds, listen to a musical calendar, featuring monthly works written for Classic FM Radio by British composer Joby Talbot (January, February) and music from Sorrel Hays’s “90s, a Calendar Bracelet.” Plus, music from Swiss-born singer Susanne Abbuehl for "April" and George Winston's December, among others.


Unusual Guitar Works

Monday, July 03, 2006

On this edition of New Sounds, hear inventive music from the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, with selections from the new CD, "Guitar Heroes." Embracing their roots- both individually and collectively- the quartet pays tribute to jazz, bluegrass, rock and flamenco guitarists who have influenced and inspired them. The pantheon includes Frank Zappa, Hendrix and Michael Hedges; Pat Metheny, Django Reinhart and John McLaughlin; Steve Howe and Ralph Towner, among others. And much more.


North, South, East, West

Sunday, July 02, 2006

New Sounds faces the music in all directions, North, South, East, and West on this program. Hear music by German guitarist Andreas Willers with Canadian pianist Paul Bley, from the release, "In the North," an improv tribute to reed player Jimmy Giuffre. Also, selections from "Which Way Is East," the double CD collection of spontaneous duets by saxophonist Charles Lloyd and the late percussionist Billy Higgins. Higgins plays drumkit, but also sings blues, sambas and African music with his guitar, and together the two of them make a kind of free-improvised world-music. Plus, directional works from Ennio Morricone (the West) and Dino Saluzzi's quartet (The South).


Downtown "Chamber" Music

Saturday, July 01, 2006

New Sounds presents an hour of unusual ensemble music for this program, with music by Tarantula, Slow Six, the Clogs and the Tin Hat Trio. Deceptively simple and breathtakingly delicate music is Tarantula's specialty, who are set up like something of a chamber ensemble with violin and cello, but also with guitars, bass, and drums. (Lately, their sound has taken a metal turn, but we're sticking with this record.) The Clogs offer up thoughtful and romantic chamber-y post-rock with bassoon, violin/viola, guitar and percussion. Also in the thoughtful vein is the playful and twisted music of the Tin Hat Trio. Plus, rounding out the show is music from Slow Six, an eight-piece electro-acoustic outfit with video projections (video not included on New Sounds.)