Bill Morrison

In this episode: Bill De Blasio was sworn in as the 109th mayor of New York City last week. Among those wondering what exactly this new mayor’s tenure will bring is the New York arts community. Jennifer Maloney, arts reporter for The Wall Street Journal, talks about what we can expect.

Filmmaker Bill Morrison's latest effort looks at the Great Flood of 1927, which changed American history and American music through the great migration of African-Americans northward. Morrison shares songs new and old inspired by the flood.

Alto saxophonisrt and native New Yorker Lakecia Benjamin has made a name for herself as a sidewoman to artists like Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys -- and as a composer and bandleader of her own group. She and her band Soul Squad lay down a couple of extra-funky tracks in the Soundcheck studio.

Sometimes a piece of music can provide relief in a time of crisis -– a layoff, a divorce, a disastrous day on Wall Street. Today: The Record Doctor (a.k.a. music critic Norman Lebrecht) suggests classical recordings that can be used to cope with life’s big dilemmas. Also: Composer Michael Gordon ...