Deep Focus

In 1972, as Miles Davis was rewriting the genetic code of musical possibilities in NYC, Carlos Santana, his labelmate, was doing the exact same thing in San Francisco.  Blazing electric keyboard player? Check. Hard-swinging drummer? Check.  Inventive electric bassist? Check.  Fathomless well of creative ideas and the fearlessness to apply them? Check and double-check.  One aspirant who was so moved by this that he picked up a guitar and never put it down was our guest, Vernon Reid.  

 

So did Santana ever play this music live?  

Did anyone think to record it?  

Did those recordings find their way to the WKCR archives?  

Does Vernon Reid have 50 years' worth of introspection on this music to share?  

 

Hmmm... One way to find out!  Tune in to Mitch Goldman's Deep Focus with guest Vernon Reid this Monday 11/28 from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR HD-1 or wkcr.org. 

 

Next week it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/

 

Photo credit: Carlos Santana_1973 Heinrich Klaffs, CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org-licenses-by-sa-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

 

#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #DeepFocus #VernonReid #CarlosSantana #MitchGoldman #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast

In 1972, as Miles Davis was rewriting the genetic code of musical possibilities in NYC, Carlos Santana, his labelmate, was doing the exact same thing in San Francisco.  Blazing electric keyboard player? Check. Hard-swinging drummer? Check.  Inventive electric bassist? Check.  Fathomless well of creative ideas and the fearlessness to apply them? Check and double-check.  One aspirant who was so moved by this that he picked up a guitar and never put it down was our guest, Vernon Reid.  

 

So did Santana ever play this music live?  

Did anyone think to record it?  

Did those recordings find their way to the WKCR archives?  

Does Vernon Reid have 50 years' worth of introspection on this music to share?  

 

Hmmm... One way to find out!  Tune in to Mitch Goldman's Deep Focus with guest Vernon Reid this Monday 11/28 from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR HD-1 or wkcr.org. 

 

Next week it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/

 

Photo credit: Chris Hakkens, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

 

#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #DeepFocus #VernonReid #CarlosSantana #MitchGoldman #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast

In 1972, as Miles Davis was rewriting the genetic code of musical possibilities in NYC, Carlos Santana, his labelmate, was doing the exact same thing in San Francisco.  Blazing electric keyboard player? Check. Hard-swinging drummer? Check.  Inventive electric bassist? Check.  Fathomless well of creative ideas and the fearlessness to apply them? Check and double-check.  One aspirant who was so moved by this that he picked up a guitar and never put it down was our guest, Vernon Reid.  

 

So did Santana ever play this music live?  

Did anyone think to record it?  

Did those recordings find their way to the WKCR archives?  

Does Vernon Reid have 50 years' worth of introspection on this music to share?  

 

Hmmm... One way to find out!  Tune in to Mitch Goldman's Deep Focus with guest Vernon Reid this Monday 11/28 from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR HD-1 or wkcr.org. 

 

Next week it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/

 

Photo credit: Chris Hakkens, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

 

#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #DeepFocus #VernonReid #CarlosSantana #MitchGoldman #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast

"Lester Bowie": instead of thinking of that sound as a person's name, maybe we should start thinking of it as a verb.  Here's one definition: to change the orientation of something familiar so that it becomes unimaginably magnificent. Example: "I'm going to Lester Bowie this pebble and make a beautiful jewel out of it" or "I'm going to Lester Bowie these old tires into a holiday feast." It helps if you apply a bit of magic as Lester always seemed to manage to do.   

This Monday night on Jazz Alternatives, Eric Person and host Mitch Goldman put Lester Bowie in Deep Focus.  While Lester may be more familiar from his work with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Brass Fantasy, Eric and Mitch are digging somewhat deeper.  Once again, gems from the WKCR archives abound.  

 

Only on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR HD1 and wkcr.org this Monday from 6pm to 9pm NYC time.  Next week it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #JazzAlternatives #EricPerson #LesterBowie #MitchGoldman #JazzInterview #JazzPodcast 

 

Photo credit: Robbie Drexhage, CC BY-SA 4.0 , attraverso Wikimedia Commons

"Lester Bowie": instead of thinking of that sound as a person's name, maybe we should start thinking of it as a verb.  Here's one definition: to change the orientation of something familiar so that it becomes unimaginably magnificent. Example: "I'm going to Lester Bowie this pebble and make a beautiful jewel out of it" or "I'm going to Lester Bowie these old tires into a holiday feast." It helps if you apply a bit of magic as Lester always seemed to manage to do.   

This Monday night on Jazz Alternatives, Eric Person and host Mitch Goldman put Lester Bowie in Deep Focus.  While Lester may be more familiar from his work with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Brass Fantasy, Eric and Mitch are digging somewhat deeper.  Once again, gems from the WKCR archives abound.  

 

Only on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR HD1 and wkcr.org this Monday from 6pm to 9pm NYC time.  Next week it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #JazzAlternatives #EricPerson #LesterBowie #MitchGoldman #JazzInterview #JazzPodcast 

 

Photo credit: Lester Bowie, Sweet Basil, NYC by Anthony Barboza, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.  Fair use.

"Lester Bowie": instead of thinking of that sound as a person's name, maybe we should start thinking of it as a verb.  Here's one definition: to change the orientation of something familiar so that it becomes unimaginably magnificent. Example: "I'm going to Lester Bowie this pebble and make a beautiful jewel out of it" or "I'm going to Lester Bowie these old tires into a holiday feast." It helps if you apply a bit of magic as Lester always seemed to manage to do.   

This Monday night on Jazz Alternatives, Eric Person and host Mitch Goldman put Lester Bowie in Deep Focus.  While Lester may be more familiar from his work with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and Brass Fantasy, Eric and Mitch are digging somewhat deeper.  Once again, gems from the WKCR archives abound.  

 

Only on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR HD1 and wkcr.org this Monday from 6pm to 9pm NYC time.  Next week it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #JazzAlternatives #EricPerson #LesterBowie #MitchGoldman #JazzInterview #JazzPodcast 

 

Photo credit: Robbie Drexhage, CC BY-SA 4.0 , attraverso Wikimedia Commons

This Monday night on Jazz Alternatives, Mitch Goldman welcomes drummer Don McKenzie back to the studio for a very special Deep Focus on the supergroup Last Exit (Peter Brotzmann, Sonny Sharrock, Bill Laswell, Ronald Shannon Jackson), a rebroadcast from 2015.

The band was known for its uncompromising musical ferocity, fueled by the band members' confrontational attitudes. Greg Kot wrote that they brought a level of "volume and violence that makes most rock bands sound tame."  Although Last Exit left a mere handful of recordings and made only limited tour dates, they left a reputation for scorched earth; dazzled, sputtering listeners and no apologies.  A quarter century later, however, when the swagger of the music's creators has been set aside, what emerges is magnificent improvisation (they never rehearsed) with glistening shards of beauty from each of the composer/bandleader members.  This will be especially well borne out by the unreleased live recordings to be presented on Monday night, music the world has almost never heard.  

Drummer Don McKenzie, well-known for his playing with Elliot Sharp, Marc Ribot, Vernon Reid and Roswell Rudd among many, many others, brings special insight into this ensemble, so often discussed but so seldom brought to light.

 

WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR HD1 and wkcr.org.   Catch it on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com.

 

#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #LastExit #DonMcKenzie #DeepFocus #MitchGoldman #PeterBrotzmann #SonnySharrock #BillLaswell #RonaldShannonJackson #JazzRockFusion #NoWave

 

Photo credit: no publishing information available.

This Monday night on Jazz Alternatives (6pm to 9pm) Mitch Goldman welcomes drummer Don McKenzie back to the studio for a very special Deep Focus on the supergroup Last Exit (Peter Brotzmann, Sonny Sharrock, Bill Laswell, Ronald Shannon Jackson), a rebroadcast from 2015.

The band was known for its uncompromising musical ferocity, fueled by the band members' confrontational attitudes. Greg Kot wrote that they brought a level of "volume and violence that makes most rock bands sound tame."  Although Last Exit left a mere handful of recordings and made only limited tour dates, they left a reputation for scorched earth; dazzled, sputtering listeners and no apologies.  A quarter century later, however, when the swagger of the music's creators has been set aside, what emerges is magnificent improvisation (they never rehearsed) with glistening shards of beauty from each of the composer/bandleader members.  This will be especially well borne out by the unreleased live recordings to be presented on Monday night, music the world has almost never heard.  

Drummer Don McKenzie, well-known for his playing with Elliot Sharp, Marc Ribot, Vernon Reid and Roswell Rudd among many, many others, brings special insight into this ensemble, so often discussed but so seldom brought to light.

 

WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR HD1 and wkcr.org.   Catch it on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com.

 

#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #LastExit #DonMcKenzie #DeepFocus #MitchGoldman #PeterBrotzmann #SonnySharrock #BillLaswell #RonaldShannonJackson #JazzRockFusion #NoWave

 

Photo credit: no publishing information available.

This Monday night on Jazz Alternatives, Mitch Goldman welcomes drummer Don McKenzie back to the studio for a very special Deep Focus on the supergroup Last Exit (Peter Brotzmann, Sonny Sharrock, Bill Laswell, Ronald Shannon Jackson), a rebroadcast from 2015.

The band was known for its uncompromising musical ferocity, fueled by the band members' confrontational attitudes. Greg Kot wrote that they brought a level of "volume and violence that makes most rock bands sound tame."  Although Last Exit left a mere handful of recordings and made only limited tour dates, they left a reputation for scorched earth; dazzled, sputtering listeners and no apologies.  A quarter century later, however, when the swagger of the music's creators has been set aside, what emerges is magnificent improvisation (they never rehearsed) with glistening shards of beauty from each of the composer/bandleader members.  This will be especially well borne out by the unreleased live recordings to be presented on Monday night, music the world has almost never heard.  

Drummer Don McKenzie, well-known for his playing with Elliot Sharp, Marc Ribot, Vernon Reid and Roswell Rudd among many, many others, brings special insight into this ensemble, so often discussed but so seldom brought to light.

 

WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR HD1 and wkcr.org.   Catch it on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com.

 

#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #LastExit #DonMcKenzie #DeepFocus #MitchGoldman #PeterBrotzmann #SonnySharrock #BillLaswell #RonaldShannonJackson #JazzRockFusion #NoWave

 

Photo credit: no publishing information available.

No one will ever embody the concept of music as spiritual sustenance the way that Pharoah Sanders did.  William Hooker heard the call through the music and it changed his life.  William joins Mitch Goldman to remember this enduring moment of inspiration and to explore the WKCR archives.  Jewels abound.  

 

The Pharoah Sanders Memorial Broadcast is all day Monday 9/26.  This segment is 6pm to 9pm on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR  HD-1 and wkcr.org.  Next week it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/

 

#WKCR #PharoahSanders #PharoahSandersMemorialBroadcast #WilliamHooker #MitchGoldman #DeepFocus #JazzInterview #JazzPodcast

 

Photo credit: Pharoah Sanders by Manfred Werner (Tsui), CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons