The Late Set

By Nate Chinen, Josh JacksonMusic Music Interviews

The Late Set episodes

October 27Malou Oheix Wins the Hancock Prize
Who is our next breakout jazz singer? Chances are, they were in Paris this month for the Herbie Hancock International Jazz Vocals Competition. Nate was there, too, and now he brings us a field report — including a backstage interview with Malou Oheix, the 27-year-old French vocalist who won first prize, and insights from a few of the distinguished judges.
It’s also a moment to consider the nature of the competition, what it reflects about the art form, and what it can really do for an artist building an emerging career.
Chapters
00:00 — The Late Set wins a Signal Award

01:20 — Nate Chinen in Paris for the Herbie Hancock Vocal Competition

05:29 — Kate Quartum on camaraderie among jazz singers

08:00 — Meet the finalists: Georgia Heers, Luciane Daniels & Malou Hoex

11:47 — What makes a great jazz vocalist?

14:07 — From semifinals to finals: the pressure shifts

17:34 — Malou Hoex’s winning performance

24:52 — Gretchen Parlato on seeing herself in Malou

29:48 — Do jazz vocal competitions still make a difference?

33:17 — Meeting competition winner Malou Hoex

35:51 — “This I Dig”: Tyreek McDole’s Chroma

38:20 — “This I Dig”: Josh’s 25-year-old Irish whiskey

40:30 — Nate’s Paris encounter with Céline Dion

41:31 — Credits & sign-off
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44 min
October 13Guest Drop: Andrew Cyrille on A Noise From the Deep
Some conversations are worth revisiting and sharing. In this special guest drop, we hand the mic to a friend of the show: trumpeter and composer Dave Douglas, who has appeared on The Late Set and whose Greenleaf Music podcast, A Noise From the Deep, is one we never miss. Here, Douglas sits down with master drummer Andrew Cyrille to discuss Lebroba, Cyrille’s ECM album with Wadada Leo Smith and Bill Frisell.
Cyrille also reflects on his Brooklyn beginnings, his first recording date with Coleman Hawkins, and his 11 years in the Cecil Taylor Unit. We’re especially excited to share this conversation at a time when Cyrille has two fine new albums: Trio Imagination and the forthcoming Drum Stories.
There’s still time to vote for The Late Set in this year’s Signal Awards! Cast your vote in two categories:
Arts & Culture: Vote for us here
Interview or Talk Show: And here
Listen to A Noise From the Deep: Subscribe on Apple Podcasts
Chapters
00:00 — Welcome: Josh Jackson & Nate Chinen

01:15 — Andrew Cyrille's big year & “Freeway” from Drum Stories

06:20 — Dave Douglas and Andrew Cyrille on A Noise From the Deep

10:00 — “Pretty Beauty” & recording Lebroba

18:30 — Learning by ear & a first date with Coleman Hawkins

24:15 — Coming up in Brooklyn: Louis Hayes, Max Roach & Philly Joe Jones

30:45 — Cyrille's Haitian roots

35:45 — “Lebroba”: Leland, Brooklyn & Baltimore

44:20 — What makes good music

52:40 — 11 years with Cecil Taylor

1:07:40 — Time, rhythm & “TGD”

1:13:00 — “Time to Dig”
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1 hr 22 min
October 09Music of the Ancestors, with Kenny Garrett
A bonus drop celebrating our two Signal Awards nominations! Vote for The Late Set in two categories:
Arts & Culture: Vote for us here
Interview or Talk Show: And here
Sound and spirit are inseparable in the music of Kenny Garrett. A saxophonist who served a series of heavyweight apprenticeships, most notably with Miles Davis, Garrett now stands as a jazz elder himself — one who continues his search for knowledge.
Several years ago, around the time of his album Sounds from the Ancestors, Garrett performed on the campus of Temple University. He sat down with Josh Jackson for a conversation about musical lineage, mentorship, and the lessons that keep the music moving forward. We’re thrilled to bring you that conversation as a bonus episode.
Watch the full interview: Kenny Garrett at Temple University
Chapters
00:00 — We're Signal Awards finalists

01:35 — Bonus episode: Kenny Garrett at Temple

05:10 — Coltrane's Philadelphia & playing soprano saxophone

07:45 — Roy Hargrove & Sounds from the Ancestors

10:10 — Feeling the ancestors on the bandstand

15:05 — Lessons from Miles Davis

17:35 — Mentors, monuments & honoring elders

25:00 — The pandemic: how to stop the train

27:40 — Passing it on beyond the academy

35:40 — What does it mean to live with music?

37:20 — “This I Dig”

42:20 — Credits
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44 min
September 29Encounter, Not Discovery, with Nduduzo Makhathini
The Myth We Chose, the entrancing new album by South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, foregrounds hope and healing, and a conviction in the redemptive power of connection. It’s a song-forward statement for Makhathini, who is also a composer, vocalist, philosopher, and ambassador for the Global South.
This summer, he brought his trio to Solar Myth ahead of an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival. On the first of two nights, he joined Josh Jackson for an onstage conversation about ritual, responsibility, and why he prefers the term “encounter” to “discovery” when describing a person’s formative contact with improvised music.
Chapters
00:00 — Intro: South African jazz

05:00 — Zulu language, myth & musicality

11:30 — Music education, colonialism & Indigenous knowledge

15:30 — Growing up during apartheid

21:00 — Encountering John Coltrane & the roots of jazz

23:30 — The identity and sound of South African jazz

28:45 — Collective memory & the African diaspora

35:15 — Myth, ancestral memory & sonic creation

38:15 — Ndu cosmology, time & musical continuity

41:00 — Artificial intelligence, knowledge & human experience

45:15 — Nate and Josh on music, healing & ancestral knowledge

49:30 — “This I Dig”

53:15 — South African music, cultural boycotts & current debates

56:15 — Closing credits
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58 min
September 15Coltrane 100, with Steve Rowland
John Coltrane’s centennial has brought a flurry of tributes and testimonials, along with archival discoveries.
At WRTI, we’re gearing up for “A Love Park Supreme,” a weeklong celebration in the city that Coltrane called home.
And here at The Late Set, we’re doing what we do best: digging into an enlightened conversation.
Our guest is Peabody Award-winning oral historian and producer Steve Rowland, creator of the five-hour audio documentary
Tell Me How Long Trane's Been Gone, which is rebroadcasting on WRTI the week of Sept. 21, one hour at a time.
Rowland, an alumnus of Temple University and WRTI, has incisive things to say about Coltrane’s spiritual quest and creative legacy,
and how we can best remember him today.
Chapters
00:00 — Intro: Coltrane 100 Philly

06:30 — Steve Rowland joins the show

10:30 — Philadelphia roots & building the documentary

13:00 — Early life, faith & the August Bloom tape

24:30 — Bebop, addiction & the road to A Love Supreme

27:30 — A Love Supreme: Psalm, poetry & the saxophone-as-voice

34:00 — Alabama, civil rights & the Black Arts Movement

46:00 — Material world, spirit world & art as the bridge

49:30 — The Coltrane houses & life with Alice

1:02:00 — Legacy & takeaways
The Late Set is a production of WRTI and made possible by WRTI members.
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1 hr 17 min
September 01A Voice for Jazz, with Rhonda Hamilton
Jazz radio has never had a better friend than Rhonda Hamilton. During a broadcasting career spanning nearly 50 years,
she’s brought the music to a worldwide audience with her trademark warmth, integrity and composure.
This year she received a fitting honor: the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy,
which she’ll formally receive on Sept. 15 during a gala concert at Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles.
She’ll be in fine company there: the 2026 class of honorees also includes drummer and percussionist Airto Moreira;
keyboardist, vocalist and producer Patrice Rushen; and singer, songwriter and bandleader Carmen Lundy.
Rhonda is now on the air at KKJZ-FM in Southern California, but during her longtime tenure at Newark Public Radio,
she worked with Josh Jackson, Nate Chinen and our producer, Alex Ariff. We were all delighted to reconnect with her
in a conversation brimming with insights from one of our very best.
Chapters
00:00 — Coltrane 100 Philly kickoff

02:00 — NEA Jazz Masters & this year's honorees

10:00 — Interview with Rhonda Hamilton

49:00 — Key records & jazz recommendations

55:30 — Dizzy Gillespie dinner story

1:02:30 — “This I Dig”
Learn more about WRTI’s John Coltrane @100 celebration:

wrti.org

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1 hr 11 min
August 18Sabotage the Plan, with SML
When SML dropped its 2024 debut, the group’s admixture of loopy groove, staticky texture and shifting timbre came on like a transmission from the outer reaches. Behind the music was a method: rangy collective improv whittled down to size, based on a trove of live tape.
SML has released two more albums since, the latest of which, Spontaneous Music Live, consists of two unedited long performances rooted in real-time interplay. For this episode, three of SML’s five members — bassist Anna Butterss, saxophonist Josh Johnson and synthesist Jeremiah Chiu — joined Julian Booker, WRTI’s Associate Program Director for Jazz, to talk about their commitment to shared discovery. (The others are guitarist Gregory Uhlmann and percussionist Booker Stardrum.)
Listen in to learn more about one of our moment’s most beguiling bands.
Chapters
00:00 — Intro & welcome

01:51 — SML at Big Ears

05:49 — SML’s process: turning live tape into records

10:55 — The band, lineup & modular synths

13:01 — Interview with SML

50:15 — Back with Nate & Julian: is this jazz?

55:13 — “This I Dig”
Want to support The Late Set?
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1 hr 3 min
August 04Wellspring, with DoYeon Kim
The gayageum is a plucked Korean zither with a history that stretches to the sixth century. Its first and finest exponent in avant-garde jazz is DoYeon Kim, whose spellbinding debut, Wellspring, reveals a fiercely original voice (in more than one sense). Before a recent show presented by Ars Nova Workshop and the Doris Duke Foundation, Kim joined us to talk about tradition, translation, and the power of self-expression. She even graced us with a solo improvisation on her instrument, which has fast become a vital part of the experimental scene.
Chapters:
00:00 – Intro: South Korean jazz and the gayageum

02:15 – Meet DoYeon Kim and her groundbreaking approach

05:12 – Live from Solar Myth: Welcome and birthday surprise

06:25 – The success of Wellspring and finding a larger purpose

09:10 – Discovering the gayageum and falling in love with its sound

13:05 – Dance, movement, and Korean concepts of rhythm

16:25 – Growing up in Korea and discovering cultural identity in Canada

20:00 – Joe Morris and finding her artistic voice

23:45 – Beyond "exotic": Becoming DoYeon Kim, not just a gayageum player

27:15 – Finding her voice—literally—through improvisation

31:05 – Building Wellspring with Tyshawn Sorey, Matt Maneri & Henry Fraser

34:05 – The symbolism and history of the gayageum

36:45 – Exclusive live solo improvisation

38:35 – Post-interview reflections on Wellspring and the Solar Myth performance

41:15 – This I Dig: Josh's Provence wine recommendation

44:05 – This I Dig: Ben Goldberg's ambitious "8 by 8" album project

47:15 – Closing credits
Want to support The Late Set?
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52 min
July 21 ResoNation, with Steven Bernstein
Steven Bernstein is a known wildcard in the modern jazz game. He's a wily slide trumpeter, and the whip-smart bandleader behind both Millennial Territory Orchestra, a pugnacious little big band, and Sexmob, a go-anywhere four-piece band. So in some respects, Bernstein's latest is striking for its directness.
ResoNation Trio finds him strictly on valve trumpet and flugelhorn, with a lean-and-limber rhythm team of Scott Colley on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums. True to form, Bernstein added a further twist — inviting maverick producer Scotty Hard to reconstitute the trio's recordings for the companion album Ultra Resonance, a kaleidoscopic refraction evoking both dub and electronic collage.
Bernstein dropped by our studio before a recent show to talk about the jazz tradition, his drive for connection, and why this project had to happen now.
Watch the full conversation on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/n3IwFJe5AiE
Chapters:
00:00 – Intro: Josh & Nate catch up, remember Steven during the pandemic
03:42 – Introducing the new records: ResoNation Trio & Ultra Resonance
06:08 – Interview begins: welcoming Steven Bernstein
07:02 – Steven as "the ultimate band guy" — why it had to be Colley & Waits
08:30 – Bay Area roots: coming up around Andrew Hill, Rahsaan, the AACM
11:00 – "Spontaneous composition" and the making of ResoNation Trio
14:04 – Why now: readiness, aging, and finding his own voice
20:48 – Sequencing the album & introducing Ultra Resonance
22:33 – Dub roots: Garvey's Ghost, Scotty Hard's remix process
29:41 – Magical realism as the concept linking both albums
31:25 – Live performance: Steven plays flugelhorn ("Rotary") + the horn's history
38:55 – Learning from Levon Helm — melody, blues, and "spiritual jazz"
42:21 – Jazz education, rhythm, and drummers as the root of the music
50:20 – On legacy, influence, and Sex Mob's lasting impact
1:00:07 – Debrief + "This I Dig"
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1 hr 14 min
July 07The Power of Presence, with Kalia Vandever
Mana, the new album by Kalia Vandever, takes its name from a Native Hawaiian term for spiritual energy or sacred power. It’s an intentional gesture from an artist who has long possessed the instinct of a shape-shifter.
In addition to trombone, Vandever works with electronics and synthesizers on the album, as well as vocals — a first, inspired in part by their experiences with Haley Heynderickx, Japanese Breakfast and Harry Styles.
Before a mesmerizing solo performance at Solar Myth, Vandever joined Nate Chinen for a conversation about myth and mystique, collaboration and solitude, and what it means to open up in new ways as an improvising artist.
Chapters
00:00 — Intro: Entering the World of Mana

05:11 — Interview Begins: Hawaiian Ancestry, Spirituality & Inspiration

13:20 — Touring with Harry Styles and Finding a Performance Voice

20:21 — Singing, Songwriting & Emotional Honesty on Mana

29:07 — International Anthem, Genre and the Evolution of Kalia's Music

35:43 — Interview Wrap-Up

37:09 — “This I Dig”: Micah Thomas's Lucid & Emily Wilson's The Odyssey

42:20 — Producer's Picks: Henry Solomon, Louis Armstrong & Laurent Benedict

49:06 — Credits
Want to support The Late Set?
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51 min

About The Late Set

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Jazz is a conversation — and that’s what The Late Set is all about. Nate Chinen and Josh Jackson convene every two weeks for straight talk and in-depth interviews with featured guests. Just like a…