From his life-changing encounter with the Ramones to creating accessible instrumental music with longtime collaborators Ray Paczkowski and Russ Lawton, Metzger discusses how their new album 'One of Us' channels the raw, intuitive energy of three musicians.
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Drawing inspiration from Depression-era WPA outdoor concerts, Noack's "In a Landscape" series creates musical experiences where the natural world becomes part of the performance itself—a thousand-pound Steinway serving as both instrument and artistic statement among the great outdoors.
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Italian bass, Japanese drums, and a rambunctious musical mindset brought together Zu and Tatsuya Yoshida for twenty-three electrifying European shows, culminating in their Jazzisdead Festival performance captured on a new live album.
The Boston-area tenor saxophonist refuses to let jazz orthodoxy dictate his artistic path. His latest album, 'Ballads,' reveals how moving through different musical territories deepens what happens within the song.
Max Wareham's multidisciplinary background informs every note of his debut album 'DAGGOMIT!' The banjo player brings a historian's perspective while collaborating with bluegrass legends to create something reverent while refreshingly playful.
Casey's deluxe edition of 'Later That Day' explores isolation through minimalist arrangements and spectral themes. Now working from Los Angeles, he reflects on the imprints left by relationships and musical evolution.
Calgary saxophonist Daniel Pelton transforms concentration camp tattoos into musical progressions using historical instruments once owned by Holocaust victims, creating a powerful tribute that reclaims dehumanized numbers through artistic expression.
Courvoisier and Halvorson unveil 'Bone Bells,' their acclaimed third album, and demonstrate how musical risk yields remarkable rewards. Eight new compositions showcase technical prowess while revealing a partnership where composed frameworks serve as springboards rather than constraints.
The "Bruce Lee of Drumming" has spent decades perfecting his revolutionary "Ergo-drumming" philosophy, yet remains criminally underappreciated despite transforming metal, jazz, and hardcore through his work with Candiria and Fuel.
A UNESCO World Heritage site built during Lebanon's optimistic 1960s but abandoned during civil war becomes the unlikely studio for 'Sphaîra,' an experimental sound artist's most ambitious work.
How do you record music that can't be played on conventional instruments? For 'Loop 7,' Golub and Greyfade's Joseph Branciforte devised an ingenious solution involving a digital player piano and meticulous retuning to create the impossible.
While Pythagoras sought mathematical perfection in music, breakcore artists like hkmori and sewerslvt embrace chaos. Their work reveals how this genre embodies both scientific rebellion and psychological expression.
After a decade of musical soul-searching in New York, the Puerto Rican bassist found his voice by embracing his cultural roots and the jazz tradition. His sophomore album reveals an artist now "unapologetic" about his musical message.
With a highly personal exploration of themes culminating in the album 'Starlight,' Julius Smack's multimedia approach reveals everyday technology as mundane yet otherworldly, mirroring our complex relationship with digital existence.
With 'Gentle Breath,' TJ Dumser's ambient project turns improvisation into liturgy, crafting spaces where listeners can step "outside the stream" and find themselves within carefully constructed waveforms.
Mike Baggetta's power trio mssv has perfected a unique creative process, road-testing new material across dozens of consecutive shows before capturing it on their latest album, 'On and On.' The result is a musical trip that thrives on combustion, energy, and pressure.
'The Visitation Plays' captivates with its sublime combination of meticulous programming and organic flow. Thompson discusses how everyday moments influence an electronic mixture that both welcomes and disrupts expectations.
South Korean drummer Sun-Mi Hong moved from her homeland to Amsterdam in search of artistic freedom. She found not just a vibrant jazz scene but a new identity as a performer and composer.
The acclaimed violinist and composer returns to California's Lost Coast, crafting a sprawling double album that celebrates biodiversity with help from an all-star ensemble including Bill Frisell, Julian Lage, and Nels Cline.
The seasoned techno producer and DJ known for electrifying international dance floors now creates burlesque circus spectacles, his innovative fusion of tubas and 808s rattling the walls of one of Seattle's most beloved theatrical institutions.
Ten conversations that transcend mere promotion to explore how creative work emerges from historical, technological, spiritual, and social contexts while building meaningful connections.
In 'Down on the Corner,' the veteran music publicist chronicles his four-decade journey from Maxwell Street to global sidewalks, revealing how spontaneous street performances shaped both his life and music history.
Colombian ten-piece La BOA used recordings from 2011 to create an innovative posthumous collaboration with Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen. Producer Daniel Michel discusses how they transformed drum tracks into a transcontinental musical conversation.
When The Undertones sang "Teenage Kicks" amid Derry's barricades, they weren't avoiding reality—they were demanding one worth living in. How the everyday yearnings of Northern Irish youth became a revolutionary statement in a world that expected them to choose sides or die trying.
Shobhakar's musical awakening began in the most unlikely circumstances — a metal kid in a Slayer t-shirt seated among India's musical elite. Now the Mumbai musician's double-neck guitar carries him from headbanging teen to microtonal master on his new album 'Liquid Reality.'
Veteran Portland musician James Cook transforms camping trips into heartfelt songs on his album 'Waiting For The Moon' and embarks on a musical quest through the wilderness with his National Tenor Resonator guitar.
That scrappy Knitting Factory on Houston Street planted seeds for two decades of tribute concerts that have raised millions for music education. Dorf's persistent courtship of Smith finally bears fruit as an inspiring lineup of performers gathers on March 26 to reinterpret her revolutionary catalog.
As Sherwood returns to Dub Syndicate's multitrack tapes a decade after Scott's tragic passing, he uncovers new artifacts within familiar terrain—the resurrected albums documenting how the partnership of two sonic architects continues to cut through space and time.
On the fifth anniversary of Spotlight On, we look back at year three's most popular episodes, featuring jam band guitarist Steve Kimock, Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), jazz greats The Headhunters, and other art and culture innovators.
After decades as guitarist with Camper Van Beethoven and Monks of Doom, Lisher embraced "the beginner's mind" through piano lessons and software manuals. His latest album 'Underwater Detection Method' documents this creative rebirth.
Operating in self-imposed exile, Colin Self turned night into studio and meditation into medium, emerging with 'r∞L4nGc'—an album that speaks in secret tongues to commune with departed souls.
The Neapolitan bassist and composer discusses how volcanic landscapes, artistic heritage, and the conscious abandonment of structure shaped his daring latest album.
The Grammy-nominated composer and New England Conservatory faculty member unites Turkish mehter bands with American jazz, revealing centuries-old connections between two musical traditions. Soon, he will present these connections on stage at Boston's Jordan Hall.
The co-founder of string quartet ETHEL discusses Carnegie Hall, Ron Carter, and why classical music needs to shed its sacred robes and return to its role as cultural glue. Her journey through New York City's musical landscape mirrors the evolution of contemporary classical music itself.