Before his recent gig at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, I had a rare chance to sit down with an artist who has given us decades of innovative and engaging work: Paul Weller. The Modfather discussed his accomplished new album Saturns Pattern, among other things, and you can listen […]
Interview
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Early 1970’s Leon Russell is certainly worthy of a documentary and this one, A Poem Is a Naked Person, has style. Filmmaker Les Blank was a character in his own right and somewhere along the filming fell out of favor with the artist. The film ended up on the shelf […]
The Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Series has small ensembles visiting parks in all five New York City boroughs this summer and Jackie Robinson Park in Harlem, Manhattan was the venue on Friday, June 26 2015. Accompanied expertly by Dan Saunders on piano, Kiri Deonarine, Ginger Costa-Jackson, and John Moore delighted […]
Christopher Owens has written some amazing songs – both as a solo artist and as the lead singer and songwriter for now defunct indie rock band Girls – and there’s more on his new album Chrissybaby Forever. We grabbed some stoop time before his show at Baby’s All Right in […]
Josiah Hotwire is a memorable name and one you’ll want to remember if you’re a hip hop fan. The Harlem raised artist recently unleashed a mixtape called Can’t Take Me Down featuring the song Heaven…
Public Enemy’s Chuck D coming over to say hi to Madisen Ward And The Mama Bear at SXSW in Austin was indicative of the kind of magnetism this mom and son folk duo have. Their songs exist outside any specific time or place and they deliver them with affection and […]
Anthrax has been kicking ass for 34 years! I spoke with Scott Ian about past, present, and future of the legendary thrash metal band backstage at Hammerstein Ballroom…
Before heading to Brooklyn for a Northside Festival show, rock duo Best Coast dropped by WFUV radio for a session. Their gig (with 3 additional touring members) is this Saturday June the 13th; the multi-faceted event runs June 8 – 14 2015. Prepare for the show by enjoying 2 interviews with the […]
The music of Algiers is intense. Its rooted in drums and percussion that create mesmerizing rhythms. Rumbling bass adds momentum and depth while slashing guitar adds texture and urgency. Commanding vocals deliver lyrics that rail against post-colonial power imbalance and injustice. There is anger and intelligence. I spoke with lead […]
London based rock quartet The Vaccines just unleashed their third album English Graffiti. As the record wasn’t out yet when I saw them at SXSW, I was hearing songs like Dream Lover for the first time – and thinking they sounded great next to older material like Bad Mood. Those […]
Steve Reynolds – whose sets span the 1990’s – works his DJ magic at The Bell House on or about the first Saturday of every month. Whether at that venue in Brooklyn or at his day job in Manhattan in which he often interviews artists across genres, this maniacal music maven is a […]
Pedrito Martinez is such a heavy guy that Wynton, Waters, and Winwood as well as Springsteen, Sting, and Simon have either dropped in on him or invited him on stage or to a session…and those are just the names that grouped well by letter. The Cuban percussionist, singer, bandleader and […]
The Violent Femmes have a long history with New York (Brian Ritchie lived here for a decade, Gordon Gano longer than that, and Brian Viglione now) and a longer history making distinctive music – some visceral, some cerebral – always honest. The veteran proto-alt-rockers tore it up at Rough Trade […]
In this John Patitucci interview he is quick to give credit to some of the great jazz artists like Chick Corea and Wayne Shorter who encouraged him and were important in his career.
John Patitucci is among the most accomplished bass players in the world. His latest project has JP focusing on the electric side of his playing with his longtime collaborator – Brian (one of the most exciting drummers alive) Blade plus a pair of shining guitarists: Steve Cardenas and Adam Rogers. […]
An important reason Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn writes such powerful political songs is his first hand experience. A new memoir Rumours of Glory from the folk-rock artist recalls visiting places around the world, often places wracked by war, that informed his lyrics. He highlighted the songs he wrote about in his […]
Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell have a way of bringing out the best in each other and that is the best of Americana music. The pair drew upon their 40 year kinship and upped the ante on their Grammy winning album of 2 years ago by penning half a dozen […]
Courtney Barnett was the ‘it’ girl at SXSW this year… everyone wanted to see her. After I saw her, I wanted to see her again…and again! Here are my favorite moments that will give you a good flavor for the indie rock singer-songwriter from Melbourne, Australia who will visit New […]
A live band up there with Bad Brains and Iggy Pop for manic energy and reckless abandon: Fishbone was featured in the very first Sound Advice report (along with Roger Waters) on NY1 in July of 2012. A couple of months before my third anniversary at NY1, The Bone was […]
One of the most memorable shows at this year’s South by Southwest Festival was the one, in a church no less, from the group led by Hull, England’s Stuart Matthewman who co-wrote just about every Sade song that’s ever existed as well as played sax (& some guitar) on them […]
Here comes a Sydney, Australia outfit led by singer-songwriter Tim Rogers, aka Jack Ladder – he of the weighty baritone voice and wryly melancholic delivery – and supported by his accomplished backing band, The Dreamlanders, featuring guitarist Kirin J. Callinan who has a solo career as well. (Try his album […]
Here’s bonus Kurtis Blow interview material featuring more of his rap as well as KB giving credit to the artists who set the stage for his becoming the first Hip-Hop artist to sign to a major label – The Sugarhill Gang. Plus he speaks about his work as a minister, […]
The 35th anniversary of The Breaks presented a brilliant opportunity to speak with Kurtis Blow who very succinctly explains how Hip-Hop was born. “The Furious Five, Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC are no different from Robert Johnson and Charley Patton and Blind Willie McTell.” – Jack White at Madison Square Garden 1/30/15 […]
Freedy Johnston plans to play the last Thursday of every month (for an unspecified period of time!) at the lovely and intimate Rockwood Music Hall beginning next Thursday April 30th 2015. Here’s a peek at a Joe’s Pub show and our chat shortly after he moved back to New York […]