Ba-Ere Yotere a master of the African Gyil performs live with great percussionists Valerie Naranjo  (also on Gyil)  and Barry Olsen.   We hung out at Valeries house and recorded a few songs as well as talking to Ba-Ere about his early days with a man I searched for but never found, the great Kakraba Lobi.  

The thrid set of the historic, Ragas Live Festival 2016, live at Pioneer Works. Arun Ramamurthy (violin), Sameer Gupta (tabla), Perry Wortman (bass). The Arun Ramamurthy Trio (ART) performs Jazz Carnatica. Rooted in the style of the virtuoso violinist Dr. Mysore Manjunath, Arun brings a fresh approach to the age-old South Indian classical repertoire. The trio’s collaborative sound is driven by the propulsive rhythm section of drummer Sameer Gupta & and bassist Perry Wortman. The Carnatic canon is remixed in this seamless integration of styles as the group expands on the traditional compositions in explosive, improvisational flights of fancy. Arun’s original compositions pay homage to Carnatic rhythmic structures and rich tonalities while expanding the music with a modern jazz backbeat. Ragas Live Festival 2016 is produced with the support of The Rubin Museum of Art

The second set of the historic, Ragas Live Festival 2016, live at Pioneer Works.  Akshara (lit. imperishable, immutable, inalterable) is comprised of: Bala Skandan (mridangam), Arun Ramamurthy (violin), Trina Basu (violin), Jay Gandhi (bansuri), Kabilan Jeginathan (kanjira), Max ZT (dulcimer), Shivalik Ghoshal (tabla). Akshara is an exciting dynamic percussion group rooted in Indian classical musical traditions. Comprised of virtuosic performers in Carnatic and Hindustani classical genres, Akshara performs an energetic blend of classical Indian melody and rhythm highlighted with solo and scale-based improvisations. The group performs original compositions by Bala Skandan, demonstrating the powerful and complex rhythmic structures inherent in South Indian classical music.     Recorded by James Clark mixed by Sameer Gupta Ragas Live Festival 2016 is produced with the support of The Rubin Museum of Art

The blazing first set of the historic, Ragas Live Festival 2016, live at Pioneer Works.  Comprising of members of Brooklyn Raga Massive - Neel Murgai (sitar), Sameer Gupta (tabla), Arun Ramamurthy (violin), Eric Fraser (bansuri), Trina Basu (violin), Michael Gam (bass), Samarth Nagarkar (vocal) - the Ravi Shankar Tribute ensemble inaugurates the Brooklyn Ragas live festival by playing several of Pt. Ravi Shankar's compositions. Ragas Live Festival 2016 is produced with the support of The Rubin Museum of Art Recorded by James Clark, mixed by Sameer Gupta.

As we recover from our legendary 24 hour Ragas Live Festival this weekend, we share two great past  episodes with talents that will be performing very soon.  We'll hear some of Awa Sangho and the BRM's All Stars blistering set as the group is set to return to the Rubin Museum of Art on  August 12th.  Hear her full set Pioneer Works here.  And we'll revisit our chat with Lech Wierzynski of the California Honeydrops who play the knitting factory tonight.  More to come!          

Wow! A chance to talk with a legend of African Music, King Sunny Ade!   For me this is a dream come true, there are few musicians as influential as King  Sunny Ade who brought the Juju music of Nigeria to the world.   Here we  speak with him in depth about his life and the roots of his music. King Sunny Ade came on the scene in 1966 and made his first big record in 1967. He became an international star across Africa during the mid-1980s, touring and gaining a significant audience in the United States and Europe as well.  He is known as "the Minister of Enjoyment" or "the King Of Juju Music." If you are new to the music, I  highly recommend you start with his Juju Music or Synchro System albums.  Also for the roots of this music search for "apala" music .  Much gratitute to World Music Institute for arranging this interview!  This episode is supported by the Rubin Museum of Art.        

Eric Krasno is the amazing guitarist/producer with artists ranging from  Soulive and Lettuce (both of which he co-founded)to  Norah Jones,  50 Cent, Aaron Neville, Phil Lesh, Derek Trucks, and, well, the list keeps going! To celebrate the upcoming release of his new album, Blood From A Stone, we got to hang with Eric at his home studio, hear him play some guitar and share what he's learned so far in an incredibly prolific career. The new album comes out July 8th.

In part 1 of this podcast we spend time at home with Jay Gandhi (bansuri) and Abhik Mukherjee (sitar) as they prepare for the a special evening of Monsoon Ragas at the Rubin Museum on June 15.  The two  perform live and share insights and legends about the malhar group of ragas, those that praise the monsoon rains.  This episode was broadcast on WKCR 89.9 FM-NY on Sunday June 5th. In part two we hope to share their performance with the virtuoso tabla player Suryaksha Deshpande as the trio perform at the Rubin and the following Brooklyn Raga Massive Jam session.  

Last month, maestro Román Díaz brought a world class group of Afro-Cuban musicians to perform with the Brooklyn Raga Massive All-Stars during the artist collective's epic residency at Pioneer Works. We'll share the recording of that innovative concert, where, for the first time, sarod, bansuri and Carnatic violin dialogue with Afro-Cuban vocals and the sacred Batá drums.   This concert will air on WKCR 89.9 FM 7-9pm Sunday May 22nd. Raga Cubana is: Román Díaz ( conductor, Batá: Iyá ) Giancarlo Luigi (Shekere) Clemente la Tierra (Batá: Okónkolo) Melvis Santa (vocals) Folasona Olorunsola (Batá: Itótele) Camila Celin (Sarod) Ehren Hanson Ttabla) Jay Gandhi (Bansuri) David Ellenbogen (Guitar) Arun Ramamurthy (Violin) Michael Gam (Bass) photo credit: Rob @ Pioneer Works

I've never heard a radio show go off the rails like this one! Counterculture hero, ethnobotanist and "psychonaut" Dennis McKenna, in a freewheeling conversation with ethnomusicologist Alexandre Tannous and comedian Greg Barris.  This was broadcast in NYC on the radio in 2013, when McKenna had just published  his memoir The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss about his wild  experiences with his legendary brother Terence McKenna, who has been called the Timothy Leary of the 90's."  The conversation hovers around  the spaces where comedy, sound and ethnobotany meet the legacy of Terrance. Dennis  McKenna  is an American ethnopharmacologist, research pharmacognosist, lecturer and author. He is the brother of well-known psychedelics proponent Terence McKenna and is a founding board member and the director of ethnopharmacology at the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit organization concerned with the investigation of the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines. Greg Barris is a staple in New York’s downtown stand-up scene and is the creator of Heart Of Darkness: a psychedelic showcase of comedy, live music and fringe scientists.  Comedians who have appeared on Heart of Darkness include Reggie Watts, Fred Armisen, Janeane Garofalo, Jim Gaffigan, Marc Maron, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, Greg Behrendt, and Chelsea Peretti.  Alexandre Tannous has been active as a musician, educator, composer, and as an ethnomusicologist.  For the past eight years he has been researching the therapeutic and esoteric properties of sound from three different perspectives - Western scientific, Eastern philosophical, and shamanic societal beliefs.  He one of the leaders of investigating the sound mediation experience.    

Debo band explores the rich and varied traditions of Ethiopian music with a dose of funk, punk and soul. With a large instrumental ensemble and a charismatic singer Bruck Tesfaye it all adds up to an undeniable party band. We got to hang with the leader of this amazing group, Danny Mekonnen and here excerpts of their upcoming album Ere Gobez (FPE Records; May 20, 2016).  They'll be playing in NYC with Antibalas May 18th at the Brooklyn Bowl.   Debo Band is Bruck Tesfaye vocals Danny Mekonnen saxophones Gabriel Birnbaum tenor saxophone Danilo Henriquez trumpet and percussion Stephanie Baird trombone Jonah Rapino electric violin Kaethe Hostetter five-stringed violin Marié Abe accordion Brendon Wood guitar Arik Grier sousaphone PJ Goodwin bass Adam Clark drums

A legendary percussionist, Román Díaz is a pillar of the New York City Afro-Cuban folkloric tradition and one of the music's great innovators.   He is considered an Olú Aña or “keeper of the sacred drum”  Before his Raga Cubana concert with the Brooklyn Raga Massive  (we hope to share that soon!) he gave this workshop where he spoke of the legends, history and musical foundations of Afro-Cuban Music.

As a lifelong fan of Shakti, hanging with  V. Selvaganesh was a dream come true.  Here the master percussionist V. Selvaganesh talks about his music and shares his experience with John McLaughlin's Remember Shakti and other great collaborations.   He breaks down the South Indian rhythmic system and we hear selections from his album Souhka.   Our friend Arun Ramamuthy joins the discussion. Born in Chennai to Grammy-winning musician Vikku Vinayakram, a former member of the original Shakti, he is the grandson of T. R. Harihara Sarma, who founded the Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya (Sri JGTV school) in Chenna Selvaganesh first gained world fame through tours with John McLaughlin's group,Remember Shakti. His debut international solo album, Soukha, was released in 2006 featuring all other regular members of Remember Shakti including John McLaughlin, Zakir Hussain, U. Srinivas and Shankar Mahadevan, as well as sitar player Niladri Kumar and Selvaganesh's father T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram. He has also formed a new group called dr JSM, with the UK-based Goan songwriter/producer dr.Joel and the young Carnatic singer Mahesh.[citation needed]Their Indo-Celtic album entitled Turn on the dreams was released in the UK in 2005. In 2012, Selvaganesh made his film directorial debut with Bodhai, a short film in Tamil. He also composed the soundtrack which was released in digital format by Saregama. Here he is with Remember Shakti

New music!  A  burnin' set of classical raga from last week's Brooklyn Raga Massive's Raga Roots Night, as broadcast on WKCR 89.9 FM-NY and performed at Pioneer Works. Anirban Dasgupta – sarod Suryaksha Deshpande – tabla Present Raag Kafi Kanada

The opening concert of Brooklyn Raga Massive's 3 month residency at Pioneer Works was a smash.   For this special night,  we had an ambitious triple bill,  celebrating the full year of the  Africa/India series collaborations that had been produced by NYC Radio Live, Afro-Roots Music night and Brooklyn Raga Massive.    We featured the “golden voice of Mali,” Awa Sangho, with by the Brooklyn Raga Massive All-Stars, the electro-acoustic Kora/Tabla duo Orakel with Kane Mathis and Roshni Samlal and the original band in this new genre Afrika Meets India, led by Kevin Nathaniel on Mbira and Eric Fraser on Bansuri. Here we'll hear Awa Sangho's complete set with the Brooklyn Raga Massive All-Stars the first time these artists came together. You can feel the energy from this explosive set!  This was recorded live by James Clark and mixed with love by Sameer Gupta.   This video from Josh Adler at Treeline Pics really captured it! Check out his whole web series chronicling the "Raga Rennaisance"   This concerts was broadcast on WKCR 89.9 FM-NY 7-9pm Febuary 7th at 2016. Awa Sangho, Vocals, percussion Daniel Moreno, percussion, Joshua Geisler, bansuri Michael Gam, bass David Ellenbogen, guitar Arun Ramamurthy, violin Jay Gandhi, bansuri Kane Mathis kora, Roshni Samlal, Tabla Malick Koly, drumset

Orakel is a brand new electro-acoustic project of Kora/oud player, Kane Mathis and tabla player, Roshni Samlal, who began their collaboration at the Brooklyn Raga Massive. Using electronic compositional elements of sound design, field recordings, and drones, they create a new context for traditional elements of Indian classical percussion and Kora repertoire. They performed live at Shapeshifter Lab a few weeks ago in a dazzling performance and then joined me at WKCR for a broadcast. This Wed Feb 3rd Orakel will be playing as part of the Africa/India Series.  Brooklyn Raga Massive Shapeshifter Launch Party with Awa Sangho and the BRM-All-Stars and and Afrika Meets India.

Of all the concerts I've produced this was one of the most exciting and meaningful.  This installation of Africa/India Series live at ShapeShifter Lab was a synergy of the Morrocan trance tradition embodied by Hassan Ben Jaffer and Innov Gnawa as we combined forces with the musicians of the Brooklyn Raga Massive All-Stars. Thanks to Sameer Gupta for mixing this Mutha! INNOV GNAWA Maalem (Master)Hassan Ben Jaafer (Sintir, vocals) Samir Langus (Sintir, Vocals) Ahmed Jeriouda (Vocals, percussion) Amino Belyamani (Vocals, percussion) Said Sayed (Vocals, percussion) Nawfal Atiq (Vocals, percussion) BRM ALL-STARS Guy Mintus (Piano, Melodica) David Ellenbogen (Guitar) Adam Maalouf (Percussion) Kevin Nathaniel (mbira, percussion) Hany ElDiwany (Surbahar)  Michael Gam (Bass) Sitting in: Pawan Benjamin (Sax), Aaron Shregge (trumpet) Ken Shoji (violin) Vin Scalia (percussion) Jessica Lurie (Sax)

  This was a meeting of musical royalty from Mauritania, vocalist Noura Mint Seymali, with her husband  Jeiche Ould Chighaly on fretless electric guitar collaborating for the first time with Brooklyn Raga Massive's Jay Gandhi (bansuri flute) and Ehren Hanson (tabla). It was a spontaneous and beautiful meeting of two musical worlds and very much inspired our whole Africa/India Series.   The multi-talented Kane Mathis,  most known for his dazzling kora and oud  (hear him on podcasts #15, #111, #135 and #147) remastered this most popular of our episodes Kane's new group with tabla maestra Roshni Samlal Orakel, will perform live for our Africa/India Series this Wednesday, December 16, 2015 at 8pm and ShapeShifter Lab. Orakel is an electro-acoustic project of Kora/oud player, Kane Mathis and tabla player, Roshni Samlal, who began their collaboration at the Brooklyn Raga Massive. Using electronic compositional elements of sound design, field recordings, and drones, they create a new context for traditional elements of Indian classical percussion and Kora repertoire.  

Recorded a few days ago at Brooklyn Raga Massive's weekly concert and and jam session at  ShapeShifter Lab, this set of music suggests new directions in the  between raga and jazz. It will be broadcast in New York City, on Sunday Dec. 6 on WKCR 89.9 FM-NY 7-9PM and stream at www.wkcr.org In the 1960's, led by the Art Blakey, The Jazz Messengers led the movement of hard bop which returned the music to its blues and gospel roots.     The Raga Jazz Messengers too are exploring soulful territories, blues, swing and different emotional spaces which are not often associated with Indian-Jazz collaborations. The Jazz Messengers are, Sameer Gupta, drums; Jay Gandhi, Bansuri, Pawan Benjamin - Saxophone, Sharik Hasan, Piano and Michael Gam, Bass.  

To celebrate the upcoming release of her new album, From the Ground Up.    musical polymath Hadar Noiberg brought her trio to Continental Records, to record a special live set just for us!  This special podcast will also broadcast this week on the radio,  WKCR 89.9 FM-NY and stream www.wkcr.org at 11pm EST on November 8. It was really exciting to have her bring in an all star band: With Phil Duke at the controls, we recorded 4 songs with Hadar Noiberg (flutes), Allison Miller (drums)  and Haggai Cohen Milo, Double Bass.   We also hung out with Hadar as she shares some gems from wide and varied musical journeys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA6C9K26uTI

Two weeks ago, on John Coltrane's Birthday, Brooklyn Raga Massive performed a stunning tribute to the Coltrane Legacy. Recorded in front of a capacity crowd at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn, NYC Radio Live will share the concert in it's entirety.  It will be broadcast on the radio at WKCR 89.9 at 7pm on October 11th.  Musical Director Sameer Gupta joins host David Ellenbogen for an on-air discussion of the relationship between the music of these two worlds. The all-star ensemble includes: Sameer Gupta - Drumset/Tabla (musical director), Brandee Younger - Harp, Jay Gandhi - Bansuri, Arun Ramamurthy - Violin, Pawan Benjamin - Sax, Trina Basu - Violin, Neel Murgai - Sitar, Ben Tyree - Guitar, Rashaan Carter - Bass Michael Gam - Bass Special Guests: Roopa Mahadevan - Vocal Pyeng Threadgill- vocal Anupam Shobhakar - Sarod Jessica Lurie - Sax Ken Shoji- Violin Dawoud Kringle - Dilruba Giancarlo Luigi - Chekere and Percussion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITeAOXxw_kE

One from the archives:  There was much talk about Randy Weston on the last few episodes about Gnawa music.  I thought I'd broadcast part 1 of an interview I did with him a few years back.  This was first broadcast as a podcast that I never really got going with.  If you haven't checked him out, I hope this will inspire you to check out some albums or see him in concert. Part 2 coming soon...we hung out and spoke for hours that day. Offical Bio: After contributing seven decades of musical direction and genius, Randy Weston remains one of the world's foremost pianists and composers today, a true innovator and visionary. Encompassing the vast rhythmic heritage of Africa, his global creations musically continue to inform and inspire. "Weston has the biggest sound of any jazz pianist since Ellington and Monk, as well as the richest most inventive beat," states jazz critic Stanley Crouch, "but his art is more than projection and time; it's the result of a studious and inspired intelligence...an intelligence that is creating a fresh synthesis of African elements with jazz technique".

In our first collaboration with the stellar Rubin Museum of Art, we presented at sold out concert, an Evening with the Brooklyn Raga Massive.    It featured a first set of Dan Weiss and Sameer Gupta in a tabla duel followed by a second set of Max ZT, hammered dulcimer, Ehren Hanson, tabla, Jay Gandhi, bansuri and Arun Ramamurthy violin, plus a jam session/ party in the cafe afterwards.  Here's the entire 2nd set. Many thanks to Tim McHenry and the staff at the Rubin.   We'll be back when over 15 members of the Brooklyn Raga Massive All-Stars perform  Terry Riley's in C on August 28th.    

Recorded live at Lincoln Center,   Gnawa Diffusion are true rebel rockers who deftly slide from traditional Gnawa sounds to reggae, rock, dancehall and and million other styles.   The group's leader and visionary is Amazigh Kateb who hails from  Algeria.  I was lucky to hang with Amazigh a few days later in Brooklyn, (along with Alexandre Tannous)  and record our discussion. Thanks to Meera Dugal for setting up these last two great Gnawa Podcasts ! 

This podcast features a live in-studio, late night recording of InnoVe Gnawa. It sounds as good as anything I've recorded at WKCR thanks to the help of Phil Duke from Continental Recording Studio. We had a blast hanging out and recording, and this lines up with a big free concert they'll be playing this Thursday  at Lincoln Center, and the release of their new self titled album. InnoVe Gnawa is a musical band made of artists from different parts of morocco all the way to NYC gathering to Keep this ancient healing Gnawa music. InnoVe Gnawa is a gnawa band comprised of artists from different parts of Morocco. Led by master Maalem Hassan BenJaafer, InnoVe Gnawa celebrates this ancient spiritual music of North Africa in NYC with an innovative, hypnotic, and ecstatic take on this trance-inducing folk tradition.     

The 24 hour festival concluded with this beautiful performance from Tripti Mukherjee.   She performed with Samir Chatterjee (tabla) and Jay Gandhi (bansuri)  

Ustad Aashish Khan,  accompanied by Anupam Shobhakar (Sarod)  Dan Weiss Ragas Live  performed the penultimate set at the Ragas Live Festival 2015 from 10pm-11pm

This set begins with  Sanghamitra Chatterjee (vocal) with Samir Chatterjee (tabla) and is then followed by a  Tabla Duet – Samir Chatterjee and Tejas Tope, which occurred from 9-10pm on the Ragas Live Festival 2015  

Pandit Tejendra Narayan Majumdar (sarod) and Nitin Mitta (tabla) performed from 8pm -9pm on the Ragas Live Festival 2015.

Krishna Bhatt composed his own raga for this very special occasion, based on a whole tone scale.  Nittin Mitta, accompanies for this 7-8pm slot on the Ragas Live Festival 2015  

Jay Gandhi (bansuri) and Yacouba Cissoko (kora) bring their duo project accompanied by  Shivalik Ghoshal (tabla) and David Ellenbogen (guitar) from 6-7pm during the Ragas Live Festival 2015

Pradhanica:Jin Won (Kathak), Mike Lukshis (tabla), Kaumil Shah (djembe), and Vincent Pierce (cajon); Taalim Tabla Duet: Mike Lukshis (tabla), Kaumil Shah (tabla) performed a smoking set from 5-6pm at the Ragas LIve Festival 2015  

The Chaandayan Organization brought quite a few selections for this 4-5pm slot during Ragas Live 2015.  They began with their beginner Chhandayan Tabla Ensemble (Avinash Bose, Aditya Shinn, Rafi Hakim, Ronak Seth, Noelina Arciniegas, Kedar Gangopadhyay and Benjamin Stewart); Then there was a tabla solo from  Aditya Phatak; then the Chhandayan Vocal Ensemble (Roshni Basu, Shampa Chanda, Adwaitaa Goswami, Dibyakalyan Basu, Andrew Shantz, Harry Einhorn and Anand Prashad-tabla)

Jay Gandhi (bansuri) & Arun Ramamurthy (violin) with Abhi Seetharaman (mridangam) and Shivalik Ghoshal (tabla).  

    Om Gam: Michael Gam (bass), Kane Mathis (kora), Arun Ramamurthy (violin), Shivalik Goshal (tabla) performed from 2-3pm during the Ragas Live Festival 2015.

  Sameer Gupta's Namaskar, with Sameer Gupta: drumset, tabla - Arun Ramamurthy: violin - Rashaan Carter: violin - Neel Murgai, sitar and Jay Gandhi bansuri performed from 1pm-2pm for the Ragas Live Festival 2015.

The  Navatman Music Collective: Preetha Raghu, Kamini Dandapani, Shiv Subramaniam, Shraddha Balasubramaniam, Vignesh Ravichandran and  Janani Kannan performed from 1-2pm for Ragas Live 2015.

Steve Gorn (bansuri) and Ehren Hanson (tabla) performed from noon-1pm

    Samarth Nagarkar (vocal); Abhik Mukherjee (sitar) played a rare and new development in the music with a sitar vocal jugulbandi,  they gave a chance to the young man Vivek Pandya (tabla) who recently turned 11, to accompany them.  

Karavika: Amali Premawardhana (cello), Trina Basu (violin), Perry Wortman (bass) and Sameer Gupta (tabla) performed their Chamber Raga from 10am-11am on the Ragas Live Festival 2015.  

                  Suhas Joshi (vocal) Gopal Kalluri (tabla) Neeraj Joshi (harmonium) and performed from 7-8am at the Ragas Live Festival 2015

    Payton MacDonald performs a Druhpad Trance with electronics in Raag Bhairav and Aaakash Mittal plays a saxophone solo in the same Raag.  

  Achyut Joshi (vocal) Dan Weiss(tabla) performed from 9am-10am on the  Ragas Live Festival 2015    

Arjun Verma  (Sitar) and Anirban Roy Chowdhury performed ragas Chandranandan and Sohini from 4am-5am during the Ragas Live Festival 2015

  Anirban Dasgupta (Sarod) and Indrajit Roy Chowdhury (Sitar) played an exciting Jugulbandi (improvised duet) with Mike Lukshis (tabla)  

    Neel Murgai (Sitar) and Roshni Samlal (tabla) performed a great set from 4am-5am for the Ragas Live Festival 2015

  Their first time playing together, Max ZT (Hammered Dulcimer) Karsh  Kale (tabla) and Kane Mathis (kora) played an amazing set from 3am-4am on the Ragas Live Festival 2015.