Deep Focus

2026.03.16 William Hooker and Ahmed Abdullah on Old and New Dreams - 2 of 3

Throw away the map.  Now, how are you going to find your way to your destination?  You will probably find many more answers than you may have thought you'd find when you were looking at that folded-up piece of paper.  

 

The band Old and New Dreams didn't have to follow chord changes, disregarded time signatures, but their music was full of story-songs, each with a beginning, a middle, and an end.  It's four members-- saxophonist Dewey Redman, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Ed Blackwell-- each sang his song in full voice.  And when you heard them together, you never wondered if or when you would arrive.  You just hoped the journey wouldn't end too soon, even if you knew that it would. 

 

Sonic navigator/drummer William Hooker has chosen Old and New Dreams for this week's episode of Mitch Goldman's Deep Focus, and Ahmed Abdullah as his surprise guest.  Will Mitch find live, unreleased recordings of the band in the WKCR archives?  The day will come when his spotless record is going to get besmirched.  Oh, let's just hope it's not this week!  I guess there's only one way to find out.

 

Tune in this Monday (3/16) from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org.  

 

Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  It will join over 400 promo-free episodes.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  It's ad-free, all free, sponsor-free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  

Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on
Instagram @deep_focus_podcast.  

 

Photo credit: no known publishing information.

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #WilliamHooker #OldandNewDreams #DeweyRedman #DonCherry #CharlieHaden #EdBlackwell #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman #AhmedAbdullah

2026.03.16 William Hooker and Ahmed Abdullah on Old and New Dreams - 1 of 3

Throw away the map.  Now, how are you going to find your way to your destination?  You will probably find many more answers than you may have thought you'd find when you were looking at that folded-up piece of paper.  

 

The band Old and New Dreams didn't have to follow chord changes, disregarded time signatures, but their music was full of story-songs, each with a beginning, a middle, and an end.  It's four members-- saxophonist Dewey Redman, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummer Ed Blackwell-- each sang his song in full voice.  And when you heard them together, you never wondered if or when you would arrive.  You just hoped the journey wouldn't end too soon, even if you knew that it would. 

 

Sonic navigator/drummer William Hooker has chosen Old and New Dreams for this week's episode of Mitch Goldman's Deep Focus, and Ahmed Abdullah as his surprise guest.  Will Mitch find live, unreleased recordings of the band in the WKCR archives?  The day will come when his spotless record is going to get besmirched.  Oh, let's just hope it's not this week!  I guess there's only one way to find out.

 

Tune in this Monday (3/16) from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org.  

 

Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  It will join over 400 promo-free episodes.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  It's ad-free, all free, sponsor-free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  

Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on
Instagram @deep_focus_podcast.  

 

Photo credit: no known publishing information.

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #WilliamHooker #OldandNewDreams #DeweyRedman #DonCherry #CharlieHaden #EdBlackwell #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman #AhmedAbdullah

2026.03.02 Eric Person on Eddie Harris - part 2 with Ethan Singer - 3 of 3

This episode of Deep Focus has been decades in the making.  Deep Focus host Mitch Goldman started DJing Monday nights at WKCR in 1985.  At that time, he alternated Mondays with fellow WKCR programmer Ethan Singer.  Mitch and Ethan soon discovered that they both loved a lot of the same music and both loved the live music experience.  They merged forces and started producing a show with live sessions called "Monday Live" (a format and name first created by Andy Caploe several years earlier).  Together, Mitch and Ethan produced dozens and dozens of live sets that still populate the WKCR archives.

 

All was well until the early 2000s, when real life interceded, and Ethan relocated to the West Coast.  Monday Live was no more.  After a brief but intense existential crisis, Mitch created Deep Focus, but the great memories of working with Ethan never faded for him.  At long last, this Monday, Mitch welcomes Ethan Singer to the WKCR studios as co-host of Deep Focus.

 

And what an episode this one will be.  Last May, bandleader Eric Person joined Mitch for a Deep Focus on fellow saxophonist Eddie Harris.  This Deep Focus was a revelation.  Not only was he an inventive instrumentalist, but a technologist, a singular bandleader, a sonic explorer.  Who knew that Eddie Harris was such a fount of creativity?  Eric Person, that's who!  

 

Fortunately, the WKCR archives yielded more rare, live Eddie Harris recordings than Mitch and Eric were able to play on that 3-hour show, so this Monday will be part 2.  Mitch and Eric assure the listeners that they have saved the best for last.  

 

 Tune in this Monday (3/2) from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org.  

 

Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  It's ad-free, all free, sponsor-free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  

Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on
Instagram @deep_focus_podcast.  

 

Photo credit: courtesy of eddieharris.com.

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #EricPerson #EddieHarris #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman #EthanSinger

 

Deep Focus is a production of Small Media Large.

2026.03.02 Eric Person on Eddie Harris - part 2 with Ethan Singer - 2 of 3

This episode of Deep Focus has been decades in the making.  Deep Focus host Mitch Goldman started DJing Monday nights at WKCR in 1985.  At that time, he alternated Mondays with fellow WKCR programmer Ethan Singer.  Mitch and Ethan soon discovered that they both loved a lot of the same music and both loved the live music experience.  They merged forces and started producing a show with live sessions called "Monday Live" (a format and name first created by Andy Caploe several years earlier).  Together, Mitch and Ethan produced dozens and dozens of live sets that still populate the WKCR archives.

 

All was well until the early 2000s, when real life interceded, and Ethan relocated to the West Coast.  Monday Live was no more.  After a brief but intense existential crisis, Mitch created Deep Focus, but the great memories of working with Ethan never faded for him.  At long last, this Monday, Mitch welcomes Ethan Singer to the WKCR studios as co-host of Deep Focus.

 

And what an episode this one will be.  Last May, bandleader Eric Person joined Mitch for a Deep Focus on fellow saxophonist Eddie Harris.  This Deep Focus was a revelation.  Not only was he an inventive instrumentalist, but a technologist, a singular bandleader, a sonic explorer.  Who knew that Eddie Harris was such a fount of creativity?  Eric Person, that's who!  

 

Fortunately, the WKCR archives yielded more rare, live Eddie Harris recordings than Mitch and Eric were able to play on that 3-hour show, so this Monday will be part 2.  Mitch and Eric assure the listeners that they have saved the best for last.  

 

 Tune in this Monday (3/2) from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org.  

 

Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  It's ad-free, all free, sponsor-free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  

Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on
Instagram @deep_focus_podcast.  

 

Photo credit: courtesy of eddieharris.com.

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #EricPerson #EddieHarris #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman #EthanSinger

 

Deep Focus is a production of Small Media Large. 

2026.03.02 Eric Person on Eddie Harris - part 2 with Ethan Singer - 1 of 3

This episode of Deep Focus has been decades in the making.  Deep Focus host Mitch Goldman started DJing Monday nights at WKCR in 1985.  At that time, he alternated Mondays with fellow WKCR programmer Ethan Singer.  Mitch and Ethan soon discovered that they both loved a lot of the same music and both loved the live music experience.  They merged forces and started producing a show with live sessions called "Monday Live" (a format and name first created by Andy Caploe several years earlier).  Together, Mitch and Ethan produced dozens and dozens of live sets that still populate the WKCR archives.

 

All was well until the early 2000s, when real life interceded, and Ethan relocated to the West Coast.  Monday Live was no more.  After a brief but intense existential crisis, Mitch created Deep Focus, but the great memories of working with Ethan never faded for him.  At long last, this Monday, Mitch welcomes Ethan Singer to the WKCR studios as co-host of Deep Focus.

 

And what an episode this one will be.  Last May, bandleader Eric Person joined Mitch for a Deep Focus on fellow saxophonist Eddie Harris.  This Deep Focus was a revelation.  Not only was he an inventive instrumentalist, but a technologist, a singular bandleader, a sonic explorer.  Who knew that Eddie Harris was such a fount of creativity?  Eric Person, that's who!  

 

Fortunately, the WKCR archives yielded more rare, live Eddie Harris recordings than Mitch and Eric were able to play on that 3-hour show, so this Monday will be part 2.  Mitch and Eric assure the listeners that they have saved the best for last.  

 

 Tune in this Monday (3/2) from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org.  

 

Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  It's ad-free, all free, sponsor-free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  

Find out more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on
Instagram @deep_focus_podcast.  

 

Photo credit: courtesy of eddieharris.com.

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #EricPerson #EddieHarris #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman #EthanSinger

 

Deep Focus is a production of Small Media Large.

2026.02.16 Steve Slagle on Charlie Haden - 3 of 3

The music, the people playing it, and the audience are all in a state of total oneness.  It's a spontaneous improvisation as delicate as an eggshell.  You're almost afraid to breathe lest this moment dissolve, and we are all dropped back to the cold earth.  Then you open your eyes to see that the bassist is Charlie Haden, and you know that this moment will not end until its time has come, because Charlie Haden practically discovered this sense of the sublime in music for us. He seems to create it at will.  

 

Steve Slagle knows this experience well. He played in Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra.  Steve searches the WKCR archives for live, unreleased recordings of Charlie Haden with host Mitch Goldman, this Monday (2/2) on Deep Focus.  Tune in Monday (Feb 2) from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD, or wkcr.org.  

Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  You can also uncover over 400 episodes of Deep Focus.  Just like WKCR, it's ad-free, sponsor-free, all free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  

Learn more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on
Instagram @deep_focus_podcast.  

Photo credit: Charlie Haden 1981 by Brianmcmillen CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org-licenses-by-sa-0-3.0.

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #CharlieHaden #SteveSlagle #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman

 

Deep Focus is a production of Small Media Large. 

2026.02.16 Steve Slagle on Charlie Haden - 2 of 3

The music, the people playing it, and the audience are all in a state of total oneness.  It's a spontaneous improvisation as delicate as an eggshell.  You're almost afraid to breathe lest this moment dissolve, and we are all dropped back to the cold earth.  Then you open your eyes to see that the bassist is Charlie Haden, and you know that this moment will not end until its time has come, because Charlie Haden practically discovered this sense of the sublime in music for us. He seems to create it at will.  

 

Steve Slagle knows this experience well. He played in Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra.  Steve searches the WKCR archives for live, unreleased recordings of Charlie Haden with host Mitch Goldman, this Monday (2/2) on Deep Focus.  Tune in Monday (Feb 2) from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD, or wkcr.org.  

Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  You can also uncover over 400 episodes of Deep Focus.  Just like WKCR, it's ad-free, sponsor-free, all free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  

Learn more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on
Instagram @deep_focus_podcast.  

Photo credit: Charlie Haden 1981 by Brianmcmillen CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org-licenses-by-sa-0-3.0.

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #CharlieHaden #SteveSlagle #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman

 

Deep Focus is a production of Small Media Large. 

2026.02.16 Steve Slagle on Charlie Haden - 1 of 3

The music, the people playing it, and the audience are all in a state of total oneness.  It's a spontaneous improvisation as delicate as an eggshell.  You're almost afraid to breathe lest this moment dissolve, and we are all dropped back to the cold earth.  Then you open your eyes to see that the bassist is Charlie Haden, and you know that this moment will not end until its time has come, because Charlie Haden practically discovered this sense of the sublime in music for us. He seems to create it at will.  

 

Steve Slagle knows this experience well. He played in Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra.  Steve searches the WKCR archives for live, unreleased recordings of Charlie Haden with host Mitch Goldman, this Monday (2/2) on Deep Focus.  Tune in Monday (Feb 2) from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD, or wkcr.org.  

Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  You can also uncover over 400 episodes of Deep Focus.  Just like WKCR, it's ad-free, sponsor-free, all free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  

Learn more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on
Instagram @deep_focus_podcast.  

Photo credit: Charlie Haden 1981 by Brianmcmillen CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org-licenses-by-sa-0-3.0.

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #CharlieHaden #SteveSlagle #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman

 

Deep Focus is a production of Small Media Large. 

2026.01.19 Mazz Swift on Butch Morris - 3 of 3

Improvisation is considered a high art form for an instrumentalist, but what about for a composer?  Is it even possible to create a piece of music for an ensemble, and to hear it performed in real time?  How would you go about that? You would have to have an entire group imagining together.  Lawrence "Butch" Morris did it by creating a compositional language that allowed him to convey musical ideas using physical gestures.  

 

His system, which he called "Conduction," was immediately transformative.  He created compositions in real time that were shaped by the musical language and the performances of the participating musicians.  It was an unprecedented musical spontaneity. 

 

Butch Morris died in 2013, but Conduction is still making new breakthroughs in the hands of successive generations of musical thinkers.  Violinist/composer Mazz Swift, who worked with Butch Morris, is one of them.  New forms and ideas continually emerge, and Butch Morris endures as a shaping influence.  

 

This Monday (Jan. 19), Mazz Swift joins host Mitch Goldman for a Deep Focus on Butch Morris.  Do the vast WKCR archives contain live, unreleased recordings of Butch Morris?  We certainly hope so!  Tune in to find out.   Deep Focus this Monday (Jan 19) from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD, or wkcr.org.  

Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  Just like WKCR, it's ad-free, sponsor-free, all free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  

Learn more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on
Instagram @deep_focus_podcast.  

Photo credit: Butch Morris - photo by Anthony Barboza - nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2014.157.7 fair use under Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act.

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #ButchMorris #LawrenceButchMorris #MazzSwift #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman

 

Deep Focus is a production of Small Media Large. 

2026.01.19 Mazz Swift on Butch Morris - 2 of 3

Improvisation is considered a high art form for an instrumentalist, but what about for a composer?  Is it even possible to create a piece of music for an ensemble, and to hear it performed in real time?  How would you go about that? You would have to have an entire group imagining together.  Lawrence "Butch" Morris did it by creating a compositional language that allowed him to convey musical ideas using physical gestures.  

 

His system, which he called "Conduction," was immediately transformative.  He created compositions in real time that were shaped by the musical language and the performances of the participating musicians.  It was an unprecedented musical spontaneity. 

 

Butch Morris died in 2013, but Conduction is still making new breakthroughs in the hands of successive generations of musical thinkers.  Violinist/composer Mazz Swift, who worked with Butch Morris, is one of them.  New forms and ideas continually emerge, and Butch Morris endures as a shaping influence.  

 

This Monday (Jan. 19), Mazz Swift joins host Mitch Goldman for a Deep Focus on Butch Morris.  Do the vast WKCR archives contain live, unreleased recordings of Butch Morris?  We certainly hope so!  Tune in to find out.   Deep Focus this Monday (Jan 19) from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD, or wkcr.org.  

Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  Just like WKCR, it's ad-free, sponsor-free, all free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  

Learn more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us on
Instagram @deep_focus_podcast.  

Photo credit: Butch Morris - photo by Anthony Barboza - nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2014.157.7 fair use under Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act.

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #ButchMorris #LawrenceButchMorris #MazzSwift #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman

 

Deep Focus is a production of Small Media Large.