Host Mitch Goldman and his musician-guest explore rare archival recordings of one of the guest’s favorite artists.
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2 hours ago
2 hours ago
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.
Sunday Apr 05, 2026
Sunday Apr 05, 2026
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.
Sunday Mar 29, 2026
Sunday Mar 29, 2026
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.
Sunday Mar 22, 2026
Sunday Mar 22, 2026
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.
Sunday Mar 15, 2026
Sunday Mar 15, 2026
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.
Sunday Mar 08, 2026
Sunday Mar 08, 2026
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.
Monday Mar 02, 2026
Monday Mar 02, 2026
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.
Sunday Mar 01, 2026
Sunday Mar 01, 2026
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.
Sunday Feb 22, 2026
Sunday Feb 22, 2026
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.
Sunday Feb 15, 2026
Sunday Feb 15, 2026
Meet me at Edge City. Isn't that place where worlds collide the only one where new ideas are ever generated? Saxophonist Jim Pepper knew all about these cultural collisions. His band Free Spirits was arguably the first to combine rock and jazz elements, and his oft-covered song Witchitai-To is perhaps the only hit to feature an authentic Native American chant in the history of the Billboard pop charts (we sure can't think of another one; can you?). Yes, this man changed the world, at least twice!
This spirit of discovery and of sharing culture is what this episode of Deep Focus is all about. Fellow multi-reedman Jay Rodriguez knows. You know him as a founding member of Groove Collective, but this three-time Grammy nominee has also played with everyone from Prince to Stevie Wonder, Celia Cruz to Gil Evans. He's one of the cats.
Jay Rodriguez joins host Mitch Goldman in the studios of WKCR to explore the soul and the legacy of Jim Pepper through live, unreleased recordings from the archives. Deep Focus this Monday (Jan 5) 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, 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: publishing info not available.
#WKCR #DeepFocus #JimPepper #JayRodriguez #GrooveCollective #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman
Deep Focus is a production of Small Media Large.