Host Mitch Goldman and his musician-guest explore rare archival recordings of one of the guest’s favorite artists.
Episodes
Sunday Apr 20, 2025
Sunday Apr 20, 2025
It's impossible to distinguish between Randy Weston's musical innovations and his conception of the world he was born into. To say that the roots of jazz are in West Africa is hardly a groundbreaking statement nowadays, but it was a mostly unfamiliar notion when he started to say it in the 1950's. It's easy to hear it now, especially when you listen to Weston's 6+ decade discography. It's in his percussive compositions and it's in the story of his life, making music with players from throughout the African diaspora. To this day, musicians are walking through the doors he opened, more than 6 years after his death at age 92.
Pianist Vijay Iyer chose Randy Weston for this Monday's Deep Focus with host Mitch Goldman. What inspired him to make that choice? Was it Weston's distinctive touch on the piano? The warmth and humanity that he exudes? Or maybe just pure admiration for one who always charted his own path?
To find out, tune in this Monday (3/24) 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. It's ad-free, all 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: Randy Weston - Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of David D. Spitzer.
#WKCR #DeepFocus #VijayIyer #RandyWeston #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman
Sunday Apr 13, 2025
Sunday Apr 13, 2025
It's impossible to distinguish between Randy Weston's musical innovations and his conception of the world he was born into. To say that the roots of jazz are in West Africa is hardly a groundbreaking statement nowadays, but it was a mostly unfamiliar notion when he started to say it in the 1950's. It's easy to hear it now, especially when you listen to Weston's 6+ decade discography. It's in his percussive compositions and it's in the story of his life, making music with players from throughout the African diaspora. To this day, musicians are walking through the doors he opened, more than 6 years after his death at age 92.
Pianist Vijay Iyer chose Randy Weston for this Monday's Deep Focus with host Mitch Goldman. What inspired him to make that choice? Was it Weston's distinctive touch on the piano? The warmth and humanity that he exudes? Or maybe just pure admiration for one who always charted his own path?
To find out, tune in this Monday (3/24) 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. It's ad-free, all 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: Randy Weston - Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of David D. Spitzer.
#WKCR #DeepFocus #VijayIyer #RandyWeston #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman
Sunday Apr 06, 2025
Sunday Apr 06, 2025
Ronald Shannon Jackson's music was open source. It was not possible to play it correctly without bringing your own voice to it: your background, your proclivities, your vocabulary. And if you didn't have it to bring, the music wasn't going to make it off the stage. Jack DeSalvo brought a musical lexicon to the Decoding Society that was unmatched. When Shannon expressed a mood-- on drums or flute or schalmei or in a composition-- Jack was able to flesh it out in a completely distinct way. Entire new pathways were charted.
Mitch Goldman presents the third installment of his memorial broadcasts for Ronald Shannon Jackson from 2013, with guest Jack DeSalvo. This week's show features guest cameos of Prince(!), Iron Maiden(!) Ethan Singer(!), a stolen vanload of gear(!) and that guy at the hotel in the south of France(!). I tell you, this one is not to be missed.
#WKCR #DeepFocus #MitchGoldman #RonaldShannonJackson #JackDeSalvo #JazzRadio #JazzInterview #JazzPodcast #DecodingSociety
Photo credit: no publishing information available.
Here is part 2 of this episode:
And here is part 3:
Sunday Mar 30, 2025
Sunday Mar 30, 2025
This Monday's (2/17) Deep Focus is on trumpeter Don Cherry, a wonderful and deeply missed friend of WKCR. Back in the Eighties, Don was a frequent guest on Mitch Goldman's show. Don would guest DJ, talk to the audience, bring guests... It was an ongoing Eighties NYC Don Cherry party. And if there was a blank cassette handy, Mitch would make a recording. The tapes got tossed in a box and ended up deep in storage.
In January of 2024, Mitch and his guest, the bandleader, trumpeter, cultural historian, and raconteur Steven Bernstein, blew the dust off of a few of the tapes and took their audience on a time travel journey beyond the imagination of Asimov or Butler. Cherry as a radio host was knowing, passionate, deeply curious, and remarkably generous. He was generous to his guests with his attention and generous to his audience (which is to say, us) by considering them to be part of the conversation. It's very much the way he played music.
This Monday (2/17) 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. It's ad-free, all 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: by Mitch Goldman 2024. All rights reserved.
#WKCR #DeepFocus #StevenBernstein #DonCherry #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman
Sunday Mar 23, 2025
Sunday Mar 23, 2025
This Monday's (2/17) Deep Focus is on trumpeter Don Cherry, a wonderful and deeply missed friend of WKCR. Back in the Eighties, Don was a frequent guest on Mitch Goldman's show. Don would guest DJ, talk to the audience, bring guests... It was an ongoing Eighties NYC Don Cherry party. And if there was a blank cassette handy, Mitch would make a recording. The tapes got tossed in a box and ended up deep in storage.
In January of 2024, Mitch and his guest, the bandleader, trumpeter, cultural historian, and raconteur Steven Bernstein blew the dust off of a few of the tapes and took their audience on a time travel journey beyond the imagination of Asimov or Butler. Cherry as a radio host was knowing, passionate, deeply curious, and remarkably generous. He was generous to his guests with his attention and generous to his audience (which is to say, us) by considering them to be part of the conversation. It's very much the way he played music.
This Monday (2/17) 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. It's ad-free, all 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: by Mitch Goldman 2024. All rights reserved.
#WKCR #DeepFocus #StevenBernstein #DonCherry #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman
Sunday Mar 16, 2025
Sunday Mar 16, 2025
This Monday's (2/17) Deep Focus is on trumpeter Don Cherry, a wonderful and deeply missed friend of WKCR. Back in the Eighties, Don was a frequent guest on Mitch Goldman's show. Don would guest DJ, talk to the audience, bring guests... It was an ongoing Eighties NYC Don Cherry party. And if there was a blank cassette handy, Mitch would make a recording. The tapes got tossed in a box and ended up deep in storage.
In January of 2024, Mitch and his guest, the bandleader, slide trumpeter, cultural historian, and raconteur Steven Bernstein blew the dust off of a few of the tapes and took their audience on a time travel journey beyond the imagination of Asimov or Butler. Cherry as a radio host was knowing, passionate, deeply curious, and remarkably generous. He was generous to his guests with his attention and generous to his audience (which is to say, us) by considering them to be part of the conversation. It's very much the way he played music.
This Monday (2/17) 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. It's ad-free, all 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: by Mitch Goldman 2024. All rights reserved.
#WKCR #DeepFocus #StevenBernstein #DonCherry #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman
Sunday Mar 09, 2025
Sunday Mar 09, 2025
On our previous Deep Focus, host Mitch Goldman and his guest, saxophonist Eric Person explored the work of the David Murray Octet of the 1980s. Here was an ensemble that punched far above its weight, with swinging horn parts like a Thirties big band as well eyeball-to-eyeball improvisation like a small ensemble. They had the storytelling of a traditional group with the expansive harmonies and extended techniques that were being freshly discovered at the time. It was a laboratory for the music's possible futures, and they grooved like hell.
Could there have been another band at the time that fit this description? As Eric Person's one-time employer, Ronald Shannon Jackson might have said, "Where there's one there's two." This week Mitch and Eric explore the equally inventive bands of Arthur Blythe. His eighties quintet didn't sound like any other band before or since. It was as if he had exploded a standard hard bop ensemble and rebuilt it with a new kit of parts.
And do you know who that band's original guitarist was? And have you ever heard live recordings of that band with him in it? We don't think you have! Tune in and you will.
This Monday (2/3) from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org.
Or join us next week 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, 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 publishing information available.
#WKCR #DeepFocus #EricPerson #ArthurBlythe #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman
Sunday Mar 02, 2025
Sunday Mar 02, 2025
On our previous Deep Focus, host Mitch Goldman and his guest, saxophonist Eric Person explored the work of the David Murray Octet of the 1980s. Here was an ensemble that punched far above its weight, with swinging horn parts like a Thirties big band as well eyeball-to-eyeball improvisation like a small ensemble. They had the storytelling of a traditional group with the expansive harmonies and extended techniques that were being freshly discovered at the time. It was a laboratory for the music's possible futures, and they grooved like hell.
Could there have been another band at the time that fit this description? As Eric Person's one-time employer, Ronald Shannon Jackson might have said, "Where there's one there's two." This week Mitch and Eric explore the equally inventive bands of Arthur Blythe. His eighties quintet didn't sound like any other band before or since. It was as if he had exploded a standard hard bop ensemble and rebuilt it with a new kit of parts.
And do you know who that band's original guitarist was? And have you ever heard live recordings of that band with him in it? We don't think you have! Tune in and you will.
This Monday (2/3) from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org.
Or join us next week 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, 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 publishing information available.
#WKCR #DeepFocus #EricPerson #ArthurBlythe #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman
Sunday Feb 23, 2025
Sunday Feb 23, 2025
On our previous Deep Focus, host Mitch Goldman and his guest, saxophonist Eric Person explored the work of the David Murray Octet of the 1980s. Here was an ensemble that punched far above its weight, with swinging horn parts like a Thirties big band, as well eyeball-to-eyeball improvisation like a small ensemble. They had the storytelling of a traditional group with the expansive harmonies and extended techniques that were being freshly discovered at the time. It was a laboratory for the music's possible futures, and they grooved like hell.
Could there have been another band at the time that fit this description? As Eric Person's one-time employer, Ronald Shannon Jackson might have said, "Where there's one there's two." This week Mitch and Eric explore the equally inventive bands of Arthur Blythe. His eighties quintet didn't sound like any other band before or since. It was as if he had exploded a standard hard bop ensemble and rebuilt it with a new kit of parts.
And do you know who that band's original guitarist was? And have you ever heard live recordings of that band with him in it? We don't think you have! Tune in and you will.
This Monday (2/3) from 6p to 9p NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org.
Or join us next week 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, 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 publishing information available.
#WKCR #DeepFocus #EricPerson #ArthurBlythe #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman
Sunday Feb 16, 2025
Sunday Feb 16, 2025
Here is another episode from the Deep Focus "Prodigal Children" series.
Mitch Goldman first went on the air at WKCR in 1985 and started Deep Focus in 2008. Since his primary focus during the broadcast is hosting and engineering the show, making these recordings has often had to take a back seat. Add in the fact that WKCR is, in Phil Schaap's words, "The home of technical difficulties," and you might understand that the historical record of the show is somewhat incomplete.
In this podcast, we try to provide as complete an archive of the broadcast program as possible. If we find that a part is missing, we put that information in the notes and keep right on going.
On rare occasion, a missing piece will find its way home. When it does, we put it up on the podcast. This is one of those episodes. One CD recording of the last part of this show has turned up so here it is. We hope you enjoy it. If you do, please tell someone about Deep Focus.
We will be back next week with a brand new episode of the show.
Photo credit: no publishing information available.
#WKCR #DeepFocus #EricPerson #HerbieHancock #Mwandishi #BeaverHarris #360DegreeMusicExperience #FrancisHaynes #ArthurRhames #DonPullen