Deep Focus

2013.11.04 Melvin Gibbs on Ronald Shannon Jackson podcast - 1 of 3

Part 2 of the rebroadcasts of the Ronald Shannon Jackson memorial broadcasts from 2013 (check out "2013.10.21 Eric Person and Roger Cramer on Ronald Shannon Jackson" for part 1).  Melvin Gibbs opens up about the genesis of the Decoding Society, including cameos of Ornette Coleman, Gil Evans, the Bad Brains and many more.  Also featuring a live recording of the Decoding Society at the height of its powers from London's Roundhouse.  Mind expansion.

 

Monday night from 6pm to 9pm on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR HD-1 and wkcr.org. 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #MitchGoldman #RonaldShannonJackson #DecodingSociety #MelvinGibbs #JazzRadio #JazzInterview #JazzPodcast  #OrnetteColeman  #BernNix #GilEvans #LondonRoundhouse #Roundhouse

 

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2013.10.21 Eric Person and Roger Cramer on Ronald Shannon Jackson - 2 of 2

"He sucked all the air out of the room and turned it back into this wonderful... fragrance."  That's Ronald Shannon Jackson talking about Albert Ayler, his spiritual avatar.  Leave aside the unrivaled, prodigious drumming; the utterly singular style of bandleading; the absolutely distinctive composing.  Like Ayler before him, Ronald Shannon Jackson's music brought a spiritual force.  It could change the way the world looked-- yes, the way it smelled and tasted and felt.  

 

Shannon Jackson died on Saturday October 19, 2013.  Two days later WKCR presented a memorial broadcast that included 2 of his closest friends and collaborators: saxophonist/flutist Eric Person and manager Roger Cramer, with nearly unheard rarities from the WKCR archives.  This episode of Deep Focus is from the first of 4 consecutive broadcasts on Ronald Shannon Jackson. 

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #MitchGoldman #RonaldShannonJackson #EricPerson #RogerCramer #AlbertAyler #JazzRadio #JazzInterview #JazzPodcast  #OrnetteColeman 

 

Photo credit: no information available.

2013.10.21 Eric Person and Roger Cramer on Ronald Shannon Jackson - 1 of 2

"He sucked all the air out of the room and turned it back into this wonderful... fragrance."  That's Ronald Shannon Jackson talking about Albert Ayler, his spiritual avatar.  Leave aside the unrivaled, prodigious drumming; the utterly singular style of bandleading; the absolutely distinctive composing.  Like Ayler before him, Ronald Shannon Jackson's music brought a spiritual force.  It could change the way the world looked-- yes, the way it smelled and tasted and felt.  

 

Shannon Jackson died on Saturday October 19, 2013.  Two days later WKCR presented a memorial broadcast that included 2 of his closest friends and collaborators: saxophonist/flutist Eric Person and manager Roger Cramer.  This Monday from 6pm to 9pm EDT on Mitch Goldman's Deep Focus, WKCR rebroadcasts this program with nearly unheard rarities from the WKCR archives.  This episode of Deep Focus is the first of 4 consecutive broadcasts on Ronald Shannon Jackson. 

 

Tuesday morning the show goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/

 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #MitchGoldman #RonaldShannonJackson #EricPerson #RogerCramer #AlbertAyler #JazzRadio #JazzInterview #JazzPodcast  #OrnetteColeman 

 

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2018.08.06 Henry Schroy and Negro Leo on Nana Vasconcelos - 3 of 3

The music of hunger: how much soul can you squeeze out of a string and a piece of wood or a hunk of metal? It’s one of the great questions of the music and no one has given a more satisfying answer than Nana Vasconcelos, the brilliant Brazilian percussionist. What a privilege to have bassist Henry Schroy and Brazilian singer/songwriter Negro Leo put unheard recordings of Nana in Deep Focus on Nana's birthday anniversary. 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #MitchGoldman #NanaVasconcelos #NegroLeo #HenrySchroy #BrasilianMusic #Berimbau

Photo credit: Nana_Vasconcelos_-_Portrait_by_Gert_Chesi Gert Chesi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <creativecommons.org-licenses-by-sa-4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

2018.08.06 Henry Schroy and Negro Leo on Nana Vasconcelos - 2 of 3

The music of hunger: how much soul can you squeeze out of a string and a piece of wood or a hunk of metal? It’s one of the great questions of the music and no one has given a more satisfying answer than Nana Vasconcelos, the brilliant Brazilian percussionist. What a privilege to have bassist Henry Schroy and Brazilian singer/songwriter Negro Leo put unheard recordings of Nana in Deep Focus on Nana's birthday anniversary. 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #MitchGoldman #NanaVasconcelos #NegroLeo #HenrySchroy #BrasilianMusic #Berimbau

Photo credit: Nana_Vasconcelos_-_Portrait_by_Gert_Chesi Gert Chesi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <creativecommons.org-licenses-by-sa-4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

2018.08.06 Henry Schroy and Negro Leo on Nana Vasconcelos - 1 of 3

The music of hunger: how much soul can you squeeze out of a string and a piece of wood or a hunk of metal? It’s one of the great questions of the music and no one has given a more satisfying answer than Nana Vasconcelos, the brilliant Brazilian percussionist. What a privilege to have bassist Henry Schroy and Brazilian singer/songwriter Negro Leo put unheard recordings of Nana in Deep Focus on Nana's birthday anniversary. 

#WKCR #DeepFocus #MitchGoldman #NanaVasconcelos #NegroLeo #HenrySchroy #BrasilianMusic #Berimbau

Photo credit: Nana_Vasconcelos_-_Portrait_by_Gert_Chesi Gert Chesi, CC BY-SA 4.0 <creativecommons.org-licenses-by-sa-4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

2013.01.13 William Hooker on Elvin Jones - 3 of 3

How is it possible for the hitting of a drum to convey a sense of awe? A feeling of absolute splendor? A state of moral conviction? An awareness of human possibility, of self-liberation? Plenty of people play drums but few inspire these feelings as Elvin Jones does. And few have made as close a study of Elvin as fellow drummer/conceptualist William Hooker.

#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #MitchGoldman #DeepFocus #WilliamHooker #ElvinJones #Coltrane #JohnColtrane #JazzInterview #JazzRadio

Photo credit: Brianmcmillen, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

2013.01.13 William Hooker on Elvin Jones - 2 of 3

How is it possible for the hitting of a drum to convey a sense of awe? A feeling of absolute splendor? A state of moral conviction? An awareness of human possibility, of self-liberation? Plenty of people play drums but few inspire these feelings as Elvin Jones does. And few have made as close a study of Elvin as fellow drummer/conceptualist William Hooker.

#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #MitchGoldman #DeepFocus #WilliamHooker #ElvinJones #Coltrane #JohnColtrane #JazzInterview #JazzRadio

Photo credit: Brianmcmillen, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

2013.01.13 William Hooker on Elvin Jones - 1 of 3

How is it possible for the hitting of a drum to convey a sense of awe? A feeling of absolute splendor? A state of moral conviction? An awareness of human possibility, of self-liberation? Plenty of people play drums but few inspire these feelings as Elvin Jones does. And few have made as close a study of Elvin as fellow drummer/conceptualist William Hooker.

#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #MitchGoldman #DeepFocus #WilliamHooker #ElvinJones #Coltrane #JohnColtrane #JazzInterview #JazzRadio

Photo credit: Brianmcmillen, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

2014.11.17 Vernon Reid on Jack Bruce - 3 of 3

When musicians talk about their "influences," it's not always about a harmonic or rhythmic choice that another musician made. Sometimes it's their life choices, the stories they tell and the way they tell them. This is the bond between bassist Jack Bruce and our guest on this Deep Focus from 2014, guitarist Vernon Reid.

Sure, as a member of Cream, Jack Bruce was one of the biggest rock stars of all time. Cream practically invented arena rock and it put Bruce, Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton in the pantheon. But the classically-trained Jack Bruce wasn't content to ride his celebrity to classic rock comfort. He proved to be a seeker who spent the next 50 years smashing musical boundaries. It's thanks to him that many of the doors that the guests of Deep Focus wander through are open.

One of Jack Bruce's last great projects was the band Spectrum Road with Reid, John Medeski and Cindy Blackman Santana. Spectrum Road was a tribute to Tony Williams' LIfetime, a band that, 40 years earlier with Bruce as a member, created an entire new genre of musical collaboration. Vernon Reid, in his band Living Colour, as well as countless other groups, collaborations, film soundtracks and multi-media work, frolics joyously in it.

Jack Bruce died October 25, 2014. Three weeks later, Vernon Reid joined us on Deep Focus to remember his great friend and inspiration. 

#WKCR #JazzAlternatives #DeepFocus #MitchGoldman #JackBruce #VernonReid #Cream #LivingColour #JazzRadio #JazzInterview #jazzpodcast

 

Photo credit: Jack_Bruce - F. van Geelen, Omroepvereniging VARA, CC BY-SA 3.0 NL creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nl/deed.en>, via Wikimedia Commons