Soundcheck

The English band Wunderhorse now have two albums under that name, although the first of them, 2022’s Cub, was essentially a solo album by vocalist and songwriter Jacob Slater. Their latest, called Mi…

Richard Reed Parry is perhaps best known as the really tall, really redheaded guy playing half a dozen instruments in the Grammy-winning band Arcade Fire. But he’s also a founder of the instrumental …

South African guitar virtuoso Derek Gripper plays music originally meant for the 21 stringed lute-harp, the kora, on his 6-string Segovia-styled guitar and does it so well that the world’s leading gu…

Hip hop and classical music come together in the hybrid chamber music of W4RP Trio. The new record, featuring the spoken word artist DJ LiKWUiD, is called Sermon of the MatriarK and it is a celebrati…

Violinist, composer, and bandleader Jenny Scheinman is a familiar figure to jazz fans, having played for years with Bill Frisell, Allison Miller, and many others. But jazz is just one part of her mus…

Sax player, MC, and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin grew up playing salsa and merengue in Washington Heights. She counts jazz greats Terri Lyne Carrington, Gary Bartz, and Clark Terry among her mentors; …

Trumpeter, bandleader and composer Igmar Thomas has served as music director for Lauryn Hill, the rapper Nas, and the sax player Kamasi Washington, among many others. But for many years he has also b…

Jarana Beat is a world music group based here in New York, whose cross cultural celebratory sound is inspired by Mexican folk and Afro-Indigenous music.  Using traditional instruments and dance percu…

The team behind the Soundcheck podcast series offers their favorite live performances from the WNYC studios this year: including Mexico City-based cellist, producer, and singer Mabe Fratti and her tr…

Hear favorite live performances from the WNYC studios this year including Georgia singer, musician, and record label founder Lizz Wright; the soulful mambo of Cuban big band Orquesta Akokán; and the …

Hear favorite live performances from the WNYC studios this year including Mexico City-based cellist, producer, and singer Mabe Fratti; Norwegian punk cabaret sextet Kaizers Orchestra; and an intimate…

New York-based drummer and educator Matt Wilson has performed with and/or played on many recordings by other musicians - Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Charlie Haden, Lee Konitz, among others - and leads…

The band yMusic formed as a contemporary classical chamber music ensemble, but you’re more likely to have heard them playing with people like Paul Simon, Bruce Hornsby, Emily King, and John Legend. T…

Samora Pinderhughes is a singer, composer, filmmaker, and producer who has worked regularly with the rapper Common and scored several award-winning documentaries. His own works includes The Healing P…

Nour Harkati is a Tunisian musician and songwriter, now based here in New York City. His new album, Moulena, has just come out and it represents Harkati’s musical journey from North Africa to the US,…

Guitarist Jeff Parker is probably best known for his work in the Chicago-based post rock band Tortoise, but he’s had a prolific career as a soloist and a sideman. In the past few years he’s been lead…

Pom Pom Squad is the band led by singer and guitarist Mia Berrin; their debut album, Death of a Cheerleader, offered a gimlet-eyed, often ironic view of pop culture through a queer lens. Now Pom Pom …

Grammy and Mercury Nominated and Brit award-winning songwriter Laura Marling has mapped out new musical territories, including chamber pop and electronics. Her latest record, Patterns in Repeat was w…

Mulitple Grammy winning singer, songwriter and producer Rodney Crowell was one of the founders of the style that’s come to be known as alternative country. His career has been marked by notable colla…

Jontavious Willis is a blues singer and guitarist from west Georgia, hence the title of his recent album, West Georgia Blues. He’s not even 30, but Willis has an old soul – he loves the blues musicia…