As excitement builds for their performance this Fall at the Ragas Live Festival, we have a chat with Afghan superstars Homayoun Sakhi & Salar Nader. As the standard-bearers of Afghan traditional music, rubab master Homayoun Sakhi and tabla virtuoso Salar Nader carry the rich and varied legacy of classical compositions and folk melodies of this anci…

We get to hang with Michael Gordon, the prolific composer, co-founder/co-artistic director of Bang on a Can! Michael Gordon’s music merges subtle rhythmic invention with incredible power embodying, in the words of The New Yorker‘s Alex Ross, “the fury of punk rock, the nervous brilliance of free jazz and the intransigence of classical modernism.” O…

We hang with the great multi-instrumentalist, singer, song leader, composer and instrument designer Mark Stewart! I'd been dreaming of doing this interview for years, and the upcoming Bang on a Can LOUD Festival (August 1-4 at Mass MoCA) was the perfect catalyst to make this finally happen. As musical director for Paul Simon’s band, he has recorded…

Ragas Live Festival 2023 opened with this stunning sitar set from Gaurav Mazumdar—legendary disciple of Pt. Ravi Shankar—accompanied by Umesh Banerjee on the tabla. 8PM Set of the 24 Hour Ragas Live Festival at Pioneer Works 10.14.23 Ragas Live Festival is produced by Pioneer Works in collaboration with NYC Radio Live, Brooklyn Raga Massive and the…

This was an incredible chance to sit down with a living legend of music: Reggie Workman. In 1961, Workman joined the John Coltrane Quartet, replacing Steve Davis. He was present for the saxophonist's Live at the Village Vanguard sessions, and also recorded with a second bassist (Art Davis) on the 1961 albums, Olé Coltrane and Africa/Brass. Workman …

We hang with the legendary bassist of the Meters at his home in New Orleans! George Porter Jr. founded The Meters in 1965 alongside Art Neville, Leo Nocentelli and Joseph Zigaboo Modeliste. Known as one of the progenitors of funk with Sly & The Family Stone and Parliament Funkadelic, The Meters carved their own place in history with syncopated poly…

This was a meeting of musical royalty from Mauritania, vocalist Noura Mint Seymali, with her husband Jeiche Ould Chighaly on fretless electric guitar collaborating for the first time with Brooklyn Raga Massive’s Jay Gandhi (bansuri flute) and Ehren Hanson (tabla). It was a spontaneous and beautiful meeting of two musical worlds, broadcast live at W…

Derek Gripper has miraculously discovered the ability to bring the dazzling polyrhythmic music of the West African Harp, the Kora, onto the classical guitar. Egberto Gismonti, Bach and Keith Jarrett are all elements of his musical DNA. We hang with Derek and he treats us to some live performances and stories of how he happened upon discovering this…

In this incredible episode we capture Innov Gnawa performing the "Sebatayin" repetoire, Gnawa music performed traditionally in Morrocco for the Jewish Community. They performed this for the end of Passover at Greenwich House Music School as part of the UNCHARTED concert series. The Jewish presence in Morocco dates back to over 2,500 years ago and u…

The mindblowing Zlatne Ustne Goldenfest is returning this May 10-11, 2024 in a new home Astoria Queens! Here's a classic episode recorded during the 2019 festivalDuring the epic annual Zlatne Ustne Goldenfest, the crowd was worked into a frenzy by a rollicking set by LITVAKUS, Zisl Slepovich's klezmer band. We get a chance to hang backstage with th…

In anticipation of the Ragas Live Festival 2023 coming October 14-15 to Pioneer Works, we will be broadcasting this amazing set from 2022 featuring Kane Mathis on Kora and Roshni Samlal on Tabla. Kane Mathis, a man of many talents, also mixed and mastered this and all the recordings from Ragas Live Festival 2022. The radio broadcast will be at WKCR…

In anticipation of the Ragas Live Festival 2023 coming October 14-15 to Pioneer Works, we will be broadcasting this amazing set from 2022 featuring Saraswathi Ranganathan on veena and Sriram Raman on Mridangam The radio broadcast will be at WKCR 89.9 FM-NY (www.wkcr.org) at 7PM on August 6, or you can enjoy here on the NYC Radio Live Podcast. Tix a…

We connect with Musekiwa Chingdoza from Zimbabwe for the Ragas Live FestivalBy David Ellenbogen, host

Bansuri maestro Eric Fraser with Mir Naqibol Islam on tabla at the 2021 Ragas Live Festival.By David Ellenbogen, host

Hamid Al-Saadi with Safaafir Hamid Al-Saadi - vocal Amir ElSaffar - santur and vocal Dena El Saffar - joza, violin, and vocal Tim Moore - percussion George Ziadeh - oud Zahra Zubaidi - vocal Zahra Ali - vocal Omar Dewachi Subscribe to NYC Radio Live to enjoy the full festival.By David Ellenbogen, host

An interview with Parvathy Baul, conducted by David Ellenbogen, produced with the support of SACSA. for the Ragas Live Festival Parvathy Baul is a practitioner, performer and teacher of the Baul tradition from Bengal, India. She is also an instrumentalist, storyteller and painter. She has performed in over forty countries, including such prestigiou…

The opening set of the Ragas Live Festival 2021. Subscribe for weekly updates with the following 24 sets...By David Ellenbogen, host

This first live set is from Ragas Live 2020 Cape Town, South Africa Derek Gripper - Guitar Second live set is from Ragas Live 2020 Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire Dr. Toumani Diabate - kora Ahmed Diabate - kora Balla Diabate - koraBy David Ellenbogen, host

This live set is from Ragas Live 2020 Rubin Museum of Art Arun Ramamurthy - violin Jay Gandhi - bansuri Vivek Pandya - tabla Kavichelvan Srinivasaragavan - mridangamBy David Ellenbogen, host

This live set is from Ragas Live 2020 Mangily, Madagascar Monika Njava: voice, percussion Teta: guitar, voice Jean Piso: accordion, voiceBy David Ellenbogen, host

This live set is from Ragas Live 2020 Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal Prince Nepali - sarangi Vibha Saran Nepali - tablaBy David Ellenbogen, host

This live set is from Ragas Live Festival 2020 Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India Vikku Vinayakaram - ghatam V. Selvaganesh - drum kit Swaminathan - Kanjira, konnokolBy David Ellenbogen, host

This live set is from Ragas Live 2020 Mysore, Karnataka, India. Mysore Nagaraj - violin Mysore Karthik - violin Tumkur Ravishankar - mridangamBy David Ellenbogen, host

This live set is from Ragas Live Festival 2020 Pioneer Works Brooklyn, NY Abhik Mukherjee - sitar Samarth Nagarkar - vocals Dibyarka Chatterjee - tablaBy David Ellenbogen, host

Live set from Ragas Live 2020 Pioneer Works Brooklyn, NYC, USA Roopa Mahadevan - vocal Arun Ramamurthy - violin Kavichelvan Srinivasaragavan - mridangamBy David Ellenbogen, host