5049 Records

For Coronacast #8, the wise and hilarious Jamie Saft returns to talk performing with the masters, making records, solo performance, playing on antique instruments and much much more. Strap in, this is a good one.

Trumpet virtuoso Peter Evans returns to the podcast to answer questions about practice, development of musical ideas, his current listening and tons more. You know Peter. You love Peter. I love Peter. At the end of the episode, my advice for caccio e pepe. Enjoy.

Today we are joined by 2020 James Beard semi-finalist, pastry chef extraordinaire and lover of underground music, Natasha Pickowicz. Natasha is a friend and a colleague. Her knowledge of improvised and experimental music is deep and her skills in the kitchen are unmatched. Natasha knows delicious and I adore her.

Today I welcome a bearded 40 year old unemployed man onto the podcast to answer your questions. Thank you all for the birthday wishes and questions. ONWARD! #PMA

Producer Randall Dunn has worked for years with bands like Sunn O))), Bill Frisell, Kayo Dot, Eyvind Kang, Chelsea Wolfe, Earth and hundreds more. Over time he has crafted in an instantly recognizable sound that is marked by clarity, spaciousness and big time vibes. For this talk we answer your questions about a variety of topics from Buddhism to tracking Sunn O))), recording aesthetics, travel and a whole lot more.

Live from London, producer/sound engineer Marc Urselli returns to the show to answer your questions about home recording and mixing, working with John Zorn and Hal Willner, desert island gear, Coronavirus and much more.

Episode 2 of the 5049 Coronacast brings back our old friend Charlie Looker. Easily one of my favorites to chew the fat with, Charlie has been busy with a new Psalm Zero record, his Youtube channel and his new electronic project, Nothing Human. For this talk we answer your questions, ranging from based culture to improvised music, Patrice O'neal to Gilles Deleuze, fascism to Extra Life. Dig it.

Aaaaaand we're back. Live from the epicenter of the global pandemic we are bringing new episodes of the 5049 Coronacast every week, answering questions from, YOU, the listener. Episode 1: Toby Driver.

For episode 215 clarinetist Aaron Novik swings by for a go-round on the mics. Raised in Connecticut, he lived in San Francisco for several years, where nurtured several longstanding musical relationships. Aaron moved to New York in 2015 and starting tomorrow night , July 16th, he's kicking off a weeklong residency at the Stone. In an unprecedented move, for each performance Aaron is releasing an EP of new music. Aaron is a sweetheart and I'm glad we finally found the time to talk on the mics. Sorry for the salt levels.

Multi-instrumentalist Jeff Tobias was raised on Long Island, spent many years in Athens GA and has been living in New York City for the past seven years. He was a member of bands Dark Meat, We Versus the Shark and Nymph. He currently plays in Sunwatchers and Reps and last year he released his first recording of solo saxophone music. Jeff is a good cat and this conversation is one of my favorites of recent memory.

For episode 213, the great Ava Mendoza returns to talk shop. Since her last visit in 2013, Ava has become a seasoned New Yorker and a crucial contributor to the city's music scene. Today we talk pedals, making records, song writing, improvisation and a whole lot more. Ava is one of the best around and today is a good talk.

Before moving back to his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio in 2014 drummer Joe Tomino was a crucial force in the world of New York underground music. He is one third of the long-running group Dub Trio, with whom he has performed in the bands of Mike Patton, Matisyahu, Fugees and many more. Dub Trio seamlessly blends aggressive rock, reggae, metal and dub studio logic into am utterly unique and thrilling musical aggregate. They've just released their fifth album and ahead of embarking on a tour opening for Incubus, Joe stopped by to talk shop. Joe is one of the best guys around and it was a joy to be able to spend some time with him.

For episode 211 the great Pavone returns. Topics of discussion include exercise, improvisation, making records and friendship. Enter the P-Vone Zone.

Melvin Gibbs is an extraordinary bass player who for the better part of the last four decades has been a key figure in the worlds of rock, jazz, funk and the New York avant-garde. An original member of the Black Rock Coalition and a veteran of bands led by Ronald Shannon Jackson, Sonny Sharrock, Henry Rollins and others, Melvin has led an incredibly varied and colorful career. Ahead of his appearance this Thursday at the 2019 Vision Festival, Melvin stopped by to talk about his new project the God Particle, a collaboration with physicist and musician Stephon Alexander.

Evan Parker is a living legend who in the past fifty years he has almost singlehandedly reinvented the language of the saxophone, presenting a world of sonic possibilities perviously unimagined. Born at the tail end of World War II in Bristol, England, his first musical interest was cool West Coast jazz but quickly found his way to Bird and Diz, and eventually Trane. Through constant work and solo concerts as well as longstanding relationships with improvisers like Paul Lytton, Barry Guy, Alex von Schlippenbach and Paul Lovens, Evan has established himself as one of the forefathers of European improvisation. Today's conversation covers a lot of ground and it is an absolute honor to be able to present it here.

Born and raised in New York, bassist Nick McMaster has been an essential participant in the city's avant metal scene for the past ten plus years. A member of both Krallice and Geryon, Nick has also contributed to Bloody Panda, Psalm Zero, Castevet. For today's talk we cover a lot of ground, from the various strains of NYC metal, to living in Poland, different approaches to metal bass and a lot more.

Saxophonist Ryan Muncy is at the forefront of new music, collaborating closely with many of today's most cutting edge composers and ensembles. He received a Doctor of Music degree from Northwestern University in 2012 and has been a crucial member of many of today's most important ensembles such as the International Contemporary Ensemble, Talea, Ensemble Dal Niente, Wet Ink and others. For today's talk we get into it, discussing all matters sax and Ryan's work for the past two decades.

James Plotkin is a legend of underground music. Active for the past three decades as a guitarist, composer, producer and mastering engineer, his influence across a broad range of adventurous music cannot be overstated. From his earliest days with Regurgitation to his participation in Khanate, one of the most influential metal bands of the last twenty years, James has been steadily contributing to the language of modern dark music. He is also a lynchpin of the 5049 label, having mastered all but one of our releases. For this talk we go back ton his earliest days in Jersey, hanging out with Morbid Angel as a teenager, making electronic music, mixing and mastering records and a whole lot more. James Plotkin is a first rate artist who deserves serious attention.

Nick Dunston is a talented young bass player who is quickly making a mark on the world of contemporary improvisation and jazz. Raised in New York and educated at the New School, he started at cello at age four and has been playing the bass since a teenager. Not yet out of college, he is already a member of bands led by Marc Ribot, Dave Douglas, Amirtha Kidambi and Tyshawn Sorey. In addition to being a naturally gifted musician, he is also a 2019 Van Lier fellow by way of Roulette Intermedium.

On the verge of releasing his first recording of chamber music, the best dude around, Trevor Dunn, returns to the podcast for a second go-round on the mics. Living in Brooklyn since 2000 Trevor has been a key figure in dozens of projects led by John Zorn, Mike Patton, Erik Friedlander, Kris Davis and many many more. Now at the age of 51, he is embarking on a series of releases of his own projects. For this talk we cover a lot of ground: being a sideman, compositional process, Ornette Coleman, film-scoring, the Fyre Festival and a lot lot more. It's a good time to be a Trevor Dunn fan.

Chicago based composer/laptop improviser Sam Pluta has been developing a completely personal language for the better part of the past two decades. A professor at the University of Chicago, he has worked closely with Peter Evans, George Lewis, Jeff Snyder and Evan Parker. He is a member of the Wet Ink Ensemble and is a co-founder of Carrier Records. He's also a really funny and likable guy and today's talk is a good one.

Born in 1974, Alex Ward is a London based clarinetist and guitarist who got his start in free improvised music when he was eleven years old, playing with Derek Bailey. Over the years he's worked closely with Steve Noble, Simon H. Fell, Weasel Walter, Pat Thomas and many others. In addition to being a gifted clarinetist, Alex is an accomplished guitarist who has been forging an idiosyncratic language all his own. Most recently he has been touring with This Is Not This Heat, which brought him over the States for a series of shows. Clarinet, guitar, London, improvisation and a whole lot more. Today is a good one!

For episode 200, we welcome young bass virtuoso, Henry Fraser, onto the show for lots of good talk about his first few years in New York, his work with the Anthony Coleman Trio, his ongoing collaboration with Sam Weinberg, starting to play electric bass in his twenties, Boston and a whole lot more. Henry is the man and you will be hearing from him for years to come. To kick things off, we go through six years of listener emails to which I am finally getting around to responding. EPISODE 200!!!!

Guitarist Alan Licht has been active across a broad range of activity in the wold of experimental music since the late 80s. Born and raised in Jersey, based in Brooklyn, Alan has been playing guitar since he was a teenager. He's worked closely with Loren Connors, Lee Ranaldo, Jim O'Rourke and many others. He's a published author and for many years was the booker for the legendary NYC club Tonic. Alan has stayed very busy over the years and has a perspective all his own, with a lot of stories to tell.

Producer/Sound Alchemist Raz Mesinai has been a vital force across several strains of the New York Underground since the late eighties. Active as a soundtrack composer, DJ, mix engineer, percussionist, educator and more, he's released records on ROIR, Asphodel, Tzadik and more. Along with Scotty Hard, he started the Underground Producers Alliance, a consortium of creative producers offering courses in music production. This conversation was recorded in Raz's studio in Brooklyn.

In the underground music scene of New York City, bassist, engineer, educator Kato Hideki is a most crucial participant. Before moving to New York City in 1992 Kato was an original member of Otomo Yoshihide's Ground Zero. Since arriving in New York, he has worked closely with John Zorn, Ikue Mori, Eyvind Kang, Fred Frith, Marc Ribot and Zeena Parkins among many others. He was born and raised in Nagoya, Japan and has played on many of my favorite records to come out of New York in the last twenty five years. A great talk with a great guy.

Mariel Roberts is a cellist who in recent years has become an essential participant in the international contemporary musical community. Born and raised in Denver CO, she studied at the Manhattan School of Music and leads an incredibly colorful career as a first call interpreter of works by todays most vital composers. She has worked with virtually every ensemble in NYC and continues to push boundaries with a series of solo recordings that push the language of the cello to the edge of insanity. Mariel is a gem and a great conversationalist.

For the past two decades multi-instrumentalist Marcia Bassett has been at the forefront of the underground noise and improv scene. Since her early days with the band Un she has amassed a prolific output with her bands Hototogisu, GHQ, and Double Leopards as well as collaborations with Samara Lubelski, Barry Weisblat and Andrew Lafkas. Under the name Zaïmph, her long-running solo project, she has just released the gorgeous and ambitious double LP “Rhizomatic Gaz” on Drawing Room Records. Marcia is a true underground hero and is a pleasure to speak with.

Drummer/multi-instrumentalist Weasel Walter is an intense and formidable figure in the world of underground music. Active since 1991, he has been touring and recording non-stop, amassing a staggering discography along the way. His long list of collaborators include Damon Smith, Henry Kaiser, Lydia Lunch, Marc Edwards and many many more. Next month Weasel is releasing the first record by his band the Flying Luttenbachers in many years, before taking the new lineup to Europe. Since starting this podcast in 2013, I have received more requests to have Weasel on than any other artist. Here we are.

Eric Wubbels is a a New York based composer and pianist who for the past several years has been co-director of the world renowned Wet Ink Ensemble. His music is intense, meticulous and an utterly thrilling listening experience. Eric has been awarded grants and fellowships from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Chamber Music America, MATA Festival, Barlow Endowment, Jerome Foundation, New Music USA and others. He is a great cat with a lot of insight.

For episode 192 we are joined by Sarah Hennies, a percussionist and composer born and raised in Louisville KY, now living in Ithaca, NY. Her work is concerned with a variety of musical, sociopolitical, and psychological issues including queer & trans identity, love, intimacy, psychoacoustics, and percussion. She has performed around the world and her recent composition “Contralto” continues to see performances at a variety of venues and festivals including Bent Frequency (Atlanta), La Sobilla (Verona), Monday Evening Concerts (Los Angeles), MOCA Tucson, Time-Based Art (Portland, OR), and the Toronto International Film Festival's Bell Lightbox Theatre. Sarah is as deep as they come and this is a good talk.

Darcy is composer and bandleader raised in Vancouver, based in Brooklyn NY. He studied with Bob Brookmeyer at the New England Conservatory and since the early 2000s has led his own big band, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, an eighteen piece ensemble that focuses on his original compositions. The group has released several albums and their 2009 debut “Infernal Machines” was nominated for a grammy. This weekend Secret Society will be doing four sets at the Jazz Gallery in NYC and Darcy stopped by to talk about what he's been up to.

For our final episode of 2018, the great Nels Cline returns for another go-round on the mics and it's a home run. A true lifer, Nels is a musician who never sleeps. For our second talk, Nels and I discuss LA, vintage guitars, excess and a whole lot more. A great talk with one of the greatest cats around.

Ka Baird is a uniquely talented multi-instrumentalist from Illinois, now living in Brooklyn NY. A founding member of the avant/psych/folk ensemble Spires That In The Sunset Rise, she has spent the past few years with an intense focus on solo performance, resulting in her most recent release Sapropelic Pycnic. Ka is a true original and a delight to have over for a talk.

Percussionist William Winant has played with everyone from John Cage to John Zorn, Sonic Youth to Mr Bungle, Steve Reich to Iannis Xenakis. If anyone can be described as the Zelig of experimental music, it's Willie. For this talk, the maestro swings by to talk about his path from a teenager playing trap kit in Los Angeles to performing at the Ojai Festival with Pierre Boulez. We also talk his work as a college instructor, studying gamelan in Indonesia, the recording of “Disco Volante” and a whole lot more. An essential talk with a technician of the sacred.

They don't make them like Jay Campbell every day. A young and virtuosic cellist, raised in Berkeley CA, Jay has worked closely with Pierre Boulez, Elliott Carter, Matthias Pintscher, John Adams, Kaija Saariaho, and countless others from his own generation. His close association with John Zorn resulted in the 2015 release ofHen to Pan (Tzadik) featuring all works written for Campbell, and was listed in the New York Times year-end Best Recordings of 2015. Since 2016 Jay has been a member of the world renowned JACK Quartet. Today's talk is a good one and covers a lot of ground.

For episode 186, the fabulously talented and all around good dude, Brian Marsella swings by for a wide-ranging conversation that covers a lot of ground, from dealing with death, to touring in the United States, growing up in Philadelphia and making music in the 21st century. A veteran of the bands of Cyro Baptista and John Zorn, Brian has recently released a series of powerful, smoking records and that highlight his skills as a piano player and a band leader. This is a good one.

Wendy Eisenberg is a tremendously talented and original guitarist who grew up in Maryland and now lives in Western Mass. She was a founding member of Birthing Hips and most recently has released a powerful trio recording on Tzadik with Ches Smith and Trevor Dunn. Her playing is intense, focused and completely unique. This is a great talk with someone who you will be hearing from for a long time.

Sam Weinberg is among the most active of New York's newest generation of improvisers. he's worked extensively with Ben Bennett, Jaimie Branch, Sandy Ewen and Weasel Walter. He leads and co-leads W-2 (with Chris Welcome), BLOOR (with Andrew Smiley and Jason Nazary), Maestro Day (with Henry Fraser and Joe Moffett). Most recently he's been focusing on solo saxophone performance as well as sound collage and musique concrete. Today's a good talk with a thoughtful musician.

For episode 183 one of my favorite cats, Jon Irabagon, returns to the run the voodoo down. Increasingly prolific and tireless in his pursuit of creative expression, Irabagon is one of the most colorful and hardest working dudes around. He's a recent father and just released yet another recording of adventurous sounds. For this talk, we cover a lot of ground from making records to the Me Too movement, jazz elder culture to sustaining long standing musical relationships. A great talk with a great cat.

Clifford Allen is a lifelong listener and collector of all musics extreme. With a deep knowledge of jazz, particularly from Ayler on, he has written for publications such as Signal To Noise, Paris Transatlantic, Bagatellen, the New York City Jazz Record, Point of Departure, Burning Ambulance and Tiny Mix Tapes among many others. An enthusiastic historian, he has also written liner notes for several records by artists such as Burton Greene, Ingrid Laubrock and Charles Tyler. Recently he co-produced and assembled liner notes for Michael Cosmic "Peace In The World"/Phill Musra "The Creator Spaces" 2LP/2CD reissue (NowAgain).

A mainstay of the Lower East Side, saxophonist Paul Shapiro has played on hundreds of records with artists as diverse as John Zorn and Jay-Z, David Byrne and Michael Jackson. He has a huge and rich tenor sound and has released four deeply soulful records on Tzadik's Radical Jewish series, all of which feature killer bands playing Paul's original compositions. Paul came over just two weeks ago for a lively conversation on a day when there was a lot of construction in my building. Please forgive the noise!

Stuart Bogie is a hell of a guy and a damn fine saxophonist. Incredibly active in the Brooklyn scene, he has been a member of Antibalas since 2001 and was the featured soloist in the Bill T. Jones Broadway production of Fela!. He's recorded extensively with bands the Arcade Fire, Iron & Wine, TV on the Radio and many many more. He leads the band Superhuman Happiness, who release their new album “Beacon” this Friday, 10/19, on Yeggs Records. This is a great talk with a great dude.

Back in 2013, shortly after the podcast began, Matthew Shipp came by for what became the most talked about episode in the whole series, and now he's back. Having gotten the biographical information covered in our first talk, today's episode is me and Matt chewing the fat. One of the most prolific and engaging personalities in contemporary jazz, Matt brought along some great stories for our second sit down.

Born in Brooklyn, raised in the south of France, Leila Bordreuil is a classically trained cellist whose work sits at the intersection of improvisation, noise and sound art. Based ion Brooklyn since 2012, she has worked closely with Michael Foster, Zach Rowden, Lea Bertucci and Weasel Walter. This conversation was just recorded last week as Leila gets ready to premiere a new piece at Issue Project Room this Wednesday!

No one does it like Krakauer! An absolute virtuoso on the clarinet, David Krakauer is a scholar, traveler, story teller and much more. Born and raised in New York City, he studied closely with Leon Russianoff. He was a founding member of the Klezmatics and released the very first record in the Tzadik Radical Jewish series. Today is a good one that covers a lot of ground and history with the undisputed maestro of the klezmer clarinet. You're gonna dig this.

Today is a good one. Originally from Massachusetts, trained at the New England Conservatory and based in Brooklyn for the last fifteen years, Brandon Seabrook is a true original. Equally adept at the electric guitar as he is at the banjo, his playing is intense, complex, intricate and completely over the top. He's worked closely with artists such as Peter Evans, Jessica Pavone, Anthony Braxton, Nels Cline Cooper-Moore and Mary Halvorson. He leads his own bands, Die Trommel Fatale, Seabrook Power Plant, Needle Driver and most recently, the Brandon Seabrook Trio featuring Daniel Levin on cello, and Henry Fraser on bass. Brandon is deeply funny and original cat. We need more Brandon Seabrooks.

After an intense period of emotional upheaval, saxophonist Josh Sinton decided to take a break from music this past January. He cancelled all shows, departed social media and has been laying low. He stopped by 5049 chihuahua compound last month to talk about what he's been up to and what led to the break. I love this dud