Spotlight On

Today, the Spotlight shines On saxophonist and composer Sean Imboden.

Sean spent years touring with Broadway shows and working as a sideman, but something was missing. He stepped away from a lucrative career path and took a leap, returning to Indianapolis, where he ultimately formed his 17-piece orchestra. Now that ensemble releases Communal Heart, an album that captures the community spirit Sean has built around his music...

Today, the Spotlight shines On clarinetist Glenn Dickson and electronic musician Bob Familiar.

When a cutting-edge klezmer artist meets a former rock synthesist, you might expect creative tension. Instead, Glenn and Bob found something else entirely—a shared language that turns clarinet and electronics into the most unlikely yet inspired pairings.

Their new album All the Light of Our Sphere layers acoustic cl...

Today, the Spotlight shines On drummer and composer Gustavo Cortiñas

Gustavo's latest album, The Crisis Knows No Borders, tackles climate change head-on through music that's both urgent and beautiful. Working with guitarist Dave Miller, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, and violinist Mark Feldman, he's created compositions that explore how global warming sparks conflicts, drives migration, and connects us all, whether we like it o...

Today, the Spotlight shines On guitarist and composer Kim Perlak.

Kim chairs the guitar department at Berklee College of Music, where she's spent over a decade expanding from classical performance into composition and improvisation. Her new album, Spaces, is a collaboration with percussionist Francisco Mela. The record captures four nature-inspired suites that obliterate the lines between written music and spontaneous crea...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Terence Hannum.

Terence wears many hats. He is a visual artist, professor, and one-third of the experimental trio Locrian. It's the 15th anniversary reissue of Locrian's The Crystal World that brings us together today. This album marked a turning point for the band, transforming them from a duo into a full trio and giving structure to their sprawling sonic explorations.

The record ta...

Today, the Spotlight shines On guitarist Knox Chandler.

Knox's name might ring a bell from his work with The Psychedelic Furs, Siouxsie and the Banshees, or maybe from his string arrangements on Depeche Mode's Exciter. However, his latest project takes an entirely different turn. After decades in the music business bouncing between New York, Berlin, and stages around the world, Knox found himself back in his Connecticut hometow...

Today, the Spotlight shines On John Andrew Fredrick of The Black Watch.

After thirty-seven years of making indie rock, the band’s latest album, For All the World, boasts an energy and vitality that surprises even John. John’s a great guest: His creative process remains rooted in uncertainty, he reads more about music than he listens to it, he draws inspiration from everything from Dostoyevsky to David Bowie, and ...

Today, the Spotlight shines On saxophonist and composer Ingrid Laubrock.

Ingrid's just released Purposing The Air, a double album that sets 60 brief poems by Erica Hunt to music through four different vocal-instrumental duos. It's an ambitious project that transforms Hunt's emotionally sharp koans into what Ingrid calls "a library of moods”—each piece capturing a different feeling, from the everyday to the search...

Today, the Spotlight shines on clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh.

Earlier this year, Kinan released Live in Berlin, his fourteenth album with his CityBand quartet. The album captures music he wrote during Syria's 2011 uprising—pieces that carry the weight of watching your homeland torn apart from thousands of miles away. Born in Damascus and now based in Brooklyn, Kinan has spent decades crossing the world with his clar...

Today, the Spotlight shines On guitarist and composer Tal Yahalom.

Tal has built a reputation in New York's creative music scene for weaving post-bop, classical, and South American influences into a unique sound all his own. On his latest album, Mirror Image, Tal brings together a chamber quintet that puts his guitar in conversation with strings, woodwinds, and percussion, creating music that shifts between meditative refl...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Claire Cope. This British composer crafts music that combines the freedom of jazz with the precision of classical music, drawing inspiration from women whose stories are often overlooked in history books.

Caire’s new album Every Journey dropped in March to coincide with International Women's Day. On it, she expanded her original septet to an 11-piece band, giving her more colors to paint...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Mike Scott, founder of The Waterboys.

In 2014, Mike stumbled upon Dennis Hopper’s photography in a London gallery and fell into a rabbit hole that led to Life, Death and Dennis Hopper, a bold concept album that tells the story of the Easy Rider star from childhood to beyond the grave. It's a sonic movie with guest turns from Bruce Springsteen, Fiona Apple, and Steve Earle that ...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Craig Mod, a writer, photographer, and walker who's spent the last 20 years making Japan his home.

Random House has just released Things Become Other Things, a walking memoir that traces his 300-mile journey along ancient pilgrimage paths in rural Japan. The book blends sharp prose with striking photography, capturing conversations with aging fishermen, inn owners, and cafe "mamas" while refl...

Today, the Spotlight again shines on media artist Tamiko Thiel, in the second of our two-part conversation.

In our first talk, we explored Tamiko's journey from designing the world's first AI supercomputer in the eighties to becoming a pioneering media artist. Today, we dive deeper into her groundbreaking work in virtual reality and other philosophical matters.

Tamiko's been creating immersive digital worlds since the mid-1990s ...

Today, the Spotlight shines On digital media artist Tamiko Thiel.

To mark our special milestone of 250 episodes, we are kicking off a two-part conversation with media artist Tamiko Thiel.

Tamiko has lived at the crossroads of art and technology for over 40 years. She designed the Connection Machine, the first commercial AI supercomputer that now sits in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. She's worked with everyone from Steven Spielberg...

Today, the Spotlight shines On naturalist and classical pianist Hunter Noack.

Redefining what a concert hall can be, Hunter Noack hauls a nine-foot Steinway grand piano to mountaintops, forests, and beaches for his series "In a Landscape: Classical Music in the Wild."

Hunter grew up in Central Oregon, where his love for music and nature took root. His concert series gives audiences wireless headphones and encourages them to wand...

Today, the Spotlight shines On renowned saxophonist Noah Preminger.

Boston-based saxophonist Noah Preminger has spent years pushing jazz into new territories before focusing on one of the art form's most enduring traditions. He’s just released Ballads, a collection that finds this restless musical explorer settling into the quiet power of beautiful melodies.

Noah's built his reputation on bold musical choices—from stark Del...

Today, the Spotlight shines On two artists who've taken the piano-guitar duo to bold new places. Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorson have just released Bone Bells, their third album, and a fresh showcase of their uncanny musical connection.

These two players come from different worlds: Sylvie from European classical traditions and Mary from experimental jazz guitar circles. But when they join forces, somet...

Today, the Spotlight shines On Phillip Golub, a Brooklyn pianist taking his music in bold new directions.

Phillip's new project, Loop 7, is a set of minimalist compositions performed on a piano tuned to 22 notes per octave instead of the usual 12. Working with producer Joseph Branciforte, he's created something that lives between acoustic chamber music and studio art.

It's a groundbreaking approach—Phillip's performance was...