Music from Soundscape on WKCR

Regularly scheduled programs in the Jazz, New Music, Latin and In All Languages departments will feature performances from Soundscape. Tune in to hear rare recordings made at this legendary venue between 1978 and 1983. Music and photographs from the WKCR Soundscape Archive will be permanently accessible on our website beginning September 6th. Click the Soundscape tab above to explore the online archive. Click below for a full schedule and for more about Soundscape. New York performance space Soundscape became a vital part of the city’s live music spectrum thirty years ago, as the brainchild of music producer Verna Gillis and her late husband, sculptor Bradford Graves. Thanks to Gillis’s recent donation of hundreds of hours of Soundscape live recordings, the music will come alive again starting this Labor Day in WKCR's programming. The Jazz, New Music, Latin, and In All Languages departments will focus heavily on re-introducing the personalities and music that enlivened this corner of West 52d Street and 10th Avenue. Soundscape opened as the hub for several spheres of music not otherwise being presented in New York. It was the showcase for free improvisers from Europe, for the first wave of Mariel refugees to resettle in New York from Cuba in 1980, and for a host of players from the modern jazz spectrum at a time when even stars were only haphazardly covered by the establishment: Sun Ra, Steve Lacy, Milford Graves; Marilyn Crispell, Leo Smith, and David S. Ware. The performance space supported loft jazz culture after most of the lofts had folded and it debuted in midtown artists of what would become known as the “Downtown” school: David Moss, John Zorn, Eugene Chadbourne. Soundscape hosted a near-constant schedule of activities—some weekly, like the Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz jam sessions that featured Mario Rivera, Andy and Jerry Gonzalez, Daniel Ponce, Paquito D’Rivera; others marked first or unique appearances by visitors from overseas: Peter Brötzmann, Derek Bailey, Hans Reichel, and Alex von Schlippenbach among them. Some of these performances were broadcast at the time on WKCR’s Live from Soundscape radio series, but never circulated—until now. Continuing Soundscape’s mission to make exceptional music available to the public, WKCR will feature on air dozens of sets and interviews with the artists in this two-week radio event, and many recordings will be permanently accessible in streaming audio on www.wkcr.org. Subsequent broadcasts in Fall 2010 will further illuminate Soundscape treasures and the web archive will expand in months to come. Schedule: Monday, September 6 Afternoon New Music 3pm–6pm Overview including David Moss, Eugene Chadbourne, Karen Borca Jazz Alternatives 6pm–9pm overview continues incl. Ahmed Abdullah (hosted by Ben Young) Caribe Latino and Latin Jazz Hour 10pm–1am Andy Gonzales reflects on the Soundscape experience (hosted by German Santana et al.) Transfigured Night [Tuesday morning] 1–5am Leo Smith, Peter Kowald, Andrea Centazzo (hosted by Narine Atamian) Tuesday, September 7 Afternoon New Music 3pm–6pm Derek Bailey solo, and duets with John Zorn and George Lewis (hosted by Daniel Malinsky) Wednesday, September 8 Daybreak Express 5am–8:20am Odean Pope ensemble (hosted by Zoe Harris) Out to Lunch Noon–3pm Raphe Malik (hosted by Russell Baker) Afternoon New Music 3pm–6pm Peter Brotzmann trio and duets with Andrew Cyrille Jazz Alternatives “The Musician’s Show” 6pm–9pm Andrew Cyrille Solo and duets (hosted by Ben Young) Musica en Nueva York 10pm–11pm Daniel Ponce and New York Now (hosted by Willie Avendano) Som do Brasil 11pm–1am Daniel Ponce and Jazz Batá (hosted by Jassvan de Lima and Willie Avendano) Transfigured Night [Thursday morning] 1am–5am Takehisa Kosugi, the Bill Smith Ensemble, and Joe McPhee (hosted by Richard Lenz) Thursday, September 9 Daybreak Express 5am–8:20am Arthur Rhames Trio (Hosted by Anneke Dunbar-Gronke) Out to Lunch Noon–3pm David S. Ware (hosted by David Feig and Daro Behroozi) Jazz Alternatives 6pm–9pm George Coleman and Hilton Ruiz (hosted by Sharif Abdus-Salaam) Friday, September 10 Daybreak Express 5am–8:20am Steve Colson Unity Troupe Out to Lunch Noon–3pm Rashied Ali (hosted by Michael Zaken) Jazz Alternatives 6pm–9pm Dave Burrell (hosted by Cliff Preiss) Sonidos Colombianos 10pm–11pm Hilton Ruiz (hosted by Willie Avendano) Mambo Machine 11pm–2am Mitchell Frohman (hosted by Willie Avendano) Transfigured Night [Saturday morning] 2am–6am John Tchicai and André Goudbeek (hosted by Mary Kaye Duff) Saturday, September 11 Jazz till Dawn [Sunday morning] 1am–6am Sunday, September 12 Jazz Profiles 2pm–7pm Commitment (hosted by Ben Young) Live Constructions 10pm–11pm Derek Bailey solo (hosted by Red Samaniego) Monday, September 13 Daybreak Express 5am–8:20am Julius Hemphill sextets (hosted by Mark Micchelli) Afternoon New Music 3pm–6pm Toshinori Kondo solo and with Derek Bailey Jazz Alternatives 6pm–9pm (hosted by Mitch Goldman) Caribe Latino and Latin Jazz Hour 10pm–1am Jorge Dalto and Paquito D’Rivera (hosted by German Santana et al.) Transfigured Night 1am–5am jam nights including Toshinori Kondo, Billy Bang, Tristan Honsinger, Butch Morris, Charlie Morrow (hosted by Zoe Harris) Tuesday, September 14 Daybreak Express 5am–8:20am Out to Lunch Noon–3pm Marilyn Crispell (hosted by Anabel Anderson) Afternoon New Music 3pm–6pm Marilyn Crispell (hosted by Daniel Malinsky) Jazz Alternatives 6pm–9pm Interpretations of Monk (hosted by Paul Burkey) Wednesday, September 15 Daybreak Express 5am–8:20am Frank Lowe ensemble (hosted by Zoe Harris) Out to Lunch Noon–3pm Afternoon New Music 3pm–6pm Irene Schweizer, Alex v. Schlippenbach / Sven-Åke Johansson (hosted by Mia Johnson) Jazz Alternatives “The Musician’s Show” 6pm–9pm Michelle Rosewoman (hosted by Daro Behroozi) Musica en Nueva York 10pm–11pm more thoughts with Michelle Rosewoman (hosted by Anayvelyse Allen-Mossman and Willie Avendano) Som do Brasil 11pm–1am Thiago de Mello / Amazon (hosted by Jassvan de Lima, Willie Avendano, and Stephanie Zaleski) Transfigured Night [literally Thursday morning] 1am–5am Borbetomagus (hosted by Narine Atamian) Thursday, September 16 Daybreak Express 5am–8:20am choice Soundscape items (hosted by Jeff Kandel) Out to Lunch Noon–3pm Jimmy Lyons (hosted by David Feig and Daro Behroozi) Jazz Alternatives 6pm–9pm Sun Ra (hosted by Sharif Abdus-Salaam) Friday, September 17 Daybreak Express 5am–8:20am Robin Kenyatta (hosted by Kevin Crowley) Out to Lunch Noon–3pm Marion Brown (hosted by Anabel Anderson) Jazz Alternatives 6pm–9pm Charles Brackeen and Ed Blackwell (hosted by Cliff Preiss) Sonidos Colombianos 10pm–11pm Yomo Toro, Celia Cruz, Son Primero (hosted by Willie Avendano) Mambo Machine 11pm–2am Afro-Cuban Jazz Jam Sessions (hosted by Willie Avendano) Transfigured Night [Saturday morning] 2am–6am solos by Hans Reichel, Fred Van Hove, Sven-Åke Johansson (hosted by Mary Kaye Duff) Saturday, September 18 Jazz till Dawn [Sunday morning] 1am–6am Steve Lacy Sunday, September 19 Jazz Profiles 2pm–7pm Soundscape on records, and various (hosted by Chris Pitsiokos) Live Constructions 10pm–11pm Evan Parker solo (hosted by Narine Atamian) Monday, September 20 Daybreak Express 5am–8:20am Afternoon New Music 3pm–6pm various sets from Soundscape (hosted by Ben Young) Jazz Alternatives 6pm–9pm (hosted by Mitch Goldman) Caribe Latino and Latin Jazz Hour 10pm–1am Paquito D’Rivera and Jorge Dalto (hosted by German Santana et al.) Note also that Wednesday night’s Musica en Nueva York will also feature Soundscape highlights on September 22, starting at 10pm; and Monday Jazz Alternatives will continue to showcase new sets from Soundscape through the fall, as hosted by Mitch Goldman Other surprise sets and surprise guests will be featured within this period, and of course the story of Soundscape on air will be continue to be heard on WKCR programming from this point forward. Listen!