In this excerpt from The Tonearm Podcast, Nick Fraser reflects on the relationship between his composed structures and the undetermined spaces within them, describing the moment a performance might "devolve" not as failure but as the dramatic engine of the music. Be sure not to miss the latest episode of…
In this clip from The Tonearm Podcast, Nick Fraser describes what makes saxophonist and composer Brodie West singular to him—not just as a close friend and inspiration, but as an artist whose music retains a folkloric, relational quality even when the rhythmic structures underneath it are genuinely complex. Listen in…
In this excerpt from the new episode of The Tonearm Podcast, drummer and composer Nick Fraser reflects on how working with John Kameel Farah unsettled his thinking about acoustic music—explaining that a purely acoustic record can read, unintentionally, as a traditionalist or purist statement. Listen in to the full conversation:…
Toronto drummer Nick Fraser discusses 'Areas,' his long creative partnership with Kris Davis and Tony Malaby, and what committing to acoustic music costs when electronics define the contemporary sound. ------------------ Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on Toronto drummer and composer Nick Fraser. Nick Fraser is one of the most…
In this excerpt from The Tonearm Podcast, Maria Schneider describes the idea of art as an experience teleported from artist to audience—drawing on painter Robert Henri's The Art Spirit to argue that what makes a work feel alive is the artist's depth of connection to a specific moment. Hear more…
In this clip from The Tonearm Podcast, Maria Schneider explains the double meaning behind the title "American Crow"—the bird, whose communal mourning rituals and collective noisiness she finds uncomfortably human, and the act of crowing itself, which she connects to the collapse of listening in contemporary public life. Don't miss…
In this clip from the new episode of The Tonearm Podcast, Maria Schneider describes how her longtime orchestra members approach each note with a shared sense of what the music is supposed to feel like—illustrating the point with the moment when saxophonist Donny McCaslin goes somewhere unexpected, and pianist Gary…
Composer, bandleader, birder, and unapologetic alarm-sounder, Maria Schneider brings 'American Crow' to The Tonearm for a conversation about listening as both artistic practice and civic obligation. ------------------ Today, The Tonearm’s needle lands on composer and avid birdwatcher Maria Schneider. Few composers working today have Maria Schneider's range. She holds seven…
In this clip from The Tonearm Podcast, Caroline Davis describes the particular pleasure of being around non-musicians at artist residencies — debating poets at Civitella and listening to conversations with writers at Ucross — and how that kind of cross-disciplinary conversation fed the work she was making. Be sure not…
In this clip from The Tonearm Podcast, Caroline Davis describes the texture of daily life at Ucross during the Fallows sessions and how the combination of being in nature and part of a creative community kept isolation from tipping into loneliness. Check out more on the latest episode of our…
In this excerpt from the new episode of The Tonearm Podcast, Caroline Davis recalls experimenting with found objects from around the Ucross residency grounds — wondering briefly whether she should be more careful with what she dragged across her instrument — before a seltzer can and the water sloshing inside…
Armed with a saxophone, an Organelle, and an aluminum can, Caroline Davis spent a month in Wyoming making her debut solo record—and thinking about freedom in all its forms. ------------------ Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on Caroline Davis, a saxophonist and composer based in New York. Her new album,…
In this excerpt from the latest episode of The Tonearm Podcast, conductor Miho Hazama recalls her first rehearsal with the Danish Radio Big Band as a chaotic near-disaster that she was able to coax into success. Don't miss the full conversation on our award-winning podcast: https://podcast.thetonearm.com/miho-hazama-the-conductor-who-leads-with-love/ #Shorts #MihoHazama #Frames #DanishRadioBigBand…
In this clip from The Tonearm Podcast, Miho Hazama breaks down what it actually means to push musicians, identifying pitch, rhythmic sense, dynamics, and the balance between melody, harmony, and bass as the variables a conductor adjusts in rehearsal. Tune in to the full conversation of our latest podcast episode:…
In this excerpt from the new episode of The Tonearm Podcast, Danish Radio Big Band conductor Miho Hazama explains how she uses the first ten to fifteen minutes of any rehearsal to assess how far she can push an ensemble, a judgment that determines how much intensity she demands when…
The Grammy-nominated composer and chief conductor of the Danish Radio Big Band discusses her new album Frames, the death of her mentor Jim McNeely, and why love is the only honest reason to make music. ------------------ Today we’re putting The Tonearm's needle on composer and chief conductor of the Danish…
In this excerpt from the latest episode of The Tonearm Podcast, Tomeka Reid reflects on the photographs brought into 'dance! skip! hop!' as documents of unencumbered Black life—people walking dogs, girls posing for fun—and describes it as a kind of social injustice that images of Black people simply existing are…
In this clip from The Tonearm Podcast, Tomeka Reid describes her fundamental orientation toward the cello as that of a bass player — less interested in carrying the melody than in being what she calls "the glue" that holds an ensemble together. Don't miss the full conversation on the latest…
In this excerpt from the new episode of The Tonearm Podcast, cellist and composer Tomeka Reid describes deliberately setting out to write music with dance energy—a push against the cello's reputation for long, sustained lines—and realizing she'd pulled it off only once the compositions actually took shape. Listen in to…
Cellist and composer Tomeka Reid joins the podcast to discuss dance! skip! hop!, the fourth Tomeka Reid Quartet album, and why photographs of her grandmother's Wyoming life keep finding their way onto her record covers. ------------------ Today, The Tonearm’s needle drops on cellist and composer Tomeka Reid. Tomeka Reid has…
In this clip from The Tonearm Podcast, saxophonist Ben Wendel describes the moment he walked toward the Village Vanguard stage for the first time as a bandleader and how fear dissolved into what he calls a lifting, supportive energy, as if the accumulated history of the room was urging him…
In this clip from The Tonearm Podcast, saxophonist Ben Wendel reflects on how his LA years trained him in practical studio skills—playing in tune, reading fluently, doubling on bassoon and multiple woodwinds—and how those skills intersected with the randomness of circumstance to shape a career that has moved through jazz,…
In this excerpt from the new episode of The Tonearm Podcast, saxophonist Ben Wendel explains how he built the BaRcoDe ensemble by consulting vibraphonist Joel Ross, generating a list of about fifteen players, and then selecting four whose approaches were distinct enough to give him the widest possible palette—describing the…
The Grammy-nominated saxophonist and Kneebody co-founder joins us for episode 300 to discuss his new album BaRcoDe, a project built around four of the most inventive mallet players working today. ------------------ Today we put The Tonearm's needle on Ben Wendel. Ben is a Grammy-nominated saxophonist, composer, and co-founder of Kneebody,…