Deep Focus
2026.08.31 Eric Person on Jackie McLean
When we were coming up, alto saxophonist Jackie McLean was one of the main cats. He, along with friends like Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, and Art Taylor, had [...]
2026.08.17 Steven Bernstein on The Don Cherry Tapes part 3
This Monday's (8/17) Deep Focus is on pocket trumpeter and global troubadour Don Cherry, a dear, deeply missed friend of WKCR. Back in the [...]
2026.07.06 Vernon Reid on James Blood Ulmer 2
On Deep Focus this Monday (7/6), a celebration of the life and music of James Blood Ulmer (February 8, 1940 – June 3, 2026), with guest Vernon [...]
2026.06.08 Vijay Iyer on Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda
The moment you invoke the name of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda, the widow of John Coltrane, you open a door into other ways of understanding. She was [...]
2026.05.25 Michael Veal on Miles Davis
When they go deep, we go deeper.
We have been thinking about Miles Davis in anticipation of his centennial (May 26). How about we [...]
2026.04.27 Melvin Gibbs on Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti has been the subject of at least half a dozen documentaries, a Broadway play, a shelf of books, and at least one richly lauded podcast series. [...]
2026.03.16 William Hooker on Old and New Dreams
Throw away the map. Now, how are you going to find your way to your destination? You will probably find many more answers than you may have [...]
2026.03.02 Eric Person on Eddie Harris – part 2 with Ethan Singer
This episode of Deep Focus has been decades in the making. Deep Focus host Mitch Goldman started DJing Monday nights at WKCR in 1985. At that [...]
2026.02.16 Steve Slagle on Charlie Haden
The music, the people playing it, and the audience are all in a state of total oneness. It's a spontaneous improvisation as delicate as an [...]
2026.01.19 Mazz Swift on Butch Morris
Improvisation is considered a high art form for an instrumentalist, but what about for a composer? Is it even possible to create a piece of music for an [...]