Music is the Magic of a Secret World

Author: David Ellenbogen

I am a musician, producer, educator and NYC radio host. View all posts by David Ellenbogen

This week we revisit a classic interview with Hugh Masekela from 2013. Hugh Masekela is the most well known jazz musician from Africa. His first big hit was in 1968 and he has sold millions of albums, won multiple Grammys and worked with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Dizzy Gillespie. Fresh off a tour with […]

Blick Bassy – Podcast 238

Hailing from Cameroon, but living now in France, singer and multi-instrumentalist, Blick Bassy is creating a fresh, new sound with stunning vocals, banjo and luscious soundscapes from his bandmates. His new album, Akö with his comrades Clément Petit on cello and Johan Blanc on trombone, are raising eyebrows with their totally original tribute to Skip James. Blick sings in his native […]

Field Recordings from Mali! (Oumar Konate, Noura Mint Seymali and more) Podcast 237

This is a remaster of a broadcast I did in 2012 when I had just returned from almost a month in Mali making field and studio recordings. Very special stuff: Here's the original intro: I'm back from the Sahara, and, as promised, have a ton of recordings to share with you. This special show was […]

Jean-Claude van Itallie Podcast 236

Jean-Claude van Itallie, is a creative force across many genres. Norman Mailer called one his works "possibly the best one-act play I have ever seen.” He's a poet, meditator, health-guru, translator, writer and it doesn't stop there. We sit on the porch with Jean-Claude van Itallie at his inspriring retreat center, Shantigar.

Fari di Future, Yaadcore Podcast 235

Yaadcore is a cultured selector that has already began making waves on Jamaica’s music scene. Also the Dj for reggae artist Protoje. Biography More and more youths, seeking to connect with their cultural roots, invariably come across particular names in the field of music. No doubt they eventually stumble upon Yaadcore. As his name […]

BRM’s Coltrane Raga Tribute – Podcast 234

Brooklyn Raga Massive's Coltrane Raga Tribute are about to drop their New Album - and the release party will be a free concert in Prospect Park at Celebrate Brooklyn June 23rd with Pharoah Sanders headlining! We hang with Sameer Gupta, the tabla upstart, drummer and musical director of the project and listen to a live performance from Pioneer Works. […]

Barbes – Podcast 233

Barbès is a small Brooklyn club which has been presenting music on a daily basis for now 15 years. Started on a shoestring budget in a former barber shop in the South Slope, Barbès has for years acted as a kind of laboratory for all different kinds of new projects and become a true community […]

Chico Freeman – Podcast 232

For Chico Freeman, Jazz is the family business. His father played with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and Ella Fitzgerald and his grandfather was an associate of Louis Armstrong. Chico has had an amazing career playing with the likes of Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Sun Ra, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Celia Cruz, Charles […]

Jay Gandhi – Podcast 231

The day after a moving performance with Ravi Coltrane, Reggie Workman, Jeff Tain Watts an other giants of Jazz, we hung out at home with Jay Gandhi! After our short conversation he shares a special live performance. Jay is an artist who dedicated to the Hindustani tradition and is also bringing his instrument, the bansuri, into new territory.

Samarth Nagarkar and Meghashyam Keshav – Podcast 230

The nineteenth set of the historic, Ragas Live Festival 2016, live at Pioneer Works. Samarth Nagarkar (vocal), Meghashyam Keshav (tabla), Rohan Prabhudesai (harmonium). This is a great to chance to experience music created for the sunrise. It was performed as the first rays broke through the evening sky. Samarth Nagarkar is a Hindustani classical vocalist, known […]

Sebitiyin: Innov Gnawa perform the Jewish songs of Gnawa – Podcast 230

In this incredible episode we capture Innov Gnawa performing the "Sebatayin" repetoire, Gnawa music performed traditionally in Morrocco for the Jewish Community. They performed this for the end of Passover at Greenwich House Music School as part of the UNCHARTED concert series. The Jewish presence in Morocco dates back to over 2,500 years ago and […]

Cosmas Magaya Podcast 229

This was one of my favorite early episodes. Cosmas Magya is a master of the Mbira ( a type of thumb piano) from the Shona tribe in Zimbabwe. Here he performs and explains the way the instrument is used in ceremonies to contact ancestors. We'll also hear a track he recorded with another powerful Mbira […]

LADAMA Podcast 228

We get to hang at home with LADAMA! We recorded some songs and chat with Mafer Bandola (bandola llanera), Lara Klaus (percussion, drums), Daniela Serna (percussion) Sara Lucas (voice, guitar) and Pat Swoboda (bass). LADAMA is an ensemble of women musicians (joined by Pat for this session) who combine the rhythms and traditional instrumentation of frevo […]

Vieux Farka Toure Returns: Podcast 228

We're psyched to see that one of one of our favorite groups in NYC Innov Gnawa is combining forces with the great Vieux Farka Tourre this Thursday at BRIC. Last September, we got sit down and hang with Vieux Farka Toure, talk to him and record a little acoustic music…AND record his entire live set at […]

Miramar Podcast 227

With stirring vocal harmonies and luscious arrangements, Miramar breathe life into the classic bolero tradition. We got to sit down with their music director and keyboardist, Marlyse Simmons and learn about the history of boleros and hear and learn about the muse of their new album Sylvia Rexach.