Wadada Leo Smith: A Trumpeter Composing in Light

This week we’re putting The Tonearm’s needle on author Steven E. Jones. His new book, Everything Is Everything: Tom Wilson and Pop Music in 1966, is out now. It follows the Waco-born producer through sessions with Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, the Velvet Underground, Sun Ra and many others.We talk about the Batman record Steven bought at age seven, why some of Dylan’s booing was Tom Wilson’s fault, and why Wilson stood by Nico while the band pushed her out.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are “Batman Theme” from Batman and Robin by the Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale, featuring Sun Ra; the Mothers of Invention’s “Help, I’m a Rock” and “Hungry Freaks, Daddy”; Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”; Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence”; and Nico’s “Chelsea Girls”)—Dig DeeperAuthor and Book:Visit Steven E. Jones at stevenejones.orgPurchase Everything Is Everything: Tom Wilson and Pop Music in 1966 from Stanford University PressTom Wilson:Producer Tom Wilson, Irwin Chusid’s site, with the Music Factory radio showsInvisible Icon: The Tom Wilson Story (Rogue Media Network)Everybody’s Head Is Open to Sound: Writings on Tom Wilson, edited by Anaïs NgbanzoTom Wilson (Waco History)“The Greatest Music Producer You’ve Never Heard of Is . . .” (Texas Monthly)The Records:The Sensational Guitars of Dan and Dale, Batman and Robin, with Sun Ra (Open Culture)The Mothers of Invention, Freak Out!Bob Dylan, Highway 61 RevisitedSimon & Garfunkel, Sounds of SilenceThe Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground & NicoNico, Chelsea GirlHugh Masekela, The Lasting Impressions of Ooga Booga, which collects The Americanization of Ooga BoogaFrom The Tonearm:The Sun Ra Arkestra Play to the Open Sky—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice.Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we’re putting The Tonearm’s needle on composer Koen Holtkamp. For years, Koen worked as half of the duo Mountains. His new solo record, Nightlife, took shape in late-night sessions at his home in New York’s Hudson Valley.We talk about stepping away from the methods that defined his work in Mountains, why he rebuilds his modular system for every project and still won’t call himself a synth player, and why finishing an album is harder than making the sounds.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Koen Holtkamp’s “Slow Fox Run,” “Northern Flicker,” and “Dream On,” from Nightlife, and Codona’s “Colemanwonder”)—Dig DeeperArtist and Album:Follow Koen Holtkamp on InstagramPurchase Nightlife from Bandcamp or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice.Mountains:MountainsThe Players:Greg FoxMatt BauderBen VidaMusical References:Codona, Don Cherry, Collin Walcott, and Naná Vasconcelos (ECM)Joanna Brouk, Hearing Music (Numero Group)From The Tonearm:Josh Mason, Better Punk Through CircuitryJosh Mason: Punk and Circuitry, Zippered Together (The Tonearm Podcast)—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice.Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith. Since the 1960s, Wadada has scored much of his music in Ankhrasmation, a visual language he invented for improvisers.His new album, Constellations and Hemispheres, is out now, built from four different groups he recorded over five years, with lots of post production.We talk about why his players study light and color, using the studio as an instrument like dub producers, and choosing love in a world at war.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Wadada Leo Smith's Constellations and Hemispheres)—Dig DeeperArtist and Album:Visit Wadada Leo Smith at wadadaleosmith.comPurchase Constellations and Hemispheres from Bandcamp or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice.Ankhrasmation:Ankhrasmation: The Language Scores, 1967–2015 (The Renaissance Society)Recordings:Fire Illuminations (wadadaleosmith.com)Luminous Axis: The Caravans of Winter and Summer, with The Hub and William Winant (Tzadik)Creative Music - 1 (Kabell)People and Places:Bill LaswellMelvin GibbsBobby NaughtonFirehouse 12, New HavenCoverage:Wadada Leo Smith – Constellations And Hemispheres (Paris-Move)From The Tonearm:David Katz Cuts a New Version of Dub's HistoryWe Are Floating in Space — Jane Ira Bloom's Jazz Odyssey—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice.Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on composer and pianist Midori Hirano.Born in Kyoto and based in Berlin, Midori is out now with The Juniper Tree, a new score for Nietzchka Keene's 1990 film starring Björk in her first screen role.We talk about writing without the original soundtrack in her ears, turning field recordings of birds and a waterfall into instruments, and how Pauline Oliveros and the Japanese idea of "ma" led her to strip the music down.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Midori Hirano's The Juniper Tree)—Dig DeeperArtist and Album:Visit Midori Hirano at midorihirano.com and follow on InstagramPurchase The Juniper Tree from Thrill Jockey or Bandcamp and listen on your streaming platform of choice.The Film:The Juniper Tree (The Film Foundation)Björk's Movie Debut, The Juniper Tree, Is Restored and Revisited (Hyperallergic)Midori Hirano x The Juniper Tree (Videodroom, Film Fest Gent)The live soundtrack (midorihirano.com)People and Places:Anna Bogutskaya (Time Out)Pauline Oliveros and the Center for Deep ListeningEMS Elektronmusikstudion, StockholmMimiCof, Distant Symphony, made on the SYNTHI 100 at Radio Belgrade (Karlrecords)Coverage:Midori Hirano Draws Inspiration from a Classic Icelandic Film (PopMatters)From The Tonearm:Inside Brüder Selke & Midori Hirano's Musical LaboratorySpeaking the Word of the Buchla — Suzanne Ciani's Orchestral WaveDeep Listening, Deep Soil — Lisa Ann Schonberg's Myrmecological Music—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice.Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on saxophonist, composer, and singer Charlotte Greve.Waterbodies, out now, is her tenth album but the first under her own name. She wrote it while expecting her daughter.We talk about her love of '80s power ballads, what Shahzad Ismaily brought as producer, and the work deadline driven by childbirth.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Charlotte Greve's Waterbodies)—Dig DeeperArtist and Album:Visit Charlotte Greve at charlottegreve.de and follow on Instagram, YouTube, and FacebookPurchase Waterbodies from Bandcamp or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice.Live:Waterbodies and Kaoru Watanabe's The Arch release show, Public Records, Brooklyn, October 14Coverage:Charlotte Greve – Membranes (Various Small Flames)Charlotte Greve, Waterbodies (FEMMUSIC)People and Places:Shahzad IsmailySeth Manchester and Machines with Magnets (Take Magazine)Kaoru Watanabe, The Arch (New Amsterdam)John Hollenbeck (McGill University)Laura Veirs's Kaleidoscope Creativity Cards (Tape Op)Oblique StrategiesFrom The Tonearm:Caroline Davis: The Saxophone Reimagined in the FallowsGhost Notes from Wyoming — Caroline Davis's 'Fallows'Laura Veirs Alone in the Temple of Bloom—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice.Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on author David Perlis. David grew up in Marin County and co-hosted Night People on WFMU.His first book, Morning in Marin, is out now. It follows characters including Alan Watts, the Grateful Dead, George Lucas, Philip K. Dick and many others through America's postwar creative boom.We talk about why he traded fiction for the true story, the letters of Gary Snyder and Alan Watts, and why young artists struggle to find a foothold in Marin today.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Bola Sete's The Kitchen Tapes, Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales's Hooteroll?, and Carlos Santana's Santana Brothers, each featuring a different song called "Morning in Marin")—Dig DeeperAuthor and Book:Visit David Perlis at daveperlis.substack.com and listen to Night People on WFMUPurchase Morning in Marin: Zen, Drugs, and Ewoks on the California Coast from Heyday or Bookshop.orgCoverage:The Long Reach of the "Marinaissance" (KQED Forum)A new book uncovers Marin's essential role in the counterculture movement (7x7)Kirkus reviewPeople and Places:Elsa Gidlow and Druid HeightsAlan WattsThe ferryboat VallejoAnna Halprin (Tamalpa Institute)Gary Snyder Papers (UC Davis Library)Lew WelchElizabeth Terwilliger (Marin History Museum)Art Clokey and Gumby DharmaThe WELLThe Three "Morning in Marin" Recordings:Bola Sete, The Kitchen TapesJerry Garcia and Howard Wales, Hooteroll?Carlos Santana, Santana BrothersFrom The Tonearm:Jorma and Vanessa Kaukonen (Spotlight On)Jack Casady (Spotlight On)Grateful Dead, New York, NY, September 20, 1988Grateful Dead, New York, NY, September 13, 1991—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice.Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on trumpeter, composer, and synthesist Mark Isham. He's out now with At the Carousel Club, his first solo album in fifteen years, built around vintage analog synthesizers and a band that includes Nels Cline, Vinnie Colaiuta, and a string quartet.We talk about where the album's title comes from, his history with David Sylvian, and what it was like hearing the finished record on vinyl after sixteen hours of sessions.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Mark Isham's At The Carousel Club)—Dig DeeperArtist and Album:Visit Mark Isham at isham.com and follow on Instagram, YouTube, and FacebookPurchase At the Carousel Club from the Mark Isham store, Bandcamp, or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice.The Band:Nels ClineVinnie ColaiutaKaveh RastegarAyo AwosikaOrchid QuartetWilcoMusical References:Weather Report, I Sing the Body ElectricFriedrich GuldaSonny SharrockBach, Mass in B minorFilm:Never Cry Wolf (1983), directed by Carroll BallardTrumpet Players and Builders:Doc SeverinsenDavid MonetteMaynard FergusonArturo SandovalWynton MarsalisBay Area:Cal TjaderMerl SaundersJon FaddisJohn CoppolaDavid Sylvian:David SylvianBrilliant Trees (1984)Holger CzukayKenny WheelerJon HassellJazz Collaborators:Horace SilverCharles LloydThe Next Generation:Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (Christian Scott)Keyon HarroldTheo CrokerFrom The Tonearm:Nels Cline: Tales of a Daunted Guitarist (The Tonearm Podcast)OK Bloomers — Nels Cline Finds His Happy Place—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.• Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice.• Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn.• Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on famed record producer Bob Ezrin.Bob has worked with artists including Pink Floyd, KISS, Deep Purple, and countless others, though he is best known for his nearly 60-year relationship with Alice Cooper.He's back working with The Jayhawks on their latest, Sanctuary Park, twenty-six years after their first project together.We talk about how the reunion started with an offhand remark from Gary Louris, both men leaving the United States for Canada around the same time, and we talk a lot about the craft of record production.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are The Jayhawks - "What Led Me To This Town" and "Mr. Lincoln," Alice Cooper - "I'm Eighteen," and Tim Curry - "Sloe Gin")—Dig DeeperProducer:Bob Ezrin at Primary Wave, and his Governor General's Performing Arts Award citationEzrin's production credits on AllMusic"It started to feel a bit too much like Europe in the 1930s" — Ezrin on leaving Nashville for Toronto, Toronto Life"My job was to get rid of Alice Cooper, and I did exactly the opposite" — LouderEzrin on the producer's "applause meter" — Performing SongwriterArtist and Album:Visit the Jayhawks at jayhawksofficial.com and follow on Instagram and FacebookPurchase the Jayhawks' Sanctuary Park from Bandcamp or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice.The Jayhawks perform songs from Sanctuary Park in The Current's studio"Mr. Lincoln" and the Ford's Theatre story behind it — AudioFuzzReview of Sanctuary Park — Americana HighwaysGary Louris:Visit Gary Louris at garylourismusic.comGary Louris on his Canadian love story — Rolling StoneThe First Time Around:Smile at twenty — AlbumismSmile credits on DiscogsAn interview with Josh Sarubin, the A&R who first sent Ezrin to Minneapolis — The Looking ListPlaces:Canterbury Music Co., Toronto, where Sanctuary Park was recorded, and the studio's closing announcementMusical References:Alice Cooper at alicecooper.com, and the Killer and School's Out deluxe editionsKiss celebrate fifty years of Destroyer — uDiscover MusicThe Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" and its history — American SongwriterRosalía—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn. • Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on noted reggae author David Katz.His new book, Dub Revolution: Jamaica's Sonic Innovators and the Birth of Remix Culture, traces Jamaican music from its earliest sound systems to the 21st century.We talk about the 1982 San Francisco night that blew David’s mind and opened his ears, the job that paid his way to London, and even the technology and tools the dub greats used.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are Lee “Scratch” Perry - "Dub Revolutions," King Tubby - "King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown," and Scientist - "Scientific" )—Dig DeeperAuthor and Book:Visit David Katz at davidkatzreggae.com and follow Dub Me Always on Instagram and FacebookPurchase Dub Revolution: Jamaica's Sonic Innovators and the Birth of Remix Culture from White Rabbit, Hachette, or BookshopDJ Mag on the book's publicationKatz's production, annotation, and compilation credits on DiscogsThe Architects of Dub:The Strange World Of… King Tubby — The QuietusKing Tubby's first authorised biography — The WireThe life of Lee "Scratch" Perry through the lens of Dennis Morris — DJ MagScientist on Bandcamp, and at length on his methods in Tape OpKing Jammy LegacyU-Roy — Perfect Sound ForeverAugustus Pablo and Rockers InternationalEngineers and Players:Hedley Jones: The Renaissance Man Who Pioneered Jamaican Soundsystem Culture — Red Bull Music Academy DailyHedley Jones obituary — The WireThirteen classics from Philip Smart's HC&F Studio — LargeUpRemembering Joseph Hoo Kim — The Vinyl FactoryRoy Cousins and the RoyalsPeter ChemistStudios and Sound Systems:Ten essential Coxsone Dodd productions — Grammy.comSoul Jazz's Studio One reissue catalogueChannel One StudiosMaxfield Avenue: The Story of Channel One and the Sound That Defined Roots Reggae — Bass CultureStanley Motta, whose downtown Kingston appliance store was selling sound systems by 1939Dub in Britain:The unsung genius of dub innovator Dennis Bovell — The Vinyl Factory; and Dennis Bovell on BandcampDennis Bovell on The TonearmAdrian Sherwood and On-U SoundAdrian Sherwood on The TonearmAriwa Sounds, Mad Professor's south London studioDread Broadcasting CorporationLepke, DBC's founder, remembered — The WireMark LusardiRadio and Discovery:Doug Wendt's Midnight DreadMidnight Dread #13, KTIM-FM San Rafael, March 31, 1980 — the show Katz taped off his bedside clock radioRecords Mentioned:Wailing Souls, Fire House RockJohnny Clarke, "I Don't Want To Be A Rude Boy" — the B side is "Rude Boy Dub"Further Reading:Michael E. Veal, Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican ReggaeIsis Semaj-Hall, the Jamaican academic Katz quotes in his introductionIn Search of the First Dub LP — Red Bull Music Academy Daily—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn. • Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on Ann Arbor krautrock band Fling ii.I sat down with drummer and synthesist Brad Gowland, and guitarist Richard Murphy, to chat about their third album, 3, which is out now on We Are Busy Bodies. It’s six tracks cut down from hours of studio jamming.We talk about Richard's path from ambient guitar to doom metal, Brad finding four minutes inside a fifty-minute take, and how a Magic: The Gathering card - and a commune breakup - inspired the band’s name.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Fling ii’s 3)—Dig DeeperFling ii:Visit Fling ii on Bandcamp, where the full catalog livesPurchase 3 from We Are Busy Bodies, Bandcamp, or Qobuz, and listen on your streaming platform of choice.2 (2024), the record that introduced Dave Van Dusen's pedal steel — BandcampThe self-titled debut (2022), seven tracks from the band's first weekend at Willis Sound — BandcampThe debut's 2024 vinyl reissue on Italy's Black Sweat Records, distributed by Forced ExposureThe Studio and the Label:Willis Sound — the converted church in Willis, Michigan where every Fling ii record has been madeWe Are Busy Bodies, the Toronto label behind 3 — and Exclaim!'s interview with founder Eric Warner on the label's first twenty yearsThe label's roster on BandcampElsewhere in the Band:Sif, Richard Murphy's instrumental doom project, which Brad Gowland produces and programs drums forMusical References:Neu!'s "Hallogallo" — the track Richard played Brad in high school, and the founding reference point for the bandEarth's The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull (Southern Lord, 2008), the ambient half of Brad's original pitch — also on BandcampElder, the stoner-metal band whose turn to unqualified krautrock Richard citesBlood Incantation's Timewave Zero, the synth record Brad keeps returning toWater Damage, the Austin group whose In E the live show came to resembleAmon Düül II, whose split from their parent commune gave the band its nameOsees, whose cover art set the visual templateScenes and Support:R. Solomon, the goth synth-pop act who shared the Ann Arbor billRyan Spencer, the Detroit DJ and producer whose new project closed the showNew Orleans Synth Cult, the collective Richard describes playing laundromats — also on InstagramRead More:RetroFuturista's August 2026 interview with Brad Gowland, on motorik, pedal steel, and recording at Willis SoundFifteen Questions: Fling ii about krautrockElsewhere on The Tonearm:Suzanne Ciani: The Buchla's Orchestral Homecoming — the episode Brad name-checks at the close, and its companion article, Speaking the Word of the Buchla—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn. • Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.