Since January 2005, Music From Other Minds has presented new and unusual music by innovative composers and performers from around the world. Produced weekly for KALW 91.7 FM San Francisco by Charles Amirkhanian and the Other Minds staff, and aired at 8pm every Sunday, Music From Other Minds aims to open up radio listeners to experimental classical work by living and recent composers. We bring you the latest in contemporary music from around the world, and some glimpses into the past, to give a context for today’s music.
Follow this link for information and track listings from programs prior to program 501.
Follow this link for a complete list of works played on MfOM up to program 660
Next: Program 675
Stirred, Not Shaken - Jazz Hybrids
KALW Broadcast: November 21, 2021
Host: Mark Abramson
Host: Mark Abramson
This program presents a few recent recordings that give us some examples of jazz hybrids, combinations of jazz and other musical genres. The centerpiece of this program is an extended improvised jam featuring German free jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, master Moroccan Gnawa musician, singer and guembri player Maâlem Moukhtar Gania, and highly regarded American drummer Hamid Drake. We’ll also hear work from pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and guitarist Mary Halvorson, from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and saxophonist Henry Threadgill, from composer and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, from the edgy free jazz ensemble, Irreversible Entanglements and from Sarathy Korwar and the Upaj Collective.
Previous Programs
Program 674: From the OM Archive - Amirkhanian and Cage in Conversation
On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb plays an archival recording of Charles Amirkhanian’s Ode to Gravity: The Music of John Cage, originally broadcast on NPR stations worldwide on December 12, 1987.
In this program, you’ll hear Amirkhanian’s on-stage interview with Cage at the San Francisco Exploratorium, various works by the composer spanning early to late, and learn about the background of this legendary theorist, artist, and philosopher.
Program 673: From the OM Archive - Amirkhanian and Nancarrow in Conversation
On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb plays an archival recording of Charles Amirkhanian’s Ode to Gravity: The Music of Conlon Nancarrow. Originally broadcast on NPR stations worldwide in April of 1987, this program includes interviews with the composer in his studio in Mexico City conducted by Amirkhanian in 1977, some of the composer’s Studies for Player Piano also recorded on that trip, and a recording of his String Quartet (1942) performed here by the Kronos Quartet.
Click here to listen to the full program.
Program 672: OM Festival 25, Preview 2
This program gives a preview of the artists performing on nights three and four of the 25th Other Minds Festival. Subtitled “Moment’s Notice,” a celebration of the art of musical improvisation. We’ll present work tonight by saxophonist Darius Jones, and the improv duo of Larry Ochs on sax and drummer Donald Robinson. We’ll play work by jazz master Roscoe Mitchell, bassist Junius Paul, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, and guitarists Mary Halvorson and Elliott Sharp. And we’ll end the program with work by James Fei and Anthony Braxton.
Program 671: New Music for Gamelan
On the next Music from Other Minds, Modern works for gamelan including works by Balinese composers Dewa Putu Berata and I Made Arnawa, Americans Bill Alves and John Cage, and Tokyo-based sound artist Sawako.
Program 670: Other Minds Rewind
On this Music from Other Minds, Liam Herb played recordings of Other Minds Festival 25 artists at past festivals.
Tune in for Myra Melford‘s rip-roaring solo piano work Life Carries Me This Way from OM 19, Tyshawn Sorey, Ikue Mori, and Ken Ueno‘s trio performance from OM 17, William Parker‘s composition Spirit Catcher from OM 9, and an excerpt of Jason Moran‘s Slang which featured Mary Halverson on guitar.
Program 669: OM Festival 25, Preview 1
This time on Music From Other Minds, we’re giving our listeners a preview of all of the artists performing on nights one and two of the 25th Other Minds Festival. Subtitled “Moment’s Notice,” after the tune by John Coltrane, the festival is a celebration of the art of musical improvisation. We’ll present work by Myra Melford, Mark Dresser, Ikue Mori, Zeena Parkins, William Winant, Jen Shyu, Ben Goldberg, Liberty Ellman, Gerald Cleaver, and William Parker, including a song that features drummer Hamid Drake. We’ll also play a new pre-release track from drummer Tyshawn Sorey and DJ, producer and electronic musician King Britt.
Program 668: Unseen Rain, Vocal Music of Richard Felciano & Robert Kyr
On the next Music from Other Minds: Unseen Rain, Vocal Works of Richard Felciano and Robert Kyr.
Program 667: Leo Ornstein at 100
On this Music from Other Minds, an archival rebroadcast of Charles Amirkhanian’s 1992 celebration of the 100th birthday of Leo Ornstein. Severo Ornstein, the son of the composer, is in the studio with Amirkhanian to provide commentary, while Leo Ornstein and another near centenarian, Nicolas Slonimsky, are interviewed by phone. The discussion centers on Ornstein’s early history as a wunderkind pianist in the 1910s, and his enormous output of music over nine decades of composing. Slonimsky details a recent revival of Ornstein’s music in his native Russia and Severo talks of his efforts to get Ornstein’s music back into print.
Program 666: Music from Holland
On the next Music from Other Minds, Randall Wong plays works by Dutch Iconoclasts, Louis Andriessen and Willem Breuker.
Program 665: Saying It With Jazz
Examples of artists using the spoken word, chanting, and samples of recorded voice to make their points. Some of what they’re trying to communicate is personal. Some of it is overtly political. Either way, it illustrates the intention of the music they make. With examples from Brooklyn-based trumpeter and composer Jamie Branch and Chicago-based musician and artist Damon Locks. We’ll hear a classic work from 1973 by Sun Ra, and a couple from 2021 by the Sons of Kemet. And we’ll hear improvisations by elder statesman Wadada Leo Smith and the young UK-based drummer Sarathy Korwar.
