Deep Focus

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 Reid. Our hearts are heavy, but spirits will be flying. Please join us. Tune in this Monday (7/6) from 6pm to 9pm NYC time on WKCR 89.9FM, WKCR-HD or wkcr.org. Or join us when it goes up on the Deep Focus podcast on your favorite podcasting app or at...

This episode of Deep Focus does not have a spoken introduction. It starts immediately after the previous episode ends. 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 part of her husband's last working band, but after his death, and for the next 40 years, her music became suffused with her...

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 part of her husband's last working band, but after his death, and for the next 40 years, her music became suffused with her spiritual practice and mystical experiences. Her conviction was so thorough that some listeners found it alienating, but...

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 part of her husband's last working band, but after his death, and for the next 40 years, her music became suffused with her spiritual practice and mystical experiences. Her conviction was so thorough that some listeners found it alienating, but...

When they go deep, we go deeper. We have been thinking about Miles Davis in anticipation of his centennial (May 26). How about we explore a dark corner of his vast touring history, his so-called "Lost Quintet"? We have so many questions about it, but who to ask? How about the guy who literally wrote the book on the subject? On this week's Deep Focus, host Mitch Goldman welcomes...

When they go deep, we go deeper. We have been thinking about Miles Davis in anticipation of his centennial (May 26). How about we explore a dark corner of his vast touring history, his so-called "Lost Quintet"? We have so many questions about it, but who to ask? How about the guy who literally wrote the book on the subject? On this week's Deep Focus, host Mitch Goldman welcomes...

When they go deep, we go deeper. We have been thinking about Miles Davis in anticipation of his centennial (May 26). How about we explore a dark corner of his vast touring history, his so-called "Lost Quintet"? We have so many questions about it, but who to ask? How about the guy who literally wrote the book on the subject? On this week's Deep Focus, host Mitch Goldman welcomes...

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. It's hard to imagine a time when Fela would have been considered an obscure musician from a largely unknown continent. But that was very much the case in the seventies when bassist Melvin Gibbs heard his music blasting out of a record store on...

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. It's hard to imagine a time when Fela would have been considered an obscure musician from a largely unknown continent. But that was very much the case in the seventies when bassist Melvin Gibbs heard his music blasting out of a record store on...

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. It's hard to imagine a time when Fela would have been considered an obscure musician from a largely unknown continent. But that was very much the case in the seventies when bassist Melvin Gibbs heard his music blasting out of a record store on...