2025.11.24 Henry Threadgill on Ahmad Jamal - 1 of 3

2025.11.24 Henry Threadgill on Ahmad Jamal - 1 of 3

Author: Small Media Large December 21, 2025 Duration: 1:02:02
Listen to Henry Threadgill's music.  What a phantasmagoria of splendors and esoterica must animate his mind!  Don't you just want to go to that place?  Maybe for a night out on the town?  Or a picnic in The Secret Garden?  Aren't you curious about where his inspiration comes from?  You could read his autobiography, Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music (in fact, we recommend you do), but why don't you spend some time with Henry, listening to music that he loves?     This Monday (11/24), for Mitch Goldman's Deep Focus, Henry Threadgill has chosen the music of Ahmad Jamal.  Can Mitch find live, unreleased recordings of Ahmad Jamal in the WKCR archives that even his greatest fans have never heard?  He hasn't failed us yet, but this one's a tall order.     Find out Monday from 6p to 9p 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 https://mitchgoldman.podbean.com/.  Subscribe right now to get notifications when new episodes are posted.  Just like WKCR, it's ad-free, all free, totally non-commercial.  We won't even ask for your contact info.  Learn more about Deep Focus at https://mitchgoldman.com/about-deep-focus/ or join us onInstagram @deep_focus_podcast.  Photo credit: Henry Threadgill - photo by Alan Nahigian. Courtesy of Pi Recordings. #WKCR #DeepFocus #AhmadJamal #HenryThreadgill #JazzRadio #JazzPodcast #JazzInterview #MitchGoldman   Deep Focus is a production of Small Media Large. 

Mitch Goldman, from Small Media Large, sits down with a different working musician each week for Deep Focus. The premise is beautifully simple yet endlessly revealing: together, they dive into rare archival recordings-bootlegs, demo tapes, lost studio sessions-of an artist the guest deeply admires. This isn't a standard interview format. Instead, you're listening in on a shared, intimate listening session between two knowledgeable fans. The conversation flows from technical dissection of a guitar tone to personal stories about how a particular live bootleg soundtracked a pivotal life moment. You'll hear the crackle of a vintage tape as Mitch and his guest pause, rewind, and marvel at a forgotten vocal take or an experimental arrangement that never made the official album. This podcast lives in the spaces between the famous tracks, uncovering the raw, unpolished moments that often reveal an artist's true process and passion. It’s for anyone who believes the magic isn't just in the finished product, but in the journey of how it got there. Each episode of Deep Focus feels like being invited into a private club where the sole entry fee is a genuine love for music's hidden corners.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Deep Focus
Podcast Episodes
2025.09.29 Vernon Reid on James Blood Ulmer - 1 of 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:37
What is the great lesson of a James Blood Ulmer for fellow guitarist/composer/bandleader Vernon Reid? Find out this Monday (9/29) when Vernon Reid and host Mitch Goldman plunge into the WKCR archives in search of rare, l…
2025.09.01 Ben Tyree on Spectrum Road - 3 of 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:11
Who came up with the idea that the middle of the road is the right place to be? Regular listeners to Mitch Goldman's Deep Focus know that it's those shadowy corners, those Edge Cities, where new things start to happen. A…
2025.09.01 Ben Tyree on Spectrum road - 2 of 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:29
Who came up with the idea that the middle of the road is the right place to be? Regular listeners to Mitch Goldman's Deep Focus know that it's those shadowy corners, those Edge Cities, where new things start to happen. A…
2025.09.01 Ben Tyree on Spectrum road -  1 of 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:31
Who came up with the idea that the middle of the road is the right place to be? Regular listeners to Mitch Goldman's Deep Focus know that it's those shadowy corners, those Edge Cities, where new things start to happen. A…
2025.08.18 Bob Dee on Jef Lee Johnson - 3 of 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:12
How is it possible that you have never heard guitarist Jef Lee Johnson? He was as incendiary and as nakedly original as any soloist you have ever heard (absolutely any!). But his greater distinction might have been his s…
2025.08.18 Bob Dee on Jef Lee Johnson - 2 of 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:39
How is it possible that you have never heard guitarist Jef Lee Johnson? He was as incendiary and as nakedly original as any soloist you have ever heard (absolutely any!). But his greater distinction might have been his s…
2025.08.18 Bob Dee on Jef Lee Johnson - 1 of 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:25
How is it possible that you have never heard guitarist Jef Lee Johnson? He was as incendiary and as nakedly original as any soloist you have ever heard (absolutely any!). But his greater distinction might have been his s…
2015.08.03 Eric Person on Ornette Coleman - 3 of 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:51
Ornette Coleman, one of our brightest lights, died in June of 2015. Here is a Deep Focus from August of that year, with Eric Person as my guest, remembering Ornette. This show features a beautiful live recording from 197…
2015.08.03 Eric Person on Ornette Coleman - 2 of 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:16:02
Ornette Coleman, one of our brightest lights, died in June of 2015. Here is a Deep Focus from August of that year, with Eric Person as my guest, remembering Ornette. This show features a beautiful live recording from 197…
2015.08.03 Eric Person on Ornette Coleman - 1 of 3 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:34
Ornette Coleman, one of our brightest lights, died in June of 2015. Here is a Deep Focus from August of that year with Eric Person as my guest, remembering Ornette. This show features a beautiful live recording from 1978…