Even though the Armenian composer, mystic, and philosopher G.I. Gurdjieff died in 1949, his legacy lives on. For this edition of New Sounds from May 29, 1986, John Schaefer assembled a collage of G. I. Gurdjieff’s music and the effects of his musical influence. Together with his disciple, the Russian composer Thomas deHartmann, Gurdjieff created several cycles of piano works. Hear some of these sophisticated piano compositions performed by Keith Jarrett, Alain Kremski, Herbert Henck, along with deHartmann’s performances on private tape. Also, listen to works inspired by this well-traveled guru, as in new music by composers Robert Fripp, David Hykes, and again Keith Jarrett. View the Playlist

Program No. 73

The incredibly gifted and astonishingly original guitarist Michael Hedges left the planet much too soon in 1997. Avant-folk and ever-entertaining, Hedges made brilliant music with alternate tunings, harmonics and was known for striking the guitar’s body and strings with his fingers, palms and knuckles. His close friend and sometime collaborator, electric bass virtuoso Michael Manring, was a genre-bender, before music writers ever discovered that hyphenated term. He started out in the New Age bins, but moved all over with various projects, including the very first New Age-death-metal-jazz-funk-fusion record, among other things, with his “hyperbass”, (a fretless instrument which makes re-tuning mid-piece a little easier). On this October 10, 1987 edition of New Sounds, the two artists visited and played at the WNYC performance studios. View the Playlist.

Program No. 335

For this August 3, 1989 edition of New Sounds, Peter Gabriel visited the WNYC studios. The show centers around the decidely un-pop ventures of Peter Gabriel, mainly his soundtrack to the film The Last Temptation of Christ - “Passion” and the companion record “Passion: Sources,” music taken from an interesting collection of musicians from other cultures and released on the Real World label. Also, he and John touch on the music and the concept of the WOMAD (World of Music Arts and Dance) festival, which began in 1982. Together, WOMAD and Gabriel co-founded Real World Records in 1989, producing high-quality recorded music from all corners of the globe. View the Playlist.

Program No. 399

New Sounds offers this November 29, 1989 program to a listener who was looking for the music whose “drum part is a marching band like progression above which a trumpet ensemble is playing a minimalist, repetitive, down to the bone melody.” So, John Schaefer knew that the listener wanted “Waterloo, #2,” by Rhys Chatham, which is part of this early program of new music for big bands, mostly brass ensembles. Hear everything from Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, to music from those New Orleans folks the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, along with music by David Byrne inspired by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. There are also a couple of monkey-march-like works from A. Leroy, and the requested Rhys Chatham. View the Playlist.

Program No. 665

The legendary guitarist, composer, and founder of Takoma Records, John Fahey, visited the studio for this May 9, 1991 episode of New Sounds. The late Fahey regales us with tales of psychoanalysis and repressed memories, along with the story of how Takoma Records was started in a basement, and its subsequent demise. Also, why Fahey hates the word “mellow.” Plus, listen to the Looney-Tunes guitar noises, Bartok-inspired folk influences, and finger-picking signature sounds of Fahey’s playing live in the performance studio. View the Playlist.

Dapper John: The host in the early days of New Sounds.