Hear musical signposts from New Sounds – both surprise discoveries and lasting impressions - as host John Schaefer looks back on 5000 numbered shows. There’s the melody in the sounds of speech by the late Scott Johnson; overtone singing from David Hykes; Afrofuturist Folk by Jake Blount; the first Bang on a Can Marathon – and a performance by the late bass virtuoso Robert Black; Ethiojazz from Mahmoud Ahmed, and the post-rock chamber group Rachel’s.

There's work by David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir, who performed at the very first New Sounds Live back in September of 1986 at Merkin Hall. Listen to the multiple pitches produced in the throat which sound almost like whistling, as the group performed some of the groundbreaking Hearing Solar Winds. Then, from the late Scott Johnson, listen to the playful "John Somebody" (1980-82) for electric guitar, woodwinds, percussion, and tape. The New York-based composer helped originate the "speech-melody" technique, by taking bits of recorded speech and approximating them with musical notes, creating melody from the rise and fall in pitch of casual conversation. Also, those looped samples- "You know who's in New York? Remember that guy, J—John somebody? He was a… he was sort of a…" - were actually hand-cut & spliced by the composer, fashioning loops from the analog tape. [Contrary to local legend, “John Somebody,” an early “hit” on New Sounds, is actually not about host John Schaefer.]

Also, listen to Ethiopian singer Mahmoud Ahmed and the Éthiopiques reissue of Erè Mèla Mèla, “one of the last treasures of what must be termed the "golden age" of modern Ethiopian music” (Soundohm). There’s music from the FIRST Bang on a Can Marathon in 1987, and the collective’s free-wheeling approach that mixes downtown and uptown, and a little rockenroll. Hear the late virtuoso bassist Robert Black play Tom Johnson’s “Failing, a very difficult piece for solo string bass”. Plus, listen to some of “Translucence”, a “bleak but beautiful” song cycle by Donna McKevitt based on poems from Derek Jarman’s book Modern Nature, (Schaefer, 2011.) 

Hear music from Jake Blount, and his post-apocalyptic Afrofuturist folklore; the post-rock,chamber ensemble Rachel’s from a 2006 New Sounds Live; and music from three-time Grammy-winning Beninese diva, Angélique Kidjo, in collaboration with Kronos Quartet. All that, and more. - Caryn Havlik

Program #5000, Musical Signposts:  A Look Back and Ahead (First aired 4/22/2025)

ARTIST: David Hykes & the Harmonic Choir
WORK: Hearing Solar Winds, excerpt [1:01]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live at Merkin Hall, 9/14/1986
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: Recording originally released on Ocora, and is available via Amazon & Spotify. 

ARTIST: Scott Johnson
WORK: John Somebody, Pt 1 [5:19]
RECORDING: John Somebody
SOURCE: Tzadik 8009 tzadik.com 
INFO: (original 1986 release: Nonesuch/Icon Records)

ARTIST: Mahmoud Ahmed
WORK: Ere Mela Mela [4:34]
RECORDING: Ethiopiques 7: Mahmoud Ahmed - Ere Mela Mela
SOURCE: Buda Musique #82980
INFO: budamusique.com

ARTIST: David Hykes & the Harmonic Choir
WORK: Hearing Solar Winds, excerpt [2:33]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live at Merkin Hall, 9/14/1986
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: Recording originally released on Ocora, and is available via Amazon & Spotify. 

ARTIST:  Robert Black
WORK: Tom Johnson: Failing, a very difficult piece for solo string bass [8:34] 
RECORDING: Bang on a Can Marathon, 1987
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: The work is available on CRI 628, which is out of print | discogs.com/release/22914395-Bang-On-A-Can-Live-Volume-1

ARTIST: Rachel's
WORK: Tea Merchants [3:53]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live at Merkin Hall, 5/26/2006
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: The piece appears on The Sea and the Bells https://rachels.bandcamp.com/track/tea-merchants

ARTIST: Donna McKevitt
WORK: i walk in this garden [3:59]
RECORDING: Translucence
SOURCE: Teldec #22500 
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Amazon.com, YouTube, or Spotify

ARTIST: Angélique Kidjo, with Kronos Quartet
WORK: Ebile [3:02]
RECORDING: Eve
SOURCE: Savoy
INFO: https://www.kidjo.com/discography/eve

ARTIST: Jake Blount
WORK: Didn't It Rain [2:14]
RECORDING: The New Faith
SOURCE: Smithsonian Folkways
INFO: https://jakeblountmusic.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-faith