Best of the Soundcheck Podcast 2021

For most of the year, the Soundcheck Podcast was remote, but we found some bright spots from this off-again-on-again year of live performances. Listen to the highlights for this year which include the Amsterdam-based Turkish psych band Altin Gün, London pianist and soundscape artist Neil Cowley, composer/vocalist/pianist Samora Pinderhughes’ art/protest songs, and Guatemalan cellist Mabe Fratti. Plus, singer and guitarist Torres and her band, live from The Greene Space.

Also, listen to London’s Afrofuturist jazz masters Sons of Kemet, New York-based poet, composer, and stutterer JJJJJerome Ellis, and the custom baritone guitar of South African Guy Buttery. AND you must see and hear the prepared guitar of Sardinian composer, ethnomusicologist, and instrument builder Paolo Angeli, who filmed a beautiful remote session on the shores of Sardinia. Grammy-winning diva Angélique Kidjo brings a super-charged performance to The Greene Space and puts an exclamation point on 2021. 

Watch the Best of 2021 performances for the Soundcheck Podcast:

Program #4575, Best of Soundcheck Podcast 2021 (First aired 12/31/2021)

ARTIST: Torres
WORK: Thirstier [1:00]
RECORDING: Live from The Greene Space for the Soundcheck Podcast, Nov. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. 
INFO: A version appears on the 2021 record, Thirstier

ARTIST: Altin Gün
WORK: Ordunun Dereleri [2:50]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, Feb. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. 
INFO: A version appears on the 2021 record, Yol (Road)

ARTIST: Neil Cowley
WORK: String Think [5:12]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, April 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. 
INFO: A version appears on the 2020 record, Building BLocks, Pt. 1

ARTIST: Samora Pinderhughes
WORK: Stare Straight Ahead [4:09]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, June 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. 
INFO: Samora Pinderhughes' recordings are available at his Bandcamp.

ARTIST: Mabe Fratti
WORK: Nadie Sabe [5:35]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, July 2021
SOURCE:  This performance not commercially available. 
INFO: Appears on Mabe Fratti's record Será Que Ahora Podremos Entendernos?

ARTIST: Torres
WORK: Thirstier [4:13]
RECORDING: Live from The Greene Space for the Soundcheck Podcast, Nov. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. 
INFO: A version appears on the 2021 record, Thirstier

ARTIST: Sons of Kemet
WORK: Hustle  [5:10]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, July 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. 
INFO: A version appears on their 2021 record, Black to the Future

ARTIST: JJJJJerome Ellis
WORK: Bend Back The Bow & Let The Hymn Fly [3:17]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, Nov. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. 
INFO: A version appears on Ellis' 2021 record, The Clearing

ARTIST: Paolo Angeli
WORK: JAR'A Suite, excerpt  [3:24]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, Nov. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. 
INFO: A version appears on Angeli's 2021 record, Jar'a

ARTIST: Guy Buttery
WORK: Kya Baat [4:03]
RECORDING: Recorded for the Soundcheck Podcast, Oct. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. 
INFO: A version appears on Buttery's 2021 record, One Morning In Gurgaon

ARTIST: Angélique Kidjo
WORK: Mother Nature [3:42]
RECORDING: Live from The Greene Space for the Soundcheck Podcast, Oct. 2021
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available. 
INFO: A version appears on Kidjo's 2021 record, Mother Nature