There are different ways to unpack this playlist. One of them is looking at it as a travelogue that will take us to that music incubator that Chicago continues to be; to a scene deserving wider recognition like that of Washington D.C.; to Brazil, France and Italy. And it all starts from Free Form Funk Freqs' 3rd Galaxy.

The painstaking job of unearthing subtle nuances which were lost in earlier mixes of five of his albums is at the heart of the remastering labor of love that Ben Allison [pictured] has embarked on during the pandemic. During the first part of our show we focus on listening with new ears to some of our old favorites from those album. Then we turn to other musicians that strive to discover new angles and perspectives about old tunes, or to examine how sound, textures, and silence, also play a key role in the process of discovering compelling harmonies and melodies.

A playlist built around the work of impressive emerging saxophonists (Lakecia Benjamin, Xhosa Cole, Jason Marshall, and Alex Hitchcock), and guitarists (Ant Law and David Doruzka). Together with a tribute to Kurt Vonnegut, the reissue of an Acid Jazz classic, and much more, this is an hour of music that should keep you happy and speculative.

Sun Ra may have joined the outer spaceways almost 30 years ago but he continues to inspire our earthly affairs through the musicians that have worked with him. We explore recent releases of the Arkestra and of bassist Tyler Mitchell, both of which revolve around the contribution of Marshall Allen. The other cluster of tracks is centered around the interlinkages among three musicians that have collaborated for a long time Brian Blade, Jon Cowherd, Chris Potter. In between, Santi Debriano with his own Arkestra Bembe.

An intriguing set of music featuring Americana in its Unitedstatesean and British declinations, three variations on the concept of jazz for large ensembles, John Zorn's take on existentialism, psychoanalysis, and the uncertainty principle, Chad Taylor's interpretation of Andrew Hill's music, and Nelide Bandello's nod to the world of Tim Berne.

Precious archival recordings featuring unheard music by Charles Stepney, Donald Byrd and Miles Davis open this edition of Mondo Jazz featuring new and upcoming albums. The playlist is completed by the epic live album by Jeff Parker "Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy", and the intriguing work of young European players.

The first edition of Mondo Jazz of the new year! Judging by how the year started, it should not be difficult… we open with Jason Moran's latest fascinating project, released just hours after the new year started, dedicated to James Reese Europe. After that many recent compelling releases, from Thandi Ntuli [pictured] to Frank Zappa (newly published archival material from the legendary "Waka Jawaka" and "Grand Wazoo" sessions).

One of the things that characterizes the New York jazz ecosystem at this time of the year is the celebrated Winter JazzFest. This year it’s back with in-person performances, and as it was our pre-pandemic tradition, we’d like to preview music by artists who are coming to New York from Europe or other parts of the country to perform at the Festival.

As this is our last show in 2022, our playlist focus on the songs we’ve loved the most in the last six months of what was an incredibly prolific year for jazz. Here's to a new year that hopefully will bring us much great music as 2022 did!

Twelve months have gone by so fast, and so much has happened... At the beginning of the year we were still under various degrees of lockdown or social distancing, now we have a war, weather patterns and a financial situation that are crazier than ever, etc. One positive thread through these months, however, has been the relentless pace at which creative musicians have brought us album after album of gorgeous music, which confirmed once more that musicians may be the last social group that can still be trusted!

Welcome to the second half of the jazz re-match between Argentina and France that we are hosting this week, inspired by the recent World Cup finals. It is a fantasy game in which the rules are a bit different with the two teams playing jazz, not football, together, rather than against each other.

The funk of The Bamboos' ambitious symphonic project and The Headhunters' half-a-century pre-celebration together with Sana Nagano's pandemic soundscape bookend an episode showcasing the wide-ranging work by, and collaboration among, Dave Liebman, Adam Rudolph and Tyshawn Sorey.

This week's edition revolves around tributes to composers, singers, songwriters, cities and... earworms! And a fascinating project by Brooklyn-based Dutch singer Vivienne Aerts celebrating jazz women and female pioneers of the cacao trade

Bands of great improvisational genius, two takes on early-Bill Frisell compositions, an album revisiting the legacy of First House, two productions by the David Breskin--Ron St. Germain dream team, and much more in this edition of Mondo Jazz.

As we are quickly approaching the end of the year, here is another edition focusing on new and upcoming albums featuring some the records will inevitably end on many best of the year lists.

The spirit of the masters, the roots of each music tradition, are like ghosts that accompany a musician’s creative process, with more or less awareness based on the musician’s disposition, a premise directly explored by Michael Wollny in his latest album, and indirectly explored by every other musician featured on this show, which spotlights Annette Peacock, both a musician ahead of her times and a muse to many.

Tributes to Abdul Wadud, Paul Motian, Albert Mangelsdorff and Johnny Hodges, the power of post-production, the music meditations of Surya Botofasina and more, in this wide-ranging edition of Mondo Jazz.

Tons of new releases ahoy... We feature some that bring unbridled energy, with a focus on South Korean and North European artists, and a tribute to the French master of humor, erotism, subversion and wordplay, Serge Gainsbourg.

Plato, Mingus and Seinfeld? What could they possibly have in common? Not much; or a lot…; depending on the plasticity of your mind. You'll get the answer if you listen to this edition of Mondo Jazz, digging forward and back with a precious new compilation showcasing the Detroit Artists Workshop.

This week a catchy and eclectic playlist, which straddles across many stylistic lines and influences, opens in the spirit of Zappa and ends with Zappa himself and yet another gem recently uneearthed from his bottomless vault.

In this set we focus on Hammond jazz, brass-heavy projects, North-European bands and a series of albums that have John Patitucci, Brian Blade, Wayne Shorter and Terri Lyne Carrington as common threads.

We start here with a batch of genre-defying projects focusing in particular on adventurous vocalists that blend acoustic and electronic music, or that bring different music cultures together. We end with two invigorating projects that bring together improvisation and hard hitting experimentation.

Inspired by Leo Sidran's latest single, "There Was a Fire", this week we look into various threads of memory--making (or memory--keeping) that can be found in projects that bring together various cultulal traditions (West-African or Cuban, Mitteleuropean or Japanese), bring new light to old repertoires, pay tribute to earlier composers or music-genres.