Avant-Garde

Drummer and composer Bobby Previte. His music has been described as "... a blend of Charles Mingus' bluesy hoedowns and Steve Reich's trancelike minimalism." Previte began as a rock drummer and now composes in a wide variety of genres, from choral works and string quartets to film score and jazz. His new album is titled "Pushing the Envelope."

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "It Just So Happens," the new album by trombonist Ray Anderson, whose style draws on the technique of the old New Orleans jazzmen.

Performance artist Meredith Monk. Her interdisciplinary art fuses elements of dance, film, theater and music. Her new collection of songs combines half-sounds like shrieks, sobs and moans into a unified and startling whole.

Moe Tucker, drummer for The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed's band that won cult status in the mid-70s.

Jazz Critic Kevin Whitehead reviews "Shades," the new album by pianist Andrew Hill.

Dave Harrington, founder of first violinist of the Kronos Quartet, the avant-garde chamber group that's meeting with mainstream success.

Jazz Critic Francis Davis will review "Birth of a Notion," the first album by Shadow Vignettes, a 25-member ensemble, led by Chicago-based saxophonist and composer Edward Wilkerson.

Adams is often associated with other minimalist composers like Philip Glass and Steve Reich. His new album, The Chairman Dances, features parts of his new opera-in-progress called Nixon in China.

Composer Steve Reich, one of the fathers of minimalist music, discusses the cross-cultural influences on his work from African drumming to Jewish cantorial singing. His latest composition is "Desert Music" which features the poems of William Carlos Williams.

Composer Steve Reich is known as a prominent "minimalist." Reich joins the show to discuss that term, his own career and influences, and whether he is the "safe" avant-garde composer.

John Cage is an avant-garde musician known for his "chance compositions," which use "found" sounds. His music mixes Eastern philosophy with Western high-technology and eschews principles of harmony and melody. Cage is still a radical at 73.

Jazz pianist and composer McCoy Tyner grew up in West Philadelphia. In his early career, he worked as John Coltrane's pianist and recorded over twenty albums with the legend. Tyner has been recording on his own since 1965, and his influence is clear in the style of younger players. Tyner will perform and attend a concert in his honor at the upcoming Cool Jazz Festival.

Philadelphian Rashied Ali is a drummer known for his involvement with "free jazz" and other avant-garde jazz. Ali also played for John Coltrane. Ali joins the show to discuss his life and career.

Charlie Haden is one of the foremost bass players in contemporary jazz. In the 1950s Haden was a part of the first Ornette Coleman Quartet, which was the center of a jazz revolution. He has been involved with both avant-garde and mainstream jazz ever since. In the 1960s he formed the Liberation Music Orchestra, whose pointed political references were controversial. Haden has recently re-formed the Orchestra and also plays with the band Old and New Dreams, made-up of Coleman alumni. He has also recently recorded an album with Denny Zeitlin.

Pianist and composer Philip Glass is known for his avant-garde "minimalist" music. Glass was trained classically at Juliard and in Paris. Glass discusses his album "Music With Changing Parts."

Drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson has worked with jazz legends such as Cecil Taylor, Albert Ayler, and Ornette Coleman during his Harmolodics period. Jackson's new album is "Man Dance."

John Cage is an avant-garde musician known for his "chance compositions," which use "found" sounds. His music mixes Eastern philosophy with Western high-technology. Cage is also an expert on mushrooms. In celebration of his birthday, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is putting on an exhibition of his scores, "John Cage: Scores & Prints." Cage joins the show to discuss his art and philosophy.

Oliver Lake is a jazz and funk saxophonist and composer. He is in town to play a concert with his newest band Jump. Lake joins the show to discuss his career and audience, the music industry, and what it means to be considered an avant-garde musician. (Interview by Danny Miller)

Minimalist composer Steve Reich explains his approach to writing music.

Sun Ra is the leader of the Spirit of Jazz Cosmos Arkestra. The band played a live concert at the WHYY studios as part of a five part radio program, "All That Jazz," hosted by Ann Mint and produced by Mint and Jack McGann. The members of the band are: Sun Ra, Walter Miller, Byard Lancaster, Luqman Ali, Marshall Allen, Stanley Morgan, Michael Ray, Danny Davis, Elo Omoe, Danny Thompson, Ricky Joyce, "Jac" Jacson, Cheryl Banks, and June Tyson.