Latest from The Tonearm:
A Monument in Plain Sight: Charles Joseph Smith’s Chicago
Dr. Charles Joseph Smith has been one of Chicago’s most recognized faces and least-known composers—a paradox that Sooper Records’ reissue ‘Collected Works and the War of the Martian Ghosts’ is now, belatedly, beginning to resolve.
khagan aslanov
Speedy J’s Mixtape Manifesto | The Tonearm
With ‘Walkman,’ his first solo album in over twenty years, Speedy J makes the case for focused, uninterrupted listening in an era engineered to prevent it.
Mykadelica
Maria Schneider and the Sound of Not Listening
Schneider discusses ‘American Crow,’ the Rolf Schock Prize, her collaboration with David Bowie, and her conviction that the jazz ensemble’s practice of listening without a fixed agenda remains democracy’s most accurate blueprint.
Lawrence Peryer
‘Power to Consume’ and Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Afterlife
From Suicide’s Martin Rev to Merzbow, Shaun Cohen’s ‘Power to Consume’ series traces the long, crooked line between Lou Reed’s ‘Metal Machine Music’ and the noise artists it inspired.
Jon Buckland
Tom Skinner’s Silhouette Music | The Tonearm
The drummer behind Sons of Kemet and The Smile brought his acoustic ensemble to Big Ears, where he discussed ‘Kaleidoscopic Visions,’ the intentional instrumentation that gives it depth, and the community that makes his music possible.
Jonah Evans
Latest from The Tonearm Podcast:
Nick Fraser on Areas, Improv, and Toronto Jazz
Toronto drummer Nick Fraser talks about his atmospheric trio album Areas, long-term collaboration with Kris Davis and Tony Malaby, and Canadian creative music.
Maria Schneider on Jazz, Democracy, and American Crow
Composer Maria Schneider on her EP American Crow, jazz as democratic practice, the 2026 Rolf Schock Prize, and decades of music advocacy on The Tonearm.
Caroline Davis: Fallows, Prepared Saxophone & Advocacy
Saxophonist Caroline Davis discusses Fallows, her debut solo album recorded in Wyoming, prepared saxophone, the Organelle, and her work as a prison abolitionist.
Miho Hazama on Frames, Jim McNeely, and Big Band Jazz
Composer and conductor Miho Hazama discusses her new album Frames, studying with Jim McNeely, and leading the Danish Radio Big Band.
Tomeka Reid: Cello, Family, and the Avant-Garde
Cellist and composer Tomeka Reid discusses dance! skip! hop!, twelve years with her quartet, Wyoming family history, and the Chicago Jazz String Summit.
