The Late Set

In the hands of Béla Fleck, a banjo is a skeleton key, capable of unlocking almost any musical door. For this episode, he joins us in the banjo parlor at Vintage Instruments to talk musical legacies, personal histories, and how his perspective has changed (and how it hasn’t) over the course of a nearly five-decade career.

Every jazz musician strives to establish a voice. Some go further — creating a language all their own.
Mark Turner is one of those artists: a tenor saxophonist with a vocabulary and syntax so personal that he’s recognizable within a single phrase.




Now 60, Turner stands as a modern master — an artist whose influence on the jazz tradition can hardly be overstated.




In this episode, we’re thrilled to talk with Turner about his new ECM quartet album,
Patternmaster, along with some of the speculative fiction — and actual music — that inspired it.




We also touch on his creative habits, the shifting parameters of the jazz tradition,
and the way he and his peers have left their mark (no pun intended) on the creative landscape.



Chapters


00:00 — Intro

06:57 — Interview with Mark Turner

40:05 — “This I Dig”




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Tonight at 8 p.m., WRTI will air the latest episode of The Late Set Radio Hour featuring harpist, composer and bandleader Brandee Younger.


To get you ready for the broadcast, we’re (re)sharing our original May 2025 podcast interview with Brandee, taped live before a sold-out Solar Myth show presented by Ars Nova Workshop.


The broadcast features music spanning her 2025 release Gadabout Season and her re-imagining of Dorothy Ashby’s work on Brand New Life. Younger reflects on using the studio as a creative tool and embracing the harp’s full expressive range — from glissandos to groove.


Host Nicole Sweeney guides us through Brandee’s profound connection to Alice Coltrane, including performing on Coltrane’s harp and collaborating with Ravi Coltrane.


The episode also spotlights fellow harpist Ashley Jackson, who speaks about the spiritual resonance of Younger’s music and how these works are entering the modern harp canon.


Listen Sunday at 8 p.m. on WRTI or stream the full episode online: wrti.org


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Search high and low, in this world and beyond, and you won't ever find another Sun Ra. So we're excited about the broadcast premiere of Sun Ra: Do the Impossible on PBS. Our own Nate Chinen is a commentator in the film — and so is our guest this episode, the author and critic Marcus J. Moore, who brings a multilayered appreciation of Sun Ra's artistry to our conversation. Space is the Place!

How do we feel about this year’s Grammy Awards? That’s our starting point for this episode, assessing the ins and outs of “Music’s Biggest Night.”


Then it’s on to the main event: a deep-in-the-groove conversation with Dezron Douglas. Josh sat down with the tireless bassist and bandleader onstage before a recent quartet show at Solar Myth, where they premiered a batch of exciting new music.


We’ll even hear a taste of that music, as we consider Douglas as a scene stalwart and community builder — and (let’s just put it out there) a shoo-in for future Grammy glory.


Chapters:

00:00 … Intro / Grammy recap

24:10 … Interview with Dezron Douglas

1:07:08 … “This I Dig”



Want to support The Late Set? Become a WRTI member: wrti.org/donate


Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/wrtimusic


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Write us an email: [email protected]