The Myth We Chose, the entrancing new album by South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini, foregrounds hope and healing, and a conviction in the redemptive power of connection. It’s a song-forward statement for Makhathini, who is also a composer, vocalist, philosopher, and ambassador for the Global South.

This summer, he brought his trio to Solar Myth ahead of an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival. On the first of two nights, he joined Josh Jackson for an onstage conversation about ritual, responsibility, and why he prefers the term “encounter” to “discovery” when describing a person’s formative contact with improvised music.

• 00:00 — Intro: South African jazz
• 05:00 — Zulu language, myth & musicality
• 11:30 — Music education, colonialism & Indigenous knowledge
• 15:30 — Growing up during apartheid
• 21:00 — Encountering John Coltrane & the roots of jazz
• 23:30 — The identity and sound of South African jazz
• 28:45 — Collective memory & the African diaspora
• 35:15 — Myth, ancestral memory & sonic creation
• 38:15 — Ndu cosmology, time & musical continuity
• 41:00 — Artificial intelligence, knowledge & human experience
• 45:15 — Nate and Josh on music, healing & ancestral knowledge
• 49:30 — “This I Dig”
• 53:15 — South African music, cultural boycotts & current debates
• 56:15 — Closing credits

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John Coltrane’s centennial has brought a flurry of tributes and testimonials, along with archival discoveries. At WRTI, we’re gearing up for “A Love Park Supreme,” a weeklong celebration in the city that Coltrane called home. And here at The Late Set, we’re doing what we do best: digging into an enlightened conversation.

Our guest is Peabody Award-winning oral historian and producer Steve Rowland, creator of the five-hour audio documentary Tell Me How Long Trane's Been Gone, which is rebroadcasting on WRTI the week of Sept. 21, one hour at a time. Rowland, an alumnus of Temple University and WRTI, has incisive things to say about Coltrane’s spiritual quest and creative legacy, and how we can best remember him today.

• 00:00 — Intro: Coltrane 100 Philly
• 06:30 — Steve Rowland joins the show
• 10:30 — Philadelphia roots & building the documentary
• 13:00 — Early life, faith & the August Bloom tape
• 24:30 — Bebop, addiction & the road to A Love Supreme
• 27:30 — A Love Supreme: Psalm, poetry & the saxophone-as-voice
• 34:00 — Alabama, civil rights & the Black Arts Movement
• 46:00 — Material world, spirit world & art as the bridge
• 49:30 — The Coltrane houses & life with Alice
• 1:02:00 — Legacy & takeaways

The Late Set is a production of WRTI and made possible by WRTI members.

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Jazz radio has never had a better friend than Rhonda Hamilton. During a broadcasting career spanning nearly 50 years, she’s brought the music to a worldwide audience with her trademark warmth, integrity and composure.

This year she received a fitting honor: the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy, which she’ll formally receive on Sept. 15 during a gala concert at Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles. She’ll be in fine company there: the 2026 class of honorees also includes drummer and percussionist Airto Moreira; keyboardist, vocalist and producer Patrice Rushen; and singer, songwriter and bandleader Carmen Lundy.

Rhonda is now on the air at KKJZ-FM in Southern California, but during her longtime tenure at Newark Public Radio, she worked with Josh Jackson, Nate Chinen and our producer, Alex Ariff. We were all delighted to reconnect with her in a conversation brimming with insights from one of our very best.

• 00:00 — Coltrane 100 Philly kickoff
• 02:00 — NEA Jazz Masters & this year's honorees
• 10:00 — Interview with Rhonda Hamilton
• 49:00 — Key records & jazz recommendations
• 55:30 — Dizzy Gillespie dinner story
• 1:02:30 — “This I Dig”

Learn more about WRTI’s John Coltrane @100 celebration: wrti.org

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When SML dropped its 2024 debut, the group’s admixture of loopy groove, staticky texture and shifting timbre came on like a transmission from the outer reaches. Behind the music was a method: rangy collective improv whittled down to size, based on a trove of live tape.

SML has released two more albums since, the latest of which, Spontaneous Music Live, consists of two unedited long performances rooted in real-time interplay. For this episode, three of SML’s five members — bassist Anna Butterss, saxophonist Josh Johnson and synthesist Jeremiah Chiu — joined Julian Booker, WRTI’s Associate Program Director for Jazz, to talk about their commitment to shared discovery. (The others are guitarist Gregory Uhlmann and percussionist Booker Stardrum.)

Listen in to learn more about one of our moment’s most beguiling bands.

• 00:00 — Intro & welcome
• 01:51 — SML at Big Ears
• 05:49 — SML’s process: turning live tape into records
• 10:55 — The band, lineup & modular synths
• 13:01 — Interview with SML
• 50:15 — Back with Nate & Julian: is this jazz?
• 55:13 — “This I Dig”

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Chapters:

• 00:00 – Intro: South Korean jazz and the gayageum
• 02:15 – Meet DoYeon Kim and her groundbreaking approach
• 05:12 – Live from Solar Myth: Welcome and birthday surprise
• 06:25 – The success of Wellspring and finding a larger purpose
• 09:10 – Discovering the gayageum and falling in love with its sound
• 13:05 – Dance, movement, and Korean concepts of rhythm
• 16:25 – Growing up in Korea and discovering cultural identity in Canada
• 20:00 – Joe Morris and finding her artistic voice
• 23:45 – Beyond "exotic": Becoming DoYeon Kim, not just a gayageum player
• 27:15 – Finding her voice—literally—through improvisation
• 31:05 – Building Wellspring with Tyshawn Sorey, Matt Maneri & Henry Fraser
• 34:05 – The symbolism and history of the gayageum
• 36:45 – Exclusive live solo improvisation
• 38:35 – Post-interview reflections on Wellspring and the Solar Myth performance
• 41:15 – This I Dig: Josh's Provence wine recommendation
• 44:05 – This I Dig: Ben Goldberg's ambitious "8 by 8" album project
• 47:15 – Closing credits

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Steven Bernstein is a known wildcard in the modern jazz game. He's a wily slide trumpeter, and the whip-smart bandleader behind both Millennial Territory Orchestra, a pugnacious little big band, and Sexmob, a go-anywhere four-piece band. So in some respects, Bernstein's latest is striking for its directness.

ResoNation Trio finds him strictly on valve trumpet and flugelhorn, with a lean-and-limber rhythm team of Scott Colley on bass and Nasheet Waits on drums. True to form, Bernstein added a further twist — inviting maverick producer Scotty Hard to reconstitute the trio's recordings for the companion album Ultra Resonance, a kaleidoscopic refraction evoking both dub and electronic collage.

Bernstein dropped by our studio before a recent show to talk about the jazz tradition, his drive for connection, and why this project had to happen now.

Watch the full conversation on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/n3IwFJe5AiE

Chapters:
00:00 – Intro: Josh & Nate catch up, remember Steven during the pandemic
03:42 – Introducing the new records: ResoNation Trio & Ultra Resonance
06:08 – Interview begins: welcoming Steven Bernstein
07:02 – Steven as "the ultimate band guy" — why it had to be Colley & Waits
08:30 – Bay Area roots: coming up around Andrew Hill, Rahsaan, the AACM
11:00 – "Spontaneous composition" and the making of ResoNation Trio
14:04 – Why now: readiness, aging, and finding his own voice
20:48 – Sequencing the album & introducing Ultra Resonance
22:33 – Dub roots: Garvey's Ghost, Scotty Hard's remix process
29:41 – Magical realism as the concept linking both albums
31:25 – Live performance: Steven plays flugelhorn ("Rotary") + the horn's history
38:55 – Learning from Levon Helm — melody, blues, and "spiritual jazz"
42:21 – Jazz education, rhythm, and drummers as the root of the music
50:20 – On legacy, influence, and Sex Mob's lasting impact
1:00:07 – Debrief + "This I Dig"

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Mana, the new album by Kalia Vandever, takes its name from a Native Hawaiian term for spiritual energy or sacred power. It’s an intentional gesture from an artist who has long possessed the instinct of a shape-shifter.

In addition to trombone, Vandever works with electronics and synthesizers on the album, as well as vocals — a first, inspired in part by their experiences with Haley Heynderickx, Japanese Breakfast and Harry Styles.

Before a mesmerizing solo performance at Solar Myth, Vandever joined Nate Chinen for a conversation about myth and mystique, collaboration and solitude, and what it means to open up in new ways as an improvising artist.

• 00:00 — Intro: Entering the World of Mana
• 05:11 — Interview Begins: Hawaiian Ancestry, Spirituality & Inspiration
• 13:20 — Touring with Harry Styles and Finding a Performance Voice
• 20:21 — Singing, Songwriting & Emotional Honesty on Mana
• 29:07 — International Anthem, Genre and the Evolution of Kalia's Music
• 35:43 — Interview Wrap-Up
• 37:09 — “This I Dig”: Micah Thomas's Lucid & Emily Wilson's The Odyssey
• 42:20 — Producer's Picks: Henry Solomon, Louis Armstrong & Laurent Benedict
• 49:06 — Credits

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Emmet Cohen makes music for the people. That isn’t to say he panders or dumbs it down. Cohen is simply a pianist who puts connection at the center of his performance ethic, whether he’s burning down the bandstand, lighting up a livestream or laying it down in the studio.

He has also made a point of seeking out his jazz elders and welcoming younger fans into the fold, all with a spirit of upbeat discovery. There’s a reason DownBeat’s July cover story bears the headline “Emmet Cohen: Messenger of Joy.”

Cohen recently came through Philadelphia with his tour Miles and Coltrane at 100 and stopped by WRTI for a lively chat. Along with saxophonist Tivon Pennicott, he also performed the title suite from his new album, Universal Truth.

Watch the performance of the “Universal Truth” suite: youtu.be/3O-9LYjxj88

Watch our interview with Emmet Cohen: youtu.be/N-Cps3TDKvI

• 00:00 — Intro
• 02:05 — Miles & Coltrane at 100
• 05:12 — The Rise of Emmet's Place
• 12:10 — Building a Worldwide Jazz Community
• 16:25 — Reaching New Audiences
• 22:08 — Emmet Cohen on AI
• 24:22 — Why Young People Are Finding Jazz
• 29:50 — The Meaning of Universal Truth
• 33:00 — Live Piano Performance: “Eternal Glimpse”
• 34:10 — Writing Music Inspired by Miles & Coltrane
• 37:40 — Legacy, Mentorship and What Lasts
• 40:35 — Becoming the “Vibe Provider”
• 42:42 — Josh & Nate React
• 44:44 — “This I Dig”
• 50:47 — Credits

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

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