PODCAST · music
The Late Set
by WRTI
Jazz is a conversation — and that’s what The Late Set is all about. Originated by critic Nate Chinen and broadcaster Greg Bryant, the show now convenes Chinen and Josh Jackson twice a month for perceptive variations on a theme, and their related interview with a special guest. Just like a hang at the end of the gig, in the back of the club, it’s direct, unfiltered and illuminating, revealing the music and its culture in a deeper light.
Episodes
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Best Jazz of 2025 (So Far)
Don’t look now, but we’ve reached the midpoint of 2025 — and listened our way through well over a hundred albums, in search of elevated sounds. It feels like the right time for a progress report, so we’re sharing half a dozen of our leading contenders. Nate gives the nod to albums by pianist Myra...
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Into the Amazon, with Amaro Freitas
Amaro Freitas was born in Recife, on the northeastern coast of Brazil. He began playing the piano in church, discovering jazz after his first exposure to the music of Chick Corea. What Freitas has done since is a small miracle of syncretism: his style as a pianist and composer nods to the modern...
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New Pinnacle, with Brandee Younger
The spiritual and the sensual find common cause in the music of Brandee Younger. As the world’s leading improvising harpist, she carries a torch for Alice Coltrane, whose astral meditations continue to light a path. But there’s also a place in Younger’s art for playfulness, even mischief — as she...
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Run the Song, with Ben Ratliff
“Out quickly and on the move” — so begins a bracing new book by Ben Ratliff, the brilliant music critic and scholar. It’s titled Run the Song: Writing About Running About Listening, and it follows Ratliff’s thoughtful line of inquiry as he brings music into his daily running practice. His guiding...
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Lost Coast, with Jenny Scheinman
Some artists can always be counted on to channel a sense of place. For violinist and composer Jenny Scheinman, it’s the homeward pull of Northern California’s so-called Lost Coast, between the redwood sprawl of Humboldt County and the rugged terrain that meets the Pacific. Scheinman grew up…
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Pilgrimage, with Wadada Leo Smith and Vijay Iyer
Few events embody the act of listening and receiving quite like the Big Ears Festival, which happens every spring in Knoxville, Tennessee. Nate was there this year, conducting artist interviews and taking in as much music as he could handle. He reports back with some highlights, and shares an...
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Record Store Day Preview
April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and we’re celebrating just as we always do, by chasing down live music and supporting the scene. But we’re also looking ahead to Record Store Day, which falls on April 12. It will bring a fresh bounty of new releases —including a customary haul of archival...
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Branches and Paths, with Renee Rosnes
Renee Rosnes has traced a momentous musical trajectory over the last 40 years. A pianist and composer of exceptional insight, she’s served apprenticeships with Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter and Ron Carter, and earned rare stature among her peers. Almost a decade ago, she formed Artemis, an…
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Let Her Cook, with Endea Owens
Endea Owens knew what she meant when she called her 2023 debut Feel Good Music. As a bassist, a bandleader and an organizer, she specializes in the kind of buoyant uplift that just won’t quit. You can see her putting this into practice most weeknights on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, as an...
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Poetry is the Process, with Aja Monet
There’s a heartstopping moment in “for sonia,” Aja Monet’s ruminative elegy for the revolutionary poet Sonia Sanchez, when she recalls uttering the word “poetry” at a community organizing meeting, only to be met with flustered refusal. “Who’s got time for poems when the world’s on fire?” she…
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Grammy Recap, with Natalie Weiner
What was up with the jazz field at this year’s Grammy Awards? A big win by a legend who died three years ago? Two major awards for a Christmas release? There’s so much to talk about — and that’s before we even get to the mad disrespect of the In Memoriam segment. Here to talk it all down with…
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Recovery with John Clayton
Earlier this month, bassist and bandleader John Clayton flew from Los Angeles to New York to receive a high honor: the Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award, at Jazz Congress. On the day of the ceremony, the Eaton wildfire destroyed his home of 40 years, along with his daughter’s home and many others....
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New Year’s Resolutions (with the McLendons)
For our first episode of 2025, Nate and Josh Jackson talk through a few fresh New Year’s resolutions related to listening. And we’re sharing one of our favorite interviews in recent memory: a sit-down with Samara Joy, her father and her grandfather at Mother Bethel AME Church. Touching on deep...
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Year in Review with Immanuel Wilkins
We heard so many great albums in 2024, none more imaginative or compelling than Blues Blood, by alto saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins. This episode features an illuminating conversation that Immanuel had at REC Philly with Josh Jackson, as part of the Jazz Philadelphia Summit. We’re also...
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Behold the Mayo with Michael Mayo
The jazz vocal tradition is always an evolving proposition, but rarely does that notion feel truer or more affirming than in the output of Michael Mayo. Fly, his sterling second album, captures the forces of energy and creativity that he brings to the art form, on reimagined standards as well as...
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Thanksgiving Mailbag Special
As Thanksgiving rolls around, it’s a good time to ask: what are we grateful for? Here at The Late Set, our first answer is you, our listener. So we decided to spend this holiday episode answering your questions. In the process, you’ll hear Greg and Nate shout out scenes both near and far, admit…
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Adjust Brightness with Bilal
“I’m a jazz musician first, I feel,” says Bilal. Maybe this comes as news to the many admirers who know him as an ethereal singer with a shape-shifting R&B profile, or as one of the original catalysts for neo-soul. On a compelling new album, Adjust Brightness — his first studio release in almost…
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Forces of Nature with Jack DeJohnette
“Dreams do come true.” That’s how Greg sums up this episode, as he and Nate talk with master drummer Jack DeJohnette about an incredible recording made in the spring of 1966. Featuring a ferocious quartet co-led by pianist McCoy Tyner and tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, it captures each of those...
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Nine Lives with Chris Coles and Sean Jones
WRTI’s Josh Jackson subs in for Greg, talking with Nate about their rich experience at the Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival. Their guests are saxophonist Chris Coles and trumpeter Sean Jones, who had just performed a powerful suite titled Nine Lives. Coles composed the suite in response to…
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Catch Fire with Isaiah Collier
Urgency is a currency for Isaiah Collier, an ambitious young saxophonist from the South Side of Chicago. We recently caught up with him at Solar Myth in Philly, where he played music from two new albums — The Almighty and The World is On Fire — that showcase his powerful working band, the Chosen...
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Fall Preview with Nubya Garcia
Feel that rumble underfoot? It might be the stampeding onrush of new music this fall. This episode, we’re throwing a spotlight on the most anticipated albums among them, by alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, vibraphonists Patricia Brennan and Simon Moullier, pianist Kris Davis and Joe Alterman…
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Creative Dancer: esperanza spalding
Sixteen years ago, when esperanza spalding made her breakout second album — before she’d performed at the White House, won Best New Artist at the Grammys, or served on the music faculty at Harvard — she made a point of opening with a song by Milton Nascimento. For spalding (who stylizes her name…
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Rise and Shine: Julius Rodriguez
What should the omnivorous young jazz mainstream sound like today? One beguiling answer can be found in the music of Julius Rodriguez, a brilliant multi-instrumentalist who just released Evergreen, his second album for Verve, which synthesizes elements of jazz, R&B, gospel, funk, even…
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Remembering Ron Miles: Bill Frisell and Rudy Royston
Ron Miles reached beyond style and into human feeling. A cornetist who nestled all kinds of complexities into his warm and welcoming music, he left us too soon — but also left a lot to remember him by. Old Main Chapel, a gorgeous trio album recorded a decade ago, is now a part of that legacy. So...
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BONUS: Search for the New Landmark: honoring Lee Morgan
Lee Morgan was many things: a brilliant trumpeter, a hard-bop messenger, a cultural hero, a cautionary tale. He was also a proud product of Philly, and in recent days and weeks we’ve seen the city truly herald him as its own. On April 30, International Jazz Day, a historical marker in Morgan’s...
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Breathe Open: Shabaka
When Shabaka hung up his tenor saxophone in favor of bamboo flutes, the world reacted with a mix of admiration and puzzlement. Over the last decade, as Shabaka Hutchings, he had steadily built a reputation for rampaging fervor on tenor, fueling the fires of a new-breed London jazz scene. His...
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The Seeker: Melissa Aldana
Melissa Aldana has been a prominent force in motion since she took first prize in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition just over a decade ago. What she has accomplished since then is a matter of public record, but also the result of much private searching — as an…
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Deep River: Gary Bartz
Here at The Late Set, we always turn toward the wisdom of elders. So we couldn’t be more excited about our guest this episode: alto saxophonist, composer-bandleader and educator Gary Bartz. We sat down with him in Brooklyn during the recent Winter Jazzfest, and had a fantastic conversation that...
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I Hear a Rhapsody: Marcus Roberts [BONUS]
George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue had its premiere precisely 100 years ago, and has enjoyed a productive and impactful life ever since. But as Greg puts it in this bonus episode: “Whose Rhapsody is it?” A symphonic work openly indebted to Black American musical traditions has often been more...
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Deeds, Not Words: Nasheet Waits
Max Roach — the indomitable drummer, activist, bandleader and composer — was born 100 years ago this month, on Jan. 10, 1924. His centenary is the perfect opportunity to reconsider how his genius changed the game, and not just in rhythmic terms. So in this episode, we talk about Max as an…
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Our Year in the Rearview
What caught our ear in 2023? Who set the agenda, or just leveled up their game? For our final episode of this year, we’re looking back, taking stock, and talking about the albums we can’t let go. One of them was Rivers in Our Veins, by drummer and composer Allison Miller, who joins us here for…
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Comfort and Joy: Samara Joy and Gregory Porter
Hark! The holidays are upon us, and so are the holiday tunes. Who better to join us than a pair of sublime vocalists with soulful new Christmas albums, Samara Joy and Gregory Porter? Together they reflect on the season’s warm and wonderful traditions, as well as a sense of mission behind their…
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Eyes on the Prize: Joshua Redman
What does it mean to pick a winner in jazz? We’re considering that question in the wake of the Herbie Hancock Jazz Piano Competition, which Nate covered in New York City. The subject leads us to a discussion of the competitive tradition in this music, which extends from Kansas City jam sessions…
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The Philly Sound: Orrin Evans
Philadelphia has always punched above its weight as a jazz town, producing legendary players and sometimes even changing the game. We each have our own history with the City of Brotherly Love, so on this first episode of The Late Set, we’ll compare notes — and check in with an absolute authority…
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The Late Set: Trailer
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Jazz is a conversation — and that’s what The Late Set is all about. Originated by critic Nate Chinen and broadcaster Greg Bryant, the show now convenes Chinen and Josh Jackson twice a month for perceptive variations on a theme, and their related interview with a special guest. Just like a hang at the end of the gig, in the back of the club, it’s direct, unfiltered and illuminating, revealing the music and its culture in a deeper light.
HOSTED BY
WRTI
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Late Set have?
The Late Set currently has 35 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Late Set about?
Jazz is a conversation — and that’s what The Late Set is all about. Originated by critic Nate Chinen and broadcaster Greg Bryant, the show now convenes Chinen and Josh Jackson twice a month for perceptive variations on a theme, and their related interview with a special guest. Just like a hang at...
How often does The Late Set release new episodes?
The Late Set has 35 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Late Set?
You can listen to The Late Set on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Late Set?
The Late Set is created and hosted by WRTI.
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