From our Soundcheck archives, hear adventurous recording artists Paris Paloma and Cautious Clay's performances, and interviews with host John Schaefer.

Trumpeter and bandleader Arturo Sandoval is a Latin music legend. He's just released a fearless album, Sangú, full of Afro-Cuban percussion, Yoruba spiritual memory, Cuban phrasing, bebop fire, funk, folklore, and the electrifying spirit of risk. Sandoval leads a nonet in some of the new tunes, in-studio.

Ghost Hounds is a Pittsburgh-based blues-rock band with a sound that may remind you of classic early 70s bands like The Rolling Stones. In fact, they’ve opened for the Stones and do a cover of that band’s song “Gimme Shelter” on the new Ghost Hounds album. But most of their music is original  and their latest record, called Justified, is full of apocalyptic imagery and songs that swagger their way through the End Of Days. Ghost Hounds brings a rootsy, intimate version of the band to play these new songs, in-studio.  Set list: 1. Something Wicked 2. Sinner's Prayer 3. Pale Horse Riding Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For this episode of Soundcheck, the rapper, singer, and author Dessa gets political, and Syrian-American rapper Omar Offendum gets historical.

Listen to a sampling of some of the 2026 New York Guitar Festival, with pieces by Gyan Riley and an arrangement of Debussy by Ziggy & Miles, recorded live in August at Bryant Park.

Listen to a sampling of some of the 2026 New York Guitar Festival, with pieces by Goran Ivanovic and Fareed Haque and Pierre Bensusan, recorded live in August at Bryant Park.

Hear a musical tribute to Amelia Earhart from London’s Public Service Broadcasting, and surreal folk from Chicago singer Em Spel, both recorded live for Soundcheck.

Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela perform technical feats of wonder, somehow combining flamenco, classical, and thrash metal together in jaw-dropping originals, in-studio. (Archives, 2019.)

Baltimore-based Dan Deacon has been a mad scientist of electronic music since releasing his debut album Spiderman Of The Rings in 2007.  He built a reputation for wild, dance-oriented live shows, but Dan is also classically trained and in recent years has been doing a lot of film music, along with scoring music for dance. His latest album is the score for a National Geographic documentary called Time and Water, and Dan Deacon, along with an electro-acoustic chamber orchestra -which includes the Bergamot Quartet, members of Baltimore-based contemporary music group Mind on Fire, and a Yamaha Disklavier (an upright bot-assisted piano) - perform in-studio.  Set list: 1.Weeping Birch 2. A Home For All Of Us 3..Become a Mountain Suite  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Orquesta Akokán takes us on a musical time travel through the classic Cuban dance sounds of the mid-20th century and Hannah Jadagu studies the themes of time and travel in her dreamy alt-pop songs, all recorded live for Soundcheck.