Articles by Lawrence Peryer
Michael Hallsworth: Escaping The Hypocrisy Trap
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on author and behavioral scientist Michael Hallsworth. Michael has spent the last two decades applying behavioral science to real-world problems at the Behavioural Insights Team. He's held positions at Princeton, Columbia, Imperial College London, and the University of Pennsylvania. Michael's book, The Hypocrisy Trap, takes on something we all recognize instantly but rarely understand: why we're so quick to spot hypocrisy in others yet are blind to it in ourselves. ...
Continue ReadingJohn Mlynczak: Why Namm Still Matters In 2026
by Lawrence Peryer
We're putting The Tonearm's needle on John Mlynczak, President and CEO of the National Association of Music Merchants. NAMM is the trade association for the music, sound, and event industries. Basically, NAMM represents the companies that make the tools your favorite music artists use to create their work. John has spent years at Hal Leonard and PreSonus Audio, where music education meets technology. He built curricula, managed platforms, and taught teachers how to use tech in ...
Continue ReadingPatricia Brennan: Vibraphone Visions Of The Universe
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on vibraphonist and composer Patricia Brennan.Patricia Brennan grew up in Veracruz, Mexico, playing salsa with her dad while listening to Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin with her mom. She studied classical percussion at the Curtis Institute, performed with Yo-Yo Ma and the Philadelphia Orchestra, then found her voice and career in jazz and improvisation.Patricia's latest album, Of the Near and Far (Pyroclastic Records, 2025), takes constellations from the summer sky ...
Continue ReadingPhil Haynes: Banging The Drum For Liberty Now
by Lawrence Peryer
Today we're putting The Tonearm's needle on drummer Phil Haynes. Since moving to New York from Oregon in 1983, Phil's played on scores of recordings with artists like Anthony Braxton and Dave Liebman. Phil has joined me once already, in the March 2024 epispde Phil Haynes: a Renowned Jazz Drummer Chases the Masters, to discuss his self-published memoir, Chasing the Masters: First Takes of a Modernist Drumming Artist. Phil's with me today to discuss his band ...
Continue ReadingBryan Senti: Strings, Migration, And Finding Home
by Lawrence Peryer
Today we're putting The Tonearm's needle on violinist and composer Bryan Senti. Bryan Senti won a BAFTA for scoring the BBC series Mood. He's composed for films since 2015 and worked with artists like Regina Spektor and Mark Ronson. But his new album La Marea tells a different story, his father's story. La Marea takes Cuban migration and turns it into sound. His previous album, Manu, honored his Colombian mother through short violin pieces. This time, ...
Continue ReadingGraham St. John: Terence Mckenna's Hallucinatory Life
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on Graham St John, a cultural anthropologist and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield in the UK. Graham has spent decades studying transformational events, psychedelic culture, and electronic dance music scenes. He's written ten books, and his latest is Strange Attractor: The Hallucinatory Life of Terence McKenna (MIT Press, 2025). McKenna was the 20th century's psychedelic renaissance man, a stand-up philosopher who became a sampled voice on rave tracks and ...
Continue ReadingNels Cline: Tales Of A Daunted Guitarist
by Lawrence Peryer
Most people know Nels Cline as Wilco's guitarist for the past two decades. But his range goes far beyond indie rock. He's spent forty-plus years moving between jazz clubs, punk venues, and studios where the rules get bent or thrown out entirely. Rolling Stone put him on their list of the top 100 guitarists of all time, but that tells you nothing about how he actually plays.His current project is Trio Of Bloom (Pyroclastic Records, 2025), and it ...
Continue ReadingMarcus Roberts: Jazz Piano And Technology's Promise
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on pianist Marcus Roberts. Roberts plays jazz piano like he's lived through its entire history. His style pulls from Jelly Roll Morton and Fats Waller as much as it does from bebop. He spent years in Wynton Marsalis' band, has performed piano concertos with Seiji Ozawa, and today leads The Modern Jazz Generation, a 12-piece ensemble encompassing three decades of musicians. Roberts is here today to talk about something beyond ...
Continue ReadingNed Rothenberg: Solo Improvisation In Bizarre Times
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, The Tonearm's needle lands on composer and improviser Ned Rothenberg. Ned's first solo album in thirteen years, Looms & Legends (Pyroclastic Records), shows why he's been called America's most intimate composer and improviser. Ned's improvisations and compositions showcase his use of extended techniques such as circular breathing and multiphonics, while others tell stories through melody. He calls it music for an imaginary culture, sounds that feel indigenous to a place that doesn't exist yet. Ned ...
Continue ReadingMiguel Zenón: Vanguardia Subterránea And The Sound Of Sanctuary
by Lawrence Peryer
Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenón.A MacArthur Fellow, Guggenheim recipient, and Grammy winner, Miguel has spent over two decades creating music that connects jazz tradition with Puerto Rican rhythms and modern composition.He's here to talk about his latest release, Vanguardia Subterránea: Live at The Village Vanguard (Miel Music), his quartet's first live album, captured at the Village Vanguard with musicians he's played with for twenty years. Miguel and I first ...
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