After the local news at noon, Overlooked will feature music from three great pianists — Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim), Jaki Byard, and Sun Ra — and one great bassist playing piano, Charles Mingus. Host Rob Saffer recently heard, for the first time, Dollar Brand’s out-of-print African Piano (ECM 1969), and it set off some pianistic fireworks that led to this show. African Piano offers listeners musical information spanning continents and styles, from South Africa to the American south. The densely packed solos are like music history lessons and are reminiscent of Jaki Byard’s solos in the Mingus groups in which he played. Byard’s out-of-print record, Piano Solo/Strings (Prestige 1969) naturally led to Mingus’ only piano recording, Mingus Plays Piano (Impulse 1964), a deeply personal statement. Moving from history to mystery, the show will be capped by selections from Sun Ra’s out-of-print Solo Piano (Improvising Artists 1977).

Overlooked is a show focusing on overlooked and under-heard jazz, improvisational, and other fringe music, from early roots to contemporary experiments, a mix of familiar to rare, classic to weird. Live from the shadow of Overlook Mountain in Ulster County.

Host Rob Saffer is the former Executive Director and Producer of the Creative Music Foundation.

Overlooked Playlist Archive