The first show of 2026 will feature two-dozen newly released pieces of music. The program will be wide ranging, from Okinawan folk music from the early 20th century and a Beethoven late sonata to traditional Malian music and new jazz, both augmented by strings. There will also be orchestral music, improvised duets and trios, guitar-driven compositions, haunting vocal and choral music, and two pieces inspired by clouds. 

Playlist: 

Theme (Vitus Labrusca) - Ben LaMar Gay

Ichiman Angwaa - Itokazu Kame, Maekawa Chosho, Kadekaru Rinsho

Djine Mogo Tiki - Neba Solo, Benego Diakite 

Progressive - Asher Gamedze

Substance M - Peter Evans, Mike Pride

Poranek - Angelika Niescier

Drums Like Dancing - Jane Ira Bloom, Brian Shankar Adler

Suspended Time - Camila Nebbia, Marilyn Crispell, Lesley Mok

Beethoven Sonata No. 30 (Op. 109), Vivace ma non troppo, adagio espressivo - Vikingur Olafsson

Eye of Mnemosyne, Nostos War Story - Sarah Kirkland Snider

Rice Country - Meg Okura

The Known End - Kris Davis, Lutoslawski Quartet 

Scriabin No. 16 in B-Flat Minor, Misterioso - Mikhail Pletnev

Redeye to London - Gabriel Zucker

Sand Clock - The Early 

Unsaved - Gilles Laval

Cloudseeding 14 - Devin Maxwell

a(ways) For CC and CeCe - Tomeka Reid

o splendidissima gemma - Stephanie Lamprea, Alistair MacDonald

Khar Pt. 2 - Ahmedou ould Meidah and Mohameden ould Sidi Brahim

In Praise of Clouds - Philip Blackburn

“Overlooked” is a show focusing on overlooked and underplayed music of all varieties: jazz, improvisational, international, and other fringe music, ancient to future, familiar to rare, classic to weird. Broadcast live from Overlook Mountain in Ulster County, “Overlooked” offers programs focused solely on newly released music along with others that focus on specific musical themes or history.

Host Rob Saffer is the former Executive Director and Producer of the Creative Music Foundation and Creative Music Studio. While living in Brooklyn for 25 years, he served on advisory boards for Celebrate Brooklyn! and Symphony Space. He also co-curated the Brooklyn Museum’s summer jazz series and helped found The Mingus Big Band with Mingus’s widow, Sue. Rob is also a judge for the annual Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll.