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Overlooked: The First Annual Thanksgiving Tryptophanfest of Relentless & Ecstatic Music (Audio)

Nov 28, 2024

For nine years, “Overlooked” host Rob Saffer has presented the “Annual Thanksgiving Tryptophanfest of Intolerable Music” as a public service to get his listeners to spend holiday time with their hopefully less intolerable families. Given the abundance of intolerability lately, Saffer has decided to change the subject from intolerable music to music that’s relentless and ecstatic; ignore your family this holiday and listen to the radio! This show is officially “The First Thanksgiving Tryptophanfest of Relentless & Ecstatic Music” and it will feature an all-American line up, from hillbilly reels and psychedelic rock to maximal minimalism and classic jazz, among others. 

Playlist: 

Snap Crackle - Roy Haynes

Raoul - Roy Haynes

Vitus Labrusca (“Overlooked” theme) - Ben LaMar Gay

A Thanksgiving Prayer - William Burroughs

Jumping Wired - Henry Flynt

Marquee Moon - Television

Focus on Fifths - Cline, Kaiser, Thomas, Walter, Whitman

My Song - Sonny Sharrock

Scat Jam - Michael Yonkers

The Eleven - Grateful Dead

Blue Sky - Allman Brothers Band

Ohm - Yo La Tengo

Automaginary - Natural Information Society

Poppy Nogood All Night Flight V. 1 - Terry Riley

India - John Coltrane 

Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue - Duke Ellington 


After the news at noon, “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 Overlook Mountain in Ulster County.

Host Rob Saffer is the former Executive Director and Producer of the Creative Music Foundation. While living in Brooklyn for 25 years, he served on advisory boards for Celebrate Brooklyn and Symphony Space. He also curated the Brooklyn Museum’s summer jazz series and helped found The Mingus Big Band.