Sabotage the Plan, with SML

By Julian Booker,

Nate Chinen

Published August 18, 2026 at 8:09 AM EDT

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When SML dropped its 2024 debut, the group’s admixture of loopy groove, staticky texture and shifting timbre came on like a transmission from the outer reaches. Behind the music was a method: rangy collective improv whittled down to size, based on a trove of live tape. SML has released two more albums since, the latest of which, Spontaneous Music Live, consists of two unedited long performances rooted in real-time interplay. For this episode, three of SML’s five members — bassist Anna Butterss, saxophonist Josh Johnson, and synthesist Jeremiah Chiu — joined Julian Booker, WRTI’s Associate Program Director for Jazz, to talk about their commitment to shared discovery. (The others are guitarist Gregory Uhlmann and percussionist Booker Stardrum.) Listen in to learn more about one of our moment’s most beguiling bands.

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Julian Booker

Julian came to WRTI from Rising Sun Presents, a Philadelphia-based live concert and event company, and WXPN, where he hosted Sleepy Hollow. In addition to his role as Associate Program Director, he hosts Late Evening Jazz, 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday, and The Get Down, 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday.

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Nate Chinen

Nate Chinen has been writing about music for more than 25 years. He spent a dozen of them working as a critic for The New York Times, and helmed a long-running column for JazzTimes. As Editorial Director at WRTI, he oversees a range of classical and jazz coverage, and contributes regularly to NPR.

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