Pianist Aaron Parks on composition (“I love perfect asymmetry”), mathematics, thinking about touch, and no longer being the youngest person in the room.  

Pianist, composer and educator Kenny Werner on his life and career, the Effortless Mastery phenomenon, coming to terms with his own wisdom, and his newest record The Space, a solo piano project informed by his own teachings. He says, “Today I get a bigger kick from helping people with whatever wisdom I have than I do from playing. I finally accepted I have a wisdom that can really be useful. As musicians we’re not used to doing something that’s useful.”

Pianist, composer, educator and recording artist Fred Hersch on how the scene has changed over the years (“people drink less now”), learning to be gracious (“the audience needs to have their experience independent of how you feel about it”), education (“You can spend $200,000 on a jazz performance degree and not make that much money in the next 10 years”), songwriting (“I try to write tunes”), self reflection (““If I want to be the person I can be, I can’t worry about what people think”) and much more.

Saxophonist Rick Margitza on what it was like to be thrust into the jazz limelight overnight, working with Miles Davis, moving to France, dividing the octave and choosing the right note.

Bassist Joe Dart on how “the way you groove has power”, why the magic of his band, Vulfpeck is in the freshness of the music when they work, what it means to “play every note like my life depends on it” and where he learned to play bass “like a drummer”. 

Producer, songwriter, musician John Fields on making hits, working fast, the importance of the second verse, why the artist is often right, how he finds work, what it means to write pop music today, why he has such big downbeats and if the first thought really is the best thought. 

5 time Grammy winning musician, producer, songwriter, and recording engineer John Leventhal on why his initial, preanalytical ideas are the good ones, why taking chances are so important, and why there “really is no daddy”.

Award winning feature film editor, producer and writer Mary Sweeney on producing, screenwriting, parenting, Paris, Cairo, pie baking, the Catholic Church, “staying tethered to what’s meaningful” and working in an intensely creative partnership with David Lynch for over 20 years. 

Jazz writer and critic Nate Chinen on his new book Playing Changes, jazz criticism, displaced backbeats, the importance of live music, and the trouble with trying to define what music should and shouldn’t be. This is a conversation I’ve waited a long time to have and it was absolutely worth the wait. 

Sociologist and musician Howard S. Becker on deviance, studying piano with Lennie Tristano, how in his day live music was a function of geography, strong union leadership, and cheap beer. Plus why jazz is like philosophy (the only money is teaching).

Guitarist Lage Lund on who influenced him, where he’s looking when he plays, when he discovered that guitar doesn’t suck, how musicians communicate, what happened to swing, and why jazz musicians drink natural wine.

Ben Wikler (Washington director of MoveOn.Org), Anat Shenker-Osorio (writer, researcher and communications specialist) and Dan Kaufman (musician and journalist) on the impact of the Madison-state-of-mind on their lives, careers and general point of view. Plus what it means to be in the business of "messaging" today. 

Brendan B. Brown (Wheatus) on the power and responsibility of writing a hit song, what it’s like to have your dreams come true, and what happens when they don’t.

Joe came to the Third Story headquarters recently to explain what it means to be a “modern bard”, how to keep material fresh after playing it hundreds of times, and why the personal really is universal. “In trying to make music for everybody you wind up making it for nobody.”

Singer-songwriter Donovan woods on writing songs that feel like real life, the big scam of success (“by the time you get the thing you always wanted, you feel like you deserve it”), how to make it in Nashville, and why Wisconsin is the state most like Canada.

Multi-instrumentalist Nate Wood on why screwing around is so important to creativity, what’s so special about 83bpm as a tempo, what ever happened to swing, and that ongoing Third Story question: should I move to LA? Because he’s so multifaceted, this interview is filled with Nate saying “but that’s a whole other conversation….”

Record producer Larry Klein on the art and craft of record production, what is and isn’t the real s*%t, why he often works with female artists, and the importance of good coffee. Plus stories of working with Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Joni Mitchell, Madeleine Peyroux.

Rapper, singer, spoken word artist, writer, and science nerd Dessa on sharing secrets, brain plasticity, hip hop culture, Dorothy Parker, social media, choosing beats, collective composition, and about a hundred other subjects. 

Writer Lorrie Moore on a lifetime of writing, how she thinks about teaching, what makes music the ultimate art form, and why fiction writers make bad liars.

Four years and 100 episodes later, I’m still going. What a trip. This week, I take a moment to reflect with one of the most surprising and flattering guest hosts I’ve ever had: my wife, Amanda.