Performer (and recent Tony winner) André De Shields on growing up in Baltimore (he calls himself “lucky number nine”), a career spanning five decades “on the precipice of the abyss” (i.e. as a performer) and the secret to his longevity: “I exercise vigorously, I eat judiciously, and I pray constantly.”

Soul and R&B singer Eli “Paperboy” Reed on surviving in the record business, standing behind your choices, grappling with ambition, playing in juke joints, and reaching the age where you’re not new anymore.

Food writer Melissa Clark on managing the commercial realities of writing and marketing recipes (“I feel like I am constantly walking on that line”), making friends with ingredients (“the anchovy is my bad boyfriend”), dealing with anxiety (“my way of coping with it is to be very very busy”), falling in love with your teachers, what makes food a way that we can change the social structure of the world, why deadlines are lifelines, how much of her personal experiences to reveal in her writing, and when to walk away from the cookie dough.

Singer-songwriter /  web series superstar Anya Marina how her Russian mother never taught her how to say the word “water” correctly, why she’s committed to “experiencing something together with my audience,”  what makes her a good storyteller, and that “when a thought becomes an obsession, that’s when you know you’ll make a change”.

Singer, songwriter and actress Sophie Auster on was like to grow up in a literary household, starting her career at a young age, confronting and overcoming insecurity, holding herself to a high standard, and what it means to be a “jewegian”.

Kassa Overall on the intersection of jazz and hip-hop, the importance of getting “comfortable with being bored so you can get better at your instrument”, the relationship between great drumming and the sounds of nature, how growing up far away from the “scene” gave him a strong sense of personal identity, and what it takes to be a “cat who is going for it”. 

Guitarist Cory Wong on coming up in Minneapolis, playing with Vulfpeck, disrupting smooth jazz, commanding the grid, letting “rhythm take the lead”, the YouTube effect, the power of a good story, and Thai massage.

Saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart on his creative journey through multicultural identity, authenticity, and how “the artist is first and foremost someone who has the guts to be himself”.

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.