Drummer, visual artist, filmmaker, teacher, composer, record producer Billy Martin on power of sincerity in music and in life, the importance of staying curious and being playful, what he calls the “world music view”, how “when you’re experimenting there is no such thing as perfection,” the similarities between music and visual art, why Instagram is such a useful tool for self expression, and what it means that "art is activated by the receiver".
Read MoreAs Andres Levin will tell you, even he has trouble explaining his career and life in a succinct, organized, bite sized way. He’s a record producer, bandleader, filmmaker, composer, philanthropist, New Yorker, Venezuelan, Jew, funk practitioner, latin soul ambassador, big picture guy with a granular understanding of the mechanics of the business for over 30 years. Here he talks about learning how to produce, being comfortable in any room, discovering soul culture, programing synthesizers, and the mysteries mathematics of The Funk.
Read MoreSinger, songwriter and composer Duncan Sheik on his career, his songwriting, technology in music, how meditating and chanting have helped him throughout the years, how becoming a father has influenced his work, his life in Covid and what it means to release music in these strange and trying times, and what exactly is Semiotics anyway.
Read MoreBen Sidran and I discuss the results of the 2020 election and how it relates to the beauty of old things, Tikun Olam (the Jewish concept of healing the world) as a response to a universal call from deep in the frontal cortex, “The cruelty of our own DNA”, Chaos theory, the future of small jazz clubs, and how “we are all survivors of chaos”. Plus, Les McCann’s recording of the song “Maxie’s Changes” (with the largely unknown tenor saxophone player Frank Haynes).
Keyboard master and singer-songwriter-bandleader Cory Henry on his early development playing music in church, learning to make music on Saturday night and on Sunday morning, how losing his parents at a young age affected his life and career, his experiences playing with saxophonist Kenny Garrett (Cory toured with Garrett at age 18), Snarky Puppy, and The Funk Apostles. Along the way he gives a master class on some of his favorite Gospel music, and an introspective explanation of much of the material on his new record.
Read MoreMusician, bandleader-arranger-composer, and YouTuber Brian Krock on the role of critical analysis in music, the “unintended consequences of the capitalist nature of music education,” what it means to improvise like a composer, how reading James Joyce influenced his relationship to listening to and writing music and led him to “create artwork that invites people to put forth some effort,” why he loves “to be actively involved in things that you're a beginner at,” his concerns about his “own memory and the world’s ability to focus,” and what happened to him after playing over 1000 performances of Dirty Dancing The Musical.
Read MoreWriter and label owner Alec Hanley Bemis on the distinction between culture and subculture; that we are now in an era of “constant content”; the shift over time from the taste maker as an institution to the taste maker as an individual personality; and what he describes as “the economy of cool”.
Trumpeter Philip Dizack (named by Downbeat Magazine as “[one of twenty-five] Trumpet Players for the Future”) on how he thinks about playing, teaching (“preparing for teaching is the most helpful thing that I’ve ever done for myself”), practicing (“the more specific your questions are, the more specific your answers will become”), potential (“I hear so far beyond what I’m capable of doing right now”), and perspective (“if our perspective is right then we’re always in complete humility”).
Drummer Jochen Rueckert on his early years in Germany, why playing with great bass players is like eating great pasta, refusing to share hotel rooms, why he is a reluctant teacher, making electronic music, the rare innate heart condition he suffers from, how to groove with organ players, organizing tours, why one should never play with pop musicians, what it was like to play one gig with Pat Metheny, what he’s thinking about when he performs, drummer Bill Stewart’s time feel and volume level, Artificial Intelligence, the years he spent at Nublu in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and much, much more.
Read MoreSaxophone player and composer Rudresh Mahanthappa on his new record "Hero Trio", his early musical development, the journey through music schools, cruise ships and merengue bands that ultimately led him to New York, exploring one’s personal identity through music, teaching jazz in a non conservatory environment, Sesame Street, and why “just because you’re improvising doesn’t mean you’re playing jazz”.
Read MoreClyde and Gracie Lawrence talk about bridging the gap between hip and pop, managing the creative process in a sibling band, making independent videos, finding success, creating space for young women in the world of funk music, working with producers and mentors (including Eric Krasno and Adam Schlesinger), and how to use their platform for good during these trying times.
Read MorePianist, composer, conceptual artist Jason Moran on truth versus passion, promoting the “Freedom Principle”, America’s unfortunate way of forgetting the past, when innovation becomes rhetoric, what it means for African American musicians to move freely “from the stage to the table”, the power dynamic in choosing repertoire, coming up in Houston among a generation of jazz innovators, what we still have to learn from Louis Armstrong, and what it means to be the “personal embodiment of your history”.
Read MoreBassist Orlando le Fleming on how to get a sound on the bass, why he puts “rhythm before notes”, what were the advantages to starting his career in England, when it’s to leave New York, who were his mentors, the “jazz struggle” and why “groove comes from culture.”
Read MoreSinger and songwriter Becca Stevens has the ability to make you feel like you know her even when you only know her work. Here she talks about “dancing with the critical voice”, looking for silver linings, “the whole money thing” and a newly born pack of baby ducks out her window. Plus she discusses her new record, Wonderbloom.
Read MoreJosh Norek is a difficult man to define. He is generally a behind the scenes kind of guy (record label exec, artist manager, music conference co-founder, radio host) but every now and then he steps into the spotlight with his band Hip Hop Hoodios. Here he talks about releasing new music during a pandemic, how he approaches his collaborations, and the secrets of securing Spotify playlist placements.
Read MoreVery few songwriters develop the kind of skill and status that Ron Sexsmith has. He’s a songwriter’s songwriter. He writes the songs that the rest of us wish we were writing. He does it consistently, carefully, quietly. If you know who he is, then you know what a deceptively brilliant songwriter he is, and you recognize his singing: at times sweet, other times plaintive or plainspoken. Here he talks about his new album, his process, his career, and how he finally came to own a house.
Read MoreMusician, singer, songwriter Curtis Stigers on promoting new music in the midst of a pandemic, what it means to be a gentleman, how hanging out in a hotel lobby in Boise changed his life, which lessons he learned from Michael Brecker & Gene Harris, and the difference between a tie and a cravat.
Read MoreSince the very beginning of this podcast, my father and I have been having occasional, timely conversations to process our own shared experience and often the experience of the world around us. In Paris on November 13, 2015, following the 2016 election, on various tours and travels, mourning the loss of a friend, celebrating a birthday. Here we are again, contemplating the future after Covid-19, considering the consequences, and wondering what jazz has to do with it (and what it has to do with jazz).
Read MoreA life in the theater must be a pretty serious thing, because in these conversations with members of the Broadway community, the conversations are brutally real, big picture, somewhat cosmic and profound.
André De Shields, Dale Franzen, Michael Thurber, Schele Williams and Rob Jost all weigh in on the fate of the Great White Way.
Read MoreComposer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Michael League on Snarky Puppy, the advantages to the American musical perspective (“we are light on our feet”), why “to create something authentic isn’t really possible to me”, how playing wedding and steak house gigs in Texas taught him about “humility and strengthening the muscles of versatility”, the importance of making everything as fun as possible on the road, why he sees himself as primarily a student, moving to Spain, and getting good sleep.
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