Writer 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”.
Comedian Jeff Cesario on the “power of insulation” (working out your craft inside of a small scene), how he approaches his standup act like a big band chart, the double edged sword of having a lot of experience today, the intense value of commitment, and how his life in music helped prepare him for comedy.
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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”).
Israeli singer Noga Erez on starting as a jazz singer-songwriter and then transitioning to what she describes as “the music in my heart”, the curious relationship between Israel and the United States from the point of view of a contemporary Israeli pop act, what it means to be a political artist, whether or not music itself can really make a difference politically today, why she is “the offspring of limitations” and if the phrase “I don’t pop with that” actually exists or not. Also, an extensive tutorial on how to pronounce her name.
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For the second year in a row, I talk to my dad, musician/producer/journalist/philosopher Ben Sidran in honor of his birthday. This time he’s turning 77, and we consider his recent projects, including the books The Ballad of Tommy LiPuma and There Was A Fire: Jews, Music and the American Dream, and his latest single “Who’s The Old Guy Now”.
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Guitar player, songwriter, producer Eric “Kraz” Krasno on what he’s doing during these strange and trying times, his experience as a podcaster, producer, and provider of deep and soulful grooves, the development of Soulive, Lettuce, & Velour Recordings, the values and expectations of jam and jam band audiences, “the boom bap with interesting chord changes”, learning how to do less and better, and how many times one man can say the word “nugget” in an hourlong interview.
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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.
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Saxophone 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”.
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Clyde 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.
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Singer-songwriter Louise Goffin on her life in songs, the value of fluidity, not believing everything you think, and what it means to "write it right".
Pianist, 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”.
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Bassist 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.”
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Saxophonist Richie Cole died on May 2, 2020. He lived a jazz life all the way. His playing, his demeanor and his philosophy were all contained in his catchphrase / modus operandi: Alto Madness. This episode revisits conversations with him over the years, as well as a recent chat with singer Janis Siegel about her friendship with him, and some newly unearthed live performance recordings of Richie with singer Eddie Jefferson, captured just days before Jefferson was killed after a gig with Richie in Detroit.
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Singer 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.
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Josh 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.
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Very 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.
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Musician, 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.
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What is needed now in these adverse times? We turn to our spirit guides, our philosopher kings, our rabbis: the musicians. Because although this particular form of adversity is new, musicians have been choosing to feel good in spite of adverse conditions for a long time.
In this episode, we explore the nature of the musician joke, particularly the jazz musician joke. Jokes about gigs, drummers, singers, trombone players, viola players, junkies, 3 legged pigs, bagpipes, bar mitzvahs, African safaris, little old ladies, family therapy, tattoo parlors, monkeys, genies, it’s all here. In other words, the classics.
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Since 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).
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A 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.
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