Transcript Thoughts About, and Selections from "Melodic Faces" We're doing something a little differently for this episode of the Jazz Legacy Radio Podcast. If you're familiar with the program you know we do interviews and primarily orate about jazz. But I want to share some music with you. Each song here, has a particular story and is kind of conn…

This episode is a love letter to the blues, with nods towards possible forebears, like the African trickster spirit, Elegba, who morphed into various protagonists of countless folktales of the African diaspora, using cunning to survive. It's easy to see how the blues, played to beat the blues, could be thought of as Elegba's greatest magic trick to…

Tap dancer Johnathan Morin talks about how his art form has taught him life lessons, and how deeper exploration of his history, and his Cree heritage informs what he does, and helps him develop more as a person. What did you think of the program? Despite what some have said, this music is far from dead.…

Retired engineer Steve Bowie talks to me about meeting and working with Kenny Burrell, his lifelong love of Ellington, his Ellington Reflections podcast and the upcoming book he's writing about Cootie Williams. What did you think of the program? Despite what some have said, this music is far from dead.…

Tap dancer Travis Knights is well respected in the tap dance community. In this interview, he shares what he has learned about himself, his artform and lessons from one of his most valued and important mentors, the late legend, Ethel Bruneau. What did you think of the program? Despite what some have said, this music is far from dead.…

For this short edition of the podcast - "Short Notes" - I'm recalling the experience of playing behind Sonny Fortune, a guest artist at the University of New Orleans. Two jazz ensembles got to perform with him, and when it was our turn, I found myself going in directions I didn't know I could, simply because of the guest artist and how he made it s…

Langston Hughes' classic, The Weary Blues, opens this preview of the Jazz Legacy Podcast's examination of the blues. What does it mean? What is it's function? How has it been used? Is its relevance eternal? What did you think of the program? Despite what some have said, this music is far from dead.By Mboya Nicholson

I'm postponing the next episode of the podcast, but wanted to acknowledge the 94th birthday of jazz pianist Willie Metclaf, who I was fortunate enough to know when I lived in New Orleans 20 plus years ago. If you are trying to remember his face, just think of the movie "Ray". He played the old man who taught Ray the piano as a child. (Yeah, now you…

Ellington Orchestra alumnus Brad Shigeta, and Ellington Orchestra member James Zollar are two friends who have known each other 30 plus years. They are here talking with me about their experiences in New York, elder musicians who took them under the proverbial wing, and of course, their time with Ellington's orchestra when it was under the directio…

A look at Billie Holiday's genius, and popular culture's skewed but accepted narrative of her, which has contributed to a misrepresentation of her legacy. What did you think of the program? Despite what some have said, this music is far from dead.By Mboya Nicholson