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In this episode, comedian and tea enthusiast Jesse Appell of Jesse's Teahouse takes us on a journey from studying Chinese comedy to building an online tea business. He shares how navigating different cultures shaped his perspective on laughter, authenticity, and community. From mastering traditional Chinese cross-talk comedy to reinventing himself after a life-changing move, Jesse and host Brian Lowery discuss adaptation and the unexpected paths that bring meaning to our lives. For more on Jesse, visit jessesteahouse.com and for more on Brian and the podcast go to brianloweryphd.com.ā¦
Content provided by Leander Young. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Leander Young or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Keeping up with the Jazz world, Leander Young, carries out authentic conversions with and about musicians. Make sure to subscribe, leave a comment, and rating. Connect with us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @improvexchange #improvexchange www.improvexchange.com
Content provided by Leander Young. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Leander Young or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Keeping up with the Jazz world, Leander Young, carries out authentic conversions with and about musicians. Make sure to subscribe, leave a comment, and rating. Connect with us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @improvexchange #improvexchange www.improvexchange.com
Yaron Herman is a celebrated French-Israeli jazz pianist and composer, widely recognized for his innovative approach to the piano and his ability to blend jazz with influences from classical music, world music, and pop. Born on July 12, 1981, in Tel Aviv, Israel, he initially pursued a career in basketball before an injury led him to the piano at the age of 16. Within just a few years, Hermanās prodigious talent catapulted him into the international music scene. After studying at the prestigious Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music in Israel, Yaron moved to Paris, where his career flourished. At 21, he released his debut album, Takes 2 to Know 1, and has since built an impressive discography of critically acclaimed works, including A Time for Everything (2007), Follow the White Rabbit (2010), and Alter Ego (2012). His 2017 album Y showcased his adventurous spirit, fusing jazz with electronic and popular music elements.ā¦
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Russell Hall migrated to the United States in 2007 where his double bass studies progressed quickly through the rigorous programs of The Dillard Center for the Arts and The Juilliard School. Russell deeply understands the jazz tradition, having studied with many of the double bass world's most renowned artists including Ron Carter and Ben Wolfe. Still, he is also an artist looking forward with his own distinct approach to the double bass. As a first-call bassist in New York City, Russell has performed with some of the biggest names in music including Joey Alexander, Wayne Shorter, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Jon Batiste, Roy Hargrove, Kathleen Battle, Christian McBride, Emmet Cohen, Russell Malone, George Coleman and many more. Well known for his work with the Emmet Cohen Trio alongside drummer Kyle Poole, Russell also leads his own bands, including Bessie and the Rainbowkids to much critical acclaim. Russell Hall joined the Discover Double Bass faculty as a jazz bass specialist in 2022 where he presented his course, Bessieās Bass Busters. Russell Hall is well known as a member of the Emmet Cohen Trio and bassist for the wildly popular āLive From Emmetās Placeā series. In this video, he was joined by non-other than the great Christian McBride for a tasteful double bass duo.ā¦
Donald Vega was trained classically in piano in his native Nicaragua. He emigrated to the United States at age 14 and found a musical home with the Colburn School of Performing Arts (CSPA). He began his studies there in classical piano with Teresa de Jong Pombo and Dr. Louis Lepley. Vega started to learn the language of jazz from mentor Billy Higgins at The World Stage and continued at CSPA with Jeffrey Lavner, then later with bassist John Clayton at the University of Southern California. He went on to graduate from the Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School where he studied with piano great Kenny Barron, Phil Markowitz, and Gary Dial. Vega currently performs internationally as the pianist for world-renowned bassist Ron Carterās Golden Striker Trio with whom he has recorded several albums. Mr. Vega is also a professor at The Juilliard School and Hofstra University and sits on the board of BackCountry Jazz. This non-profit organization provides music education programs and performances to underprivileged youth. Vegaās debut album, Tomorrows, was released in 2008 to rave reviews. In his sophomore album, Spiritual Nature (Resonance Records, 2012), he was joined by the regal rhythm tandem of bassist Christian McBride and drummer Lewis Nash. Vega teamed up again with Lewis Nash on his third album, Concerning Monty, (Resonance Records, 2015) along with Hassan Shakur, the great bassist and former Monty Alexander band member, and long-time friend and Grammy-nominated artist, Anthony Wilson on guitar. Donald recently finished recording his latest album, As I Travel (2023), with Lewis Nash on drums and John Patitucci on bass, featuring Luisito Quintero on percussion.ā¦
Keyboardist, producer, composer and house musician for The Late Show with Stephen Colbertās band, Corey Bernhard will release his sophomore solo full-length album exploring themes of faith, God, love, and loss, A Blessed Leap into Eternity via Birdbrain Records on January 24, 2025. The seven original songs on the album are a sprawling, experimental, folk jazz suite rooted in Bernhardās love of jazz, hip-hop, improvisation, and indie rock and he worked closely with engineer Michael Cumming (Sun Ra Arkestra, Odean Pope, Lotus, Orion Sun) in the engineerās Kensington studio, Treacle Mine. āMichael and I were constantly experimenting with different sonic textures and effects to enhance the songs and he is a big part of the sound of the project,ā says the composer. āHe was also very patient during the mix process as we mixed directly from the board to tape.ā Each of the songs is infused with the composerās love of musical collaboration as he recruited many of his musician friends in to help him fully realize the tracks and their soundscapes. The album features performances in addition to Bernhard on the keys, from saxophonist and woodwind player Yesseh Furaha-Ali (Snacktime), bassist Jon Smith (played and produced on Jazmine Sullivanās Heaux Tales), and drummer Lenny Mobley (Lauryn Hill, Jazmine Sullivan, J Brown, YG Marley, Musiq Soulchild). āWith my first solo project, Fool's Pirouette, I was inspired by a lot of musical circles I was a part of that were focused on hip-hop,ā says Bernhard. āI had spent a lot of time making beats with my old band (Killiam Shakespeare) and recording at Jazzy Jeff's studio, and most of my friends and collaborators who came through my own studio in Germantown to record were rappers and R&B focused singers. I'm still really happy with how that project sounds and proud of the insane collection of artists and musicians that are part of it. These days making beats just doesn't inspire me the way it used to. I've been playing with musicians like Charlie Hall and getting more excited about indie rock and folk textures. At the same time, I'm surrounded by a band at The Late Show everyday where everyone is a virtuoso on their instrument. I'm listening to and practicing a lot of classical music.ā āI wanted to explore all of that while recording this project. Lenny, Jon, Yesseh, and I have all been playing with each other in countless situations around Philly for the past 10 years,ā he continues. āThey are elite musicians who aren't afraid to experiment or head into uncharted territory musically. I had a few simple sketches of some tunes, but we recorded live as a band without rehearsing anything. Later we added some extra layers of instrumentation, but the meat of the project is the four of us being in the moment together. The way things came together despite not having a real plan or goal for the sound of the album definitely reinforced the concept of faith as a central theme of the project.āā¦
Ben Makinen is an award-winning filmmaker, music producer, composer, and percussionist with over 40 years of experience in film, television, theater, and music production. A voting member of the Recording Academy (GRAMMYS), he is known for his compelling documentaries that explore the rich interplay between music and culture. Ben has produced two acclaimed music documentaries, JazzTown and Who Killed Jazz, while his latest film, Echoes of Tradition, which delves into the Native American influences on the birth of jazz, has secured national distribution with PBS for 2025. His works are self-distributed through his company, Bmakin Film, with JazzTown available on platforms like AppleTV, Amazon Prime, Google Play, Vudu, and Rocky Mountain PBS. Currently, Ben is in post-production on We Are Here: Women In Jazz, a documentary that addresses the challenges women face in male-dominated industries, featuring internationally acclaimed recording artists (The Manhattan Transfer, Veronica Swift, Ingrid Jensen, Erena Terakubo, Endea Owensā¦) His collaborative spirit has led him to work with 11x Grammy-nominated Native American musician R. Carlos Nakai, who served as both producer and cultural advisor for Echoes of Tradition. Beginning his professional journey as a drummer in 1980, Benās early influences include jazz legends Billy Wallace (pianist with Max Roach) and Joe Bonner (pianist with Pharoah Sanders). Since 1990, he has worked as a music producer and composer, and in 2001, he founded Bmakin Film, focusing on diverse projects, including music videos, experimental films, narrative works, and documentaries. Throughout his career, he has produced and performed on over 50 albums across genres, from jazz and blues to pop, rock, electronica, new age, and opera. Passionate about teaching and mentoring, Ben founded the International Modern Film Alliance (IMFA) in 2020 to promote storytelling through the integration of music and film. He leads workshops for children and young adults in Bali, Indonesia, sharing his love for jazz and cinema. Additionally, he is organizing Baliās first AI International Film Festival, set to launch in 2025.ā¦
Tigran Hamasyan is considered one of the most remarkable and distinctive jazz-meets-rock pianists/composers of his generation. A piano virtuoso with groove power, Hamasyan seamlessly fuses potent jazz improvisation and progressive rock with the rich folkloric music of his native Armenia. Born in Gyumri, Armenia, in 1987, his musical journey began in his childhood home, where he was exposed to a diverse array of musical influences leading to him playing piano at the age of three, performing in festivals and competitions by the time he was eleven, and winning the Montreux Jazz Festivalās piano competition in 2003. He released his debut album, World Passion, in 2004 at the age of seventeen. The following year, he won the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. Additional albums include New Era; Red Hail; A Fable, for which he was awarded a Victoires de la Musique (the equivalent of a Grammy Award in France); Shadow Theater; and Luys i Luso which featured the Yerevan State Chamber Choir focusing on Armenian sacred music stretching stylistically from the 5th century to the 20th century. His Nonesuch debut, Mockroot (2015), won the Echo Jazz Award for International Piano Instrumentalist of the Year; subsequent records for the label include An Ancient Observer (2017) the companion EP, For Gymuri (2018), Revisiting the Film (2021) and most recently StandArt (2022). Hamasyan was awarded the Deutscher Jazzpreis international category in Piano/Keyboards in 2021. Hamasyan has released records on Franceās Plus Loins, Universal France, Nonesuch and ECM. Hamasyanās new conceptual album āThe Bird of a Thousand Voicesā was released in August 2024 on NaĆÆve/Believe ā his debut with the label. Tigran composed, scored, and arranged the much-anticipated project blending its traditional folk footprints with rock influences. The first single from the album āThe Kingdomā can also be experienced as an interactive game at www.bird1000.com. The recently released double album is inspired by an ancient Armenian tale in which a hero travels into unseen realms to find and bring back a mythical bird ā whose thousand different songs will awaken people again and bring harmony to the world. The transmedia music theater piece āThe Bird of a Thousand Voicesā, an intriguing immersive light installation with shadow play, digitally programmed voices, live music, and an Armenian-English libretto, premiered at the Holland Festival in June 2024. In addition to awards and critical acclaim, Hamasyan has built a dedicated following worldwide, as well as praise from Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau and the late Chick Corea. āWith startling combinations of jazz, minimalist, electronic, folk and songwriterly elementsā¦Hamasyan and his collaborators travel musical expanses marked with heavy grooves, ethereal voices, pristine piano playing and ancient melodies. Youāll hear nothing else like thisā (NPR)ā¦
Colorado-bred, LA-based keyboardist Lao Tizer embodies what it means to be a 21st-century musician inhabiting the jazz sphere Ā¾ that being one who embraces musical diversity and has no fear of crossing boundaries. But Tizer also happens to come by this naturally. As the self-described āchild of East Coast Jewish hippies,ā he was exposed to and was influenced by his parents' extensive musical tastes from a young age: āMy dad had a huge music collection. He loved classical music and had all this world music Ā¾ Ravi Shankar, R. Carlos Nakai, music of the Sufis Ā¾ plus my parents were boomers, so that brought in all the Buddy Holly, Sam Cooke, Elvis, Janis Joplin, and Motown. The Temptations were my favorite band as a kid. So, I basically grew up with everything but jazz, which I didnāt really discover until I was about 16.ā It was a couple of seemingly random selections from the Columbia House mail-order club that turned him toward a new and lasting musical direction. āIt was buy one, get twelve free, right? So I ordered Miles Davisās Kind of Blue and Miles & Quincy Live at Montreux. Then one Sunday morning, it all just kind of hit me. To a lot of people trained in the classical tradition, jazz sounds like it breaks all kinds of rules, but I just heard there was a whole other world to explore there.ā From there, Tizer hit the ground running, applying his classical piano skills to jazz and releasing his first self-produced solo keyboard albums while still in high school. After graduating from Boulder High, Tizer moved to LA and studied with legendary piano guru Terry Trotter for about two years, forgoing formal music education. āInstead of going to music school, I just got my butt kicked on the bandstand. I was always working with musicians who were older and more experienced. Schoolās great but thereās no better way to grow than playing with people who are going to push you to grow. I was so green, man. Learning to play in a band concept Ā¾ playing in good time with a rhythm sectionāwas one of the most challenging things, coming from being a solo pianist.ā But his approach and talents served him well. At 19, he formed and led the first band under his own name, taking indirect inspiration from another iconic jazz entity. āWhen I got into listening to The Pat Metheny Group in the late ā90s, they had that āformulaā that definitely spoke to me Ā¾ great, through-composed music with a lot of room for improvisation. Thatās the formula that I loveā In the ensuing years and through various incarnations, The Lao Tizer Band has flown by that directional compass while infusing the bespoke influences and experiences that inform Tizerās musical worldview. Subsequently, the band attracted many top players to its ranks Ā¾ GRAMMY-winning saxophonist Eric Marienthal (Chick Corea), Emmy-winning guitarist Chieli Minucci (Special EFX), Senegalese bassist Cheikh N'Doye (Baaba Maal), violinist extraordinaire Karen Briggs (Stanley Clarke), GRAMMY-winning drum phenom Gene Coye (Hiromi) and legendary GRAMMY-winning percussionist Munyungo Jackson (Stevie Wonder) Ā¾ and became a steady presence at LA hotspots like The Baked Potato as well as entertaining audiences at premier jazz festivals around the world. Milestones among these were The Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival, Cape Town Jazz Festival, Java Jazz Festival, and Atlanta Jazz Festival. The six albums he has released as a leader have seen Tizer steadily grow while constantly defining (and redefining) who he is as a keyboardist, composer, and bandleader. āI think the most important thing as an artist and composer is to have your own identity and your own sound. Everybody comes to where they are in music through whatever path they have followed and I think staying true to what brought you to where you are now helps to create your own true voice. I think I have always had that.ā But not content to rest, Tizer recently decided to take another bold turn with his music. In 2018, The Lao Tizer Band released Songs From The Swinghouse, a project that included fresh, sophisticated takes on a number of vocal-oriented covers from seminal artists such as U2, Led Zeppelin, and Cat Stevens along with a collection of seven original instrumentals penned by Tizer. The album was released to critical acclaim and notched the Top 10 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz album chart. āWe were always only instrumental until that record. The concept was to reinvent covers like āRamble On,ā āPride in the Name of Love,ā and āSad Lisa.ā I had never arranged or recorded any vocal material with my group before, so to take those tunes and make them our own was really fun.ā Now, with his forthcoming album, Amplify, Tizer ups the ante by bringing original vocal-oriented songs into his mix of smart instrumentals Ā¾ as well as a few potent new additions to the band. āA big part of the concept for Amplify is to cross over. Itās not really a ājazzā record but it definitely has jazz elements, no question. The band still features the core lineup weāve had for a while now with Eric, Chieli, Karen, Munyungo, Gene, and Cheikh, but now there are a few new faces involved in the group. Namely saxophone and flute wunderkind Danny Janklow (MONKestra) and Rolling Stone 2022 āBassist of the Yearā nominee Anthony Crawford (Erykah Badu), who shares low-end duties with Cheikh. We augmented our already large band with a horn section and background singers on a few songs as well. The album is nine songs Ā¾ five vocal, four instrumental Ā¾ all original, no covers.ā But perhaps Tizerās most intriguing choice of secret weapon for Amplify is bringing American Idol star Elliott Yamin to handle the vocal material. āElliottās first album had that platinum hit single āWait For You.ā Heās very much a throwback to a blue-eyed soul kind of vibe and it was amazing to be able to bring him into the band. This project was a little outside his stylistic wheelhouse because it is a bit more adventurous harmonically. I think he was a little intimidated by the music early on but heās such a remarkably gifted singer and heās just singing his butt off. Heās turned out to be unbelievable in this project and the band. Heās super gung-ho about it too, which is great. I couldnāt have asked for a better fit!ā With these continuing steps over boundaries into new stylistic territory, one might wonder if Tizer has any trepidation about alienating the core base of jazz listeners heās built up over time. Quite the contrary, it seems. āI love that longstanding boundaries in music are getting broken down. Artists like Snarky Puppy, Robert Glasper, and Kamasi Washington have proven this theory that Iāve long held: If you have music thatās melodic and grooves, you can win over a very broad array of listeners.ā Indeed, Tizer testifies to having seen the evidence firsthand. āThereās been a really cool renaissance and rebirth with all these genre-defying artists and Iāve seen a shift in the crowd at our shows too. Thereās a lot of 20 and 30-somethings coming out, and thatās so cool. Thatās what the future audience is going to be. If we want to have long careers like our predecessors, we need to have our peers and younger listeners connect to this music and follow it.ā With eyes set on the future and a willingness to keep exploring, Tizerās simplest ethos perhaps sums it up best: āI say forget the boundaries. Just make good music and try to connect with as many listeners as you can.ā¦
Bill Warfield, a dynamic and innovative composer, bandleader and trumpeter, has energized audiences, performers and writers for over four decades. Warfieldās most recent accomplishments are two highly regarded recordings including āMercy Mercy Mercyā, recorded on the BluJazz label by the Hellās Kitchen Funk Orchestra in 2015 and āTrumpet Storyā with Randy Brecker on Planet Arts Records, recorded in 2014. These recordings are a celebration of the composerās formative musical experiences. The two groups perform Jazz selections based on the genres of funk, Latin Jazz, and Hard Bop, all arranged by Warfield. He holds an M.M. in Jazz Commercial Trumpet Performance from the Manhattan School of Music where he received the William H. Borden Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Jazz/Commercial Music, The Carmine Caruso Award for Outstanding Musicality and Trumpet Performance and the Maynard Ferguson Scholarship. In 1990 he participated in the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, directed by Bob Brookmeyer and Manny Albam.ā¦
Guitarist Akira Ishiguro studied Jazz performance and composition at Berklee College of Music. Since graduating in 2006, he has been entrenched in the New York City jazz scene. Tour life has taken him to Japan, Chile, Coasta Rica, Canada, and much of Europe. He has six albums as a leader or co-leader and has appears in over 20 records. He has shared the stage with Myron Walden, Nate Smith, Ari Hoenig, Mark Guiliana, Takuya Kuroda, Maria Schneider, Dayna Stephens, Jason Lindner, Henry Hey, Will Vinson, John Zorn, George Garzone, Christian McBride, Joe Martin, Matt Penman, Seamus Blake and many more. Ishiguroās accolades include grand prize in the 2013 Wilson Center Guitar Festival and Competition, and first prize āPublicās Choiceā as well as overall second place in the 2009 Gibson guitar competition as part of the Montreux Jazz Festival. His latest album āBONā was released in August 2024.ā¦
International Recorded artist, composer, educator, and bandleader Jonathan Barber was voted the #1 Up-and-Coming Drummer of 2018 in Modern Drummer. Barber has already recorded and toured worldwide with such artists as Pat Metheny, Erykah Badu, Nicholas Payton, Buster Williams, Jimmy Greene, Jeremy Pelt, Wallace Roney, Terrace Martin, Jennifer Holiday, Harold Mabern, Steve Davis , J.D. Allen, The Brooklyn Philharmonic and many more. In addition to his first-call status as a sideman, Barber has recently stepped forth as a composer and leader with his Vision Ahead band. Even with Barberās history of high-profile gigs and recordings taken into consideration, DownBeat magazine gave his latest album āLegacy Holderā 4.5 stars. Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead is a powerful declaration of intent for a band thatās been making waves on the modern jazz scene. Barberās blend of classic, swinging jazz with elements of gospel, rock, soul, and fusion is a compelling showcase of Barberās broad stylistic range as a drummer, performer, and composer. Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead was featured and headlined the 2018 Rainy Days Jazz Festival held in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia, 2019 Hartford Jazz Festival, and the 2020 Clifford Brown Jazz Festival. During Spring 2020, Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead completed their first national tour performing throughout the West-Coast. Being an independent artist Jonathan Barber just released his third album with Vision Ahead entitled ā Live at Jazz Standard ā which is exclusively on Bandcamp . Also stepping into the role as a Drum Clinician, Barber toured as a solo clinician in Latin America (Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina) and China (Kumming, Loyung, Hefei, Nanjing, Beijing). Barber endorses Ludwig Drums, Istanbul Agop Cymbals, Evans Drumheads, Promark Drumsticks, and Sunhouse Percussion. In this episode, Jonathan shares his background, education, and musical journey.ā¦
New York City-based pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer Cestari creates a world that melds the sounds of jazz, pop, classical, latin, and free improvisation together. With rich vocals, vivid lyricism, and a powerful approach to the piano, Cestari's music takes on various inspirations that have merged into one distinct sound. Studying Music Business at NYU, Cestari aims to use his knowledge to share evocative, captivating, and impactful stories. In conjunction with the release of his debut album āIn A Momentā, Cestari organized āMOMENTSā, a 90-minute concert on young adult life, mental health, and acceptance, which premiered all the music off the album with an 11-piece ensemble as well as never-before-seen music videos at the renowned DiMenna Center for Classical Music. As written in RAG Magazine, ā[Cestari has] so many different undertones that range from a cinematic and almost haunting approach to a pop-coated singer-songwriter style [that] also incorporates just about everything in between.ā However, this is only the start as Cestari continues to work and grow as one of the most dynamic voices in the New York music scene.ā¦
With inspiration from his stylistic ancestors Nat King Cole and Joe Williams, John Dokes brings new life to the deep-souled world of baritone jazz vocals on his elegant new album, Our Day on his Swing Theory Entertainment imprint. In delivering a distinctive post-pandemic outing of classic songs embodied with hopeful passion, Dokesāalso promises that his new endeavor is āan album that will make you move.ā Our Day features songs associated with Cole (such as the smooth low-toned āAlmost Like Being in Love,ā the delightful Rodgers and Hart gem, āThis Canāt Be Love,ā the Latin-vibed āL.O.V.E.ā that elicits dancing), two vocalese numbers (Jon Hendricksā take on one-time Jazz Messenger composer Bobby Timmonsā āMoaninā,ā Mark Murphyās swinging run through Freddie Hubbardās āRed Clayā), the full-energy pop vibe on Billy Oceanās hit āSuddenly,ā the calming Michel Legrand tune āI Will Wait for Youā made famous from the Frank Sinatra songbook. āI grew up dancing hip-hop, I made a transition to something that I could do for a longer time in my life,ā says Dokes. āI switched to Lindy Hop also known as swing dancing. I came to singing later in my life, but I gravitated to the music I was most passionate aboutāthe eras of the ā40s, ā50s, early ā60s. I started picking songs that really moved me. Dokesā last two albums were quintet affairs. For Our Day, he convened a nonet that includes members of the New York-based George Gee Swing Orchestra where he launched his career as a vocalist. (He documented that with his debut album, John Dokes Sings, George Gee Swings.) Key to the albumās success is the arranging of Geeās musical director trombonist David Gibson. āDave is a great arranger,ā Dokes says. āHe provides layers for the nonet where everyone has a chance to shine on solos as he fills up the space with his lines.ā Now, with his fourth album, Dokes has fully arrived. Thereās not a dull moment on Our Day. He opens with āOur Day Will Come.ā āItās a love song,ā Dokes says. but itās also an opening from the past. Now is our time. Now is our day. Itās really a song about us as a band coming back together.ā Originally, Dokes was in the midst of fashioning a trilogy of quintet recordings (2017ās Forever Reasons and 2019ās True Love on Ian Hendrickson-Smithās Rondette Jazz label). While the third album is still in the works, a couple of events intervened. āI got derailed,ā says Dokes. āFirst, my drummer Lawrence Leathers died after True Love came out. I moved to Chicago with my wife and two children. Then there was the pandemic that changed how I was looking at the future. I had to restart my brain. I decided to work on some of my material that had never been recorded. I contacted George Gee and he was working on his nonetās Christmas album in May 2023, so we combined that with David arranging my album. It was a back-to-back operation of small big bands.ā The nonet comprises saxophonists Anthony Nelson Jr. and Michael Hashim, multi-reeds player Patience Higgins, trumpeters Freddie Hendrix and Andy Gravish, Gibson on trombone. pianist Steve Einerson, bassist Malik McLaurine and drummer Chris Latona. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas who grew up living in Oakland, California, Dokes never dreamed of becoming a professional singer even though he was fascinated by black-and-white reruns of Nat Colesā short-lived 15-minute network television show that ran on NBC in 1956. āI watched them nonstop before I ever thought about singing,ā Dokes says. āBut there was his elegance, his smoothness, his ease. That resonated with me. And it informed how I approach my singing today. I donāt dive into a lot of vocal acrobatics - but like some of my favorite acrobatic and non-acrobatic singers I like to lean in and tell the story to connect with my audience.ā His father was steeped in music while Dokes was growing up. He played Nat King Cole albums in the house, and he was in an r&b band in the Bay Area in the ā70s that often opened for soul/r&b stars of the day like The Whispers and The Stylistics. He moved to New York and became a regular at swing dance shows including dates by the George Gee Swing Orchestra. One of his dance partners was the legendary Lindy Hopper, cabaret star, alto sax player Dawn Hampton, the cousin of jazz hero Lionel Hampton and sister of legendary trombonist and composer Slide Hampton. She told him that she really liked his voice when he was dancing. āIf Dawn likes my voice, Iām going to surprise her one night and sing a couple of songs with Georgeās band. George only knew me as a dancer. He saw my potential and asked me to join the band. That built my confidence and gave me the path to get better.āā¦
Almost immediately, he found himself as sideman for notable locals such as Kermit Ruffins , Michael Ward and The Reward, and Sun Ra trumpeter, Michael Ray . In 1992 he co-founded the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars(NOKAS) , a pioneering klezmer ensemble that infused that music with the vibrancy and energy of the funk, jazz and brass music of New Orleans. To date he has had opportunity to play with most of New Orleans' greatest musicians from across all genres. NOKAS was playing some of his compositions, but by 1993 he found himself seeking outlets for his compositions in other styles and forms. After playing with a plethora of combos and experimenting with many great local musicians he formed Naked On The Floor and eventually The Naked Orchestra . Naked on the Floor (quintet) and the Naked Orchestra (18-24 piece creative orchestra) play Freilich's original compositions exclusively and still play regularly in New Orleans. He has appeared at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 24 times as well as headlining the Berlin Jazz Festival with NOKAS. He has appeared at numerous other festivals inside and outside the country including Bonnaroo, the Ann Arbor Jazz Festival, The American Folklife festival at the Washington Monument, collaborations with poet, Andrei Codrescu at the Holocaust museum in NYC and many others. Other notable work includes appearances with Sam Rivers , Burton Greene , Marshall Allen , The Wild Magnolias and backing songwriters such as Robbie Robertson . He has done arrangements for a wide range of recordings from, Peter Stampfel to Hal Willnerās presentation of U@ doing music of T-Rex. He is featured on over 21 recordings ranging from Klezmer to Afro-Cuban and avant-garde orchestra music. Recently he put out two CDās of a large orchestra playing his original compositions, a small group, and played on Marianne Faithfullās latest release. Many of these recordings are either Big Easy or Offbeat entertainment award winners across a number of categories. He also has music featured in films and TV shows (Andy Richter conquers the Universe, The Dukes of Hazzard(Warner Home Video) as well as commercials for companies such as Southwest Airlines and Mercedes. n 2016 he produced and arranged an album, NOLA? for legendary Basque artist, Fermin Muguruza. Rearrangements of Muguruzaās classic work utilizing the great players and sounds of New Orleans. That led to a very successful European run for the Basque New Orleans Orchestra. Other arranging credits include Hal Wilner and U2 tribute to T. Rex and Grammy Award winner, Peter Stampfelās 100 songs of the 20th century project. His work includes 4 completed and performed operatic works: a comic-satirical opera, Bang the Law , about a couple of New Orleans lawyers and their movements through New Orleans class detritus after Hurricane Katrina, a two movement orchestral fantasy about Elias Cannetti at carnival, formation of a new quintet to play new original compositions, an octet reduction of Peter and the Wolf for a New Orleans Contemporary Art Center/Guggenheim foundation presentation; a second opera, ee me & cummings thee which premiered in New Orleans in Nov. 2011. 2019 saw the completion of two operas. One a hyper-collaborative project with writer, Bernard Pearce, The Coronation , on the selecting of queen bees. In June 2019 he wrote an operetta on the Dirty Letters of James Joyce to Nora Barnacle, titled Darling, Please do not be offended at what I wrote . He is the subject of the one hour radio documentary Jonathan Freilichās Freedom Double-O Naked Klezmer Jazz Latin Boogaloo: The Radio Documentary by award winning documentarian, David Kunian and was the 2008 Louisiana Governorsā Music Fellowship Award recipient. This year he figured as a Rising Star guitarist in Downbeatās Critics Poll. Freilich was born Oct.13, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pa. He spent most of his early years, up until a late teenager in London, England before moving to Los Angeles in 1985. Thereafter, he moved to Santa Cruz, Ca in 1987 before the 1989 move to New Orleans. Currently, he is residing in Los Angeles after completing further studies in composition at California Institute of the Arts . Aside from music, Freilich is also a certified Iyengar yoga instructor and co-owner of a studio in New Orleans for many years.ā¦
NYC flutist, composer, Sunnyside Records artist, producer, and clinician, Jamie Baum, has toured the US and over 35 countries performing at major festivals, clubs, and concert halls including the Monterey, Madrid, Oeiras, Bermuda, Edinburgh, North Sea, Winter Jazzfest and London Jazz Festivals, Tampere Jazz Happening, Guimaraes Jazz Festival, Jazztopad, Bimhuis, Unterfahrt, Jazz Gallery, Jazz Standard, 55 Bar, Dizzyās, Blue Note, etc.. Sheās performed with artists as renowned and diverse as Randy Brecker, Roy Hargrove, Donald Brown, Tom Harrell, Paul Motion, Mick Goodrick and Kenny Barron to Dave Douglas, Fred Hersch, Leni Stern, Louis Cole, Jane Bunnett, David Binney, Ralph Alessi, Ben Monder, Anthony Braxton, Karaikudi Mani, V. M. Bhatt, Navin Chettri and Wadada Leo Smith. Though focusing primarily on jazz, sheās been involved in several projects performing classical, new music, Brazilian and Latin music. Receiving critical praise for seven CD's as a leader, with most making several āBest CDs of the Yearā lists and four stars from DownBeat, her recently-released What Times Are These received five stars in DownBeat. Inch By Inch (GM Recordings), by the cooperative band Yard Byard: The Jaki Byard Project (w/Jerome Harris, George Schuller), also received four stars from DownBeat. Jamie has appeared on over 40 recordings as a sidewoman including those by Dave Binney, George Colligan, Ursel Schlicht, Frank Carlberg, Patrizia Scascitelli, Taylor Haskins, Monika Herzig, Louise Rogers, Sarah McKenzie, Steve Lampert, Brian Landrus, Laura Andel, Judi Silvano, Shigeko Suzuki, James Hall, etc. Ms. Baumās many awards and grants for composing and touring include the 2022 Cafe Royale Recording Grant, 2021 South Arts Jazz Road Touring Grant, 2020 International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers (ISJAC) Covid Relief Commission, Foundation for Contemporary Arts 2020, 2020 Chamber Music America Jazz Presenter Consortium, 2018 USArtists International Touring Grant, 2017 New Music USA Project Grant, and a 2014 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. Baum was selected as a 2014-15 Norman Stevens Fellow/MacDowell resident and has since been awarded residencies again at MacDowell (2021), at UCross (2015), and at VCCA (2020). She won the '99 International Jazz Composers Alliance Award, 2010 CAP Award (American Music Center), the 2003 New Works: Creation and Presentation Award and the 2007 Encore Award, both components of the Doris Duke/CMA Jazz Ensembles Project. Ms. Baum has been in the DownBeat Critics Polls annually since 1998, making #1 āRising Star Flutistā in ā12, #2 āFlutistā in ā19, and #3 āFlutistā in ā20. She was named a "Major New International Talentā in 2015 lists by both āMusica Jazzā and āJazzitā (Italy), was #2 āFlutist of the Yearā in the 2018 Eleventh Annual International Critics Poll and tied for 4th place with Hubert Laws in the 2018 JazzTimes Critics Poll. Jamie was included in Huffington Postās "Twenty-five Great Jazz Flute Performancesā, nominated by the Jazz Journalists Association for āFlutist of the Yearā fourteen times, and The Jamie Baum Septet+ was nominated in 2014 "Best Midsize Ensemble" - in the same list with only two other bands -The Wayne Shorter Quartet and Steve Colemanās Five Elements! Media attention for her recent CD, Bridges, and previously released, In This Life, brought features on WBGOās RADAR and NPRās All Things Considered, reviews in The New York Times, DownBeat, JazzTimes, All About Jazz, etc.. and two hour-long feature/retrospectives on major German and Czech public radio shows. Bridges was voted #4 in the 2018 JazzTimes Readers Poll for āBest New Release,ā and In This Life was in the "Best CDs of 2013ā lists including Boston Globe, iTunes, and Francis Davis' NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. Recently, Baum was included in the JazzTimes 10: Essential Jazz Flute Albums (2019), 3 Questions for Todayās Jazz Musicians by Lilian Dericq, Cricket Publishers (Paris), the āWoodshedā in DownBeat, January 2019, and was the flutist on āThe Essence of the Blues -- Flute: 10 Great Etudes for Playing and Improvising, Book & CDā, (Jim Snidero āplay-alongā series, 2019). Through a highly competitive auditioning process, Jamie was chosen to tour for the DOS/Kennedy Center Jazz Ambassador program from ā99 -ā03 in South America and South Asia. The US State Department also sponsored later shorter tours, in addition to several isolated US Embassy-sponsored programs while Baum was on her tours in Europe and South Asia. Baumās two main active projects featuring her compositions include The Jamie Baum Septet+, together since 1999, and her Short Stories band marking five years by performing at the 2020 Winter Jazzfest. In addition, she co-leads Yard Byard: The Jaki Byard Project and is involved in several other projects either as co-leader or side-woman, including The Richie Beirach/Jamie Baum Duo and NYC Jazz Flutes. Baum has been on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Arts department at since 2006, on the adjunct faculty roster at the New School University since 2004, and taught at Berklee College of Music (2011-2013). Summer jazz programs Baum has taught composition, improv, and flute technique, and coached ensembles at including the Stanford Jazz Workshop Institute, Litchfield Jazz Camp, Maryland Jazz Camp, etc. A clinician for Altus Flutes/KHS America since 1993, they have sponsored her innovative, pioneering workshop "A Fear Free Approach to Improvisation for the Classically-Trained Musicianā TM, "A Fear Free Approach to Composition for the Improvising Musicianā TM and āFlute Technique for Doublersā at colleges, conservatories, festivals, flute clubs and āmusic and artā schools worldwide.ā¦
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