Podcast 576: A Conversation with John Yao

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show

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Jazz

Added ten years ago

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Silver Linings with The Old Gays

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Our Chosen Family: "The gay community is much bolder today." 33:19

20 days ago33:19

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What’s the secret to lasting friendships? How does queer community show up through the ebbs and flows of life? And what’s the REAL story behind the “YMCA” song? In the first episode of Silver Linings, The Old Gays dive into an essential part of queer life: chosen family. They discuss the vital love, support, and sense of belonging that community provides, especially during life's toughest moments. They open up about what “queer” means to them, how chosen family has impacted their lives, and how to maintain close bonds over time–including their love for each other! “We’ve come a long way, baby.” Family isn’t just what you’re born with; it’s the people who show up, shape you, and stick around. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

8 years ago 36:42

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I’ve pointed out before that we may be living through a golden age for trombone players in the world of jazz. Over the past few years rising stars like Ryan Keberle, Joel Yennior, Charlie Halloran and Michael Dease have joined the ranks of talents like Wycliffe Gordon, Conrad Herwig, Steve Turre and the legendary Roswell Rudd. These guys lead bands, not just hold down a chair in a big band horn section.

Add another name to their ranks – John Yao.

His latest small-group CD, Presence, is aptly titled, as he makes his presence felt right from the get-go, leading his quintet through a number of jazz styles and approaches. Boosted by saxophonist Jon Irabagon, the group tackles Yao compositions that vary from the avant-garde leaning “M Howard” to the straight ahead “Bouncey’s Bounce,” with fine results. Ably assisted by a rhythm section of Randy Ingram (Piano), Peter Brendler (Bass) and Shawn Baltazor (Drums), Yao’s trombone step out in front, but just as often finds a place in the band’s mix, creating a most enjoyable CD.

Podcast 576 is my conversation with John, as we discuss the new CD, his larger “17 piece instrument”, and his place in such institutions as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Arturo O'Farrill's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. Musical selections include “Tight Rope”, “Fuzzy Logic”, and “Bouncey’s Bounce.”

992 episodes

#Theater #Jeffrey Siegel #Arts #Jazz #Music #Fooducate Podcasts

Podcast 576: A Conversation with John Yao

Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show

61 subscribers

published 8 years ago

MP3•Episode home

Fetch error

Hmmm there seems to be a problem fetching this series right now. Last successful fetch was on May 30, 2025 00:13 (3d ago)

Add another name to their ranks – John Yao.

992 episodes

#Theater #Jeffrey Siegel #Arts #Jazz #Music #Fooducate Podcasts

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1 year ago29:13

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The latest release from the rising star Sullivan Fortner shows off two very different sides of his musical pallet – lyrical and moving solo piano, and electronic explorations. Both will leave you wanting more, and to hear what he has next up his sleeve. Frustrated by his lack of musical outlets during the pandemic, “Game,” the second of two discs that make up Solo Game came first. Visiting a studio in Brooklyn to consider a project, Fortner began employing a range of instruments and effects — Fender Rhodes, Hammond B3, Moog, vocoder, celesta, chimes, drums, an immense variety of percussion (and a piano as well). The results are shimmering soundscapes that feel as spontaneous as they are admirably constructed. Some are composed (“It’s a Game,” “Snakes and Ladders,” “Cross and Circles” and “The Minute Waltz” borrowed from Frédéric Chopin), others improvised on the piano then “orchestrated” by means of electronics – effects from Pro Tools, Melodyne and Auto-Tune were added afterward. “Solo” is more traditional, but still revelatory. Fortner called upon one of his mentors, Fred Hersch, to help him produce a solo piano program. Hersch asked Fortner to draw up a list of his favorite pieces, from the Great American Songbook and beyond, from which Hersch made choices over the course of four recording sessions, with no rehearsal or second takes allowed. From more than 200 songs on the initial list, 24 were recorded and Fortner selected nine for this album Fortner moves with consummate skill between classic standards (“I Didn’t Know What Time it Was” by Rodgers & Hart; Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday;” “This is Now” from Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin) to less well known jazz compositions (among them Randy Weston’s “Congolese Children”) and works by Stevie Wonder (“Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing”) and Antônio Carlos Jobim (“Once I Loved”), taking each into unexpected territory. His harmonic sense is sophisticated, his polyrhythmic concepts bold, his sound crystalline, and he makes of these performances something highly personal yet rooted in tradition, at once respectful and progressive. Now in his late thirties, he enrolled at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts at age 13, where he became Valedictorian of his high school graduating class. He continued his formal music studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in jazz performance, and at the Manhattan School of Music, where he earned a Master’s degree in jazz performance. Fortner complemented that experience by studying under such jazz piano masters as Peter Martin, Fred Hersch, Jason Moran, and Phil Markowitz, and playing in bands led by Stefon Harris, Etienne Charles, Roy Hargrove, and Christian Scott. In Part One of this two part conversation, we discuss the making and recording of Solo Game and hear one musical selection from each project, the reinterpretation of the standard “I Didn’t Know What Time it Was,” and his composed experimental piece “Snakes and Ladders.” Part two will let us focus on Sullivan’s future projects, as well as discussion of his work with jazz singers, most notably Cécile McLorin Salvant.…

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