John Musker Two

Animation director and screenwriter John Musker became a jazz fan early on, hearing some of the greatest jazz musicians playing in many of his favorite animated shorts.  With fellow director Ron Clements, John has won multiple awards for writing and directing, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog, Moana and many other films.

After 41 years with Disney, John has retired and realized an idea he had years ago: that Dave Frishberg’s song, “I’m Hip” would make a wonderful animated short. Four years on, John’s film, I’m Hip, is a hilarious romp staring a hipster feline, singing, dancing, and making mischief to Dave Frishberg’s classic recording.

This is John’s second appearance on Jazz Inspired. We talk about I’m Hip and John’s many adventures in animation. I talked to John from his home in Los Angeles in November 2023.

Kyle Eastwood

Bassist/composer Kyle Eastwood has a wide range of creative influences, including a passion for cinema and great film scores, a love nurtured by his father, Clint Eastwood, who in addition to directing and acting, has written the music for several of his movies.  Clint introduced Kyle to jazz early on and encouraged his composing pursuits by asking Kyle to contribute themes for many of his films, including Gran Torino, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, Letters from Iwo Jima and Invictus.

Kyle’s latest tour celebrates his CD, Eastwood Symphonic, a collection of quintet and symphony arrangements of some of the best-known themes from his father’s movies.

I talked to Kyle Eastwood from his home in Paris in July 2023 as he was finishing his European tour of Eastwood Symphonic before coming to America for the U.S. tour.

T.J. English

In his most recent book, Dangerous Rhythms, Jazz and the Underworld, author T.J. English explores the symbiotic relationship between jazz musicians and the mob during the first half of the 20th Century, and how that mutually beneficial partnership helped the music flourish but kept the deeply racist attitudes of the day solidly in place.

I talked with T.J. English in August 2023.

Dara Starr Tucker

Singer/songwriter and social commentator Dara Starr Tucker is a woman on a mission to evolve, entertain and inform.  Whether she’s presenting her thoughts on race relations, the state of world, pop culture or music on social media, her vocal gifts, intelligence, and drive have brought her over a million TikTok followers and multiple awards.

Darah Starr Tucker and I got together to talk about it all in August 2023.

Pasquale Grasso

Guitarist Pasquale Grasso grew up in the small Italian village or Ariano Irpino with two very hip, music-loving parents who played classical and jazz recordings for Pasquale and his brother Luigi throughout their young lives and took them to concerts and jazz festivals. Pasquale says that rather than put the boys in front of the TV, they would all listen to a Chet Baker record.

Pasquale’s focus on musicians other than jazz guitarists has contributed to his unique sound.  Combining his love for bebop, his classical guitar studies and his limitless passion for playing has made Pasquale Grasso one of the busiest, most interesting talents on the scene today. 

Zev Feldman

Archival record producer, Zev Feldman has been called the” Indiana Jones of Jazz” referring to his tireless pursuit to find previously unissued, or never officially released, recordings to share with the rest of us. His passion for these musical gems is matched only by his excitement in presenting it with beautiful packaging and extensive, informative liner notes which brings us further into the music.

Treasures is Zev Feldman’s latest CD, a collection of previously unreleased Bill Evans solo, trio and orchestra recordings made in Denmark from 1965 to 1969.  Interviews with Bill’s sidemen give insight into the music, what it was like to play with Bill and the time when each was recorded.

Nicole Zuraitis

Grammy-winning jazz singer/songwriter, Nicole Zuraitis refers to herself as a recovering opera singer, which her beautiful tone and effortless vocal style reflect. Unlike many of the younger vocalists today who jump out of music school right into a recording studio with little onstage experience to back it up, Nicole has put in the long hours performing, honing her craft and creating her own unique style.

Nicole celebrates her vision on her CD How Love Begins, co-produced with bassist Christian McBride. The CD explores the dark and light sides of love--romantic and otherwise--and the tug between those states that always exists.

Arturo O'Farrill Two

Pianist/composer/bandleader/educator Arturo O’Farrill’s latest recording, Legacies celebrates his many inspirations, including his father, Chico O’Farrill.  In Downbeat Magazine’s review of Legacies, they say, Arturo O’Farrill is one of our greatest living pianists, a review that surprises and delights this six-time Grammy winner, as making a jazz piano recording at this stage of his career was not something he anticipated. 

Arturo is the least jaded musician I know and the most positive. He consciously works at making the world a better place and bringing people together through his music.

Allegra Levy

I discovered jazz singer/songwriter Allegra Levy through her delightful, very hip, children’s CD, Songs for You and Me and went on to learn what others had known for years about this award-winning vocalist: that she is one of the most interesting, swinging, heartfelt young talents on the scene today.  Allegra was named a Top 10 Rising Star among jazz vocalists in DownBeat’s 2021 Critics’ Poll.

After banishing her husband, dog and two-year-old from the room, Allegra discussed the joys and challenges of a jazz life with me from her home in Manhattan in May 2023.

John Allee

Actor, singer, songwriter, John Allee thinks deeply about the fascinating characters we meet as we make our way through life. On his new CD, Past Imperfect, he draws on a life of professional empathy and character study through his acting career and his broad ranging musical loves to give us a collection of swinging songs loaded with humor and heart.

I talked with John from his home in Los Angeles the week before his performance in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. 

Robert Kyle & Alyse Korn

Composer, producer, reed player Robert Kyle has recorded and performed with musicians as diverse as Linda Hopkins, Natalie Cole, Carole King and Lou Rawls.  For years he toured as a drummer with rock and country bands before he picked up the saxophone and fell in love.

Pianist/vocalist Alyse Korn is heavily influenced by Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and Salsa music and spends much of her performing life playing these styles.

On their new CD, Tuesday’s Child, Korn and Kyle bring their wide range of talents and influences together for a CD of their original compositions--songs filled with love and gratitude, something they both expressed as a focus now, especially with the world in its present state of turmoil.

Gunhild Carling

Swedish multi-instrumentalist/vocalist, Gunhild Carling had a childhood filled with books, music, and magical adventures. I first met Gunhild in Brazil when we were both part of a music festival for which I served as Artistic Director.  I still have the vision of Gunhild bounding off the airplane in a perfectly pressed polka dot dress, her baby in tow, looking well-rested and upbeat, with full makeup and perfect hair.  She tells me she always looks this way, even on the band bus, which I find almost as impressive as the fact that she plays twelve instruments!

I caught up with Gunhild Carling in April 2023 during her tour with Post Modern Jukebox.

Rickie Lee Jones

Singer/songwriter Rickie Lee Jones has been hard to pin down-- stylistically, geographically and in most other ways--as her fascinating memoir, Last Chance Texaco, makes clear.  While Time Magazine dubbed Rickie the “Duchess of Coolsville” this is a woman who has stormed through a life of challenges that would have felled most people, making her cool mien even more impressive.

While Rickie has always thought of herself as a jazz singer—and was voted best jazz singer in Playboy and Rolling Stone polls two years in a row—she has not always been embraced by the jazz community.  And while some of her past CDs have included jazz, her latest, Pieces of Treasure, is her first focusing completely on jazz as she celebrates some of her favorite standards from the Great American Songbook. 

Duke Robillard onstage in Dixon, IL

Guitarist/vocalist Duke Robillard loves the blues, early jazz and swing music and has enjoyed a long career bringing his take on it all to his many fans around the world.  From his early years with Roomful of Blues to his more recent work, he’s been celebrated with Grammy nominations, Handy Awards and Blues Music Awards. 

Although Duke and I have known each other for years, we had never played together before I corralled him to play and chat with me in front of some enthusiastic music-lovers in Dixon, IL, just outside of Chicago. We taped in a picturesque historic building overlooking the Rock River, a space that is now an elegant art gallery called The Next Picture Show, on Super Bowl Sunday 2023.  

Daniela Soledade

Brazilian vocalist Daniela Soledade grew up with a family of great musicians and the influence of many of the iconic Brazilian talents they worked with, including Antonio Carlos Jobim and Fernando Lobos. Much of Daniela’s young life was spent observing and recording with her father, producer/musician Paulinho Soledade, in his recording studio, where he worked with Brazil’s largest TV station, as well as produced a wide variety of musical projects. 

Although Daniela was always passionate about music and worked professionally from an early age, she at first resisted a musical career.  Now dividing her time between her home in Florida and her native Rio de Janeiro, Daniela focuses exclusively on performing and recording her unique take on bossa nova, samba, Brazilian popular music and the Great American Songbook.

Nina Clark

The first descriptor in British singer/songwriter Nina Clark’s biography is “musical activist” referring to her belief that music should be available to all, a mission which led her to create Musical Walkabout, a minstrel project for people facing social isolation.

Nina’s degree in film and drama fired her dream of an acting career, but life kept bringing her back to music. Now, Nina draws on her love for everything from jazz and country to pop and soul with her CD, ALPHA, a collection of thoughtful originals that inspire with messages of hope and empowerment.

David Bloom

David Bloom is a man of many talents: Guitarist, flautist, painter, writer, and educator. Bloom feels his interest in each feeds his enthusiasm for it all and allows his focus—putting beauty into the world—to flourish.

His CD collaboration with arranger Cliff Colnot, Shadow of a Soul, celebrates those individuals Bloom has met over the years who, in his words, have an unusual level of spirituality, imagination, hipness, heart and individuality, what he calls a “Shadow of a Soul.”  The recording honors Bloom’s reverence for these people and this way of living, taking one’s inherent gifts and developing them with passion.

Samara Joy

Vocalist Samara Joy burst onto the scene in 2019 when she won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and went on to win two Grammy awards in 2023 for best new artist and best jazz vocal album for her CD, Linger Awhile. 

Since I talked to her in August 2023, she has gone on to win two additional Grammys.  As part of our 25th anniversary celebration, we’re revisiting that early conversation with Samara, when her fame and career were just getting started.

Martin Shore

Filmmaker Martin Shore started his professional creative life as a touring musician and brings that experience and sensibility to his diverse record and movie projects.  His latest film, Take Me To The River: New Orleans, follows his directorial debut with his film Take Me To The River: Memphis.  Both films focus on Shore’s desire to promote tolerance and respect for all people and cultures by showing how cross-cultural collaboration in music has positively impacted our society.

The soundtrack for Take Me To The River: New Orleans is available now and the film starts streaming on all platforms this month

Paolo Alderighi & Stephanie Trick

The piano duo of Stephanie Trick and Paolo Alderighi specialize in  ragtime, stride, boogie and swing arrangements of the classics from the Great American Songbook.  Both have busy performing schedules individually, but it’s their four-hands/one piano concerts and recordings that are unusual in the jazz world and are internationally celebrated. 

There were very few pianists focusing on the early jazz piano styles when I started my career as a ragtime and stride pianist, so I was especially delighted to discover Paolo and Stephanie, two pianists who not only carry on this tradition beautifully with their playing but also educate and evangelize about it through their outreach programs in America and abroad.