Canadian pianist/vocalist/songwriter/educator, Brenda Earle Stokes’ latest CD, Motherhood explores the joys and challenges of that much celebrated but often under-appreciated role. Stokes lets her fellow mothers know they aren’t alone on this wild ride and clues in everyone else on what mothers are really thinking.
Brenda is a deep thinker and a rare lyricist who can translate those perspectives into moving, meaningful lyrics that enlighten and empower her listeners.
Multi-Grammy winner, and twelve-time Grammy nominee, Brazilian pianist/vocalist/ composer, Eliane Elias has been a favorite of mine throughout my career, so it was great fun to finally meet her and entice her onto my show for a conversation about her music, Brazilian culture, and how her early musical life contributed to the artist she is today.
Eliane’s latest CD, Time and Again, is a celebration of all aspects of romance, love and how we move through life with hope and joy.
Composer/trumpeter Antoine Drye’s latest CD, Retreat to Beauty, with orchestrations by Isaac Raz, celebrates Antoine’s love of the Great American Songbook, and newer compositions that honor that tradition.
It’s rare to hear a recording these days with an orchestra with live musicians, not sampled sounds. Retreat to Beauty celebrates not only this music, but the communal experience of making it.
Islandic musician Steini Teague has spent most of his musical life touring with folk and rock bands, including an appearance on The Tonight Show with Of Monsters and Men. Now he’s turned his sights on jazz with his duo CDs with Icelandic vocalist Silva—with a last name I won’t even attempt to pronounce.
I talked with Steini about their CD, More Than You Know a dreamy, romantic take on some of their favorite standards.
Archival record producer, Zev Feldman has been called the Indiana Jones of Jazz, referring to his tireless pursuit of previously unissued recordings to share with the rest of us. Feldman and Resonance Records releases these gems with extensive, informative liner notes, rare photos and in-depth interviews with experts in the field.
Zev’s latest project, Art Tatum – Jewels in the Treasure Box: The 1953 Chicago Blue Note Jazz Club Recordings – features a previously unissued 3-LP collection of Tatum, guitarist Everett Barksdale and bassist Slam Stewart recorded live at the Blue Note in Chicago in 1953.
Lynne Arriale is one of the most celebrated and respected jazz pianists/composers of her generation. On her CD, Being Human, Lynne Arriale celebrates the emotions humanity shares as an affirmation of love, hope, and unity, and she dedicates each track to someone who exemplifies each quality.
In her liner notes she says, “I wrote this suite in response to the division and turmoil in our world. The music focuses on qualities we all share that define our humanity.” Lynne hopes this album will be uplifting and convey a sense of unity and optimism.
Singer/songwriter and blues and boogie pianist, Eden Brent is a Greenville, Mississippi native from a family of riverboat captains, guitar pickers, big band singers and all the various characters you’d want in a Southern novel.
Eden’s new CD, Getaway Blues, is a celebration of her roots and the music that’s surrounded her throughout her life in Greenville, the home of The Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival, the oldest blues festival in the world. Growing up, Eden heard everything from Hank Williams to Nat Cole around the house, as well as most nights, joining in the post-dinner family singalongs. Greenville neighbor, author Julia Reed, remembers Eden’s home as a soulful and far funnier version of The Sound of Music, and refers to the family as the von Brents.
Two-time Grammy-nominee, bassist and educator, Rufus Reid has enjoyed a long career working with a wide variety of musicians including Dexter Gordon, Eddie Harris, Nancy Wilson, J.J. Johnson, Freddie Hubbard and other giants of jazz. A new, exciting pursuit for Reid is composing, and although he’s been doing it for over 25 years, he’s been playing much longer, so he considers composing a new part of his life, and something that has made him look at music differently and play differently. Instead of thinking of the note he’s about to play, he thinks about the bigger picture and the shape of the piece.
Now, with his CD,Celebration, Rufus Reid has fulfilled a dream to record his compositions with strings.
Vocalist Megg Farrell or as she is often called, Sweet Megg, has been a jazz singer, a country singer and river boat tour guide, an athelete, and now, to her delight and surprise, she’s a circus performer. Yes, all her talents have combined to get her a gig with Cirque de Soleil. Her actor parents encouraged her to live an interesting life and that she’s certainly done.
I spoke with Megg Farrell when she was only a few days into performing with Cirque de Soleil, and now, with Megg’s collaboration, that Canadian entertainment company has gone Country.
Guitarist Larry Koonse is a favorite musical collaborator with everyone from Billy Childs and Seth MacFarlane to Tierney Sutton and Luciana Souza. He’s as supportive, and musically flexible as he is virtuosic, which explains his popularity in the music world and why he’s been featured on more than 400 albums.
Larry and I recorded the following conversation onstage in picturesque Dixon, Illinois, outside of Chicago, at The Next Picture Show art gallery as part of my Jazz Inspired Onstage series.
During the pandemic, vocalist Hilary Gardner dreamed of wide-open spaces and the freedom to roam, as she puts it, and started researching trail songs from the singing cowboy era of the 1930s and ‘40s. Her new CD, On The Trail with The Lonesome Pines is a collection of her discoveries, songs not only by singing cowboys but by our greatest jazz and film composers. Today we feature some of those classic recordings and Hilary’s take on these wonderful tunes.
Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton have individually and collectively won, Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and on and on. Emma’s father, costume, set and production designer, Tony Walton (who passed away in 2022) won three Tonys, an Academy Award and an Emmy. Yes, it’s a talented family.
Emma and Julie have written thirty-five children’s books, many illustrated by Tony. Their latest, Waiting in the Wings, is based on a family of ducks who took up residence outside Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY, the theater Emma started with her husband Steven Hamilton and Cybil Christopher in 1991. Tony Walton generously agreed to be my first guest on Jazz Inspired, twenty-five years ago, so having Emma and Julie on now is a wonderful way for me to celebrate Waiting in the Wings, and 25 years--so far--of Jazz Inspired.
Vocalist Maud Hixson is a cool, swinging Minnesota gal whose clear sound and unencumbered delivery lets her virtuosity sneak up on you, in contrast to so many jazz singers today who make sure you hear their vocal chops at hello.
This is Maud’s second appearance on the show and this time we discuss her latest CD, Permanent Moonlight, which celebrates the songs of Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, which won a Bistro Award shortly after its release.
Tuba player Jim Shearer’s new CD, Cloud Bowling with Claude Bolling, is Jim’s take on the celebrated Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio that Claude Bolling wrote for classical flutist Jean Pierre Rampal and recorded with him in 1973. That recording spent almost two years at the top of the Billboard classical chart and stayed in the top 100 for over 10 years. Jim replaced the flute with tuba and this CD was born.
I’ve always had a soft spot for tuba, in fact one of my first jobs was a duo cocktail hour gig with a tuba player, and once, I memorably played Sousaphone in a Disneyland parade, but that’s another story.
The point: Jim and I were destined to have a fun conversation.
Jurassic World Rebirth producer, Frank Marshall, is an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Oscar winning producer/director. But it’s not just about dinosaurs, as Frank is also a life-long jazz lover.
Frank grew up on picturesque Lido Isle in Newport Beach, CA surrounded by the musical friends of his father, jazz guitarist, composer, arranger, Jack Marshall, whose arrangement of “Fever” for Peggy Lee was one of many celebrated albums he worked on for Capitol Records in the late 1950s and ‘60s.
Frank Marshall has produced and/or directed multiple stage shows and films, including the Jason Bourne, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and Jurassic World franchises. Through it all, music has played a major role in Frank’s life and his memories of being surrounded by great musicians growing up are vivid and joyous.
In the summer of 1972, Jack Marshall and trumpeter/vocalist, Jack Sheldon joined forces to entice trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker back into the studio after Chet had stopped recording, due to an injury to his mouth. The record was made but never released until Frank recently discovered the master, and together with Zev Feldman, produced Chet Baker & Jack Sheldon, In Perfect Harmony: The Lost Album.
Vocalist, pianist, songwriter and positive spirit, Betty Bryant at ninety-four is an inspiration on so many levels that her age, which would be the first thing one would mention with anyone else, seems almost beside the point.
Betty’s latest CD, Lotta Livin’ produced by her longtime friend and collaborator Robert Kyle, showcases Betty’s blues roots, soulful sound, and cheeky sense of humor.
Comedy writer Mike Reiss has enjoyed a long career making people laugh, from his early years with National Lampoon, Johnny Carson and The Gary Shandling Show, to his continuing work with the animated series, The Simpsons.
Mike was one of the original writers for The Simpsons, a show he still contributes to 35 years on between writing children’s stories, traveling with his excursion-loving wife Denise and publishing his most recent book, What Am I Doing Here? A Simpsons’ Writer Visits the World’s Hellholes So You Don’t Have To.”
Mike Reiss is one of those deliciously cranky people who love to rail against various notions while keeping you laughing and somehow delighted throughout. Mike and I met in Panama on the elegant Silver Shadow cruise ship where he was lecturing on The Simpsons and I was flown in to play a concert. Knowing the many connections The Simpsons has with jazz, I asked Mike if he’s a jazz fan to which he enthusiastically responded, “I hate jazz.” Naturally, I had to have him on my show.
Vocalist Hannah Gill, unlike most twenty-something jazz musicians on the scene, doesn’t have a music degree or any of the usual notions of how one pursues a jazz career. I found Hannah delightfully open to doing just about anything in show business and realistic about her goals, with none of the “I’m going to get famous and conquer the world” aspirations one expects from someone starting out, but rather, as she told me, she’d like to continue making music for the rest of her life, be able to pay her rent and go out to dinner a couple times a month. She’s already done much more than that, having toured world-wide with Post Modern Jukebox and performed widely with her own band, Hannah Gill and the Hours.
Her debut album, Everybody Loves a Lover, features swing-era songs from the 1920s through the ‘50s and reflects Hannah’s deep love for Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day and Blossom Dearie, her biggest inspirations.
Singer/songwriter Roberta Donnay has a wide variety of musical influences and a broad focus with the music she performs, from sharing the stage with Elvis Costello or Leon Russell, to her ongoing shows of 1920s and ‘30’s music with her group The Prohibition Mob Band, to her most recent CD, Blossom-ing, a collection of songs celebrating the music of vocalist/pianist, Blossom Dearie.
Blossom Dearie never had the name-recognition of some of her vocal contemporaries, like Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan, but she has always been a favorite with jazz musicians and a particular inspiration for Roberta Donnay. Donnay and Dearie share a similar vocal sound, something Donnay initially resisted but now embraces in this heartfelt tribute to one of her favorite singers.