Improv Exchange Podcast

Episode #53: Ulysses Owens Jr

One of the most sought-after drummers of his generation, Ulysses Owens Jr sets the mark. From GRAMMY award-winning performances with Christian McBride’s acclaimed Trio and Big Band to world tours with Kurt Elling and Joey Alexander, Owens’s artistic command of percussion has earned him positions in some of the most successful jazz ensembles of the 21st century. Owens’s reverence for tradition distinctly manifests in his straight-away playing style, but it is the versatility of his talent— his unique ability to manipulate texture and create penetrating musical shapes— that attracts the attention of jazz’s heavy hitters. His performance catalog includes collaborations with Nicholas Payton, Wynton Marsalis, Monty Alexander, Dianne Schurr, Renee Fleming, and Mulgrew Miller, just to name a few. In this episode, Ulysses shares his background, education, and musical journey.

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Episode #52: Isobella Burnham

Isobella Burnham is a vibrant Bassist, Vocalist and Composer from England. Growing up in Barbados she soaked up the rich musical culture around her and studied Jazz at the Barbados Community College. Since moving back to London, Isobella has played and toured around Europe, Africa and Asia with Connie Constance, Steamdown, Tom Misch, Sampa The Great and Poppy Ajudha. The Boss/Roland, Rotosound artist is featured on Blue Note’s Reimagined Album performing bass and vocals for Steamdown. Her Debut EP Dancin’ Garuda set to be released on 21 st May 2021. In this episode, Isobella shares her background, education, and musical journey.

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Episode #51: Christophe Schwizer

Returning to Improv Exchange, Christophe Schweizer talks about his latest project PLENITUDE by Brazilian trombone legend Raul de Souza.

Christophe Schweizer is considered one of the most innovative and creative musicians on the European Jazz scene, both with respect to his abilities and versatility on the trombone and other low brass instruments (also as an interpreter of classical and new music), as well as especially to his work as a composer, arranger, and bandleader.

Born in Switzerland and nowadays residing in Hamburg, Germany, he lived in New York for seven years starting in the mid-nineties. During this period, he worked with the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band for three years, and occasionally with the orchestras of Maria Schneider and Sue Mingus, playing two European tours with the latter. In this episode, Christophe shares his background, education, and musical journey.

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Episode #50: Lynne Arriale

Lynne Arriale is an active educator and adjudicator. She has conducted master classes and clinics internationally throughout the US, UK, Europe, Canada, Brazil, and South Africa. She adjudicated the Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works, the Montreux Jazz Competition, American Pianists Association Fellowship Awards, The Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Competition, The American Jazz Pianist Competition, and the Jacksonville Piano Competition. She was a featured mentor at The Mary Lou Williams Emerging Artist Workshop at the Kennedy Center. 

Lynne is a Yamaha Artist and is currently a Professor of Jazz Studies and Director of Small Ensembles at The University of North Florida in Jacksonville. In 2018, she was awarded the UNF Presidential Leader Award and was runner-up for the 2020 UNF Faculty Association Distinguished Professor Award. In this episode, Lynne shares her background, education, and musical journey.

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Episode #49: Diego Rivera

A world-class musician, composer, arranger, and educator, Diego Rivera has entertained audiences for over 20 years. Rivera is known for his muscular tone and unique blend of straight-ahead mainstream jazz fused with music inspired by his Latino background and heritage. He is a tenured Associate Professor of Jazz Saxophone at Michigan State University where he also serves as Associate Director of Jazz Studies. 

Rivera was born in Ann Arbor, MI, and raised ‘just up the road’ in East Lansing, MI. Born into a Mexican-American family, his Chicano heritage has always been important to him and shaped his creative endeavors. His parents named him after the famed muralist, Diego Rivera. A trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts at a young age inspired him to make his own mark with the Saxophone rather than the brush. He attended Michigan State University where he studied with Andrew Speight, Branford Marsalis, Ron Blake, and Rodney Whitaker. In this episode, Diego shares his background, education, and musical journey.

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Episode #48: Nadje Noordhuis

Described as "one of the most compelling voices to emerge on her instrument in recent years", Australian-born-based trumpeter/composer Nadje Noordhuis possesses one of the most unforgettably lyrical voices in modern music. Her deeply-felt, clarion tone and evocative compositional gift meld classical rigor, jazz expression, and world music accents into a sound that is distinctively her own. Noordhuis was one of ten semi-finalists in the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition and was selected as a Carnegie Hall Young Artist in 2012. Based in New York since 2003, she is a member of the multiple Grammy-winning Maria Schneider Orchestra, Grammy-nominated Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, and the Grammy-nominated Anat Cohen Tentet. In this episode, Nadje shares her background, education, and musical journey.

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Episode #47: Amanda Monaco

Guitarist/composer Amanda Monaco has performed at venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, Jazz Standard, and Flushing Town Hall, and with artists such as Milt Hinton, Steve Wilson, Rufus Reid, and the Mingus Orchestra. She has released eight albums to date and her current jazz projects include her eclectic quartet Deathblow, rambunctious organ quartet Glitter, an all-female jazz sextet Lioness. Her New Music ensemble The Pirkei Avot Project performs her original music with lyrics from selected verses (from a collection of rabbinical teachings with the same name) compiled in the third century C.E. An educator since 1990, Amanda is an Associate Professor at Berklee College of Music where she teaches private instruction, labs, and guitar ensembles. In this episode, Amanda shares her background, education, and musical journey.

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Episode #46: Jihee Heo

Born in Incheon, South Korea, Jihee Heo is a New York-based jazz pianist, composer and keyboardist. Heo holds a Master of Music degree (Jazz Piano Performance) from Manhattan School of Music (2013), and a Bachelor’s Degree (Jazz Piano Performance) from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (2008). Heo has performed at acclaimed festivals and venues such as The Washington D.C. Jazz Festival, O+ Festival, Leverkusen Jazz Festival, The International African Arts Festival, The Jersey Shore Festival, Bergen Pac, Harlem Stage, National Sawdust, The Bitter End, Arthur’s Tavern, Rockwood Music Hall, Nublu, Cornelia Street Cafe and Brooklyn Bowls, among others. In this episode, Heo shares her background, education, and musical journey.

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Episode #45: Terri Lyne Carrington

Multiple Grammy Award–winning drummer, producer, and educator Terri Lyne Carrington has recorded and toured with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Stan Getz, Dianne Reeves, David Sanborn, John Scofield, Diana Krall, Yellowjackets, Cassandra Wilson, Kassa Overall, and countless other jazz luminaries. Carrington made history as the first woman to win a Grammy Award in the Best Jazz Instrumental Album category for Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue, a reimagining of the Duke Ellington classic. Her collaborations with Esperanza Spalding and Geri Allen, as well as her female-driven Mosaic Project recordings, have received critical acclaim. She is Zildjian Chair in Performance at Berklee College of Music and received an honorary doctorate from the college in 2003 as well as a bachelor's degree in 1983. She also serves as artistic director for the Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival and Berklee's Summer Sessions: Women’s Performance Program, and is co-artistic director of the Carr Center in Detroit, Michigan. Carrington is also going for her fourth Grammy after receiving her fifth nomination for her Album "Waiting Game". In this episode, Carrington shares her background, education, and musical journey. 

 

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Episode #44: Jonathan Barber

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 Barber’s history of high-profile gigs and recordings taken into consideration, DownBeat magazine gave his latest album “Legacy Holder” 4.5 stars. Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead is a powerful declaration of intent for a band that’s been making waves on the modern jazz scene. Barber’s blend of classic, swinging jazz with elements of gospel, rock, soul, and fusion is a compelling showcase of Barber’s broad stylistic range as a drummer, performer, and composer. Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead was featured and headline the 2018 Rainy Days Jazz Festival held in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia, 2019 Hartford Jazz Festival, and 2020 Clifford Brown Jazz Festival. In this episode, Jonathan shares his background, education, and musical journey. 

 

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