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
Episodes
Sunday Aug 06, 2023
Sunday Aug 06, 2023
At the start of his career, the great guitarist Kenny Burrell wrote, “Freddie Bryant is a brilliant young guitarist and composer.” Since then he has shown his versatile skills in jazz, classical, Brazilian, and other world genres. Freddie is currently in demand in the New York jazz scene. He worked with Ben Riley for over a decade with the Monk Legacy Septet (Memories of T on Concord Records) and The Ben Riley Quartet (Grown Folks Music on Sunnyside Records). He has been a member of the Mingus Orchestra since the millennium and has toured and recorded with Tom Harrell (Paradise on RCA). His own group, KALEIDOSCOPE whose CD, Live Grooves…Epic Tales is on the HiPNOTIC record label and features grooves from around the world including Brazil, Cuba, and New Orleans, and influences from blues, gospel, India, and the Middle East.
This Spring and Summer celebrate the release of his opus, Upper West Side Love Story, a double CD of his 16-movement song cycle featuring an all-star nonet: Carla Cook – vocals, Regina Carter – violin, Donny McCaslin and Steve Wilson on saxophones and flutes, Gwen Laster and Akua Dixon filling out the string section on viola and cello with the grooving rhythm section of bassist John Benitez and drummer Alvester Garnett. In this episode, Freddie shares his background, education, and musical journey.
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Sunday Jul 30, 2023
Sunday Jul 30, 2023
Gabriela Martina is a vocalist, composer, and bandleader who grew up in Switzerland. She spent 13 years living and working in the US (Boston & New York) learning from the people who made Jazz (among many other styles of music originating from the US) as important of an art form as it is today.
Gabriela grew up yodeling with her family and had performances as early as the age of 4. Being raised on a beautiful farm in the heart of Switzerland surrounded by a musical family has influenced her musical path strongly. Martina’s upcoming album ‘Homage to Grämlis’ (delayed by Corona 2020), is a tribute to the farm in the Swiss Alps where she was raised. In spring of 2019 she won the LABgrant from The Boston Foundation, which gave her great support with her album production of ‘Homage to Grämlis’.
In the fall of 2021, Martina had the great honor to receive the arts & culture award 2020 from the arts and culture commission Horw, her home town in Switzerland. She also received the DIPLÔME DE MÉDAILLE DE VERMEIL from the lauréats Arts-Sciences-Lettres, 2020, in Paris (France).
During the time of the pandemic, Gabriela Martina has composed nine new compositions for her newest album called ‘STATES’. The word ‘States’ refers to the United States of America, but also to a ‘state of mind’, or simply a ‘state of being’. Sounds created with your voice and percussion/drumming as the first human musical elements. She has used them as the core elements for her compositions. Her works include wordplay, music with words (spoken word) and words with no meaning (gibberish). The release for this album is slated for 2024!
Released in 2016 with a four-star review from DownBeat, her album, No White Shoes, represented a major step in the singer’s sojourn as a 21st-century musician. Martina had the opportunity to perform and collaborate with heavyweights like Meshell Ndegeocello, Jack DeJohnette, and Angelique Kidjo. She recorded with veteran drummer J.R. Robinson and was a semi-finalist in the Shure Voice Competition at the 2009 Montreux Jazz Festival, performing with guitarist Lee Ritenour’s band. Martina released a critically hailed EP in 2010, Curiosity, which included her original song “Ain’t Nobody,” a finalist in the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Foundation Young Jazz Composer Awards in 2012. Martina owns her own booking agency called Red Velvet Sounds and is cofounder and curator of the free improv concert series In Momentum.
In June 2019 she took part in the Central Swiss Yodeling Festival and graduated with top marks. She has also performed in concert venues such as the Berklee Performance Center, Jordan Hall, International Tennis Hall of Fame, State House of Flags and the Scullers Jazz Club. Gabriela has a bachelor's degree from Berklee College of Music and a master's degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Donna McElroy, Jason Moran, Cecil McBee, Miguel Zenon, Frank Carlberg, Dominique Eade, Ken Schaphorst, Jerry Bergonzi among many others.
Martina is passionate about learning more about other cultures, helping to develop a sense for community, and fighting inequality and racism. She is a strong advocate of causes that promote equal human rights independent of religious or political affiliations. From 2009 to 2010, Martina was the founder and president of the Cultural Leaders Club at Berklee College of Music, where students investigated causes and effects in terms of race, gender, and ethnicity issues. Sonic Relief, which Martina co-founded, was awarded the Berklee Urban Service Award 2016 for using music to aid people in need, such as organizing a humanitarian fundraising concert for Syrian refugees, featuring Simon Shaheen and the Lee Swensen Katz Trio in December 2015.
Gabriela Martina has many hidden talents, one of them being cooking which she clearly proved through her cookbook she wrote during the desperate times of the pandemic 2020/2021 called ‘Dinner with My Neighbor’. In this episode, Gabriela shares her background, education, and musical journey.
Sunday Jul 23, 2023
Sunday Jul 23, 2023
“Jazz was the first music that I ever heard. It was introduced to me by my Dad who always played jazz around the house. He regularly sat me down and told me to listen closely to the music, that jazz was life.” Her beloved father passed away when she was 11. “The last time I saw him, he was at the hospital, had me driven in, and he told me that he wanted me to promise him something. He wanted me to promise him that I would sing jazz after I became a woman. Years passed, life went on, and I became involved in performing and recording r&b. But when I was completing the second CD in 2013, I kept on thinking about my last conversation with my Dad. It was as if he was reminding me about my promise. I decided that I would see if I had what it took to sing jazz.”
Douye’ has since worked very hard at finding her own place in the jazz world. Rather than doing it halfway or merely copying the great jazz singers of the past, she was determined to study hard, learn a countless number of songs, and sing jazz in her own way. She paid close attention to the reactions of the audience and the musicians when she appeared at jazz jams at the World Stage in Los Angeles. “If I did not sound any good, they would certainly tell me! I gained the courage to give it a real try after getting some confirmation from the jazz crowd that I could do this.”
Daddy Said So features Douye’ singing a set of classic jazz standards. Her voice is attractive, warm, and quietly emotional, has a solid sense of swing, and she clearly has a deep understanding of the lyrics. It is an awe-inspiring jazz debut for the up-and-coming singer.
Rather than utilize the same group of musicians on each selection, a wide variety of brilliant jazz artists make memorable appearances throughout the release. Douye’ originally made demos of the songs that she planned to record, sent them to many of her favorite musicians, and happily discovered that every artist was interested in being on her project.
Douye’ recorded “Nature Boy” as a duet with the immortal bassist Ron Carter. “It was funny. He suggested that we meet for the session at 11. I said, ‘Alright but I would be there at 10:30.’ Ron Carter replied that he would make it by 10:30 too. I arrived at the studio at 10:17 and he was already there! I think we were finished with ‘Nature Boy’ before 11.”
“Mood Indigo” and “I Loves You Porgy” were recorded with veteran pianist Kenny Barron’s trio. “But Beautiful” and “All The Things You Are” feature a talented Nigerian tenor-saxophonist Zem Audu and pianist Benito Gonzalez. Douye’ originally recorded “Lush Life” and “Sophisticated Lady” as duets with her friend the late pianist Joel Scott. Later, tasteful bass and drum parts were added but Douye’ kept Scott’s beautiful accompaniment intact. “Round Midnight” and “In A Sentimental Mood” was performed with pianist-arranger John Beasley and a few of Los Angeles’ top jazz players (saxophonist Bob Sheppard, bassist John Clayton, and drummer Roy McCurdy). Check out Douye’s deep-toned vocal on “’ Round Midnight” and Beasley’s emulation of Duke Ellington’s piano playing on “In A Sentimental Mood” from Duke’s famous collaboration with John Coltrane.
Every performance has its special moments. The great guitarist Russell Malone not only arranged “Body And Soul” but organized a group that included trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and drummer Willie Jones III. “Autumn Leaves” (arranged by Angelo Metz as was “Besame Mucho”)) and “Someone To Watch Over Me” (arranged by Phil Small and produced by Metz) find Douye’ joined by the Kim Richmond Orchestra while the warm tenor-sax of Justo Almario co-stars on “Besame Mucho.” Also included on Daddy Said So is a very spirited rendition of “Summertime” that was recorded in New York with a band of young Cuban Americans led by drummer-arranger Zack O’Farrill (the 21-year-old son of Arturo O’Farrill).
“I’m so grateful,” says Douye’. “While it took time to coordinate everyone’s schedules, each session came together very quickly. It was so enjoyable that it confirmed my decision to sing jazz.”
Douye’ was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and regularly spent her summers in England. She was in a church choir in Africa when she was quite young and often sang along with recordings from her father’s record collection. Douye also wrote poems and songs as she grew up. Early on she knew that singing was going to be her lifelong love. In her pursuit of singing, she moved to Los Angeles to attend the Musicians Institute as a vocal major. While attending school, she met songwriter Terry Shaddick who had composed the giant hit “Physical” for Olivia-Newton John. Shaddick and Douye’ soon formed a musical partnership, writing all of the fresh new music for her first two albums Journey and So Much Love. During this era, Douye’ performed classic r&b inspired by Anita Baker, Sam Cooke, Sade, Regina Belle, Rachelle Ferrell, and other major soul singers. In this episode, Douye shares her background, education, and musical journey.
Sunday Jul 16, 2023
Sunday Jul 16, 2023
Tony Monaco began his keyboard life at age eight, on the accordion. When he was twelve, his destiny as a jazz organist was sealed when he first heard Jimmy Smith. An enthusiastic student, Tony began working in Jazz clubs as a teenager in his native Columbus, Ohio, guided by local organ gurus Hank Marr and Don Patterson. For further inspiration, he studiously absorbed the mastery of Jimmy McGriff, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Charles Earland, Jack McDuff, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. All would play a role in the development of his musical palette. On Tony's sixteenth birthday, his prayers were answered. He received an encouraging phone call from Jimmy Smith, who soon became his Mentor/Teacher. Four years later, Jimmy Smith invited Tony to play at his club in California--a peak lifetime experience for Tony.
From 1980 to 2006, Tony stood by his family businesses and married to have three daughters, while running Monaco’s Palace Italian restaurant for ten years while performing weekly in the lounge. Tony then entered the food brokerage industry peaking towards Torchbearer status with SYSCO Foods. Always inspired by music, Tony then went to work as an assistant Broadcast producer for a prominent ad agency learning his production skills and playing gigs at night to continue supporting his family. After graduating from college with a B.S.B.A. from Franklin University in 1989, Tony's occupation changed again to supervisor of Monaco Concrete (“my Father needed a good manager and my daughters were getting close to going to college!”).
Tony now enjoys and concentrates on all his musical energies flourishing ultimately as he pursues his passions. In April 2000, Tony met fellow jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco, who offered to produce a debut CD for him. This collaboration resulted in the critically acclaimed "Burnin Grooves”. The international success of the recording served as the catalyst for regional and national tours. This success was followed by two more releases for Summit Records that received critical acclaim and significant sales, charting in the Jazzweek Top 10. In September 2003, Summit Records released "A New Generation”, a unique recording featuring both Tony's and Joey DeFrancesco's Trios. They recorded the project using two "Hammond-Suzuki New B3's" as Tony was awarded a major endorsement role with Hammond and Suzuki. As Tony’s reputation has grown, he has been blessed to play with some of the greatest musicians in jazz, including Mel Lewis, Lewis Nash, Red Holloway, Plas Johnson, Sonny Fortune, Jon Faddis, Adam Nussbaum, Bruce Forman, Harvey Mason, Chester Thompson (drummer) Herlin Riley, Matt Wilson, Jeff Clayton, Terrell Stafford, Eric Alexander, Late Bobby Durham, Russell Malone, Peter Bernstein, Paul Bollenback, Bruce Forman, Kevin Mahogany, Victor Lewis, Pat Martino, Fareed Haque, and even George Benson.
An ardent student of the organ, it's no surprise that Tony is an accomplished teacher as well. In addition to private students, classes and clinics, Tony has produced a series of instructional DVDs titled "Playing Jazz Hammond" that have quickly become indispensable for any serious student of the organ. Tony teaches Lessons online with a system he created giving lessons one on one online to anyone from anywhere around the globe!
Presently, Tony maintains a busy schedule touring, including festival appearances, clinics, and workshops In 2007 he appeared on the cover of Keyboard Magazine. In April 2012, Tony released "Celebration Life * Love * Music, a two-disc set of all originals as he continues to Celebrate his Musical gifts and shares his skills with everyone. Tony’s drive as an innovator and missionary continues to carry forward his passion for the Hammond Organ. Now Executive Producer of the Summit Records subsidiary Chicken Coup Records, he has recorded and released CDs for several undiscovered organists around the globe, and his role as an educator has allowed him to spread and cultivate many new hopefuls to the art of the jazz organ.
In 2014 Tony released Furry Slippers with fellow guitarist Fareed Haque and Drummer Greg Fundis! Topping the Jazz and College charts and gaining several reviews!
Tony continues his mission to raise awareness and appreciation of the jazz organ and its importance in genres as diverse as traditional Gospel, RnB, and Modern Jazz. He is formulating new strategies and record deals using his network through Chicken Coup Records to help himself and his peers and students advance in this ever-changing music market and utilize new technologies and markets. Tony is a vital source of musical experience, knowledge, and humility ready, willing, and able !!! In 2017, Tony celebrated a special anniversary, celebrating 50 years as a musician! In January 2019, Tony released his 11th Internation release "The Definition of Insanity" on his Chicken Coup Records label. He will be recording his second venture with Drummer great Steve Smith and Guitarist Vinny Valentino as Groove Blue Trio Tours Russia and Europe! Tony's looking forward to recording both new Instructional Vids as well as New Music while touring globally! In this episode, Altin shares his background, education, and musical journey.
Sunday Jul 09, 2023
Sunday Jul 09, 2023
A native of the Ohio Valley, Dorothy fulfilled her dream of moving to New York City in 1970 and stayed there for fifty years. She was a friend, fellow musician, and confidante to her husband, Mike Longo, for thirty-two years. Steeped in classical piano training since the age of six, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music and music education. Dorothy brought a love for jazz music and humanity to New York City and her collaborations with Mike. It was a love that extended far beyond the jazz scene and was elevated by their involvement with the Bahá’í Community. In this episode, Dorothy shares her background, education, and musical journey.
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Sunday Jul 02, 2023
Sunday Jul 02, 2023
Altin Sencalar began his studies at Texas State University, studying with Freddie Mendoza. While attending TSU, he gained entrance into the thriving Austin music scene and began emerging as a new talent. Altin soon moved to Austin and attended the University of Texas at Austin’s Butler School of Music, where he studied under the tutelage of Andre Hayward. He became a fixture in the local music scene after being named a “2017 Top 10 Austin Music Awards Horn Player” and recording his debut album, Introducing Altin Sencalar.
After completing his bachelor’s degree from UT, he was given the opportunity to travel as a soloist with the University of Texas Jazz Orchestra to the Montreux Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, and Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, France. Altin then attended Michigan State University as the Graduate Assistant to Michael Dease and Rodney Whitaker, where he pursued his Master of Music in Jazz Studies. While at MSU, Altin co-founded the Sencalar/Glassman Quintet with fellow trombonist Chris Glassman and released two co-led albums. His sophomore album, released in 2021, is titled Reconnected and explores his Mexican/Turkish/Texan roots. His latest full-length release, In Good Standing (Posi-Tone, 2023) finds Altin with some New York City heavyweights and shows his growth as a composer, musician, and band leader.
Altin has gained international and national recognition through numerous competitions and awards. Such honors have come from Yamaha, The American Trombone Workshop Jazz Competition solo divisions, International Trombone Association’s Jazz Solo – Carl Fontana Competition and J.J. Johnson Competition, the Kai Winding Trombone Ensemble Competition, Texas State Trombone Symposium Michael Rath Jazz Solo Competition, Downbeat Student Music Awards, and the International Tuba-Euphonium Association Rich Matteson Jazz Euphonium Competition, among others. In this episode, Altin shares his background, education, and musical journey.
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Sunday Jun 25, 2023
Sunday Jun 25, 2023
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Sunday Jun 18, 2023
Sunday Jun 18, 2023
A native of São Paulo, Brazil, Felipe Salles has been an active musician in the US since 1995, where he has worked and recorded with prominent jazz artists, including Randy Brecker, Paquito D’Rivera, David Liebman, Melissa Aldana, Lionel Loueke, Jerry Bergonzi, Chico Pinheiro, Magos Herrera, Sofia Rei, Yosvany Terry, Jovino Santos Neto, Oscar Stagnaro, Luciana Souza, and Bob Moses. He has toured extensively in Europe, North and South America, India, and Australia, as a sideman and a leader of his own group.
Salles is a 2018 Guggenheim Foundation Composition Fellow, a 2021 South Arts Jazz Road Creative Residency Grant Fellowship recipient, a 2015 NALAC Fund for the Arts Grant winner, a 2009-2010 winner of the French American Jazz Exchange Grant, and a 2005-2006 winner of the Chamber Music America New Works: Creation and Presentation Grant Program, grants sponsored by The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. He was awarded First Place in the 2001 Concurso SGAE de Jazz " TETE MONTOLIU; 2001, with his composition The Return of The Chromo Sapiens.
His arrangements and compositions have been performed by some of the top groups in the world including The Metropole Orchestra, UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Amazonas Band, Helsinki Philharmonic Violas, Meta4 String Quartet, Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra, Manhattan School of
Music Jazz Philharmonic Orchestra, New England Conservatory Jazz Orchestra, and New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble, among others.
Salles has released nine critically acclaimed recordings as a leader.
Departure (Tapestry, 2012) received 4 stars from DownBeat Magazine and placed on their best albums of the Year list in 2013. They noted that Salles is adept at “crafting pieces that juggle intriguing complexity with buoyant rhythms and lush colors.” JazzTimes Magazine noted that “Felipe Salles blends the visceral and the
cerebral on his fascinating fifth album, infusing classical modernist strains with the buoyant rhythms of his Brazilian homeland.” Ugandan Suite (Tapestry, 2014) also earned a place on DownBeat Magazine’s best albums of the Year list in 2014 and was praised by jazz guitarist Lionel Loueke: “This is one of the best
progressive works I have heard in a long time. What a great blend of classical, African, and Jazz music.” Varanda (Tapestry, 2017) with the Brazilian jazz collective titled The Reunion Project, also earned critical acclaim including 4.5 stars in DownBeat Magazine.
The Lullaby Project and Other Works for Large Jazz Ensemble (Tapestry, 2018) is Salles’ first large jazz ensemble recording and was composed for and recorded by his own Interconnections Ensemble, to critical acclaim (DownBeat Magazine’s best albums of the year list in 2019).
His second extensive ensemble recording, the ambitious The New Immigrant Experience (Tapestry, 2020), was released as a CD/DVD set, to critical acclaim, including a 4.5 stars review from DownBeat Magazine, making the magazine’s list of best albums of 2020. He has recently released a quartet album, Tiyo’s Songs of Life (Tapestry, 2022), featuring Avery Sharpe, Zaccai Curtis, and Jonathan Barber, and his third significant ensemble recording, Home is Here (Tapestry, 2023), featuring an array of guest artists. Felipe Salles is a D’Addario Woodwinds Select Reeds and Conn-Selmer Saxophones Artist/Clinician. He currently leads both The Felipe Salles Group and The Felipe Salles’ Interconnections Ensemble and works as a member of the New World Jazz Composers Octet, Kyle Saulnier Awakening Orchestra, Alex Alvears Mango Blue, and Gonzalo Grau (Grammy Nominated) La Clave Secreta.
Felipe Salles has a Master's and a Graduate Diploma in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory, and a Doctorate in Jazz Arts Advancement from Manhattan School of Music. He is a Professor of Jazz and African American Music Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he has taught since 2010. In this episode, Felipe shares his background, education, and musical journey.
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Sunday Jun 11, 2023
Sunday Jun 11, 2023
Flute-playing soul-jazz phenomenon Ragan Whiteside has become one of the genre’s most consistently dynamic and popular artists. Thanks to her incredible skill and creativity on her chosen instrument, as well as her charismatic presence on stage, Whiteside is at the top of her game. That was demonstrated in October 2022, when she became the first artist to win the competitive Best Contemporary Jazz Artist Award at the inaugural Jazz Music Awards, held at the Cobb Energy Centre in Atlanta. Whiteside is also a 2023 NAACP Image Award Nominee and four-time nominee for the Smooth Jazz Network’s Best Artist Award.
That distinction is well-deserved, as the Atlanta-based musician, songwriter, and vocalist have become one of very few women players to excel in the male-dominated instrumental sphere, garnering eight consecutive Top Ten Billboard airplay singles by 2022. And she’s done it as an independent artist, releasing projects on Randis Music, the label she founded with her husband, producer, and composer Dennis Johnson.
Her most recent full-length project, 2022’s Thrill Ride, is her sixth career album to date and it lives up to its title, demonstrating Whiteside’s breathtaking virtuosity and melodic skills on a thrilling journey through a landscape of dynamic grooves. The project features eight songs, which are largely produced by her longtime collaborators Dennis Johnson and Bob Baldwin. Other producers include Chris “Big Dog” Davis on the sexy update of Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry Bout A Thing,” and James Lloyd of the veteran group Pieces Of A Dream, who contributes “A Toast At Sunset” as writer and keyboardist as well.
Her third single from the project, “Full Court Press,” is a smooth and sexy groove co-written by Whiteside with the team of Johnson and Baldwin, who produced, and featured guitarist Phil Hamilton and drummer Rich Harrison, also known as the artist RAH.
Whiteside’s previous single was the title track, “Thrill Ride,” which was also written and produced by Johnson, Baldwin, and Whiteside, and features guitarist Hamilton and drummer RAH. The single peaked at No. 1 on five radio charts, including the Billboard Smooth Jazz Chart, Mediabase, the Smooth Jazz Network, Radiowave and Groove Jazz Music. Her previous single from the set, “Off The Cuff,” not only peaked at
No. 7 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Airplay chart, where it spent 17 weeks, but it also earned her the Jazz Music Awards nomination that she ultimately won.
In addition to her projects, Whiteside has been a busy collaborator. Over the last two years, the native New Yorker also charted at No. 1 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Airplay chart for her collaboration with Kim Scott’s 2022 remake of Ashford & Simpson’s 1978 mega-hit, “I’m Every Woman” along with Althea René, which peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz chart. Whiteside also co-wrote Bob Baldwin’s top-charting hit, “B Positive,” with production partners Dennis Johnson and Baldwin. Additionally, she is featured on “This Time Around” with contemporary jazz artist Jarez, from his latest project, J Funk City. In 2022, she appeared on two tracks, “Seven Eight” and “Solo,” on veteran jazz drummer Billy Cobham’s new album, Drum’N’Voice Vol. 5.
Whiteside has continued to delight fans and critics alike with her engaging, upbeat melodies and exhilarating flute playing. Tunes like “Thrill Ride,” “Off The Cuff,” “JJ’s Strut,” “Reminiscing,” “Jam It,” “Early Arrival,” “See You At The Get Down,” and the Billboard No. 1 “Corey’s Bop” have burnished her reputation. But while Whiteside has made her mark fusing inspired flute melodies and breathtaking solos with hip upbeat grooves, she gained her musical acumen by training as a classical flutist.
Originally from Mount Vernon, New York, Whiteside played drums, piano, and violin in elementary school before a desire to be in the marching band put the flute in her hand at age 8. “They had this thing called Band Day where all the public schools would march in a parade through Mount Vernon. I said, ‘Oh. I need to be in this parade.’” There were no violins in the marching band, so Whiteside was offered the flute. “I did not want to play the flute. And it took me about a week to get a sound out of it,” she says.
But once young Whiteside locked onto the instrument, she immediately focused on
what kind of music she wanted to play but was steered into a more traditional path.
“My parents got me a private teacher. I said to my teacher, ‘Okay, I want to do jazz.’ And he was like, ‘No, you’re going to play classical,’” Whiteside recalls. “‘I don’t want to play classical.’ ‘Well, you can play jazz later, but you need to get your foundation in classical music.’ Once again, I was being forced into something, but I started playing and I started getting good at it, and I started to like it.”
The young flute player got good and got serious. She participated in Mount Vernon High School’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU-influenced marching bands), entered multiple musical competitions – some with cash prizes – and won. Members of the National Association of Negro Musicians mentored her, many of whom held positions as opera singers, orchestrators, music directors, and instrumentalists in classical music at a time when African Americans were still not often included. She also participated in the NAACP’s ACT-SO (Academic, Cultural, Technological, and Scientific Olympics) competitions for young people, where she won both regional and national titles in two different years. With these distinctions under her belt, Whiteside went on
to the Cleveland Conservatory of Music, where she was one of just six African American students. When she transferred to the highly competitive HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida, she discovered she was now the only one.
After receiving so much encouragement and mentoring during her high school years, this was a culture shock. “I was on my own, there was no support, there was nobody I
could go and talk to,” Whiteside explains. “On top of that, just being in a classical conservatory, it's cutthroat, it's competitive, it's hardcore. A lot is expected of you, and
everybody's trying to go after the same five or six openings.” The pressure to perform was intense and her motivation for that life started to wane. During her senior year-end performance, for which she was to play a well-rehearsed, 20-minute flute concerto, Whiteside went blank halfway through. Offered the opportunity to start again, Whiteside realized she was at a turning point and instead walked out.
Influenced by such diverse flute masters as jazz-classical player Hubert Laws, the late Latin jazz artist Dave Valentin, and the French classical flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal, Whiteside received rigorous musical training that prepared her to play in the most prestigious symphony orchestras in the world, but after graduation, Whiteside admits she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. Back home in Mount Vernon, she attended a show at a local jazz club where keyboardist, producer, and composer Bob Baldwin was headlining. While watching, Whiteside says she had an epiphany: “I was sitting up front and I said, ‘Oh my God. This is what I want to do.’ ”
After the show, she introduced herself to Baldwin. “I told him, ‘Look I'm a classical musician but I want to make the transition to jazz. Do you have any advice for me? And we talked for a while and he pretty much took me under his wing, right then and there,” Whiteside explains. “And two days later, I went to a studio in Yonkers, and it turned into my first non-classical studio session.” Whiteside performed a Stevie Wonder tune for Baldwin and studio owner Dennis Johnson, who later became her husband. “I played a Stevie Wonder tune, and they’re like, ‘Hey, we need some flute on this jingle for [New York smooth jazz station] CD 101.9.’ And I did that, and from there Bob taught me how to make that transition from classical to jazz, and Dennis showed me the ins and outs of audio recording and using computers to compose music.” Since then, Johnson and Baldwin have become Whiteside’s frequent songwriting collaborators.
Whiteside instantly began her successful foray into the contemporary soul-jazz sphere. After launching the Randis Music label in 2007 with her husband Johnson, she collaborated with Johnson and Baldwin again on her 2007 release Class Axe, 2012’s Evolve, 2014’s Quantum Drive, 2017’s Troublemaker, and 2020’s five-track EP Five Up Top. She also teamed with popular saxophonist Kim Waters for the 2017 release Early Arrival. She has collaborated on tracks with several artists including Marion Meadows, Patrice Rushen, Tom Brown, Walter Beasley, Melba Moore, Chieli Minucci, Frank McComb, and others. She has also been a popular performer at the Berks Jazz Fest, the Seabreeze Jazz Festival, the Mallorca Smooth Jazz Festival in Spain, and the Capital Jazz Super Cruise.
Meanwhile, Whiteside and her husband Dennis Johnson made the jump from New York to Atlanta when it became clear that Atlanta offered a more attractive lifestyle. Further, digital technology has made it easy to produce and distribute music from anywhere. “Atlanta is like a hub,” Whiteside explains. “You can get to so many different places relatively quickly from Atlanta. For the first time, we were able to get to New Orleans, Nashville, Houston, the Carolinas, and all over Florida without having to fly, and every place we went, we experienced new musical influences.”
Whiteside has also maintained a career as a tech consultant and her role as a mother of two. In late 2020, Whiteside added another title to her list of accomplishments: Radio personality. Spotted at a show by David Linton, a former label executive and current program director of Atlanta’s station, Jazz 91.9 WCLK, Whiteside was offered the opportunity to audition as a host. She now holds down the popular No. 1 Saturday morning show “Saturday with Ragan Whiteside, ” another role she has grown to enjoy.
With so many professional balls to juggle, and the concert industry opening back up, Ragan Whiteside can lay claim to life as a contemporary jazz star as one big “Thrill Ride.” In this episode, Ragan shares her background, education, and musical journey.
If you enjoyed this episode please make sure to subscribe, follow, rate, and/or review this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, ect.
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Sunday Jun 04, 2023
Sunday Jun 04, 2023
Superb Alto Saxophonist Christopher McBride has been slowly but steadily turning heads with his ubiquitous work as an invaluable sideman since the mid-aughts. Now Christopher is gaining respect amongst fans, critics, and his peers as one of the most versatile saxophonists in the world. His 2012 debut album Quatuor de Force certainly establishes his ability to front a group and write his own soulful, melodically indelible tunes. Applauded for his ability to play in all musical situations, McBride has the ability to unleash a fiery attack and serrated tone, but on his recent album he explores a more measured, mellow sound heavily influenced by contemporary R&B—with a strong shot of Cannonball Adderley’s post-bop sensuality–but his improvising is very rigorous and cogent.
Starting his professional career in Chicago in 2007, Christopher has been in high demand around the world as a musician, composer, arranger,
and educator. In addition, since moving to New York in 2013 his group The Whole Proof has played venues all over New York such as Smalls Jazz Club, Smoke Jazz Club, Ginny's Supper Club & Fat Cat. The musicians he has performed for stretches over many genres with artists such as Billy Preston, Jimmy Heath, Bobby Broom, Percy Gray, Roy Hargrove, Talib Kweli, Lupe Fiasco, Guy Sebastian, Solange, Ne-Yo, Jennifer Hudson, Alice Smith, Brandon Flowers, Lea DeLaria, 88 Keys, Milton Mustafa, Winard Harper, and the Marquis Hill Blacktet. He now currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. In this episode, Christopher shares his background, education, and musical journey.
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