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 Jun 25, 2023
Sunday Jun 25, 2023
If you enjoyed this episode please make sure to subscribe, follow, rate, and/or review this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, ect.
Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com
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.
If you enjoyed this episode please make sure to subscribe, follow, rate, and/or review this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, ect.
Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com
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.
Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com
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.
If you enjoyed this episode please make sure to subscribe, follow, rate, and/or review this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, ect.
Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com
Sunday May 28, 2023
Sunday May 28, 2023
Benjamin Lapidus is a Grammy-nominated musician who has performed and recorded throughout the world as a bandleader and supporting musician playing guitar, Cuban tres, Puerto Rican cuatro, touch style/tapping instruments (Warr guitar and Chapman Stick), as well as organ. As a scholar, he has published widely on Latin music, and he is a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, and The Graduate Center.
Since the 1990s, Lapidus has performed and/or recorded Cuban tres, Puerto Rican cuatro, guitar, voice, and other instruments on film soundtracks, video games, television commercials, and albums with some of the most notable musicians in Latin music and jazz. Some of these collaborations include performances and/or recordings with Andy and Jerry González, Ibrahim Ferrer (Buena Vista Social Club), Pío Leyva (Buena Vista Social Club), Manuel “Puntillita” Alicea (Buena Vista Social Club), Bobby Carcassés, Orlando “Cachaíto” López, Juan Pablo Torres, NEA Jazz Master Cándido Camero, Larry Harlow, Ruben Blades, Típica 73, John “Dandy” Rodríguez, David Oquendo, Xiomara Laugart, Nicky Marrero, Nelson González, Carlos Abadie, Los Hacheros, Pedrito Martínez, Roman Díaz, Paul Carlon, Adonis Puentes, Pablo Menéndez, Bobby Sanabria, Ralph Irizarry, Charlie Sepulveda, Luis Marín, Humberto Ramírez, Harvie S., Hiram “El Pavo” Remón, Gene Jefferson, Frank Anderson, Enid Lowe, Jared Gold, Greg Glassman, Bobby Harden, Brian Lynch, Mark Weinstein, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Larry Goldings, Chico Álvarez, Alfredo “Chocolate” Armenteros, Emilio Barretto, Eddie Zervigón, José Fajardo, Rudy Calzado, Los Afortunados, Jose Conde, Kaori and Yuko Fujii, Roberto Rodríguez, Maurice El Medioni, Michael Torsone, and many others.
As the leader of the Latin jazz group, Sonido Isleño (founded in 1996), he has performed throughout North and South America, Europe, and the Caribbean while releasing five internationally acclaimed albums of his original compositions. In 2007, Lapidus served as musical director and arranger for Garota de Ipanema(JVC/Victor Japan) with Kaori Fujii and toured Japan twice. In 2008, he recorded Herencia Judía and in 2014, he released his eighth album as a leader, Ochósi Blues. Blues for Ochún (2023) is his ninth album as a leader. As a composer, Lapidus’ music has been recorded by groups in Cuba and Japan and has been featured in documentaries and television. In 2015, Latin Jazz USA awarded Lapidus a lifetime achievement award for his contributions to Afro-Latin music. In 2015, he wrote the liner notes, contributed an original composition, sang, and played electric guitar and Cuban tres on Andy González's Grammy™-nominated album, Entre Colegas.
As profiled on the 2023 television show, Shades of Us (https://youtu.be/I_xMYUtgAhA), Benjamin Lapidus was born in Hershey, PA in 1972 to first-generation Brooklynites and the family moved almost 15 times before returning to New York City when Lapidus was 14. Trained in piano from a young age, he moved through a variety of instruments including trumpet and bass before concentrating on the guitar. Lapidus was exposed to music by his grandmother and his father, who played in Latin and jazz bands in the Catskills in the 1950s. Through his father’s record collection and stories of his father’s visits with his Latin American relatives, the seeds of Latin music were planted. Yet it wasn’t until the 1980s that the youngest Lapidus became immersed in Latin music when he moved to a predominantly Latin neighborhood in New York City, where numerous important musicians also resided. Living a block away from Mikel’s jazz club, Lapidus still has vivid memories of practicing in Mario Rivera’s house or seeing Mario Bauzá walk down the street. Deciding he needed a complete musical education, Lapidus earned two degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and Oberlin College, becoming one of the program’s first jazz guitar graduates. In 1994, Lapidus started to play the Puerto Rican cuatro and Cuban tres. After leading his own quartet at festivals and clubs throughout Europe and winning a grant to study briefly with Steve Lacy in Paris, he returned to the U.S. and worked with Joe McPhee, Joe Giardullo, Tani Tabal, Thomas Workman, and other creative improvisers.
At the same time, Lapidus began performing with Larry Harlow, Alex Torres, and other Latin music luminaries in New York and Puerto Rico. Lapidus earned a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology at the CUNY Graduate Center in 2002. His travels to Cuba acquainted him with distant relatives and grounded him in the music of Eastern Cuba. He has taught guitar and Cuban tres at the New School and popular music of the Caribbean, Latin music in New York, and world music at Queens College and John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. Today, Lapidus is a professor in the Department of art and Music at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and on the Doctoral Faculty of the Graduate Center, CUNY. In addition, he has served as scholar-in-residence with the New York Center for Jungian Studies and the Jewish Museum during several humanitarian missions to the Jewish communities of Cuba between 2004-2016. In 2008, Lapidus published the first-ever book on the Eastern Cuban musical genre changüí called Origins of Cuban Music and Dance: Changüí (Scarecrow Press). He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, translations, and presented papers at international conferences on Cuban music, Puerto Rican music, Latin jazz, and improvisation. He has also written liner notes for a number of recordings. In 2013, Lapidus won a prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) fellowship for his critically acclaimed book New York and the International Sound of Latin Music, 1940-1990 (University Press of Mississippi, 2021). With endorsements from Rubén Blades, Ilán Stavins, and other prominent academics around the world, this ground-breaking book has been featured on BBC 3 Music Matters, NPR’s Afropop, and Alt. Latino shows as well as the Miami International Book Fair and countless news outlets. The book maintains its bestseller ranking in Amazon’s top 20 salsa books since its release. In this episode, Benjamin shares his 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.
Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com
Sunday May 21, 2023
Sunday May 21, 2023
He was born in Lucenec on February 22, 2001, and comes from a family of musicians (father Stefan- an established Jazz Artist). Alan's talent began to manifest in his early childhood. As a four- year- old he began attending piano lessons at the Art School in Lucenec. During this period he has his first diploma in a regional piano competition. After moving with his family to Austria's Neusiedl am See in 2012, he started to study at the local music school. In a short period of time, he was selected among the top students in Burgenland, allowing him to participate regularly in master classes with the best pedagogues and performing artists. He has held several public concerts in the framework of Piano Academy Oberschützen.
Since 2014 he has attended the Church Conservatory in Bratislava, where he was admitted as an extraordinary student to the class of Mgr.Art Andrea Balešová ArtD. Under her leadership, he participates in a number of international competitions and he has had successes- Brno 2015-3rd prize, Eisenstadt 2016 – 2nd prize, Kamenice nad Lipou 2016 -1st prize, MILANO 2017 -3rd prize. In the year 2018, he began his studies at the MUK University Vienna jazz piano with Professor Oliver Kent.
In addition to studying jazz and classical piano, Alan is dedicated to improvisation and composition. He has had his first valuable experience at Jazz stages with professional artists. Some time ago, he was auditioning at the Vienna Festival. He was chosen among the finalists.
A festival performance with legends of Austrian Jazz was the best start for him. Alan recorded already three different albums- Nina Berglova Inou Krajinou, New Faces of Slovak Jazz, and Alan&Stefan Bartus Trio Connectivity. He is currently preparing to release his debut album, which he recorded with the legendary Gregory Hutchinson, Kornel Fekete Kovács, and his father Stefan Pista Bartus.
2017 Alan wins further achievements in the Jazz region-with his Trio(J.Valíček, M.Štubniak) he becomes the absolute winner of the Jazz Start Up competition and in the New Face of the Slovak Jazz Competition and he has got the Convincing Instrumental Performance Award. This success gave him opportunities to preset music with his Trio at Bratislava Jazz Days Festival, Top Jazz Fest, Jazz Fest Trencin(Jazz pod Hradom) Liptov Jazz Fest, etc.. 2022 he is winning the solo piano competition Excellence Piano Awards with Grand Prix Majestic Excellence Award and Piano Solo Professional Gold Award.
In the same year, he is the winner of the prestigious Austrian Ö1 Jazz Prize and is accepted to one of the best jazz schools in the world, the Manhattan School of Music in New York. In 2022, Alan also earned a collaboration with living American jazz legend, saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi, with whom he toured and recorded an album in the Lukáš Oravec Quintet. Alan has also recorded and toured with the respected New York saxophonist, Tim Armacost. In 2023 he is winning the Artedea Jazz Competition with his duo Bartuš&Widauer Experiment. In this episode, Alan shares his 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.
Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com
Sunday May 14, 2023
Sunday May 14, 2023
The sonically innovative harpist, Brandee Younger, is revolutionizing the harp for the digital era. Over the past fifteen years, she has worked relentlessly to stretch boundaries and limitations for harpists. In 2022, she made history by becoming the first black woman to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition. That same year, she was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Ever-expanding as an artist, she has worked with cultural icons including Common, Lauryn Hill, John Legend, and Moses Sumney.
Her current album, Brand New Life, builds on her already rich oeuvre and cements the harp’s place in pop culture. As the title of the album suggests, Brand New Life is about forging new paths–artistic, personal, political, and spiritual. On this album, Younger salutes her musical foremother, the trailblazing harpist Dorothy Ashby, while also speaking to the sentiments of more recent generations. “We're bringing new life to Dorothy Ashby’s popular and previously unreleased compositions. We're creating new life…for the instrument,” Younger said. Brand New Life is an album about living fully, in neon bright color.
In March of 2022, Younger flew to Chicago and began recording Brand New Life in the home studio of her long-time collaborator and friend, Makaya McCraven, who produced and played drums on the album. In the Windy City, Younger hoped to harness some of Ashby’s funky energy from a recording she did there nearly five decades before. Younger gathered artists who have had a sense of kinship with Ashby; from the internationally-lauded neo-soul bassist/vocalist/rapper Meshell Ndegeocello to her long-time bassist Rashaan Carter, plus the legendary rapper and producer Pete Rock and the talented contemporary producer 9th Wonder.
The latter producers introduced hip-hop and R&B listeners to Ashby in the 1990s and early 2000s via slick samples. Pete Rock and CL Smooth’s 1992 release, “For Pete’s Sake,” samples Ashby’s 1968 hit “Come Live With Me.” 9th Wonder’s remix of singer Amerie’s 2003 R&B classic “Why Don’t We Fall in Love,” also includes a Dorothy Ashby sample from “Come Live With Me.” With Younger’s solo rendition of this heavily sampled song on Brand New Life, she builds a sonic bridge between generations. “I wanted everyone on the record to have a special connection to Dorothy [Ashby]," she said. For the project, Younger also recorded a number of Ashby’s compositions that were never recorded before, alongside Ashby fan favorites and Younger originals.
The emotional complexity of the album is stunningly captured in the title track, “Brand New Life,” an original co-written by Younger and singer, Mumu Fresh. “This love is so deep, time and space couldn’t keep you away from me,” Mumu Fresh sings. Younger’s playing paints lush details over Mumu Fresh’s smooth vocals leaving nothing to be sonically desired. Against the backdrop of current social issues–climate change, racism, health disparities, and women’s rights–the song speaks to a desire that many people have for change, for something new in the world. “Brand New Life'' reaches listeners at the level of the human.
Love is a subtle but insistent thread throughout the album. The opening track, “You’re a Girl For One Man Only,” is a previously unrecorded Dorothy Ashby composition. Sonically, it is tender and evocative of a first kiss or the early seasons of a new romance. Younger recalls the original song's lyrics’ more traditional message of romantic longing that we still hear in popular music today. Boy chases girl. Girl succumbs. In Younger’s version, there is a sense of agency and exploration. Younger creates a mesmerizing atmosphere. In the second half of the track, we are met with a delicate dance between Joel Ross on vibraphone and Younger on harp, the two instruments pining through the melody.
Brand New Life is part of her steadfast efforts to amplify the contributions of black women harpists and to keep their legacies alive. Her care for and attention to Dorothy Ashby as a musical ancestor has been consistent throughout her career. Akin to the popular hashtag, #CiteBlackWomen, which demands consumers credit and recognizes black women for their intellectual labor, Younger urges us to recognize Ashby’s contribution to the American songbook. The album is part of a larger project of recognizing not only the history of innovators of the distinguished harp – a history that places Ashby and Younger together on a continuum – but also the presence of everyday black women.
“Running Game” was an obscure seven-inch single release originally entitled “Double Talkin’” and featured Ashby on piano. In the song’s intro, we hear what sounds like a casual conversation at a black women’s beauty salon or at a social gathering of sorts where women freely share advice and observations on life with one another. The voices in the intro are of Younger’s mother and aunt. Younger set up listeners by reading the lyrics from Ashby’s original.
“Every man I meet is double talkin'. "Where did the good men go?” The women candidly respond to the song lyrics. One says, “As far as the game, men have been running game since day one.” The track leads into, “Running Game,” a ballad with inflections of Negro spirituals and the blues. Here, Younger’s expressivity on her instrument is incomparable. As the strings (arranged by DeSean Jones) hum behind her, the “double-talking” gold-digging man comes into full view. “Running Game” ends on a note of optimism, of marching forward despite life’s struggles.
Younger was born and raised in Hempstead, New York. As a teen in the early 1990s, she bopped to the beats of artists like LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, and Busta Rhymes. Among these hip-hop greats, she discovered Ashby’s music by way of hip-hop legend Pete Rock. She began playing harp at the age of eleven and eventually enrolled at the Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford in Connecticut where she studied classical music. It was through the encouragement of legendary saxophonist Jackie McLean that she made her first foray into jazz with the harp.
Hearing Ashby for the first time made her envision new possibilities for herself as a harpist. “She was covering all of these popular tunes and soundtracks [of the time] and I wanted to do that. She's playing pop, jazz, and everyone’s sampling her–DJ Premier, Pete Rock, J. Dilla. Hearing, then seeing her as a Black Woman, while I'm this random little isolated black girl playing the harp by myself was everything to me.” Younger forged her way with a small but mighty group of black women harpists as examples—Sarah Lawrence from her hometown, Ann Hobson-Pilot, Dorothy Ashby, and Alice Coltrane—who were consistent sources of inspiration.
In 2006, after graduating from Hartt School, Younger went on to develop a name for herself on the jazz and commercial recording scene in New York City. To date, her performance roster is fierce. As a side-woman, she has played alongside jazz icons such as Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette, and Reggie Workman. Younger’s commitment to carrying the torch can also be seen through her work as a performer and educator.
In 2008, she earned a Master of Music from New York University’s Steinhardt School. During this time, she began to work seriously as an educator. She has been a guest faculty and lecturer at numerous universities including but not limited to Berklee College of Music, Princeton University, Howard University, and Tulane University. Currently, she serves as a teaching artist faculty at New York University and The New School.
In 2020, Younger was named winner of the DownBeat Critics Poll in the category of "Rising Star" harpist. Her work as a side woman is evidence of Younger’s undeniable presence in the sound of contemporary jazz today. In recent years, she has appeared on albums by Lakecia Benjamin, Robert Glasper, Jeremy Pelt, The Baylor Project, and Makaya McCraven, just to name a few. In addition to her contributions as a side-woman, Younger’s commitment to honoring the legacy of black women harpists can be seen through her curatorial work. She has curated a number of performances dedicated to honoring the work of Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. This work speaks to her dedication as a purveyor of black music and history. In this episode, Brandee 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.
Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com
Sunday May 07, 2023
Sunday May 07, 2023
Andrey Chmut is a Ukrainian saxophonist, composer, and producer. Andrey works with Bob James, Jamala, Candy Dulfer, Dave Koz, Julio Iglesias Jr, Andrius Mamontovas, Igor Zakus, Tina Karol, Valery Stepanov, Eric Moore, and many other artists. The song Moving Forward from the album "Smoothability", which was recorded with American jazz pianist and producer Grammy Winner Bob James, became a top song on the American radio giant Sirius XM and lasted more than a year in rotation. Andrey Chmut debut album "Smoothability", which was also released on Skytown Records (LA) was included in the top 10 Ukrainian albums of the year according to the Aprize 2019 award from Radio Aristocrats and 4 position for top 100 Best Smooth Jazz Albums (Amazon).
During 2022 Andrey travel around the world with support concerts in Ukraine At the beginning of 2023, Andrey was invited to the Bob James Quartet and went on a US tour. James and Chmut are working on a joint album that will be presented to the general public in 2024. In this episode, Andrey shares his 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.
Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com
Sunday Apr 30, 2023
Sunday Apr 30, 2023
Guitarist Dominic Miller is a highly regarded pop, classical, and jazz-influenced player, best known for his long association with Sting. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1960, Miller spent his first ten years living in South America, where his father worked for Johnson Wax. Around age ten, he moved back to the United States with his family, settling in Racine, Wisconsin. By age 15 he had picked up the guitar and played in various bands during high school. Later, he studied at London's Guildhall School of Music, where he made his first forays into the U.K. music scene and befriended artists like violinist Nigel Kennedy and Level 42 keyboardist Mike Lindup. From the late '80s onward, Miller was an in-demand performer, touring and/or recording with such acts as Level 42, World Party, King Swamp, the Pretenders, Phil Collins, Branford Marsalis, and many others.
Beginning with 1991's The Soul Cages, Miller began a fruitful working relationship with Sting. He has appeared on almost all of Sting's albums since the '90s, including Ten Summoner's Tales, Mercury Falling, Brand New Day, All This Time, Sacred Love, If on a Winter's Night, and more. He has also made significant contributions to albums by Chris Botti, Vinnie Colaiuta, Kim Richey, Ronan Keating, LeAnn Rimes, and many others.
As a solo artist, Miller debuted with First Touch in 1995, followed by Second Nature in 1999. These albums showcased his adept technique and inclination toward evocative instrumentals. He has delivered a steady stream of solo efforts since then, including 2002's New Dawn with Neil Stacey, 2004's classical-themed Shapes, and 2008's In a Dream with Peter Kater. He has also delivered a handful of eclectic efforts for the Q-Rious label, including 2010's November; 2014's Ad Hoc; and 2016's collaboration with Manolito Simonet, Hecho en Cuba. In 2017, Miller made his ECM debut with the atmospheric Silent Light. A second ECM release, Absinthe, followed by 2019 and 2023 a third ECM release, Vagabond. In this episode, Dominic shares his 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.
Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
Sunday Apr 23, 2023
Cheryl Ann Spencer is a Singaporean jazz pianist specializing in classical and modern jazz. Aside from a banking and finance degree, she has a second degree in Jazz Music from the LaSalle College of Arts. She is pursuing classical composition and piano pedagogy at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore. She majored in jazz piano under her principal study teacher Mr. Kerong Chok at La Salle,. Cheryl reconnects with her first love in music and draws inspiration from the vibrant jazz community around the world including Kenny Barron, Mc Coy Tyner, Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, and Chok Kerong.
Cheryl grew up in a music-centered family. Her late father, Mr. Teo Chin Huat, was a pianist/ music educator previously from the Vienna Conservatory. Cheryl's natural love and inclination towards music was evident at a young age as she developed a great ear and could play the right notes on any musical instrument despite not having formal training. Since she was young, she has played in numerous school events and chapel services as teachers appreciate her ease and confidence in playing the piano.
A mother of two children, Cheryl took a break from work when her children were born in the last decade. Motherhood gives her great joy and inspiration to create music. Since then, she took up her second degree in Jazz Music and formed the 'Evolution Quartet band with Tamagoh (drums), Fabian Lee (Double Bass) and Cheryl Ann Spencer (piano), and Rit Xu ( Flute).
Cheryl has performed at Esplanade Recital Studio, Maduro, Blu Jazz, Harry's Bar at Boat Quay, and British High Commissioner's Fundraising Dinner at Nassim Road. She recently held her personal recital concert at the LaSalle College of Arts. In this episode, Cheryl 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.
Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com