Seasons

Tales From the Jazz Side with Garfield Moore episode #23

Tales From the Jazz Side with cellist/composer/educator Garfield Moore. I have known Mr. Moore for quite some time and have had the privilege to perform with him on only one occasion. And that one time, the plethora of knowledge that I gained in that interaction still sits with me today as I progress into new…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Simi Stone episode #22

Tales with singer-songwriter/musician/visual artist Simi Stone I can’t think of a better way to start my first interview for 2023 than for it to be with the talented, admirable and notably beautiful artist Samantha Molly Lou Sernaker (aka Simi Stone). I have never performed with Simi but I am a fan of both her music…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Vashon Johnson episode #21

This episode of  Tales will be coming from bassist and composer Vashon Johnson. I must admit that it has been a long time since I last aired the show. I recorded this podcast over five years ago and never got around to launching it. But we are back now and ready to hit the road and…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Lionel Cordew, episode #20

Tales is coming to you with guest artist drummer/bassist/guitarist/ composer  Lionel Cordew.  My guest this month is another accomplished player that I have had the honor to work with while out on the Michael Franks tour. One of the first impressions you may get when first meeting Lionel Cordew is his open and easy going…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Jimmy Haslip, episode #19

Tales is coming to you with guest electric bassist/composer/arranger/producer, Jimmy Haslip. Back in August while playing with Michael and the band in Los Angeles, I had an excellent opportunity to invite this extraordinarily talented and humble gentleman to do an episode of Tales. We conducted the interview backstage after the show. Amidst the noise of the…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Sheila Jordan episode #18

Tales is coming to you with guest vocalist/songwriter Sheila Jordan. “Sheila Jordan is one of the Jazz world’s best kept secrets.” – Blue Note – With 51+ albums to her credit, how could she be the best kept secret? People “in the know”, and what I mean by that, people who are true jazz lovers…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Les McCann episode #17

Tales is coming to you with guest renaissance artist, Mr. Les McCann. “Without tradition, art is a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Without innovation, it is a corpse.”       —Winston Churchill Les McCann, legendary musician, artist-renaissance man. He is most known for being a pianists, vocalist and composer, but not a lot of…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Jay Azzolina episode #16

Tales is coming to you with guest artist guitarist/composer/teacher Jay Azzolina. One of the things that I love about doing these podcasts is that I get to reconnect with musicians/friends that I admire and respect as artists. Life moves so swiftly and in so many directions, that we don’t always have an opportunity to talk…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Buddy Williams episode #15 part 1 & 2

Tales coming to you with guest artist drummer/composer Buddy Williams, will be presented in two parts. Part one above. Part two in post write up. “Buddy Williams has got to be one of the most 10 recorded drummers of all time. Period. The resume is just ridiculous. You have to just see it to believe….

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Julia Blenzig episode #14

Spotlight Addition Welcome to Tales from the Jazz Side first spotlight addition! This new segment features young musicians as they start their musical journey, creating their own stories to be passed on. Tales is coming coming from singer-songwriter, Julia Blenzig. I met Julia perhaps months after she was born. She is the daughter of pianist, composer, arranger,…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Charles Blenzig episode #13

Tales is coming to you with guest artist pianist/composer/arranger/teacher Charles Blenzig. All good things come to those who wait. And wait I did until finally everything lined up and voilà, I now present to you the interview with my road buddy, my friend, Charles Blenzig. You ask, how come that was so hard to do, don’t…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Jennifer Vincent episode #12

Tales is coming to you with guest artist cellist/bassist/composer/ Jennifer Vincent. If you’ve ever wondered who is that amazing bass player on American Lullaby, Standard Delivery, Awake and Travis Shook plays Kurt Weill, it is none other than Jennifer Vincent. As with most of my guests so far on this should, we too go back a…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with David A. Barnes episode #11

Tales is coming to you with guest artists Blues Harmonica player David A. Barnes. It is believed that Jazz evolved from the blues. I think we are all in agreement with that statement. What I don’t think we are clear on are the feelings that surround the music and just how it has truly influence…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Pheeroan akLaff episode #10 part 1 & 2

Tales is coming to you with guest artist drummer/composer/ arranger/educator Pheeroan akLaff. This episode is in two parts.  “A versatile drummer who has mostly been associated with the avant-garde, Pheeroan akLaff has appeared with some of the more adventurous musicians in jazz of the past 30 years.” From All Music From his collaborations with the…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Sean Conly episode #9

Tales is coming to you with bassist/composer/arranger Sean Conly. Sean Conly is another notable musician with an impressive multiple musical language background. He has played with such legendary greats as Andrew Hill, Russ Lossing, Ray Barretto, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Randy Brecker, Howard Alden and Lew Tabackin to name a few. I had the pleasure…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Jua Howard episode # 8

Tales is coming to you with guest artist singer-songwriter Jua Howard. I was working on my list of guests invitees when I noticed that each month I added more names to the list, so much so, that the list almost doubled in size every month. At the rate I was going it would be 25…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Tjut Nyak Deviana Daudsjah episode # 7

Tales is coming to you with guest artist pianist/composer/arranger/educator Professor Deviana Daudsjah. As some of you may recall from last months’ episode, in October and November, I traveled to the far east with the Michael Franks’ band. While there, I recorded a marvelous December episode with bassist Kengo Nakamura. I finished my tour dates in…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Kengo Nakamura episode #6

Tales is coming coming to you with guest artist bassist/composer Kengo Nakamura. In October I had the pleasure to play Billboard Live Tokyo with the Michael Franks band. I was excited to travel to Japan as it had been a while since we had played there. This leg of the tour, we would play in…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Mark Egan episode # 5

Tales coming to you with guest artist bassist/composer/producer Mark Egan. Moving back to my 20 years with Michael Franks anniversary tribute, I have the utmost delight in speaking with a gentleman that I’ve known primarily from listening to his music. And once again, through Michael, I now have the greatest pleasure to work with this…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Jacques Schwarz-Bart episode # 4

This month’s Tales will be coming from Saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart. Let’s take a different route this month and go by way of a great player that I’ve known from a past life. Now that can be taken in a couple of ways and that’s exactly my intention. Jacques and I go way back… back to the days…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Willard Dyson episode #3

Tales is coming to you with guest artist drummer/composer/teacher Willard Dyson. In keeping true to my celebration of 20 years with Michael, this month’s Tales from the Jazz Side guest is one of my hanging buddies while I’m out on the road with the Franks band. It’s true when they say that you can learn…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Jay Anderson, episode #2

Tales is coming to you with guest artist bassist/composer/teacher Jay Anderson. Jay Anderson bio on All About Jazz starts off with “Bassist/composer Jay Anderson is among the most versatile and respected jazz artists performing today.” Whenever we read reviews or comments about artists’ abilities, sometimes we come away with the feeling that the words were…

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Tales from the Jazz Side with Michael Franks, episode #1

Tales is coming to you with guest artist legendary singer-songwriter Michael Franks. Although he is often referred to as a smooth jazz singer-songwriter, I find that description to not be altogether accurate. I consider him to be a jazz evolutionary singer-songwriter, whose music covers all the subtle colors and diversity that writing music is all…

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