Neon Jazz Interviews

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Award-Winning Jazz Saxophonist Brent Birckhead .. We get into his new 2024 CD Cacao and a decorated life in music that has taken him all over the world. Unbound by genre, his approach to woodwind artistry is driven by his compulsion for creative risk and deep respect for legacy. We cover his world of teaching, recording and creating f...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Toronto-based  Jazz Pianist  Anthony D'Alessandro .. We caught up with this young pianist about his new 2024 CD Searchin’, a life in jazz and the future ahead. Hailed by  The WholeNote Magazine  as a pianist with a “natural feeling for swing and groove” and “scintillating technique.” Since graduating from college in 2019, he has been...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Seasoned Jazz Songwriter & Vocalist Nancy Erickson Lamont .. We caught up with her to discuss her new 2024 CD Through the Passages, getting through COVID, education and her life in music. In the beginning, she studied with the renowned jazz instructor Frank DeMiero and has been leaving her mark on Seattle's music scene for over three...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Virtuoso Jazz Saxophonist & Vocalist  Isaiah Collier .. We caught up with this brilliant musician and artist to discuss his new 2024 CD The Almighty, a celebrated life in music and beyond. This album is his first quartet offering since 2021's Cosmic Transition. It showcases these principles through sounds that evolve within the title...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Jazz Pianist Andy Ezrin .. On a stroll through Harlem, we get into his new 2024 CD I Was Here, his busy life on the road, surviving COVID and an illustrious career in jazz. He is one of the many-sided and multi-faceted Jazz piano men, for whom finger-work and artwork, the roles of intricate jazz poet and nightly piano player,...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  azz Singer  Yaala Ballin  on the 2024 CD Symphony, Song, Swing!  This 4-song EP is a taste to the sounds of her concert “Symphony, Song, Swing!” It highlights a selection of jazz standards and each one has a unique style and sound. We cover the construction of this new work, live shows coming up and much more. This is a return to the...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Canadian Jazz Trombonist  Craig Brenan .. We caught up with him to talk about his 2024 CD Valley of Silence with his brother known as The Brenan Brothers. So, the ten-year-old twin brothers Jim and Craig, were standing nervously in the doorway of the Palms Cafe in Edmonton on a warm summer night in 1979. Their dad has taken them to t...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with J  Veteran Jazz Pianist & Composer  Andy Milne  on the 2024 CD with Unison Called Time Will Tell  .. This new album was recorded with his trio Unison out on Sunnyside Records. He gets into the construction of his latest collaboration with bassist John Hébert and drummer Clarence Penn is a sparkling exploration of identity and destiny,...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with New York  Jazz Vocalist  John Dokes .. We caught up with him to discuss his new 2024 CD New Day. With inspiration from his stylistic ancestors Nat King Cole and Joe Williams, he brings new life to the deep-souled world of baritone jazz vocals. He is backed by New York-based George Gee Swing Orchestra where here launched his career as...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Kansas City-based Jazz Saxophonist, Teacher & Visionary Christopher Burnett on the 2024 Album Originals .. Mr. Burnett is a great friend of Neon Jazz, the Kansas City jazz world and the global community of musicians. We caught up with him to discuss his latest and impressive 2024 release called Originals. It’s a homage to fami...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Duo of Pianist & Composer Guilhem Forey & Producer & Lyricist Edy Szewy Known as Edy Forey .. We caught up with this tandem to talk about their new & debut 2024 CD Culture Today, their meeting, the music and the future. Based in Edinburgh, UK, their eclectic sound lives on the groovier side of jazz - a fusion with soul, retro rhy...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Venezuelan-born, NYC-based Latin Grammy Award-Winning Jazz Drummer & Percussionist  Daniel Prim .. We get into his new 2024 CD Home, his roots, surviving COVID and the future. This is first album under his own name. Growing up in Caracas, Venezuela, his friends and family gathered at each other’s homes to eat and play music into the n...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Mandolin Player Joe Brent and Bassist Andrew Ryan of the Jazz Group 9 Horses ..  We caught up about their history as a band, their  new 2024 CD Strum and so much more. They stand as one of the most influential and admired ensembles in progressive jazz and improvised music. This new project is 67-minute instrumental epic serves as the...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz series .. On this episode, we talk with Bandmates of the Chicago Jazz Collective IRIS .. We get into the history of this band, their new album and much more with members of this band that includes: Arman Sangalang on tenor saxophone, Kirby Fellis on trombone, Austyn Menk on piano, Morgan Turner on bass and Paul Barrilles on drums & cymbals. The group was b...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Entrepreneur, Community Leader, Jazz Fest Organizer & President of Bridge Space in Lee’s Summit, MO .. He is a lifelong entrepreneur who loves helping others succeed and move their businesses forward. He has many years of experience working in marketing technology, senior living industry, real estate investment and membership or commu...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Canadian  Jazz Vocalist & Composer  Sarah Jerrom on the 2024 Album The Magpie Suite .. We caught up with her about this new album, surviving COVID and the future ahead. This project is an evocative and transformative musical journey for expanded jazz orchestra and 4 voices - was born from a moment of awe. During a residency at the Ban...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Jazz Saxophonist, Composer, Bandleader & Educator  Stephen Philip Harvey .. We caught up with him to talk about his new 2024 CD Elemental Live, along with his life in music and what is in store. He leads various ensembles with a drive to explore a vast array of avenues in improvisation and composition. We cover all the angels. Dig in...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Critically Acclaimed Pianist, Composer & Producer Natalie Tenenbaum .. We cover her new 2024 CD The Piano – Re-Imagined and her life in music. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School and has appeared as a soloist and with orchestras in Israel, Europe, Asia, and the US, performing in venues such as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center,...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Composer & Violinist Meg Okura .. We talk to this Queen of Chamber Jazz about her new collaboration with the great pianist Kevin Hays on the 2024 CD Lingering. Based out of New York, she is known for her music praised by the New York Times as "grandiloquent beauty that transitions easily from grooves to big cascades to buoyant swing.”...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Jazz Vocalist, Composer & Arranger Andrea Wolper .. She opened up about her new 2024 CD Wanderlust. It is her fourth album as a leader and first one in over a decade. - Wanderlust (Moonflower Music) is Wolper’s fourth album as a leader. She started her professional career singing jazz standards, her eclectic tastes and multidi...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Composer, Saxophonist & Clarinetist Aaron Irwin .. We got into his new 2024 CD After, his life in music and the future ahead. This ninth album as a leader is a collection of works inspired by poetry as interactions between sound and verse weave together melancholy, effervescence, and at times, anxiety sparked by chaos. Creating a...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Organist, Composer & Educator on the 2024 Album PurView  Kendall Carter .. On this new sophomore recording, listeners get six original compositions and four covers from the likes of Freddie Hubbard, Larry Young, & Hank Marr. The album features features Dan Wilson, James Gaiters, Marlin McKay, and Chad O'Brien. Hailing from Louisv...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Pianist & Composer Florian Hoefner on Iris Trio Project .. His work as a composer has always played a big role in his releases. Now, he is excited to introduce a new project for which for the first time I have served as a "pure" composer with a classical ensemble.  On April 5th, 2024, the US-Canadian chamber ensemble Iris Trio (c...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Guitarist Randy Napoleon & Composer Gregg Hill on the 2024 Album The Door is Open .. The veteran Guitarist in Randy and Michigan's former truck driver, tech entrepreneur Gregg Hill is quite a pairing of minds. Randy is the ringleader of this new set of tunes from Gregg, and has pushed himself and his band to new horizons with a v...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with NYC-based Jazz Guitarist Nicholas Mycio .. We talked about his new 2024 CD Nonstandard. It is his 2nd album, which answers the unlikely question: “What if Jazz was also Breakbeat?” Blaring synths, amen breaks, hard bass, piercing guitars merged with classic jazz standards. A perfect blend of the virtuosity found in jazz improvisation,...