Showbiz Roundup

Bay Stater Tony Barba has hung his hat in Madison for almost a decade now, and built a solid musical career over that time. He’s as serious about work/life balance as he is about writing and performing at the highest level. While his melodic approach harkens back to tenor giants like Sonny Rollins, Tony’s unique voice rings true in any context.

If there is a fundamental theme to Rodrigo Villanueva’s career in music, perhaps it is in cycles of ambition, struggle, and success. From his beginnings as a successful young drummer in Mexico, through his education at North Texas State, to his Jazz Studies professorship at Northern Illinois University, these cycles continue — and include an ambitious performing schedule.

On this episode we’re talking to Thomas Ferrella and David Stone who founded the non-profit, volunteer-led BlueStem Jazz in 2019, although their history of booking creative, improvised music goes back to 2016. As our conversation makes clear, they’re devoted to this music, they believe in the benefits that it brings to the community, and they’re dedicated to supporting passionate improvising music...

With Arun Luthra multiculturalism is a fundamental tenet of his artistic expression, but it also informs his ethos as a person. Raised in a family about as international as they come, it’s second nature. While his residency at the University of Wisconsin-Madison concludes in a few weeks, interested folks still have a couple of opportunities to take in what he has to offer — including at the BlueSt...

Zacc Harris puts all of the pieces together to build a celebrated career as a musician, composer, educator, and record label honcho. This year the Zacc Harris Group’s fall outing brings this sextet of accomplished and sought after twin-cities and twin-cities associated musicians to select cities in the Midwest to celebrate the release of their new album “Small Wonders.”

Tim Daisy is an acclaimed improviser, composer, and performer who has been working in the experimental, Jazz, improvised, and composed music realms for decades as a solo artist, and in collaboration with other leading creative musicians — both here in the U.S. and internationally.  Although a decorated composer, it’s his instant composing chops — and those of his cohort — that will be emphasized a...

Justin Dillard propels the Hammond Organ into the 21st century with his trio, and as a sought-after sideman. Building on the legacies of the legends who came before him, including the recently departed Dr. Lonnie Smith, Justin Dillard continues to grow into the role of Jazz organ elder statesmen.

Matt Ulery, ubiquitous Chicago bassist and composer, brings his Delicate Charms quintet to Madison's North Street Cabaret on October 15th. This first-call sideman on so many of Chicago's coolest gigs also leads a handful of his own bands, and has released albums under his own name numbering about a baker's dozen. His latest release "Delicate Charms Live at the Green Mill"...

It’s hard to frame the Jazz or classical scene in Wisconsin or the upper-midwest over the last 30 years without considering the contributions of Dave Cooper. He has been an Associate Professor of Trumpet and Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin--Platteville for 15 years, and an essential member of more groups than I can possibly mention here. Dave’s latest chapter is propelled by his study...

Drummer Jeremy Cunningham’s recent work draws on trauma and grief to inspire some compelling music -- recorded as a tribute to his brother who was murdered in 2008. His music draws Chicago peers into a community, benefiting from the musical wisdom of established players like Jeff Parker. This reflective musician will be appearing in Madison on September 19th at Cafe Coda with Matt Gold and Lane Be...

Guitarist Charlie Ballantine is no stranger to ambitious projects, having released an album of his own renditions of the music of Bob Dylan, and now a double LP of the music of Thelonious Monk. He's bringing his Hoosier message to the people with an upcoming string of trio and quartet dates in the US and Canada, with a stop in Madison at the Bur Oak on Friday, September 10th.

Bassist Ethan Philion takes a respectful, well-researched approach to the music of Charles Mingus. This busy Chicago freelancer, with degrees from Oberlin and DePaul -- and a long list of other accolades -- arranges this music always with an ear toward the composer's intent. His band, Meditations: the Music of Charles Mingus, often appearing as a ten-piece ensemble, will be showcased on the G...

Guitarist/Composer Jeff Swanson joins me to talk about his group Case-fitter in advance of their first gig in umpteen months, upcoming on the Garver Patio. This sextet of accomplished Chicago-based interpreters and improvisers, including saxophonist Greg Ward and drummer Greg Artry, lets loose on Jeff’s original compositions that are equal parts intricate and visceral.

Along with drummer Quin Kirchner, Chicago's Hanging Hearts consists of Cole DeGenova and Chris Weller, two Oak Park high school chums who went on to formulate their musical identities at Boston's Berklee College of Music during the first decade of this century. Tone Madison's own Scott Gordon describes the band as "brash and frequently exuberant" and "moving between s...

Trumpeter/Composer Chad McCullough brings his quartet to the Garver Patio on July 23, 2021 for a COVID-postponed release show for his new record "Forward." Chicago Jazz Magazine highlights Chad for his lyricism as a player, his imaginative writing, and for leading a "synergistic quartet of some of Chicago's most idiosyncratic musicians."

Mars Williams is one of those rare musicians who successfully approaches music as a continuum, rather than a series of discrete genres. His spectrum extends from well-known 80’s band The Waitresses to Chicago’s Liquid Soul to the Peter Brötzmann Tentet. Savvy listeners may recognize Mars as the saxophonist with the Psychedelic Furs beginning with their 1984 release "Mirror Moves." One of...

This pun-loving band came together in 2003 on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor as fresh-faced graduate students in the department of music. Although they've never quite breached the threshold of wider recognition during their nearly twenty year run, ARP continues to perform and record their organically improvisational, uniquely hybridized, analog slash digital electro-acoustic m...

My guests today are Dirk Quinn and Rory Flynn of the Dirk Quinn Band, a hard travelling jam band from the Philadelphia area. The group will be performing on the Garver Patio in Madison, Wisconsin on Wednesday June 9th -- in a concert presented by Blue Stem Jazz. The band is on the vanguard of groups heading out on tour as venues across the country begin to re-open. Our conversation ranges from the...

Todd Clouser and Alex Mercado will be appearing in Madison Wisconsin at the Garver Patio on Friday, May 14th--in a show presented by Blue Stem Jazz. Downbeat magazine has called pianist Alex Mercado "one of the finest jazz musicians that Mexico has produced."  The Philadelphia Inquirer says that guitarist Todd Clouser "spices the all american vibe of Bill Frisell with some Jimi Hend...

My guest today is alto saxophonist Max Bessesen, a 2016 graduate of the Oberlin conservatory, currently living in Chicago.  During the pandemic, Max put his time off the bandstand to good use, teaching virtually, and livestreaming some gigs. He also woodshedded a pile of music from the 70s and 80s that will form the basis for a new album to be recorded later this month. Max promises a sneak previe...