Neon Jazz Interviews

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Veteran Bay Area Jazz Drummer, Composer And Educator  Scott Amendola .. We caught up with this veteran drummer to talk about current projects like the 2024 CD Hive Mind done with Dave Devine and Greg Garrison, along with a great ride in the world of music. Originally from New Jersey, he has spent a career gracing stages with the like...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Los Angeles-based Jazz Singer  Natalie Jacob .. We talked about her new  and debut2024 CD Sooner or Later, surviving COVID and her career is jazz. This native Angelino spent her high school summers working as an usher at the Hollywood Bowl hearing many of the jazz greats and immediately fell in love with the music. This initial album...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Jazz Pianist & Composer  Amina Figarova  on the 2024 CD Suite for Africa  .. Teamed up with her stellar sextet and a choir of orphaned and at-risk children from Liberia, she makes yet another wonderful album. She was inspired to write her new “Suite for Africa” by her experiences meeting students during her travels to South Africa. B...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Argentina-born, NYC-based Jazz  Saxophonist  Julieta Eugenio .. We caught up with her to discuss her new 2024 CD Stay and a life lived very well in the jazz world. She began studying music under sage instruction that began with piano and then moved to saxophone and clarinet. In 2008, she started her journey to the big city of Buenos...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Jazz Trumpeter, Composer, Producer, Arranger & Educator  Julien Knowles .. We caught up with him about his new 2024 CD As Many, as One. He is of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Class of 2023 and was mentored by numerous legendary jazz artists like Terri Lyne Carrington, Herbie Hancock, Walter Smith III, and Wayne Shorter. During...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Scottish-Canadian Jazz Singer  Alison Burns and  British Guitarist  Martin Taylor .. We get into their new 2024 album Songs For Nature, how they began working together and much more. This album serves as a heartfelt tribute to the beauty of the natural world and the creative souls it has influenced. The album emerges as a beacon of h...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Austria-baed Jazz Saxophonist, Composer & Arranger  Tobias Hoffmann  on the 2024 Album Innuendo  .. After releasing his first CD "Conspiracy" with his jazz Orchestra in 2022, he is back with Innuendo coming out on the German label MONS Records on September 20, 2024. We get into this new album that contains eight original compositions...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Jazz Baritone Saxophonist   Brian Landrus  on the 2024 Album Plays Ellington & Strayhorn  .. This is another return for Brian to Neon Jazz to talk about an album that highlights the baritone saxophone and features Duke Ellington’s music was more than enough to pique my curiosity. It’s a warm, lush album that exceeds exceptions. The a...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with San Francisco-based  Hammond B-3 Jazz Organist  Brian Ho .. We caught up with him to talk about his new 2024 CD Bridges, a good life in jazz and the future ahead. He began playing piano at 5 and by the age of sixteen he was playing in bands professionally and started teaching piano. After his college years, he decided to pursue his lo...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Jazz Singer, Composer & Educator  Olivia Foschi .. We got into her new 2024 CD A Window Within, getting through COVID and a good life in the jazz arts. She always weaves together the rich tapestries of her San Francisco roots and Italian upbringing with her profound passion for jazz, which ignited under the tutelage of Roy Zimmerman...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Sousaphone Player  Matt Laird in  Canada’s Premiere Jazz Party Brass Band  Brasstactics .. We talked about their new 2024 CD Tribute to the Groove, history as a band and much more.  He holds down the low end on Sousaphone with his signature style and infectious energy. He’s also been known to spit a few lyrics when the time is right....

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  LA-based Jazz Pianist  Adam Hersh  on the 2024 CD Tornado Watch  .. We caught up with this talented vertex to talk about his new project, getting through COVID and what is going in with new projects these days.  Tornado Watch  features ten tracks of intelligent, intensely-performed music. We get into quite a bit. Enjoy.  For More Neo...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Jazz Trumpeter & Composer  Summer Camargo .. We caught up with her about the new 2024 CD To Whom I Love and it is her big debut. We also get into her COVID survival, a life in music and the future ahead. This 22-year old native of Hollywood, Florida was a Jerome Green Fellowship recipient at the Juilliard School. She got her Bachelor...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Niagara-based  Jazz Pianist  Paul Tobey .. We caught up with him about his latest and triumphant return with the 2024 CD It’s Time and how COVID influenced the release. It is a romantic & soulful solo piano album full of elegant melodies mostly selected by over 12 000 jazz piano enthusiasts around the world subscribed to his YouTube c...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  San Francisco-based Jazz Composer, Vocalist, Guitarist & Producer  Ed Johnson .. We got into his new 2024 CD For Every Living Thing, getting through COVID and a storied life in music. This is his third album with his band, Novo Tempo, and his fifth album with Cumulus Records. He is well versed in classical, Brazilian, R&B, Jazz, Afro...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran UK-based  Jazz Harpist  Amanda Whiting .. We caught up with her to talk about her new 2024 CD The Limitility of Her, surviving COVID and a very interesting life in jazz. She has always had a love for pop and jazz and after supporting Jamie Cullum in a local charity event, her new path was set. One of the highlights of her care...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with V eteran NYC-based Jazz Guitarist & Educator  Tony Romano .. We caught up with this busy artist to talk about his new 2024 CD Three Chord Monte, along with a great life in the world of jazz and beyond. He has been a visible part of the New York City music scene for over twenty years. With a wide range of playing styles, he has toured...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Israeli-born Jazz Alto Saxophonist & Composer  Tevet Sela .. We caught up with him to discuss his new 2024 CD Sweet Tears and his career in jazz. Since moving to Montreal in 2010, he has quickly become a prominent figure in Canada’s vibrant jazz scene. His first seven albums have received rave reviews. This latest album is a deeply p...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with NYC Award Winning Singer & Songwriter Karen Mack .. We caught up with this award winning artists to talk about new 2024 CD Catch & Keep and a life well-lived in the jazz world. She has creative roots planted in jazz, folk, pop, and swing. Over the last twenty years, she's established herself as a popular favorite of audiences and crit...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Trombonist Martin Farrelly and Vocalist Anelise Furquim of the   Irish Jazz & Neo-Soul Group  Lavery .. They just wrapped recording on their debut EP Jade Garden and are doing a fully booked tour this year across the UK and Ireland. the tour will feature a number of headline shows and three festival appearances. They emerge from the v...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Veteran Jazz Vocalist & Educator  Lisa Rich .. We caught up with her to talk about the new 2024 CD Long as Your Living, getting through COVID and a long career in jazz .. This album can be thought of as the comeback of the year. The singer’s first new recording since ill health forced her to stop performing in 1991. When her health p...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  NYC-based Jazz Saxophonist  Gabriel Evan .. We caught up with him to discuss his new 2024 CD Island Hopping, surviving COVID and his life in jazz. This is his third album and is a continuation of his exploration into Caribbean Jazz and early-mid twentieth century folk music that began with his last record  Global Entry . We get into...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  San Francisco-based Independent Jazz Musician  Eki Shola .. We caught up with this talented artist to discuss her new 2024 CD Kaeru and a very interesting ride in jazz. On this 5th album, it was mainly recorded in Japan with some fantastic local musicians. Born in London to Jamaican parents, she was raised in a musical family. She em...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with   Switzerland-based Jazz Performer, Composer and Arranger  Luciana Morelli .. We caught up with her from Basel, Switzerland to talk about her new 2024 CD Words of the Wind and her life in music. She has integrated with mastery and versatility her facets of performer, compose  and arranger as she presents music for different ensembles,...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with J  Tulsa-based Veteran Jazz Saxophonist  Grady Nichols .. We caught up with him to talk about his new 2024 single Night Music. It is a tribute to the legendary David Sanborn, a figure who has deeply influenced Grady's musical career. On David’s groundbreaking TV show, "Night Music," it showcased jam sessions with some of the industry'...