Neon Jazz Interviews

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Mexico-based Jazz Pianist  Emilio Reyna .. From his base in Mexico City, he opened up about his new 2024 CD Los Niños Perdidos, along with a great life in the jazz. He stands as a forward-thinking musician aiming to push the possibilities of modern improvised music while maintaining a sense of sincerity and tradition. His interest in...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  NYC-based Jazz Vocalist & Pianist  Brenda Earle Stokes  on the 2024 CD Motherhood   ..We get into this new project that has been about 12 yeas in the making with songs exploring identity, fear, expectations, body image, friendship and growth. A natural multitasker, she has fused a passion for the piano and a love of singing into a vi...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Kansas City-based Jazz Guitarist  Jeff Shirley  on New 2024 Albums  .. We catch up with this talented musician about his new 2024 CDs Contigo and Modes of Nature coming out on Christopher Burnett’s ARC or Artists Recording Collective label. They again show the power and evolution of this veteran musician that can be seen regularly at...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Toronto-based Jazz Pianist   Jeremy Ledbetter .. We caught up with him to talk about his new 2024 Trio CD called Gravity and his life in music. Originally trained as a classical pianist, he studied jazz performance in Toronto before embarking on over a decade abroad, during which time he worked closely with some of the most prominent...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  NYC-bases Jazz Bassist  Dan Loomis  on the 2024 CD Revolutions  .. We welcome Dan back to the show to talk about this new project that is a programmatic suite of electrifying and thought-provoking songs and spoken-word pieces meant to serve as a call to the barricades. In a society that is ever more polarized and ossified, revolution...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Chicago-based  Jazz Trumpeter & Composer  Zachary Finnegan .. We cover his debut and new 2024 CD Guidance and Gratitude, along with his life in music.  In October 2023, Finnegan completed his first 4-continent, 31-country, 140+ show World Tour with 5-time Grammy Winner, Michael Bublé. In Chicago, he performs alongside jazz luminaries...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Vegas-based  Jazz Bandleader & Guitarist  Stephen Fansler.. He has roots in Manhattan, Kansas and at Kansas State University, along with spending quality time in Kansas City absorbing some good jazz. Based in Las Vegas, Well Tempered Madness is the brainchild of guitarist Steve and is inspired by many different genres and all of the m...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Artistic Director  Aaron Jensen  of the Toronto-based Group Countermeasure  .. We caught up with him about their new 2024 CD Orchestral Sessions. On this fourth studio album, it features fan-favourites, and new works composed by Aaron .. Defined by their genre-defying sound, the jazz, pop, soul and choral-inspired repertoire is prese...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Jazz Vocalist, Composer & Arranger  Gabriela Martina  on the 2024 CD States  .. This new album includes compositions that she had been working on during the time of the pandemic 2020/21. The word  'States'  has more than one meaning. State comes from the Latin status meaning ‘condition of a country’. The word ' States'  mostly gets a...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Jazz Latin Grammy Award Winning Percussionist & Composer  Samuel Torres .. We talked to him about his new 2024 CD A Dance for Birds and a long life in music. This Latin Grammy-Award winning musician from Bogota, Colombia, he brought a long-time musical vision to life to this new album. This project is expertly interpreted by his Lati...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Jazz Pianist  George Cooper  of the Jazz Defenders  .. We caught up with him about the new 2024 Album Memory in Motion out on Haggis Records. On this new project, they continue to distinctly ‘defend’ the legacy of some of the classic hard bop greats such as Horace Silver, Lee Morgan and Art Blakey, they begin to evolve their modern s...

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...