Neon Jazz Interviews

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,...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series .. On this episode, we talk with Canada-based Musician and Songwriter Michael Falk .. We get into his new 2024 album I Can Be Two People At Once from what he is known as Touching. He has turned a new musical corner by taking inspiration from a broad range of new sources and completely transforming his artistic direction with his bold new a...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Trumpeter Riley Mulherkar .. We talked at length about his debut album .. the new 2024 CD Riley .. He was born and raised in Seattle and has been recognized as a “smart young trumpet player” by The New York Times, praised by The Wall Street Journal as a “youngster to keep an eye on,” and is a 2020 recipient of Lincoln Center’s Em...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Pianist & Educator Charles Chen .. We cover his new 2024 CD Charles, Play!, living through the pandemic and his life in music so far .. He is from Cupertino, California and over the years he has performed or recorded with Billy Drummond, Bob Sheppard, Roy McCurdy, Ralph Moore, Peter Washington, and Kenny Washington. We get into h...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran New York City Jazz Drummer  Matt Kane on the 2023 CD Song Poems & The Future .. We get into this 5th album as a bandleader featuring bass legend Steve LaSpina and brilliant pianist Yayoi Ikawa.  The album has six Matt Kane originals, as well as two originals the band. It was recorded at Trading 8's in Paramus, NJ and mixed by...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Jazz Drummer Mike Clark on the 2024 CD Letter to Bill Evans .. On their seventh outing together as a close-knit, collaborative rhythm tandem, bassist Leon Lee Dorsey and drummer Mike Clark tapped pianist Michael Wolff as third man in their ongoing trio adventures. Michael spent some quality time with Bill Evans and as a trio t...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with NYC-based Jazz Pianist, Composer & Vocalist Kelly Green .. We get into her new 2024 CD Seems .. She has a defined presence on the NYC Jazz scene headlining iconic venues like The Kennedy Center, Dizzy’s Jazz Club, and the DC Jazz Festival and having shared stages with jazz giants such as Steve Wilson, George Coleman, and Scott Robinso...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Toronto-based Jazz Saxophonist, Composer, Producer & Band Leader Scott Marshall .. We caught up with him about his new 2024 CD The Solitude Suite and his life in music. This is his sixth album of original music that was written for a unique chord-less configuration of Canadian jazz icons .. Along with the recording, Scott has had the...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with  Co-Owner of Smoke Jazz in NYC  Paul Stache .. We caught up Paul to get into the history and upcoming celebration of 25 Years of one of New York’s best jazz clubs. Paul and his wife Molly are married and live a few blocks from the club. They met when they were both working at the club’s predecessor: Augie’s. SMOKE led the vanguard of...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Lee’s Summit, MO-based Jazz Musician and Educator Shawn Harrel .. He is a multi-talented digital media technology educator with a wide range of experiences in education, audio/video production, instrumental music, composition & arranging and public radio. We caught up with him to talk about the history of the Lee’s Summit Jazz Orchest...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Jazz Guitarist & Composer Roddy Ellias .. We caught up with him about his new 2024 CD Moon Over Lake .. This Canadian artist is multi award-winning musician has consistently garnered 4 and 5 star reviews for his recordings, from publications such as DownBeat and All About Jazz, reflecting his unique, personal approach to both...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Israeli Guitarist Itamar Erez & Iranian Percussionist Hamin Honari .. These Israeli and Iranian Musicians Come Together and Show the World How To Get Along with "Migrant Voices," that is a unique project that blends diverse cultural influences, highlighting the spontaneous interplay between guitar and percussion and illustrating that...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Bassist & Composer Gui Duvignau .. We get into his new 2024 CD Live in Red Hook .. He advantage of an ideal performance space in Brooklyn and the brilliance of two outstanding musicians that he knew would provide a performance worthy of posterity. This musician was born in France and lived in Morocco as an infant. He grew up in S...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Puerto Rican-born Jazz Trombonist Ruben Caban ..We get into his new 2024 CD Kangana. It brings a fiery blend of Afro- Caribbeanrhythms, Taino melodies and Neo Soul together with pure spontaneity. He incorporates some well-known standards such as Wayne Shorter’s Yes or No and Pat Metheny’s Song For Bilbao. Over the years, he has toured...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Miami-born, New York-based Saxophonist & Composer David Leon .. We caught up with him about his new 2024 CD Bird’s Eye that stands as a unique confluence of inspirations and experiences came together to form a great ablum. Curious about his Cuban heritage, Leon began studying with master percussionist Manley “Piri” López, the youngest...