Neon Jazz Interviews

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Acclaimed NYC Trumpeter & Director of Jazz Studies and Chair of Instrumental Studies at Temple University Terell Stafford.. We discussed his upcoming One-Night Only Classical-Jazz Concert April 16 at Jazz at Lincoln Center with Orchestral Premieres by Billy Childs and Bill Cunliffe .. Hailed as one of today’s leading jazz student ense...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with LA-based Jazz Drummer, Bandleader & Educator Dean Mucetti .. We talked at length about his new .. and debut 2023 CD called with his Rhythm Real called Isolation-Integration. Like most young musicians setting out to learn their craft, Dean had plans to earn a living playing music. Little did he know he would become a full-time music ed...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Psychedelic Jazz Guitarist & Composer Ari Joshua .. He talked about his new 2023 release of 10 songs from his vault .. For years, he  has been one of those “musician’s musicians” who those “in the know” rave about but remains under the radar to the public. His music is compelling - and he counts some of the biggest names in contempora...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Twin Cities-based Jazz Trumpeter Jake Baldwin on the 2023 CD Misc. Items .. On this new project, he embraces simplicity and chaos on his second album as leader, Misc. Items, out March 17th on Shifting Paradigm. It is second record as a leader out on Shifting Paradigm featuring the talents of notable Twin Cities musicians Adam Harder N...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Multi-Grammy Nominated Bandleader & Drummer Bobby Sanabria .. We had a good talk about his new 2023 Album Vox Humana .. On the heels of their Grammy nominated and 2019 Jazz Journalists Association Album of the Year Award winning critically acclaimed masterwork, West Side Story Reimagined, and in celebration of their 25th anniversary,...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Nashville-based Jazz Saxophonist Jake Botts .. On December 2, 2022, he released his first full-length studio LP, Global Works showcasing dozens of Nashville's most in-demand instrumentalists .. On this debut LP as a solo artist, it is a cerebral, introspective, dark, and thought-provoking with dozens of textures .. He’s a 30-year-old...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz & Blues Singer Janice Harrington .. Described by the international press as warm-hearted and unique and these days at 80 years old she is still active. Born in 1942 in Cleveland, Ohio, with a stopover in Norway, she now lives in Germany with her husband, trombonist and piano builder ..  Known as a versatile artist, she masters bl...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Pianist Danny Fox on the 2023 Trio Album Time Took Care of It .. The Trio Celebrates Fourth Album .. Danny is joined by Bassist Chris van Voorst van Beest, and Drummer Max Goldman .. The Album Release Concert is slated for April 7th at Brooklyn’s The Owl .. It’s been since 2018 when we initially caught up with Danny about their a...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Canadian-born, NYC-based Jazz Guitarist Avi Granite on the 2023 CD Operator .. The band recorded Operator fresh off of a tour in Nov. 2019. Stunted by the pandemic, the album is finally seeing the light of day .. This album is about perseverance in the face of disruption. It’s about connectivity, communication, otherness, and what bri...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with General Manager Josie Herrick of The Hey! Hey! Club Jazz Club at J. Reiger & Co in Electric Park. The new reincarnation of a the classic club is now open and bringing in the finest Kansas City jazz musicians out to play in this new post-pandemic world. Josie opens up about the club’s beginnings, their place in the KC jazz timeline, th...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with UK-based Jazz Guitarist and Composer Dan Waldman .. He spent some time with us talking about this new 2023 album Greenpoint .. This musician has paid dues both in Europe and the USA, performing as a sideman with many artists .. His 2020 debut release as leader  'Sources & Angles', featuring Will Vinson on sax, Kassa Overall on drums a...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Drummer Dave Power & Bassist Pat Keen of the Minneapolis Jazz Trio Belvedere 58 .. We got into their band’s history and the new 2023 album Vista Cruiser. The band merges the traditional improvised jazz trio sound with hip hop and electronic music using extensive post production techniques ..On this sophomore record, the horizon is wid...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Minnesota-based Jazz Bassist Chris Bates & Saxophonist Nathan Hanson  .. Together on the same call, they opened up about their long union and their new 2023 Album Weights and Measures .. As longtime friends and frequent live collaborators, this duo talks about this set of spontaneous compositions recorded on March 29th, 2021 at Christ...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran English Jazz Pianist Mike Bell .. He talked about his new 2023 CD Jazz on the Rails .. This is his second jazz album following his 2017 release Just For The Record .. All the material on the new CD are original, composed and played by Mike himself. He takes a lot of his inspiration from The Golden Era of jazz with greats like...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series Veteran & Acclaimed Jazz Singer & Songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway .. She opened up about her new 2023 Album Fever: A Peggy Lee Celebration .. This new project highlights the songwriting talents of Lee who wrote or co-wrote over 270 songs in her lifetime .. She comes from an artistic background. Her parents were John Callaway, a legendary T...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Chicago-born, Harlem-based Saxophonist, Arranger, Composer & Educator Christopher McBride .. He opened up about his new 2023 Album Ramon and a great ride in music  ..  He has been slowly but steadily turning heads with his s work as a sideman and is now seen as of the most versatile saxophonists in the world. Since his 2012 debut albu...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with San Diego-based Singer & Songwriter Allison Adams Tucker on 2023’s Retro Trilogy .. On  each EP, she zeroes in on the three decades of her evolved freedom of musical expression: the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s—from Cat Stevens to Paul Simon, from Tears for Fears to Prince, from Beck to Elizabeth Fraser with Massive Attack. We get into the new...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Founder, Bassist & Composer of Mike Rivard  Club d’Elf on the 25th Anniversary .. For twenty-five years now, Boston-based dub-jazz collective Club d’Elf has been helping audiences lose track of time while creating mesmerizing musical chimeras that weave their distinct, Moroccan folk-infused trance with elements from an astonishing spe...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Israeli-born, NYC Jazz Guitarist & Composer Tomer Cohen .. He opened up about the new 2023 Album Not the Same River. He was born in the US, but spent his childhood in the countryside in Israel. He picked up the guitar at a young age and from that moment on, he knew that music was his pursuit in life. He studied jazz at the Israeli Con...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with The Host of the wonderful jazz podcast and radio show Something Came From Baltimore .. Tom graciously invited me to talk about an iconic jazz album at length and I picked Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool .. I'm all for it, while Tom was needing some convincing .. We get into all angles of this album and much , much more .. Always great...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Bassist Jamie McElhinney in the Australian Jazz Group Firetail .. Their music spans from 70’s jazz-fusion, South Indian Carnatic music and their very own brand of jazz-tronica. Formed in 2018 as a collaborative recording project, Firetail has developed an ambient approach to song-writing that blends soul-infused rhythms with evocative...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Jazz Pianist, Composer & Producer Lonnie Leibowitz & Vocalist Emily Mazella .. I caught up with them together to talk about their meeting, musical relationship, history and their exuberance over the release of new 2023 Debut Album Awakening .. Emily is a 21 year old, up and coming jazz singer on the scene. Her story with jazz...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Chicago-based Jazz Saxophonist & Composer Anthony Bruno .. He opened up about his new self-titled album coming out on April 14th, 2023 .. Life events inspire the best recorded music and living through a pandemic, falling out of love, back in love and out again all resulted in the making of the record – that was the trajectory of this...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Caribbean-born, NYC-based Saxophone Colossus Jacques Schwarz-Bart ..He talked about his long anticipated 2023 album called The Harlem Suite out on March 31, 2023 via Ropeadope Records. On his 11th album, it showcases a harvest of tunes and arrangements that he wrote to celebrate each step into his perilous but rewarding journey, from...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Chicago-based Baritone Saxophonist Jimmy Farace  .. - The Chicago Based Trio Profondo will release their debut recording on March 31, 2023 called  "Mosaic" featuring Jimmy on baritone saxophone,  Stephen Parisi Jr. on bass and Paul Barrilles on drums .. Jimmy works as a freelance jazz musician in Chicago and has established himself as...