A long way from the block

For this episode, I sat down with the Jazzcat himself, LeRoy Downs, to talk about all things jazz. Born and raised in LA, listening to KDAY, it wasn't until he saw artists like Roy Hargrove and Terence Blanchard that he was pulled into the music that changed his trajectory. Traveling back in time, he took a deep dive into the history of the music and its founders. We talk about the dues he pa...

In my follow-up interview with Lynell Allen, we talk about his growing up on the Coast and spending time at the local rec center and boys' club. We delve into his father's influence and the time Allen spent with adults starting at a very early age. He offers an honest appraisal of prison life and advice to those coming up about the prison system. Lastly, we discuss several of the most im...

In  this episode, I join jazz bassist, composer, and bandleader Omer Avital in his beautiful, intimate studio in Brooklyn, NY. Born in Givatayim, Israel, to Moroccan and Yemeni parents, Omer studied classical guitar from age 11 before eventually shifting to acoustic bass. We talk about his 1992 arrival in New York, where he shook up the city playing in groups with jazz legends Roy Haynes, Jimmy Co...

In this episode, I sit down with one of the greatest Pop Warner running backs of all time, as well as one of the best pop lockers in San Diego history and an OG from the West Coast Crips. We discuss his upbringing, his dad's influence, and the tension he felt between sports and the pull of the streets. We talk about gang culture and the way it robbed him of his youth. His long battle with sub...

In this episode, I sit down with Steve Lehman, visionary alto saxophonist and composer, to discuss his project "Ex Machina," a collaboration with the grammy-nominated Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ). We talk in detail about his approach to composing and how the process varies according to the size of the group he's composing for—big bands versus quartets—and how he writes for other...

In this episode, I interview Chicago-based investigative journalist Yohance Lacour. Our conversation ranges from his upbringing—books he was given by his parents, the influence of an uncle, and his early awareness of the African-American experience—to his ten-year incarceration for selling drugs. We also discuss his podcast, "You Didn’t See Nothin’," a history of a young black boy named...

During this episode I sat sown with local San Diego film maker Rose Sanchez to do my first ever collaboration interview.  We go back and forth interviewing each other. She recently graduated from SDSU as a film studies major so I asked her several questions about  why she wants to be a film director, her inspirations and future goals. She asked me about three of the major components of my podcast,...

In this episode I sat down with Jahsun Edmonds aka Oluwo Ifakolade, head priest of Idin Kaa Ifa Temple in Los Angeles. We discussed  his recent journey to Nigeria for the World Ifa Orisha Festival.  He explains  the importance of traveling to the homeland of Yoruba culture and what it was like to experience sacred sites, festivals and rituals. Jahsun explains  the meanings, symbolisms and literali...

In this episode I talk with mc's and producers of the hip-hop group NMS (Nephlim Modulation Systems). We discuss they're upcoming album NMS 3- Liberation Is The Only Thing Left. Their two previous albums NMS 1- Woe Thee O' Land Whose King Is A Child 2003 and NMS 2- Imperial Letters Of Protection 2005 are available on all platforms.  We talk in-depth about their very unique sound and...

In this episode I traveled to Atlanta, Georgia  for a celebration,  It was Baba Eusi's  98th birthday.  Friends, family, former students and many others who walked with him in the struggle gathered to pay homage to one of Guyana's greatest treasures.  These are their testimonies.  Eusi Kwayana, formerly Sydney King (born April 4 1925) in Lusignan, Guyana. A cabinet minister in the People...

In this episode, I sit down with musician, bandleader, professor, and historian Mausiki Scales. We talk about his growing-up years in Gary, Indiana, where he was raised in a household that promoted education and black excellence. He shares what it was like for him, as a teenager, to meet the likes of James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and Gwendolyn Brooks and the profound effect that had on him later in...

In this episode, Mestre Roxinho and I discuss his childhood in Bahia, playing soccer and living on the streets. We talk about the strong sense of cultural identity instilled in him by his mother—his first hero and the rock of the family—which helped him navigate the extreme racism in Brazil. Metalworking, not capoeira, was what he learned first from his capoeira mestre. We talk about how they met,...

In this episode, musician Nduduzo Makhathini and I talk extensively about African spirituality and cosmology and their influence on his creative process. We discuss the effects of apartheid in South Africa and what it was like for him to grow up in racialized townships. American jazz was an early inspiration; we touch on the legends—including Andrew Hill, McCoy Tyner, Don Pullen, Alice Coltrane, a...

A lawyer by trade, Andrea Guerrero approaches the law with an eye toward change. In this episode, she shares how being multilingual and multicultural—she was raised in Mexico—has helped to shape her outlook on life and her work. Guerrero is known in her community as an organizer, someone who walks what she talks and is willing to fight for clients to bring about justice. We discuss one of her most...

Interdisciplinary artist Brett Cook's current exhibit, at The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, is profound. In this episode, we talk about the history of some of the installations, including the stunning self-portrait that greets visitors as they enter. Brett explains in detail why and how the show, a collaboration with choreographer Liz Lerman, came to be what it is—the rela...

Philadelphia born and Pew Fellowship recipient, King James Britt (his real name) is a 30+ year, producer, composer and performer in the global advancement of electronic music. As a composer and producer, his practice has lead to collaborations with the likes of De La Soul, Madlib, Kathy Sledge , director Michael Mann (Miami Vice) and many others, as well as being called for remixes from an eclecti...

In this episode, I discuss legendary saxophonist John Coltrane with talented historians, writers, and, of course, musicians. One of those musicians, Charles McPherson, knew Coltrane personally. Coltrane's signature album A Love Supreme and his groundbreaking song "Giant Steps" are singled out for attention, and we talk about his classic quartet with Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and Jim...

Bobby Ray Jones Jr. grew up in a two-parent household in Compton, CA. In this episode, I talk with him about how home, sports, academics,  and being an introvert  all helped keep him busy and out of trouble in his youth. Bobby excelled first in track, then in basketball. At the legendary Dominguez High School, he overlapped three years with Tyson Chandler. During Bobby's time, Dominguez won t...

In this episode, we hear how Ivy Newman developed her passion for entrepreneurship as a young child. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, she grew up in a strong religious household, her mom a deacon in the local church. Ivy describes what it was like living immersed in black excellence and attending schools led by black teachers and principals, with a majority black student population. She disc...

Andre Hardy and Yogi have been friends since childhood. In this conversation, we discuss how they met and how sports, family, and community—three of the things that have mattered most in my own life—brought them together and kept them together through the years. They touch on their high school and college athletic careers, and Andre's career as an NFL running back. Both men are great husbands...

Musical intro sung by legendary underground Hip-Hop MC Myka 9 of Freestyle Fellowship.  Origins and influences are featured in this episode's conversation with Dwight Trible, including his love and appreciation for jazz drummer extraordinaire Brian Blade and his collaboration with the great Kenny Garrett, whose album "Sounds from the Ancestors" he played on. He describes his early l...

In this episode, Anthony Joseph discusses growing up in a culturally rich community, raised by his grandparents, playing soccer and eating mangoes. We talk about his move to the United Kingdom in his early twenties—a completely different world for him to learn to navigate—where he met legendary UK poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. He shares about his music career and love for jazz and poetry. "Kamau...

In this episode, I sit down with Kaira Jewel Lingo to talk about her dedicated interweaving of mindfulness and social justice. She reflects on the influence of her parents, a black mom from Chicago's westside and a white dad from southern Texas who worked in the Civil Rights movement. She shares about her childhood years in Kenya, including the experience of living simply and how that's...

A mythic figure in the Southern California arts scene, Kamau Daáood is a performance poet, educator, and community arts activist . Born and raised in Los Angeles, he was instrumental in transforming Leimert Park into a cultural center and is widely acknowledged as a major force driving L.A.'s Black cultural renaissance.  Kamau was a member of the Watts Writers Workshop and developed his style...

When I was just a kid, my mom took me to the Jack Murphy Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers, to see Lincoln vs. Clairmont in the CIF High School Football Championship. In the early 80s, the CIF final was always played at Jack Murphy and was a very big deal. I was there to see Lincoln's star quarterback, Rodney Hill. He was only 5'6" and couldn't even see over the line of s...