Agile Vocalist

Send us Fan Mail Oakland born Alexander Taite has had the passion and talent for music all his life. He started on piano at age 8 and by age 16 had completed high school studies and went on to teaching at Oakland School for the Arts right after college. He's known as an opera and choral singer director throughout the Bay Area and has created a one-man show called Deep River: The Flow of Negro...

Send us Fan Mail Evie Ladin, is a dancer, banjo player, singer/songwriter, square dance caller and so much more. Her childhood was rooted in the then emergent world of folk music and dance, and the sounds of Appalachian traditions. Her art brings the light of these many talents together as a performer who can also be experienced as one of three in: Evie Ladin Band. The Band includes percussionist...

Send us Fan Mail It's often said of living in the city (any city really!) that we can't have nice things. Well, for Oakland, California that's not the case when it comes to Evie Ladin Band. Evie and Keith are 2/3 of the act that explores the depths of banjo, vocals, bass and strings with songs that tug the heart, make you wanna get up and country dance and more. Along with instrumen...

Send us Fan Mail A performance art of rhythm, claps, slaps, stomps and sounds that is a feast for the senses--especially if you're actually doing it--is something Keith Terry calls body music. He describes it as music that can be seen and dance that can be heard and in this conversation he shares his journey from drummer to body music master. Keith is the life partner of Evie Ladin who will b...

Send us Fan Mail From her current role as a MOTION vocalist and improviser sharing the stage every Monday with Bobby McFerrin in Berkeley to her 3 Grammy nominations Destani Wolf's sound has been on over 40 albums. During the pandemic, this original Cirque du Soleil vocalist delved into sound frequencies and healing--she finishes our episode with a little audio bath of both her sound bowl pla...

Send us Fan Mail Mx. Flamenco is a dancer, actor, singer and comedienne who shares her unique blend of performance with the San Francisco Bay and beyond. In this conversation we explore the sounds of flamenco as a dance form and how she brings it together in her ongoing series of world premiere collaborations with artists of other genres. Tachíria is working on her one-woman show and finishing her...

Send us Fan Mail Part two with Edgardo covers the power of music that's connected to dance forms, origins of Edgardo's band, Candela, and his eye-opening process of how he used to create original music as he was waiting tables in a restaurant. If you find yourself in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2024, check out Edgardo's newest on Thursday nights at Fame Venue in San Francisco. Com...

Send us Fan Mail Edgardo Cambón is a Uruguayan-born singer who fell in love with percussion after setting aside guitar and getting early exposure singing as a young boy. As a teacher band leader and Latin music business man now, Edgardo continues to perform. His musical career has taken him throughout South America, Europe, and Africa. Since1986, he's been in high demand in the U.S. In this t...

Send us Fan Mail Poet Ali is a poet, compelling performer, lyricist, performance artist and inspirational speaker whose performances and presentations focus on connection with ourselves and our environments. As a soulosopher and entertainer, he is a inspires us to use our gifts to catalyze self-discovery and well-being. As an Iranian-American, Ali gives talks for both youth as well as adult audien...

Send us Fan Mail 21 Guests and 27 episodes later, Agile Vocalist has hit its three year mark (which is kind of amazing for a podcast). Thank you to my season 3 guests: Cellista , Alphabet Rockers , Rob Jensen and Warren Trezevant, Sonic Runway creators , sound healer & instructor, Melissa Felsenstein , taiko artist Janet Koike , and carillonist, Simone Browne for their amazing sound and arts s...

Send us Fan Mail The sound of bells in towers is a common experience to many around the world. But the reality is there is an entire profession devoted to carillons-- actual lever and pedal instruments that make the sounds you hear. Carillons exist all over the U.S., Europe and the world and are commonly heard from the top of towers and built structures. This interview features Simone Browne, prof...

Send us Fan Mail Janet Koike is the Founder of Rhythmix Cultural Works in Alameda, California. She is also the Artistic Director of Maze Daiko ensemble. In this episode she shares her journey from textile fashion design to tap dance to playing taiko, the Japanese drum. Janet's experiences bringing remind us all of the alluring power of sound, how artists are ambassadors for new paradigms, and...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever pondered what it might be like to experience a moment of tranquility amidst the chaos of daily life? Melissa Felsenstein, the founder of Innersounds Meditation , reveals how sound healing can be your haven. Melissa used this therapeutic technique to conquer her personal battles with anxiety and depression, but she's also refined it into a unique formula to certi...

Send us Fan Mail What does it take to synchronize light and sound? Co-creators Rob Jensen and Warren Trezevant, talk about their work creating Sonic Runway, an art installation conceived at Burning Man. Sonic Runway immerses the spectator in colorful synchronized visuals that animate the speed of sound. Hear the story behind their meticulous creation process, making the exhibit first for Burning M...

Send us Fan Mail What did you do this summer? What's left still to experience? Better yet, what did you hear? July is a liminal space and time to dive into the creative. This summer soundscape is an annual season pause so you can listen to July. Traveling through California, Oregon, and landing in Washington at performing arts family camp, you're invited to come along for the auditory ri...

Send us Fan Mail In 2007, Tommy Soulati Shepard and Kaitlin McGaw formed Alphabet Rockers to make music that makes change. This episode discusses how they met, the wide variety of their performing backgrounds and how they, 3 professional children artists and a host of other artist collaborators use hip hop to put a child's experience at the heart of its message.  The Alphabet Rockers mission...

Send us Fan Mail Exposed to cello at an early age, Cellista broke away from her classical cellist training to follow her calling to create and collaborate with other art forms including beatboxers, spoken word artists, dancers, and musicians. Her work continues to reflect on and engage the cultural circumstances she experiences around her and she produces what she calls stage poems inspired by Fre...

Send us Fan Mail Season 2 has concluded. This episode is how you can (wherever you are!) share in the podcast festivities (listening, sending me an email). Listen as I review the guests we had over the past year, sing you a little song, and recognize some of the amazing people who've supported me in this journey. Season 3 is coming! Listen and then send me an email- this podcast is now big en...

Send us Fan Mail Chelle Jacques is a career musician, bandleader, educator and more. In this episode she shares the story of her recently launched Daughters of the Delta Project featuring the musical contributions from the women artists of Louisiana we so rarely hear about. She also shares how she got involved with The Recording Academy, best known for producing the annual Grammy Awards. She now s...

Send us Fan Mail I talked to Frida the parrot as she was on exhibit as part of a larger an immersive art experience. This Agile Vocalist episode dives into animal sounds and share a one-of-a-kind recording of my interactions with a parrot I went to “interview.” Our interactions proved some of the most varied from any she’d had with other humans, and it marveled her owners, the hosts and artists at...

Send us Fan Mail Folk and classical musician, composer, arranger, instrumentalist, and vocalist Moira Smiley has a broad repertoire of mystical and passionate music that pulls your heart strings. And if you sing, you may find yourself learning something she's written. Her songs, arrangements, artistic collaborations, body percussion sequences, and more have captured audiences shifting some fr...

Send us Fan Mail What’s it like to lead the edge of change in the arts? Vocalist, Marisa Winter (Diva Marisa) has done that with her career and she remains driven to offer new audiences music in context. As a classically trained opera singer and Burning Man performer, she shares the impact Burning Man has made on experiential art everywhere. Marisa’s early life vocal experiences at first caused he...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Makiko Hirata (“Dr. Pianist") is on a mission to promote the power of music to heal and unite.  In this episode, she talks about reconciling her training in classical piano with being a woman in music as well as how musicians have a role to play as first responders in times of climate catastrophe. She has shifted her career from being an "Olympian pianist” performer...

Send us Fan Mail Betsy Blakeslee’s work has connected refugees with the healing power of music for two decades. She directed expressive arts programs for refugee youth in Bosnia and Croatia during the wars of the 1990s. Since 2016, her Expressive Arts Refuge team and Moira Smiley have been running similar programs at refugee camps in France, Greece, and Lebanon. In this episode she shares stories...

Send us Fan Mail In celebration of Agile Vocalist's 1-year anniversary, this epilogue takes you back through an unexpected trend that emerged with many of my guests about creativity. The theme was this:  people are often most creative and get their sound practice and ideas... in the bathroom, specifically the shower. Cars were also a theme as havens for creating. Who knew? Talking about bathr...