Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

This is my third conversation with Ian Brennan in this mini ongoing series with him, within my podcast. If you missed Parts 1 and 2 they are linked in the show notes for you. Today you’ll hear about how he recorded some of the oldest voices in the world in Azerbaijan, and some of the bonus tracks including the Kronos quartet and The Good Ones. Ian shared how he met the Malawi Mouse Boys and then b...

I’m so happy to bring you this episode with the British Ivor-nominated composer, violinist and sound artist Ruby Colley. She grew up with her artist parents and her brother Paul who is neuro-divergent and non-speaking. This conversation shines a light on her beautiful album Hello Halo with the brilliant Exaudi vocal ensemble. She composed this alongside her brother, transcribing Paul’s sounds and...

This episode is with Duo FAE violinist Charlene Kluegel and pianist Katherine Petersen. The first part of this conversation focuses on their album Dissidents of the Gilded Age. You’ll be hearing excerpts from this beautiful program and learning about the composers Dame Ethel Smyth, Cécile Chaminade and Amy Beach. Charlene and Katherine are long-time collaborators and close friends and we got into...

Jayne Dent is a British interdisciplinary artist, singer and composer and I was absolutely delighted to explore ideas around a creative and playful life with her. You’ll be hearing clips of music from Me Lost Me, with inspirations from folk culture old and new. She opened my mind to what folk creativity and community can mean in the 21st century. You'll also hear about community music making, coll...

I was fascinated to meet PJ Adzima, and learn about his path from his childhood on a farm to his career as a Broadway performer in the Book of Mormon. A chance encounter with a legendary composer changed his life forever and now as the CEO of the production company Stage Time, he’s paying that forward by discovering and curating talent across genres through many projects. He talked about how embra...

Vivienne Aerts is a NYC-based Dutch Singer, Educator, and Psychologist, for many years on the faculty of the Berklee College of Music. I’ve been following her inspiring creative practice for a couple of years and I’m excited to tell you that for this episode you’ll be hearing clips from her beautiful upcoming album Current, produced on a tiny 1951 Dutch sailboat, blending jazz, electronics, and vo...

I was so honoured and delighted to have this opportunity to have this conversation with Nancy Shear, whose diverse career in classical music will fascinate you. I loved reading her memoir “I knew a man who knew Brahms” which is very much a book about appreciation for great music making as well as the importance of reflecting on the legacies our elders. You’ll hear about insights gleaned from her c...

This is my second conversation with Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan, whose work continues to make a meaningful impact around the world. If you missed Part 1 of our interview, be sure to check the link in the show notes. In this episode, we explore Ian Brennan’s remarkable approach to recording music in some of the most remote and overlooked places on Earth. You’ll hear stories from his travels...

Max ZT is a superb Grammy-nominated hammered dulcimer player. I am really inspired by his broad and deep musical approach, improvisation skills, and virtuosity. You’ll be hearing inspirations and clips from his recent album with the handpan virtuoso Manu Delago, and in fact this was recorded during their album release tour of the U.K. and Europe. Max explained fascinating details about his approac...

Trombonist Jeff Albert joins me for a two-part conversation. The beginning of this episode explores the unique Guthman Musical Instrument Competition at Georgia Tech which celebrates musical inventors from around the world. You’ll be hearing some of these instruments from this year’s competition and you’ll find that information linked in the show notes. The second half of this episode is about Jef...

I’m delighted to welcome back Gaelynn Lea , the disability rights advocate, author, singer-songwriter, and fiddler. If you missed my first conversation with her last year it’s linked in the show notes. I really enjoyed reading her memoir It Wasn’t Meant to be Perfect , and if you haven’t ordered it yet we hope you will after listening to this episode. Gaelynn goes into some of the themes in the bo...

You may know Scott Nygaard from his career as a guitarist in the bluegrass and acoustic scene for more than 30 years, his work as former editor and writer with Acoustic Guitar Magazine, or as one of the co-founders of Peghead Nation. You may not know his novel Evergreen, based on his transformative first year at Evergreen College in 1973. I love a coming of age story, and this is very much a tale...

Carolyn Kendrick is a fiddler, songwriter, and producer based in California. I’m really looking forward to her upcoming podcast with Tristan Scroggins “Don’t Call Me Darlin’,” based on an archive of Women in Bluegrass newsletters. You’ll also be fascinated to learn about Carolyn’s project “ Each Machine” and you’ll be hearing some of that music and about her research into the Satanic Panic . She a...

This episode is with one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever had the privilege to meet: the Grammy-winning producer, musician and author Ian Brennan who has traveled the world in search of countries and languages that are underrepresented. He has produced over fifty remarkable international records since 2009 across five continents with his wife the Italian-Rwandan filmmaker, photographer and a...

It was so inspiring to have this conversation with the multi-talented singer-songwriter and pianist Vienna Teng . In this episode we’re featuring the band Few of a Kind’s new album , a beautiful collaboration with Vienna, Brandon Ridenour, Ben Russell, Yousif Sheronick, and Andrew Gutauskas. Vienna takes us inside their creative process with excerpts from each track. She also reflects on what trul...

I was honoured to have this opportunity to talk to the pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico about her extraordinary life in music and the arts. She shared wonderful and moving stories about Ann Southam, Louis Quilico, Pierre Boulez, Jacques Isrealievitch, and her legendary teacher Rosina Lhévinne. I was really struck by Christina’s open-minded attitude throughout her long career to learning new mus...

Hank Moore became a radio DJ at just ten years old, then went on to influence the broadcasting industry. You’ll hear about his experiences interviewing Elvis Presley, working as an advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson , and earning two inductions into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. From payola to the negative effects of the deregulation of broadcasting, he offers valuable perspectives on the...

The trumpet player and composer Nadje Noordhuis joined me for a wide-ranging conversation about identity, creativity, and carving out a life in music on her own terms. Nadje reflects on her early musical upbringing in Sydney, Australia, and the formative training that led her toward jazz trumpet. She remembers her friend Lois Martin, and Nadje speaks candidly about experiences of sexism in the mus...

Julia Keefe (Nez Perce) is an internationally acclaimed Native American jazz vocalist, actor, activist, and educator currently based in New York City. You’ll hear how her Indigenous Big Band project started, the history behind jazz in Native American communities and inspiration from Delbert Anderson to Jim Pepper. A special influence in her life has been Mildred Bailey and you’ll be hearing some c...

Eliza Marshall is a British flute player acclaimed for her expressive multi-style playing and in this episode we’re celebrating her new album “Eternal Birth” in which this award-winning flautist and composer channels over two decades of international collaboration into a bold, genre-defying album, with a rich cinematic soundscape, blending classical, folk and world traditions, with haunting flutes...

I’m honoured to bring to you this in-depth conversation with the brilliant musician, writer, composer and storyteller Gabriel Kahane as my first episode of Season 6 of this podcast. You’ll be hearing many short clips from several of his albums including his piano concerto Heirloom, written for his father Jeffrey Kahane. This is a wide-ranging interview and you’ll hear about Gabriel’s upcoming book...

The Swedish fiddler Lena Jonsson has created a unique style inspired by traditional Swedish music as well as many other influences. Today we’re focusing on the wonderful 3rd album by her trio, “Folk Covers” which celebrates many great folk music composers of today. I think you’ll really enjoy this uplifting conversation which features a lot of music, including Lena giving us some spontaneous house...

Violinist Lara St. John joins me to discuss her upcoming documentary Dear Lara , her remarkable career, and her ongoing work to ensure a safe and inclusive music community . Lara’s creativity, warmth, humour and brilliance come through in this wide-ranging interview and you’ll hear about her decision to become the first classical soloist to start her own record label, her formative year in the for...

Guitarist Ben Garnett has released a beautiful new album, Kite’s Keep , and this episode features clips and insights from the project. The record includes collaborations with acoustic music greats familiar to listeners of this podcast, including Darol Anger and Brittany Haas . Ben’s mentor, Chris Eldridge of the Punch Brothers, also appears, and Ben discusses the wisdom he’s gained from other infl...

Canadian violinist Yolanda Bruno spoke to me about her new album Dear Jeanne and her film The Immortal Serafin , which both honour the late Jeanne Lamon , the renowned baroque violinist, and Music Director of Tafelmusik for 34 years. Yolanda explains how she explores the story of Jeanne’s 1759 Santo Serafin baroque violin, which was generously loaned to Yolanda for one year. You’ll hear a few clip...