Follow Your Dream - Music And Much More!

This REFLECTIONS episode is called A Really Interesting Trip .  One of the things I’ve come to appreciate over time is how this platform has expanded in ways that I never could have predicted. When I started the podcast, my focus was very clear. I’m a musician, and I wanted to have conversations with other musicians—people who had devoted their lives to their craft, who had stories to tell, and mu...

Nicholas King is a wealth advisor. However, he also founded “After Arts”, a community of professionals who share a passion for and background in music. He also founded the “Art of Giving Back”, a non-profit dedicated to supporting young musicians and giving back to the community. And he started out as a concert pianist who performed in various major venues. He serves on the Board of Governors of T...

Gareth Valentine is a legend in London’s West End theater community. He’s a Welsh born composer, arranger, dance arranger, conductor, musical director and musical supervisor. He’s been involved in dozens of London's biggest musical productions. His latest are Sinatra The Musical opening this summer and The Producers. His credits also include Sweet Charity, City Of Angels, Guys And Dolls, Kiss Me K...

Larry Koonse is a multiple Grammy nominated guitarist for his work with Billy Childs and Luciana Souza. He’s played on over 400 albums with artists including Al Hirt, Mel Torme, Linda Ronstadt and Natalie Cole. And he’s toured with Natalie Cole, Tierney Sutton and Peter Erskine among others. As a leader Larry has made nine recordings. My featured song is “Mi Cachimber All Stars”, my recent single....

Dizzy SenZe is a Bronx, NY native and a world class freestyle rapper, emcee, songwriter and multimedia artist. She’s part of the cast of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award winning Broadway show, Freestyle Love Supreme. She has won several NY freestyle competitions and she’s known as a lyrical assassin. She won the Snipes’ Battle Champs MC Championship and the Freestyle Emcee World Championship. She h...

Wulf Muller is a German born European jazz impresario. He was Polygram’s International Director for Jazz and Classical Marketing. He was responsible for the global marketing campaigns for superstars like Luciano Pavarotti, Cecilia Bartoli, Herbie Hancock and Diana Krall. He also signed a number of major artists including Sonny Rollins, Roy Hargrove, John Scofield, Branford Marsalis, Bill Frisell a...

Itai Kriss is a Grammy nominated jazz flutist and composer. He has an eclectic style that combines Jazz, Latin and Middle Eastern music to create a unique mix of rhythms and textures. It’s been said that his music covers the desert to the tropics to the big city. My featured song is “Out Of Tahini”, from the album Play by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link . —--------------------------------...

Alex Fiterstein is a virtuoso clarinetist. He was born in Belarus and raised in Israel. He’s performed in recital, with orchestras, and with chamber music ensembles all over the world. As soloist he has appeared with a bunch of orchestras including the Czech, Israel and Vienna Chamber Orchestras, Belgrade Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic, and the China National Symphony. He’s performed at the Kenn...

Christine Andreas is a multiple award winning singer, actress and 2x Tony Award nominee. On Broadway she played Eliza Doolittle in the 20th Anniversary production of My Fair Lady for which she received the Theatre World Award. She received a Tony Award nomination for Oklahoma. Other shows include The Scarlet Pimpernel, La Cage Au Folles and The Light in The Piazza. As a singer she has performed at...

Introducing Special Collections, a new Follow Your Dream series.  After more than 725 episodes, I’ve observed that many of my remarkable guests are connected by common threads — including country, background, culture, style, experience, genre, and craft. Each episode of Special Collections will focus on one of these common threads. The first Special Collections episode is called The Cuban Masters...

Espen Berg is a Norwegian pianist and composer and a modern day impressionist. He has toured around the world and has released 15 albums as a leader. His trio is a hit in Asia and they have sold out concert halls in Tokyo, Kyoto, Guangzhou, Mumbai and Athens, in addition to clubs like Ronnie Scott’s in London. Espen has written works for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, and for leading Norwegian jazz...

Kate Kortum is a terrific 24-year-old jazz vocalist from Houston, Texas. She blends together bebop, blues, the Great American Songbook, and musical theatre. She’s got a fresh, contemporary take on jazz vocals. She’s performed at major venues including the Newport Jazz Festival, Birdland, the Blue Note, Dizzy’s, SXSW, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. She haș toured internationally and collaborated with...

Sam Harris is a superstar of Broadway, film and television. On Broadway, he received Tony, Outer Critic’s Circle and Drama Desk nominations for his work in Cy Coleman’s “The Life”. He received a Drama League Award and Drama Desk nomination for his role in “Tommy Tune’s Grease”. And he appeared in “The Producers”, “Jesus Christ Superstar” and too many others to mention. As a singer he’s a multi-pla...

Spiderhorse are World Champion Beatbox Duo Chris Celez and Gene Shinozaki. They have been creating music for ten years together, expanding the capabilities of the human voice. They have been invited to perform all around the world. You gotta hear these guys! My featured song is “It’s The Beat” from the album The Queen’s Carnival by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link . —----------------------...

Natasha Paremski is a spectacular, highly acclaimed, concert pianist. She was born in Russia but moved to the U.S. and now lives in New York City. She has been praised for her musical sensibility and powerful, flawless technique. She’s won a whole bunch of prizes, she’s played all over the world, and with many different symphonies.  Natasha is also the Artistic Director of The New York Piano Socie...

Jeff Silbar is an acclaimed songwriter. He’s best known for co-writing “Wind Beneath My Wings” for which he won a Grammy Award. The song became a mega-hit for Bette Midler. He’s been voted Nashville Songwriter of the Year. He’s also had hits with dozens of other artists including Kenny Rogers, John Cougar, Ringo, Dolly Parton and many others. My featured song is “My Love”, from the album Bobby M a...

Summer Camargo is a spectacular, award winning, 24 year old trumpeter, composer and bandleader. She’s the youngest member of the Saturday Night Live house band, and she also plays in the Charles Mingus Big Band and Broadway’s Just in Time. Downbeat Magazine, the jazz bible, has dubbed her a rising star. She’s toured with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, performed at the Newport Jazz Festival,...

Richard Maltby, Jr. is a Tony Award winning, and multiple Tony Award nominated, director and lyricist. He directed “Ain’t Misbehavin” in 1978 and “Fosse” in 1999. They are the only musical revues to win the Tony Award for Best Musical. His longtime professional partner is composer David Shire, and they still work together. Among his other credits he was co-lyricist for “Miss Saigon”, director and...

Sir George Martin was the Beatles’ extraordinary producer and the most acclaimed and celebrated music producer of the rock era. No one comes close to Sir George for the innovation and sheer perfection of his body of work. It’s almost an accident that he worked with the Beatles. Before meeting them he was in charge of EMI’s Parlophone label where he produced comedy and novelty acts like Peter Selle...

Bruce Miller is a celebrated composer and arranger for television and major recording artists. And he’s written music for politicians too. He wrote some of the best known TV theme songs including for “Frazier”, “Wings” and “Designing Women”. He’s worked with stars like Gladys Knight, Rod Stewart and Smokey Robinson. He created music for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns and for Hilary Clinton’...

Michael Whalen is a 2x Emmy Award winning and 8x Emmy nominated pianist, composer, music supervisor, recording artist and producer. He’s widely recognized for his work in New Age, contemporary instrumental and television music. His songs have been streamed 1.5 billion times since 2015. He’s created music for commercials, TV and films and he’s released 46 albums. He’s collaborated with artists incl...

Tamir Hendelman is an Israeli-American pianist and composer.  He has toured with drummer Jeff Hamilton. He’s recorded with superstars like Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole and Paul McCartney. And he’s worked with Tierney Sutton and with Jackie Ryan, both of whom have been guests on this podcast. My featured song is “Sea Journey”, from my debut album Miles Behind. Spotify link . —--------------------...

Introducing Follow Your Dream Reflections - a new feature of the podcast where from time to time Robert shares observations drawn from his many conversations with remarkable creative artists. After more than 725 conversations with artists from around the world, Robert has begun to notice certain patterns about creativity and the artistic life. Here are the first two Reflections. #1: The Self-Start...

Hi everybody, and welcome to our 5th Anniversary celebration!  I started this podcast during the pandemic when musicians like me could neither perform nor even rehearse. I needed something creative to do, and someone suggested to me that I should start a podcast. But I had no idea what that was. I had never even listened to one. But the more I looked into it the more I thought why not give it a sh...

Zahili Gonzalez Zamora is a Cuban pianist, composer and bandleader. She graduated from Cuba’s National School of Music and then moved to Canada. She spent 6 years in Asia playing in Macau. She’s also a graduate of Berklee Music School. She and her Afro-Cuban trio, MIXCLA, have performed at the Monterey and Montreal Jazz Festivals and other venues. She is a winner of the Duke Ellington Award and th...