Improv Exchange Podcast

Bill Warfield, a dynamic and innovative composer, bandleader and trumpeter, has energized audiences, performers and writers for over four decades. Warfield’s most recent accomplishments are two highly regarded recordings including “Mercy Mercy Mercy”, recorded on the BluJazz label by the Hell’s Kitchen Funk Orchestra in 2015 and “Trumpet Story” with Randy Brecker on Planet Arts Records, recorded i...

Guitarist Akira Ishiguro studied Jazz performance and composition at Berklee College of Music. Since graduating in 2006, he has been entrenched in the New York City jazz scene.     Tour life has taken him to Japan, Chile, Coasta Rica, Canada, and much of Europe. He has six albums as a leader or co-leader and has appears in over 20 records.   He has shared the stage with Myron Walden, Nate Smith, A...

International Recorded artist, composer, educator, and bandleader Jonathan Barber was voted the #1 Up-and-Coming Drummer of 2018 in Modern Drummer. Barber has already recorded and toured worldwide with such artists as Pat Metheny, Erykah Badu, Nicholas Payton, Buster Williams, Jimmy Greene, Jeremy Pelt, Wallace Roney, Terrace Martin, Jennifer Holiday, Harold Mabern,  Steve Davis , J.D. Allen, The...

New York City-based pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer Cestari creates a world that melds the sounds of jazz, pop, classical, latin, and free improvisation together. With rich vocals, vivid lyricism, and a powerful approach to the piano, Cestari's music takes on various inspirations that have merged into one distinct sound. Studying Music Business at NYU, Cestari aims to use his knowledge to...

With inspiration from his stylistic ancestors Nat King Cole and Joe Williams, John Dokes brings new life to the deep-souled world of baritone jazz vocals on his elegant new album, Our Day on his Swing Theory Entertainment imprint. In delivering a distinctive post-pandemic outing of classic songs embodied with hopeful passion, Dokes—also promises that his new endeavor is “an album that will make yo...

Almost immediately, he found himself as sideman for notable locals such as  Kermit Ruffins , Michael Ward and The Reward, and Sun Ra trumpeter,  Michael Ray .  In 1992 he co-founded the  New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars(NOKAS) , a pioneering klezmer ensemble that infused that music with the vibrancy and energy of the funk, jazz and brass music of New Orleans. To date he has had opportunity to play wi...

NYC flutist, composer, Sunnyside Records artist, producer, and clinician, Jamie Baum, has toured the US and over 35 countries performing at major festivals, clubs, and concert halls including the Monterey, Madrid, Oeiras, Bermuda, Edinburgh, North Sea, Winter Jazzfest and London Jazz Festivals, Tampere Jazz Happening, Guimaraes Jazz Festival, Jazztopad, Bimhuis, Unterfahrt, Jazz Gallery, Jazz Stan...

With an international background, PATRICK SOLURI is a New York City based composer of music for ballet, opera and film/TV. His love of telling stories through music is evident in a large body of work for the stage, screen and concert hall. Mr. Soluri has had 11 ballet scores performed internationally. This includes a commission and eight sold out performances of JUST BEFORE NOW (2017) at Ballet de...

AARON JENSEN (he/him), is an award-winning Toronto-based composer and producer. His creative work has been premiered and recorded by JUNO and GRAMMY award-winning artists, including Randy Brecker, Mariah Carey, Natalie MacMaster, and Dame Evelyn Glennie. He had the pleasure of acting as musical director, band leader, and composer for the nine-time EMMY award-winning series, Schitt’s Creek. Jensen’...

Jose Miguel is a Filipino singer-songwriter based in the south side of Manila. Heavily influenced by jazz, folk, and big band music, it's no surprise that he believes he was born in the wrong era. The authenticity and the distinct slick sound and energy of that time are what his music is.  An old soul living in the new, his work encapsulates themes, melodies, and words that 100% speak to him-and h...

Brian Scarborough is a top-call trombonist, improviser, composer, and educator in the greater Kansas City area. As a musician, Brian is regularly booked as both a bandleader for his quintet and a sideman for many local and touring bands of various sizes, in jazz and other genres. Moreover, Brian is a veteran musician of musical theatre, having performed for more than 50 productions in the greater...

Lawrence Fields, born and bred in St. Louis, has earned a spot at the forefront of young jazz pianists, thanks to his blending of vintage ideals with a contemporary mindset. For the last five years, in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019, Downbeat Magazine has placed him close to the top of the keyboardist category in their “Rising Stars” critics poll. Fields showcase his dynamic blend of composition...

Born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Greenville, NC, contemporary jazz vocalist Christie N. Dashiell honed her skills at Howard University and later at the Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Dashiell’s trajectory includes performances with Howard’s premiere vocal jazz ensemble, Afro Blue. She has also performed at the Kennedy Center as a participant in the 2010 Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program; at...

Lois Deloatch is a songwriter and vocalist known for her powerful contralto voice and distinctive blend of jazz, soul, blues, folk, and spirituals.  Her original compositions and interpretations of classic tunes resonate with purity and emotion, simultaneously intellectual and passionate. Shaped by and reflective of her early life as the seventh of ten children raised in a rural southern town, Loi...

Vinnie Sperrazza is a Brooklyn-based jazz drummer, composer, bandleader, author, and educator noted for his versatility and commitment to new music. Born in Utica, NY, Sperrazza moved to Brooklyn after completing his studies at William Paterson University, where he was mentored by pianist James Williams. He leads the groups Vinnie Sperrazza Trio, featuring Ethan Iverson and Michael Formanek, whose...

Shai Jaschek is an Israeli-born guitarist, composer, and music educator in New York City. After first picking up the guitar at 10 years old, Shai has since dedicated his life to music, playing and performing constantly. Before establishing himself in NYC, Shai completed his Bachelor’s in Arts from Israel’s top jazz performance programs, such as “The Jazz Institute” at the “Rimon School of Music”,...

Award-winning vocalist, composer, and educator Kavita Shah’s latest album, Cape Verdean Blues, is the culmination of a diasporic quest to find a spiritual home. The carefully curated album of traditional Cape Verdean music is also a tribute to the charismatic and unapologetically individual artist Cesária Évora, and a love letter to her breathtaking archipelago and its welcoming people. On Cape Ve...

Terence Hsieh 謝燕輝 is a three-time Golden Melody Award-winning producer, trombone, and trumpet specialist, and keyboardist from Durham, North Carolina who lives and works in Greater China. He is the bandleader of The Spice Cabinet 五香放克乐团 whose 2020 album “The Adventures of Pie Boy” won Best Instrumental Album, Best Instrumental Recording and Best Arrangement (Bittersweet) at the 32nd Annua...

MaryLynn was a founding member of the Grammy-nominated vocal jazz group, Rare Silk. The group started in Boulder, CO. Their very first album, New Weave flew to the top of the Billboard Jazz charts and received 2 Grammy nominations. MaryLynn and the group toured the world singing in the US, Europe, and Japan. Rare Silk received acclaim working alongside artists such as Miles Davis, Branford Marsali...

Nicole Zuraitis is a 2X GRAMMY-nominated jazz singer-songwriter, pianist, and arranger, New York-based bandleader and winner of the prestigious 2021 American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal. With a “heart as big as her remarkable voice,” (Jazz Police), Nicole has positioned herself as one of the top artists and "prolific songwriters" (Broadway World) to watch in jazz and beyond.   As a rec...

Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, Sean Mason taught himself to play piano by ear at the late age of 13. Driven by an insatiable passion for learning, Sean’s piano virtuosity evolved into a distinctive language, marking his unique presence in the jazz scene. Sean’s educational path unfolded from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to Juilliard in New York City. This transformative...

Kevin Sun is a Chinese-American saxophonist and composer. His music has been called “...intense, harmonically virtuosic and compositionally complex" (DownBeat Magazine), and he has released five albums to date—most recently a double album entitled The Depths of Memory in October 2023. Sun has also released album four with the bands Mute, Earprint, and Great On Paper, and he appears on recordings l...

For the past 44 years percussionist/producer / composer Zimbel has led the Juno Award-winning nine-piece global / jazz collective Manteca which he cofounded with bassist Henry Heillig in 1979. The group has recorded 14 full-length CD’s, toured the world and shared stages with Miles Davis, Weather Report, Van Morrison, Ella Fitzgerald and become one of Canada top selling domestic jazz artists. Mant...

Hailing from the vibrant music scene of St. Louis, saxophonist and composer Willie Morris emerges as a fresh and exciting force on the jazz scene. With a deep-rooted appreciation for the Black-American art forms that have flourished in his city, he brings a dynamic and unique perspective to his craft.  In this early stage of his career, Willie has already been blessed with remarkable opportunities...

Born in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, composer, pianist and arranger Shuteen Erdenebaatar (*1998) brings a unique sound to the audience with her yearning melodies enriched with profound and expressive harmonies and rhythms. The daughter of Erdenebaatar Gombo, who recently earned the title “The Emeritus of Art” for his 40 years as director of the National Mongolian Opera, and Batkhuyag Ochirba...