Music Life and Times

This extended episode of Music Life & Times pays tribute to Sam Yi, “the guiding light of jazz in Atlanta,” who ran the Churchill Grounds jazz club in Midtown for two decades. Sam passed away on February 3. “His steadfast promotion of jazz music helped artists maintain a sense of belonging and provided listeners with a spot to hear the latest talent, among shifting venues and interest,” noted...

The recent deaths of jazz promoters and club owners Johnny Scatena and Sam Yi were followed by extensive tributes from the musicians whose careers they enabled and lives they changed. Unique to the music profession, and in particular to jazz, is how the most beloved of their time are sent off with performances of the music they played, or in these two cases, the music they so ably and enthusiastic...

The versatile Dave Frackenpohl has played in the widest range of groups, from symphonies to nightclub duos, and formats, from commercial rock bands to big bands to touring Broadway musicals to jazz festivals. His life in jazz took off during his 10 years in Rochester, NY, and his reputation as a premier jazz guitarist has grown steadily over more than 25 years of being based in Atlanta. In the tra...

James Casto is a singer-songwriter who expanded his passion beyond his own music to create and continue an annual series of concerts featuring singer-songwriters. Inspired by his time in Nashville, and in particular by a song performed one night by Vince Gill, Casto began developing the concept that has matured into a five-month program annually of indoor and outdoor, paid and free, sing-songwrite...

If you were putting together a jazz combo for the evening—or for the ages—you’d be well served by Justin Varnes on drums. And if you wanted your son or daughter to study with someone who will help them learn to love music as well as play it, again there is Justin Varnes. Based in Atlanta, Justin studied at the University of North Florida and the New School in New York. He has played with a long li...

Kevin Korschgen, drummer, educator, and the producer of Greenville, South Carolina’s Wheel House sessions talks about his seven years of more than 100 concerts in a small space in Greenville’s arts district he originally rented as a drum rehearsal studio and how it became his concert venue. As rare as the venue, so too are the combinations of musicians he brings together, from Greenville, but also...

In anticipation of the 2025 Valentine’s weekend edition of the Emory University Jazz Festival, we talk with Gary Motley, the founding director of Emory’s Jazz Studies program, about his beginnings in music and jazz, some of his associations with other revered jazz musicians, and the upcoming Emory festival where he and his trio will be joined by tenor saxophonist David Sanchez on Friday February 1...

One of the lessons you learn from performing music is how audiences reward you for your efforts, that is, the joy you get from their appreciation of your music. That’s one of the greatest returns you get from the work you put in learning to play music well. What could be more fun or more gratifying!

Johnny Catena, the much loved owner of Café 290, Atlanta’s premier music venue for more than 30 years, passed away on November 15, 2024. More than a club owner, Johnny was a lover of music and the musicians who played it. In this extended episode of Music Life and Times, several of Atlanta’s preeminent musicians—Joe Gransden, Kipper Jones, Melvin Miller, William Green, Gary Harris, and Music Life...

Where you find great jazz in Atlanta, there’s a good chance you’ll find Kevin Smith on bass. The Florida State grad became enamored with the instrument early in life, chose in fact, orchestra over band in school because the orchestra had a bass, then became enamored with jazz, hearing it for the first time in person from a group that included Music Life and Times podcast co-host Kevin Bales. An ed...

On Friday, November 15, 2024, Vinnie D’Agostino led a group of four premier jazz musicians, including our podcaster Kevin Bales on piano, at Atlanta’s Red Light Café for a night of intensity and energy aptly advertised as “Feel the Burn.” Vinnie, who was our featured guest in Episode 16 of Music Life and Times, began his professional music career on saxophone in his teens, then steered his life to...

Dave Finucane talks about his Durham Jazz Workshop, a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to preserving and promoting jazz music in North Carolina. The Workshop, which he co-founded with his wife Valerie Courreges, offers jazz education programs, including instruction in improvisation, music theory, and performance techniques, to aspiring musicians of all ages. The Workshop’s Sharp 9 Gallery Jaz...

Kevin talks with Randy Hoexter upon the debut of his latest album, Tomorrowsville. They discuss his musical upbringing and how he became enthralled with the creation of music—that is, composing as well as playing. His style is described, at least on one hand, as “intricate,” a definition that is well supported in his playing and recordings. But while intricacies are central to his compositions, th...

Ralph Miriello has been reviewing new—and old—jazz recordings since 2007 for publications like Downbeat and currently through his blog, Notes on Jazz.com. A passionate fan of jazz, Ralph spent much of that time in Atlanta before moving to the West Coast, in Washington State just outside of Portland, Oregon. In this episode of Music Life and Times, Ralph talks about his work as a jazz journalist an...

A tradition among jazz musicians is bringing along younger players, giving them a chance to mature and grow their skills as well as their love of playing. The tradition plays itself out in many ways, such as in jam sessions, university jazz programs, and private lessons, but also through organizations like the Hilton Head Island Junior Jazz Foundation. Kevin is on the board and this year again, as...

Russell Malone was not only a world-class jazz guitarist but someone known for reaching out to other musicians, showing interest in them, and encouraging them, as he did so frequently with our podcast host Kevin Bales early in his career. Kevin shares some memories of his times with Russell and talks about mentoring and music, and how common it is for great players like Russell to mentor the up-an...

Persistence: You won’t get far without it. Learning to play music well is hard; progress can be slow, very slow; you can be tempted to quit. Kevin and Mike share experiences of their own as well as stories of some of the greatest musicians of all time, including Charlie Parker and Ludwig von Beethoven, and how they worked to overcome obstacles and persisted when it might have been easier to give u...

It’s not easy to learn to play music, especially to learn how to play well. It takes a great deal of work—we call it practice—and practicing in a way that leads to meaningful progress. As well, the more you learn, that is, the better you play, the more work it takes to make progress. You also learn by making mistakes, and if you make mistakes on the job, that’s a hard lesson; it can be humbling. T...

The relationship between player and instrument can be life-long. You might go through several instruments as you learn to play and learn what you like in your instrument, but once you find the one, it’s a marriage that endures. Some players even assign names and genders to their instruments. On a recent trip to the Steinway factory in New York, Kevin was hosted for a tour of the entire facility an...

A Joyful Sound As a child taking piano lessons, Joe Alterman was impressed, more so bowled over, by a guitar player named Doc Watson and his boogie style. From those seeds emerged the joyful sound that characterizes Joe’s playing. Among his idols, his mentors, was the incomparable Les McCann. Much of Joe’s work today, including a recent album, “Big Mo & Little Joe,” and several ongoing project...

Matt Miller, a native of the Philadelphia area and a graduate of the heralded The New School in New York City, is a busy member of the Atlanta jazz community, featured regularly in various combinations of musicians, from trios to big bands. Matt talks about his responsibilities as a performer to his fellow players and his audiences, and how learning to play music teaches his young students respons...

Jazz Vocalist and Music Educator Karla is in the midst of an admirable career, not only as a performer and recording artist with top billing at some of the country’s most notable venues and festivals but also as an educator ensuring that future generations have access to the arts. Well-known for her performances, she has also been recognized now for her work in the area of education as one of Atla...

Joe Gransden has built his brand on multiple levels, perhaps best known as big band leader, heading up the 16-piece group of jazz musicians that filled Café 290 on Monday nights for more than 12 years and continues to entertain at venues and events around Atlanta and beyond, as well as performing with a variety of combinations for a variety of gigs, from restaurants to corporate parties to his own...

At 57, Roderick Harper is gaining steam. A versatile artist with both jazz and R&B albums, he calls on a background that started as early a small child singing along with TV commercials, through early lessons in the American Songbook and a minor in jazz studies at Southern University, to a performer audiences love for the passion and integrity of his singing. Mike and Kevin talk with Roderick...

Every Elton John has his Bernie Taupin. Jerome Kern had to have his Oscar Hammerstein. Even Duke Ellington needed a Billy Strayhorn or Irving Mills or Bob Russell. Point is, a song isn’t much of a song without lyrics, and how lyricists and composers work together, if unique to each pair, is one more example of the cooperation involved in making great music.