Neon Jazz Interviews

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Bay Area Trumpeter Bill Ortiz .. We caught up with him about his new 2022 Release Points of View .. For over four decades, he has been one of the Bay Area’s most valuable multi-genre artists .. .Notably, he toured with Santana for 16 years since the Grammy-winning Smooth album. His blend of authentic jazz and Latin led to high...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Australian-born, Hong Kong-based Musician & Producer Don Kyote .. He opened up about his new new 2022 CD 'Scatterbrain'.  He takes equal inspiration from the Jazz greats of the past, and melds it with his love of hard rock from the 90’s and 2000’s. This melting pot of Jazz, Rock, Funk, Psychedelia, and Fusion is where his new album Sc...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series Internationally Active Jazz Vocalist, Composer & Educator Ester Wiesnerova .. Based in Slovakia, she just released a visually stunning debut CD that has a wonderful audio collective .. The new 2022 CD The Blue Journal .. It includes 11 original compositions written for a unique quintet including harp & percussion. The compositions unfold s...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Jazz Improviser and Steel Band Composer Andy Narell .. He is included in the new Chuck Sher book series by Sher Music Co. -  Jazz Songbook Series! Collection #2 .. Andy has been around for a while .. He recorded his first album as a leader in 1979 and has made 16 albums as leader during the past 39 years as he explores the pos...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series Legendary Jazz Musician & Journalist Ben Sidran on the 2022 CD Swing State .. This is his first all instrumental record as a piano trio project. His favorite records when he was a kid were the trios of Horace Silver, Bobby Timmons, Bud Powell, and later Sonny Clark. Circling back sixty-some years later, he wanted to feel like those musicia...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Acclaimed Veteran Jazz Vocalist Nancy Kelly .. We talked about her interesting life in music, COVID and her new 2022 CD Jazz Woman .. She has a solid fan base from around the globe for her classic swinging style taking listeners back to a time when jazz – including vocal jazz - was an authentic expression of real emotion .. She got he...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Kansas City-based Trombonist, Singer, Songwriter, Bandleader & Composer Trevor Turla .. I caught him live in late January 2022 at the RecordBar as a part of The Grand Marquis opening for Freedom Affair and he has a high energy approach to his music .. Over 2022, he’s been releasing singles as a part of a new EP that is streaming every...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Brazilian Singer, Songwriter and Violinist Tetel Di Babuya .. She was in her home São Paulo, Brazil and we talked about her brand new 2022 CD Meet Tetel, COVID life, her world of music and the future .. She performs and composes in both English and Portuguese creating a compelling sound that blends Jazz, Blues, Bossa Nova and Standard...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with San Francisco-based Jazz Saxophonist, Flutist, Composer & Bandleader Jean Fineberg .. We had a great talk about her latest 2022 CD -  With her contemporary octet Jazzphoria .. Their material ranges from swing and blues to funk, R&B, hip hop, bebop and New Orleans second line. This Bronx, New York native has recorded on more than 50 al...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Kansas City-based Jazz Keyboardist, Composer & Producer Angela Ward .. I caught her live at the Blue Room off 18 and Vine in Mid-March and had to talk to her about her life in music .. She performs regularly around the Kansas City Metro area with her band and free lances with other groups .. Especially now as the world wakes up .. She...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Sousaphone Player Xan Perkins & Trumpeter Justin Crossman of Kansas City-based Jazz Collective Back Alley Brass Band .. They opened up about their new 2022 CD that just hit the web and the streets .. This New Orleans style brass band based is becoming one of the most sought after groups to play in KC. These high energy players have a...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Detroit-born, Los Angeles-based Jazz Singer & Songwriter Jesse Palter .. She opened up about quite a bit .. Like her new 2022 Nothing Standard that draws inspiration from both masterful composers and vocalists who composed and interpreted "The Great American Songbook” as she pushes the music forward .. This ablum harkens back to her e...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Minneapolis-based Jazz Musician David Billingsley on the 2022 CD Hymns From Mama's House: Family Reunion .. This project is dedicated to Carol Bostick, David's Mother who recently passed in December 2021. On a warm Minneapolis Summer Day while Covid was raging, he gathered his closest music friends and created an Album in two days. Th...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Award Winning Pianist & Composer Joel Martin .. We had a very spirited talk about his life in music, the creation of Jazzical and his latest 2022 CD Komitas - A Passion of Fire Celebrates Armenian Music in the 21st Century .. Over his storied music existence, Joel has travelled throughout the world performing over 400 chamber...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran New York Jazz Clarinetist Harry Skoler ..  We had a great talk about his new 2022 CD Living Sound: The Music Of Charles Mingus .. Harry discovered Mingus and his music early in life. This discovery would change his entire trajectory as a person and musician .. That is what he enthusiastically celebrates on his new recording .....

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Chicago-based Jazz/Blues Singer Solitaire Miles .. She spoke at length about her life in music and the new 2022 CD Susie Blue & the Lonesome Fellas - "Blue Train" featuring Grammy winning Harmonica Maestro Howard Levy and Chicago Sax King Eric Schneider.  Over the years, she has performed and recorded with great bandleaders like Doc C...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Phoenix-based Veteran Latin Jazz Percussionist Miguel ‘El Mambo’ DeLeon .. He moved to Kansas City in 1987 and enjoyed a long music history in town .. He will be returning in early May 2022 for a host of engagements to savor his old stomping grounds .. He will always be known in the Midwest Salsa and Latin Jazz scene as “The Pioneer”...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Reno, Nevada-based Jazz Vocalist CeCe Gable .. We had a long, wonderful conversation about her well lived life in music, her new 2022 CD Next Year's Song, COVID life and so much more .. “Next Year’s Song” was written during the pandemic when everything was interrupted and as the world re-opened, she traveled to New York to record with...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Swiss Drummer & Percussionist Florian Arbenz on 2022 CD Conversation #4 – Vulcanized – This was the fourth in a series of albums that was prompted by the pandemic – He has ultimately set out to document 12 Conversations with musicians invited into his Basel, Switzerland recording studio .. It’s a great musical story of conversations ....

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Nashville-based Jazz Singer Gary Brumburgh .. We caught up with him about his third solo album .. the 2022 CD Full Circle that pays tribute to New York theatre with its bold, innovative reworking of songs from the Broadway/off-Broadway musical stage. Gary was born in Buffalo and raised in a small suburb of North Tonawanda, New York, G...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Award-Winning Songwriter, Guitarist & Composer David Nichtern .. We had a wide ranging, spirited talk about his new 2022 The Dharma Moon Orchestra with special guests – Guitar Phenom Julian Lage & Trumpet Extraordinaire Randy Brecker .. This project was an outgrowth of being holed up for the past 2 years in his house in East Hampton,...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Bronx-based Jazz Pianist, Composer, Arranger & Author Sharp Radway .. We talked at length about his career in music, the arts, COVID and his new 2022 CD Black Woman - A Conversation .. The album is a tribute to the beauty, strength and diversity of Black Women. It's a soulful combination of the elements of Jazz & spoken word .. He is...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with NYC-Based Jazz Saxophonist, Arranger, Composer and Producer Ben Wendel .. Born in Vancouver, Canada, Raised in Los Angeles and now calling New York his home, he has also globe trotted with acts like Gerald Clayton, Eric Harland, Snoop Dogg and the artist formerly known as Prince .. He has a large amount of irons in the fire as a very...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Drummer Matt Slocum  .. This promsing young jazz force was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and raised in Western Wisconsin – He just released 2016’s Trio Pacific, Vol. 1 and it’s another evolutionary step in his jazz walk that started with him digging the recordings of Max Roach and Philly Joe Jones – From there, he went on to the Un...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Hammond B-3 Player Adrienne Fenemor .. Originally from New Zealand Native and now in New York City, she just released a very nice 2016 album called Blue's Jam – and Mo Puddin’ was done a year prior .. Trombone was her native instrunment growing up, but she taught herself to play the Hammond B-3 copying recordings by Jimmy Smith,...