Play It Like It's Music

Bronx native Daniel Sadownick has toured with a large (and growing) cross-section of the greatest musicians we all love: Michael Brecker, Me'shell Ndege'Ocello, Steely Dan, Tony, Toni Tone', Maxwell, Angie Stone, Dennis Chambers, Nicholas Payton, Christian McBride, Nat Adderley, George Coleman, Dianne Reeves, the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, Carl Allen, Nnenna Freelon, Dewey Redman, Jennifer Lopez......

"You just have to sit in a certain place." - Trevor P. Allen My friends, today we hear from a true keeper of the flame, Mr. Trevor P. Allen. From the trenches of the New York club scene to bandstands all over the world, this guy delivers on the bass. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit playitlikeitsmusic.substack...

There's a guy who's been running an open mic at Birdland in midtown New York City for an insanely long time, and he looks like he's 15 years old. I don't know how he does it, but here he is: Jim Caruso. Showbiz man of the hour here on Play It Like It's Music. It's always a good time hanging with the witty and dapper master of ceremonies. Check it out. This is a public episode. If you would like to...

“When I was young there were a lot of sixteen-year-old cellists. There are not that many 48 year old cellists.” Today my guest is Pablo Mahave Veglia, cello professor at Grand Valley State University in Michigan and a total pro. We get into it here, the guy knows his stuff on the cello: all the notes, all the styles, all the periods, all the positions. We get a tour of his instruments and a look a...

We were in too much of a time-crunch for me to record him playing, but the night after we spoke I witnessed him holding court at a campfire jam with about 200 people getting quite sweaty and singing at the top of their lungs. This guy brings it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com

Today is a great day because I get to speak to my good friend, world-famous author James McBride. I know him as a band leader. You probably know him for his best-selling books, the movies he made with Spike Lee... all that stuff. I went and met him at the source: New Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Red Hook, Brooklyn. If you read his first book “The Color of Water”, then you'll know the place I'm...

He's got major cred: he actually studied with Jascha Heifetz, at age 20 he played principal second violin for the Rochester Philharmonic, then went on to work with Steve Reich, Meredith Monk, Joe Jackson, Todd Rundgren, the Mahavishnu Project... he founded a string quartet you might have heard of called Ethel. Whether he's on Broadway or in Bang On A Can he kills it every time, I went to his house...

Hallie and I have been friends for most of our adult lives, we performed together in De La Guarda back in ancient times and have stayed in touch. It's been great to follow her career through several bands and albums to now get to watch her perform on TV every week. In this episode we get to catch up a little and also hear her play some of her songs alone with just a bass guitar. Give it a listen,...

Today we're talking with a legit songwriting giant, Richard Julian. You might know his supergroup The Little Willies, or his solo albums like Slow New York or Fleur-de-Lis. He hangs out with the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Randy Newman, Norah Jones and he's got a more recent project: he runs his own club. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access t...

Today we feature Mazz Swift. She's one-of-a-kind: plays, sings writes and performs with total fire. I'm proud to call her friend. She's been a member of Burnt Sugar, Brazz Tree. She's got her own band called MazzMuse and she also plays in a string trio called Hear In Now. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit playi...

Today we're talking with one of my favorite drummers Tony Mason. Something of a local legend in the New York club scene, he's played with everybody and you can always trust him to keep it bouncing, no matter who he's appearing with that night. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com

We’re in Harlem today with the legend, Luqman Brown. Singer of FunkFace, Dope Sagittarius and an accomplished composer, producer and sound designer. Check out his brand new Dope Sagittarius album, Sacred Places. Out this month on Buddhabug Records. Here's my conversation with Luqman Brown. Composer, performer, sound designer, rock star, raconteur, stylist... he's made a deep imprint on the NYC sce...

We’re uptown today with Emily Hope Price, a prolific cellist and singer. She put in a lot of miles with a beloved band called Pearl and The Beard, and she also played cello for Sting, Roger Waters, Ani DiFranco, D’Angelo and Father John Misty. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com

Hi folks! In this edition: a bit of housekeeping and some end-of-decade reflection. * This will be my only post this month because I have quite a bit of travel and work on the books right now. But stay tuned: “Play It Like It’s Music”, the podcast will be re-booted in January and we will soon be in touch like never before. There are some great guests and jams coming your way right here on substack...

[It rained today. Looks like fire season is officially over.] In this edition: * A bit o blues * Integrated * Your moment of zzzzzzhhen Integrated I keep getting reminded that here in America we have created a totally disjointed musical situation for ourselves, but it’s ot like this elsewhere in the world. In Brazil, people still sing in the streets together. Folks who build houses for a living -...

[…working on like 4 albums…] In this edition: * A quickie jam * Out of hiding * A semi-repeat share Out of hiding It bears reminding that many of us (if some of you are like me) found music as a place to hide in our more vulnerable years. At 13, 14 I just wanted to disappear into the music, to hide inside a sound cocoon because the world did not feel safe. The world doesn’t feel any safer today, b...

[…feverishly making lots of music…] In this edition: * A spontaneous jam * Walking the line of learning * Music, as talked about by people who know what they’re talking about PINCH ME. This just grew in our backyard: I'm always either learning something new, or slowly getting bored of something I think I already know. Of course, you never really "know" anything. There's something strange under eve...

Good evening. In this edition: * Some more legato bowing, just me and the reverb today. [press play] * Ancestry and True Sounds * A rad pod, oh my God! Coming to you today from the little black dot in the yellow zone: Thanks for all your notes and calls, we are very ok and totally packed to leave if we need to. Ancestry and True Sounds Who are your ancestors? Are they speaking through you? What ar...

Good day to you. In this edition: * Some full-throat legato bowing, something I’m trying to get better at. [press play] * Control vs. Participation * A thread from a big head As a cello player I constantly navigate on a spectrum between control and flailing: at either extreme there’s no music, but plenty can be found in the tension between them. Among my arms, digits, bow hair and strings there ar...

Just a tune today, another instrumental sketch. It's been a slow week for me out in public. (Hell, it's been a slow year or a slow several years!) [photo by kk] I don't perform much lately, but last Wednesday I joined my friend Jim Caruso and played a song at his open mic event, Cast Party . It's mostly Broadway show tunes but I can blend in everywhere, oddball that I am. I did my cover song (50 W...

Good evening! In this post: * a tune idea * a hello * a recommendation "If you don't create you will destroy." I don't know if this cliche is true, but it sure feels like it. My sounds come to me at the most inopportune times, and sometimes I'll jump out of bed at 2am just to put something down on paper. I'm still usually at a loss for where to put them, but they come anyway. Over time I have foun...

Short and sweet this week. Press play. I’m happy to say that the new studio is officially up and running. In Topanga. Sun is shining and the juice is flowing. (And I told you I loved that Cinema Paradiso melody…) Love to your ears, Trevor This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com

song: “Natalie” by XVSK (Trevor Exter & John Morgan Kimock) press play above or listen here . When I play one note, it’s a simple action with some part of my body that generates sound, and I'm instantly delighted. To play one note is delight. Do I need the world, an audience, to hear it? No. Obviously the presence of an audience amplifies and multiplies the delight, but the delight in its purest f...

The move, part 2 with musical reflections [press play] song: “Hudson” [music & lyrics c. Trevor Exter - all rights reserved] got a guy inside my head who doesn't like me can't stand my type, my band, my sign but you seem to handle me just fine I've got the wings, just need the wheels show me something something that'll make me feel I seek to belong but also to control. I want delight but also heal...

Missed you folks last week! The reality is that I simply crashed… after 2 months living out of a bag (with 1 more to go) I had to crawl into a cave for a few days. Emerging now to say a quick hello and provide a peek at one of the songs I have in preproduction. An album is starting to emerge out of the mist. Hit “play” above and scroll for lyrics below: Most Right [draft 2019] paint fell off the w...