The Jazz for Peace™ Podcast featuring Rick DellaRatta

Rev. Dr. Xenia Barnes, founder of Gold Mind Thoughts Leadership Firm and RDB Speaks , has dedicated her career to transforming personal trauma into systemic triumph. Through groundbreaking methodologies and innovative solutions, Dr. Barnes is leading the charge in trauma-informed organizational transformation, community healing, and cultural competency training, achieving measurable impact in urba...

After 45 years in journalism (25 at CNN), interviewing presidents (Reagan and Carter) and famous people, John DeDakis has channeled his personal Journey with grief and loss into six political thrillers which has him also in demand as a speaker. Combine this with his love of the arts and the art form of jazz in particular and you've got yourself a powerhouse episode which inspired this musical perf...

John Taylor McEntire is a leadership strategist, international speaker, and creator of the SYNC Method®, a registered framework that helps leaders align who they are with how they lead. His voice on the stage through theater & music along with his world travels and work with non profits ushered in great synergies with Rick that became the inspiration for a musical medley of the Japanese Classi...

Robert 'B-Cide' Cardillo II has been featured on 170+ news outlets including Yahoo Finance, Digital Journal, and Benzinga via his work as a Rapper, producer, and author of Myelin My Shoes—a raw, unfiltered memoir about life with MS, mental health battles, and the 25-year underground music grind. This no holds barred discussion about the Music Industry and overcoming health adversities lead to hope...

Season 2 Episode 23 Brings us our greatest moment of serendipity EVER as "The Final Solution is LOVE!" welcomes Kim Anderson. Her latest offering, The Pathway To Your Divine Perfect Mate, is an 8-step system guiding women of faith to heal, grow, and position themselves for the love and marriage they truly desire. Kim’s mission: To see women step confidently into their purpose, unlock their worth,...

Shirley B. Novack is a first generation daughter of Polish/Russian parents and only recently realized her dream come true when she published her first book during the pandemic. She now has two extremely relevant books that deserve all of the attention they are receiving! This episode's focus on her latest release "Stolen Lives" brought to light a great discussion about it's subject of Human Traffi...

Kim Depole, an acclaimed New York City-based interior designer with interiors spanning over two decades is ALSO a lifelong meditator. This combination found great synergy with our theme and message at JAZZforPEACE leading to a widely expanded conversation that inspired a performance by Rick that included Jazz from Brazil along with his own original lyrics that he wrote for the John Coltrane classi...

Pamela Michaux was taken from Congo at 7, silenced by abuse and racism, and stood alone in court at 12. Mundele Diaries is her rise from survival to global voice. A raw, global memoir that turns silence into strength and pain into purpose, the book is scheduled for re-release in late September, 2025 and her amazing story was the inspiration for Rick's once-in-a-lifetime performance of the Ital...

Roxanne Davenport is a writer and advocate for Epilepsy awareness. Her work with "Seize"ure The Day! and Defeating Epilepsy Foundation helps people around the world spreading epilepsy awareness. Defeating Epilepsy Foundation sends newsletters out to people around the world translated in their language. Her message is "people around the world need to know that people with epilepsy are normal." And,...

Erica M. Elliott is a medical doctor with a busy practice in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has been nicknamed "The Health Detective" for her ability to solve medical mysteries. Erica is also an author of two books, "Medicine and Miracles in the High Desert: My Life Among the Navajo People" and her more recent memoir, "From Mountains to Medicine: Scaling the Heights in Search of My Calling." She has gi...

Episode 29 of Season 2 brings us Dr. Hank Seitz – The Mind Scientist Who Turns the Impossible into Reality. Dr. Hank is a mental scientist, ordained minister, businessman, author, and life coach with an extraordinary story of resilience and transformation. After a devastating car accident left him shattered, doctors told him he would never walk again. But instead of accepting their prognosis, he t...

Season 2 Episode 19 brings us Mark Mustian, the internationally bestselling author of "The Gendarme" and "Boy With Wings,” who is also the president of the Word of South Festival of Literature and Music in Tallahassee, Florida, now in its eleventh year of pairing authors and musicians in interesting ways. The special conversation between the two of them involving both literature and music inspired...

Season 2 Episode 26 brings us Michael Isaac Shokrian, Editor in Chief of the literary magazine the Thieving Magpie and author of debut novel American Playground based on author's experiences immigrating to Los Angeles from Tehran in the 1970s. Michael's mission to deliver thought-provoking writing to readers everywhere inspired the inclusion of his recorded rendition of the Jazz Classic IS...

S: 2 E: 18 features Calvin Schwartz, Founder & Host @ Conversations with Calvin. His recent novel, 'There's a Tortoise in My Hair; A Journey to Spirit' was given the prestigious Kirkus Star for literary excellence. The writing has been compared to legendary writers, Philip Roth, John Irving (World According to Garp) and Kurt Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse Five).This amazing interview inspired some e...

Gabe Toth shows his true passion for music and music instruction for both Vocal and Instrumental training on all levels and across diverse genres and (along with his dog Zappa!) inspires a very special medley by Rick of classic songs by Leonard Cohen and The Beatles in one of our true season 2 highlight episodes that you don’t want to miss! Learn more about Gabe and sign up for his online lessons...

Season 2 Episode 24 Brings us to Boise, Idaho to meet Katie Baker, a writer, trauma survivor, and author of When The Universe Holds Your Hair Back, a raw memoir about healing from childhood abuse, addiction, and self-destruction through deep personal work and guided psychedelic experiences. Katie brings us a story of authentic healing that is a relatively untapped by our conventional practices, in...

Season 2 Episode 16: n this high-energy episode, we sit down with Dawn Westrum—ultra-marathoner, paraglider, and unapologetic health rebel—who’s been cracking the nutrition code since 2004. Dawn shares the do’s, don’ts, and “what-were-you-thinking?” truths about staying fit, sharp, and biologically young. We dive into her upcoming book on the OligoScan (spoiler: your minerals are screaming for att...

Sara Im grew up in Cambodia where she survived four years of mass genocide that claimed two million lives. Through her faith and resilience, she escaped, fled to America, graduated college, and wrote an award-winning book called "How I Survived the Killing Fields." ...and now she speaks, coaches, and inspires others to have hope, courage, and a positive perspective in life.  Their talk w...

For over 20 years, Kerie Logan has been a Human Consciousness Guide, supporting people with mental health concerns. She is also an author, certified clinical hypnotherapist, and NLP practitioner. This interview exploring the need to go from 3D Human Consciousness to 4D and 5D inspired a musical selection by Rick of the well known Evergreen “When You’re Smiling”.  A must see! Find out more about Ke...

Season 2 Episode 14 welcomes our first guest from the state of Montana as Larry Plant provides not only a great book but a way of life that resonates with the mission of Jazz for Peace and "The Final Solution is LOVE!" inspiring Ricks performance of "Everybody's Talkin at Me" from Midnight Cowboy and an additional Cameo of John Coltrane's Lazy Bird featuring his origina...

Season 2 Episode 13 kicks off with the Joyful Sales Approach of Lynn Whitbeck, an Expert in B2B relationship first sales rapidly creating sustainable profitable sales growth while setting your clients up for success. Join us as Lynn shows us winning sales techniques that all of us can carry through life inspiring Rick to perform 2 different songs of the same name - All of Me! Learn more about Lynn...

Episode 12 welcomes our first Guest from The Netherlands Author and Pro Basketball Coach Marco van den Berg Scholten in a discussion that includes Jazz, Basketball and the inspirations behind his NEW Book "IN SEARCH OF ACHILLES” with live performances by Rick of songs inspired by Steely Dan and Jazz Icon Bill Evans! Buy the Book and Contact Marco at:  https://www.vandenbergscholten.com/ For O...

Ronnie Ann Ryan, Intuitive Life Coach, Intuitive and Past Life Reader, and Host of the podcast Breathe Love & Magic, works with people who are ready to move forward and get to the next level in life. This fascinating episode took an extraordinary turn when Ronnie revealed that she previously spent 7 formative years commuting each day to Upstate New York, promoting a spontaneous rendition of &q...

With her amazing Hair Bow Kit, Marilyn Diana helps parents bond with their teens as well as groups and organizations with handcrafting skills that are fun, educational, and can earn them money. Join us for this amazing episode which takes us to Southern Louisiana inspiring a Jazz selection by Rick of Louis Armstrongs "Sleepy Time Down South" along with the seasonal Jazz classic "I&#...

The Jazz for Peace Podcast has found a kindred spirit in “The Hawk”, Haakon Rian Mancient - a Norwegian Healer, Author and Musician. Join us as we learn all about his new book, The Great Awakening - Soul Stories, and how his ideas for a festival with music and other forms of art that creates awareness could possibly lead to the very first Jazz for Peace Event in the history of Norway ~ all of whic...