The Playful Musician

Singer and Songwriter, Alice DiMicele, joins  me on this captivating episode of The Playful Musician. Based in Southern Oregon like myself, we swap stories and share musical memories from the past as well as speaking about challenges we’ve faced during the pandemic and beyond. Alice DiMicele talks about her new upcoming album Every Seed We Plant along with her experience writing and producing duri...

Australian jazz pianist Barney McAll has had a fascinating music career. An accomplished jazz pianist and composer with an innate musical curiosity and drama, Barney’s played with Gary Bartz, Kenny Garrett, Maceo Parker and Eddie Henderson... and he was Sia's music director too. No big deal. In this episode, we chatted about the influence of Cuban and African ritualistic trance on Barney’s work, h...

Pianist Baruch Meir is a professor of piano at Arizona State University. He maintains a busy teaching schedule in addition to his international concert career. Baruch recently toured Korea's most prestigious music schools and universities as well as the Music Academy in Vienna (Austria), the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem (Israel) and various conservatories and universities in the U.S. Baruch...

A singer and composer of eclectic tastes and prodigious gifts, Grammy-nominated Theo Bleckmann makes music that is accessibly sophisticated, unsentimentally emotional, and seriously playful. Theo spent 15 years as a member of Meredith Monk’s ensemble and appeared on 2002's Mercy and 2008's Impermanence. He has also worked with Philip Glass, John Zorn, Kenny Wheeler, and David Lang, to name a few....

Indian-American pianist Vijay Venkatesh has been recognized on three continents as a pianist with profound musicianship, sparkling pianism and an innate sense of partnership. Vijay has rapidly established a major international reputation as top prizewinner in the San Jose, Seattle, Zimmerli, World Piano, and Waring International Piano Competitions. He has also been named a Davidson Fellow Laureate...

JUNO-nominated artist, Tara Kannangara is a second-generation, Sri Lankan-Canadian force of nature, making music that is deeply personal, genre-bending and culture blending. Tara has been featured on CBC's The Signal, The Sunday Edition and NPR Tiny Desk with Lido Pimienta. Her work has been presented at major festivals across North America including The Montreal Jazz Festival, The Washington DC J...

Robert Spring is one of the country's most unique and talented clarinetists. He is a professor in Arizona State University's School of Music, Dance and Theatre, and recently received the International Clarinet Association’s highest honor, the Honorary Membership Award. Spring has performed as a recitalist or soloist with symphony orchestras and wind bands in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia...

Along with being a conductor and violinist, Jared Judge is an established web developer and entrepreneur. He created and runs BookLive.com , a web tool for musicians to streamline their booking, band scheduling and more. Jared currently serves as Director of Development for the Milwaukee Philharmonic Orchestra. Jared is the definition of innovative. He joins The Playful Musician to discuss how he...

Korean-born clarinetist, Wonkak Kim, is an Associate Professor of Clarinet at the University of Oregon School of Music. Wonkak has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at leading venues throughout the United States, as well as in Paris, London, Ghent, Geneva, Seoul, Osaka, Costa Rica, and Brazil. He was the first Korean clarinetist to perform Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto on basset clarinet in...

Jazz pianist Geoffrey Keezer, a two-time GRAMMY nominee, has approximately 20 albums to his name as a bandleader. He has built a successful career by creating unusual and compelling music with a wide range of artists, from singers such as Diana Krall to bassists such as Christian McBride, and rock stars such as Sting. Geoffrey has toured all over the world, playing with giants of jazz like Joshua...

Jazz artist, Kate McGarry, and guitarist, Keith Ganz, have been musical and life partners for 17 years, producing 6 critically acclaimed albums together and earning two GRAMMY® nominations for Best Jazz Vocal Album. After honing their craft on the NYC jazz scene for many years and a stint out west at the California Jazz Conservatory, the couple currently resides in Durham, NC. Kate and Keith join...

James Genus is an American jazz bassist and currently plays in the Saturday Night Live Band. He has performed as a session musician and sideman throughout his career, with an impressive list of artists including Roy Haynes, David Sanborn, Bob James, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Wynton Marsalis. James joins the Playful Musician to chat about taking a break from touring and performing during the...

John Ellis is a gifted, versatile saxophonist and composer. His music is incredibly creative and embodies the celebratory, welcoming spirit of New Orleans and the edgy, frantic streets of New York City. Both as the leader of his own eclectic projects and as sideman for a variety of artists, he consistently expresses a keen intellect and easy virtuosity. John joins The Playful Musician to discuss h...

Steve Owen is a saxophonist, composer, and the Director of Jazz Studies at University of Oregon. He is the founder and co-director of the Oregon Jazz Festival, an annual workshop for college, junior high, and high school jazz ensembles, the University of Oregon Summer Jazz Improvisation Camp, and is on the faculty of the University of Kansas’ jazz camp.   Steve is the original playful musician and...

American jazz saxophonist, Donny McCaslin, has recorded over a dozen albums as a bandleader in addition to many sideman appearances, including on David Bowie's final studio album, Blackstar. He is a two-time Grammy nominee. His most recent album, Blow , is described as “a daring fusion of vibrant electronica, and bombastic art-rock.”   Donny joins The Playful Musician to chat about his recent tour...

Tierney Sutton is a 9-time Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist. She has received a “Best Jazz Vocal Album” Grammy nod for every project she has released in the last decade. Known for her impeccable voice and imaginative treatments of The Great American Songbook, Sutton is heralded for her abilities as both a jazz storyteller and her ability to use her voice as an instrument.   Tierney joins The Playful...

Gian Slater is a vocalist and composer based in Melbourne, Australia. Gian is the definition of innovation. Her unique approach incorporates wordless singing and improvisation, songwriting; electronics and extended vocal techniques; new music and contemporary composition and collaborations with theatre and dance practitioners. She has released eight albums of her original music,and has featured on...

Amanda Tosoff is a B.C-raised, Toronto-based pianist, composer, and educator with six albums to her credit. As a bandleader and side-woman, she has performed with internationally-recognized artists such as Emilie-Claire Barlow, Ingrid and Christine Jensen, Brad Turner, Phil Dwyer, and many more. She’s received various honours, a Juno nomination and mention on the Polaris Prize “Longer List,” for h...

Ike Sturm is a bassist, composer and bandleader in New York City. He is the Music Director for the Jazz Ministry at Saint Peter’s Church in Manhattan. He has performed with Alarm Will Sound, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Gene Bertoncini, Ingrid Jensen, Donny McCaslin, Bobby McFerrin, Ben Monder, Maria Schneider and Kenny Wheeler. His large-scale Jazz Mass album received a 4 1/2 star rat...

Sara Caswell is a Grammy-nominated jazz and classical violinist. Through her technical facility and gift for lyricism, she is fast becoming one of today’s foremost jazz violinists. Sara began playing violin at age 5, made her orchestral debut at 15, earned degrees from Indiana University and Manhattan School of Music, and amassed over 100 awards in the jazz and classical competition worlds.   Sara...

Juno-award winning Jazz Saxophonist, Composer and Arranger, Allison Au (pronounced "ow") refuses to be defined. Born to a Chinese father and Jewish mother, and raised in the multicultural metropolis of Toronto, Allison found music as a young child. Exposed to a wide array of musical styles, she was captivated by the unhinged freedom of Jazz.  Jazz became Allison’s lab for self-expression, explorat...

Janis Siegel, a nine-time Grammy winner and a seventeen-time Grammy nominee, has been an undeniable force in The Manhattan Transfer’s diverse musical catalog. Alongside her career as a founding member of this landmark musical group, she has also sustained a solo career that has spawned more than a half dozen finely-crafted solo albums and numerous collaborative projects, amassed a large internatio...

Steve joins The Playful Musician to discuss his journey to Ashland, Oregon and how the pandemic has impacted his life. We chat about the nuances of keeping time, his practice routine, and how practicing ambidextrously can improve your match grip. Steve tells stories about learning how to play the drums on a practice pad, touring with Jean-Luc Ponty, and playing big stadium shows with Journey. He s...

Laila Biali is an award-winning Canadian jazz singer and pianist. She has been nominated for and won a Juno Award and has toured with Chris Botti, Paula Cole and Suzanne Vega, and recorded with and supported Sting. Laila’s a CBC Music national radio host and has headlined festivals and venues spanning five continents from New York City’s Carnegie Hall to Beijing’s National Centre for the Performin...

Clarence Penn is one of the busiest jazz drummers in the world, a leader of multiple bands, a composer, a prolific producer, and an educator. He’s composed music for films and commercials, produced tracks for numerous singers in the pop and alternative arenas, and played with an amazing array of artists including Ellis and Wynton Marsalis, Stanley Clarke, Steps Ahead, Makoto Ozone, Luciana Souza,...