Neon Jazz Interviews

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz/Pop Saxophonist & Educator Nick Stefanacci .. We got into his new 2023 CD Secrets, his life in music, the future and much more .. He has toured the world for over two decades sharing the stage with legends across Europe and North America as he brings a new vision and swagger to the music industry.  Dig his story ..  For More Inte...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Author & Writer of The Book Dangerous Rhythms T.J. English .. His spectacular book tells the symbiotic story of jazz and the underworld: a relationship fostered in some of 20th century America’s most notorious vice districts. For the first half of the century mobsters and musicians enjoyed a mutually beneficial partnership. The timeli...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Drummer, Composer & Producer Patrick Soluri of The Hot Toddies .. He opened up about their debut full-length album as New York City's leading hot jazz and swing band. The album celebrates the array of swinging vocal and big band numbers inspired by the legendary singers and composers of the era like Duke Ellington, Billy Holiday...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Pianist & Musical Director Joel Pierson  of the Group Queen’s Cartoonists .. We talked about their new 2023 CD Mozart’s Jazz Requiem .. Using Mozart’s renowned sense of humor as a guide, Joel re-composed this “tribute to one of the greatest pieces ever written” in the style of Raymond Scott and John Kirby, “with a hint of modern...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Barcelona-born, Boston-based Jazz Pianist & Composer Olivia Perez-Collellmir .. We get into her debut full-length album called Olivia. The album spans many of Olivia’s own musical interests like the marriage of flamenco music and Latin jazz with Spanish folk traditions and classical music, creating a universal sound with no musical bo...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Persian-Jewish Jazz Singer, Composer & Anthropologist Galeet Dardashti .. Traversing space and time, she collaborates with the haunting voice of her renowned Iranian grandfather, the late Younes. Sampling from an intense audio artifact he recorded in Iran, she brings some of the Persian legend's music to life for new audiences on her...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Saxophonist Sharel Cassity & Pianist Johannes Wallmann on the 2023 CD Precarious Towers – 10 Stories .. The Midwestern all-star quintet Precarious Towers featuring Sharel Cassity, Johannes Wallmann, Mitchell Shiner, John Christensen and Devin Drobka .. The group that began as a brainchild of Johannes with each member contributing...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Saxophonist, Composer & Educator Sharel Cassity ..She talked about her 2020 album Fearless released during the pandemic and upcoming projects .. She stands as a main player on the New York and Chicago jazz scenes. Listed as "Rising Star Alto Saxophone" in Downbeat Magazine for the past 12 years, she has appeared on the Today Show...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Jazz Saxophonist Greg Abate on the Live 2023 Recording at WICN FM .. This album is a reunion of friends 40 years in the making on an extremely tasty performance to an intimate studio audience. Their longtime friendship started back in 1977, when they played alongside each other in the jazz fusion group, Channel One. By the mid...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Kansas City Jazz Saxophonist Matt Otto on the 2023 CD Kansas City Trio .. This is the first in a series of albums coming out and was spurned by motivations over the COVID hiatus to record more work .. Over his career, he has recorded on well over fifty albums each one a snapshot of his continuing and deepening relationship wit...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Southern California-based Drummer & Percussionist David Whitman .. He released a wonderful new album .. The new 2023 CD Ode to Joe that stands as his fourth release and harkens back to the golden era of Blue Note, Riverside, and Verve, when spontaneity, passion, and magic ruled the studio. Recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles ov...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Performer, Saxophonist, Vocalist, Pianist, Arranger & Composer Matt Catingub .. He opened up about his new project that is the new 2023 CD Samoa to Sinatra .. His mother Mavis Rivers was nominated as Best New Artist at the very first Grammy Awards. After the nomination, her label mate Frank Sinatra decided to create Reprise Recor...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Pianist & Composer Dave Meder .. He opened up about his new 2023 CD New American Hymnal .. It’s his third album as a leader & first full album with this new quartet configuration. It’s a collection of worship songs, not in a religious sense, but rather for the American civic and cultural experiment. He stands as one of the promin...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Taiwanese Jazz Violinist, Composer, Educator & Podcaster Hsinwei Chiang .. She talked about her new 2023 CD Black Stream: Autumn. This album is the last volume of a recording series in a four-volume recording series in collaboration with Vibraphonist Patricia Brennan, Bassist Hilliard Greene and Drummer Nasheet Waits. She is a world t...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Legendary Jazz Vibraphonist Terry Gibbs on the 2023 The Terry Gibbs Songbook Project .. He opens up about this tribute to the unparalleled talent of legendary jazz icon. At 98 years old, he proves that age is just a number with this album. Produced in collaboration with his Grammy-nominated percussionist son Gerry and featuring lyrics...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Trombonist, Composer, Arranger & Educator Javier Nero .. We cover his sophomore recording Kemet: The Black Land featuring The Javier Nero Jazz Orchestra. The album meditates on Kemet, the ancient Egyptian, highly-advanced Black civilization.. We cover this project, surviving COVID, his life in music and much more .. Dig this stor...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Legendary Jazz GRAMMY-Nominated Percussionist Sammy Figueroa .. He glowingly opened up about his new 2023 CD Searching For A Memory serving as a remarkable journey featuring GRAMMY-winning Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and the dynamic Latin GRAMMY-winning Cuban vocalist Aymée Nuviola. This is his first album in nearly a decade is de...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jerusalem-based Singer & Spiritual Leader Alon Michael .. He opened up at length about his duo project with acclaimed jazz pianist Kenny Werner creating a unique fusion of Hasidic music, jazz harmonies and lieder type performance for voice and piano, based on a combination of the Psalms, and the melodies of Rabbi Taub. Fire and Praise...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Kansas City Jazz Musician & Educator Bryan Hicks .. He  was introduced to music in high school, where he played cello, bass, and sang. After only one year of college as a cello major, he became a full time professional at the age of 20. He started his career with the Inner-City Orchestra ..Over the years, he went on to play wi...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Kansas City Jazz Organist & Bandleader Chris Hazelton on the 2023 CD After Dark .. On this new album,  he takes organ music back to it's traditional 'After Dark' setting, alongside a quintet of Kansas City's finest. Inspired by his late mentors Everette DeVan, Seleno Clarke, and the incomparable Dr. Lonnie Smith, the new CD invokes th...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Bassist Quinn Sternberg  on the 2023 CD Walking on Eggshells.. As Quinn noted, it seems like we’re all walking on eggshells these days. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the world, but there’s also a lot of optimism. On the heels of his successful 2022 release Cicada Songs, he presents another set of meticulously composed and perfo...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Chicago Jazz Bassist & Composer Clark Sommers on the 2023 CD Feast Ephemera .. This new music reflects on his life over the past two decades, and the love, camaraderie and solidarity that he shares with his family in music. The pandemic made virtual hermits of almost everyone, and especially those whose lives and work revolved around...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Montreal-based Jazz Vocalist Olivia Maisel .. We talked about her debut album A Moment In Time that serves as a reflection of decades of personal experience. Very early on in her process, she created a storyboard for the album with the guidance of acclaimed, Grammy-nominated singer Kate McGarry. Those first steps set her on a path to...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with NYC Jazz Vocalist JD Walter on new 2023 Projects .. One of his projects is the 2023 CD What the World Needs Now. It serves as an album of overlooked gems revealing his skills as a composer, his mastery of the intimate ballad, his talent for reinventing pop and jazz Standards to bring a new depth to these songs, and his ability to swin...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with UK-based Jazz Vocalist Paul Hughes .. We had a good talk about his new host of singles, COVID life and his world of music .. These days he is in the midst of recording a new album of songs written by Nashville’s Byron Hill. Hill has worked for such greats as Ray Charles and Kenny Rogers .. His three singles are ‘My Lucky Stars,’ ‘I Be...