Neon Jazz Interviews

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Drummer Dave Power & Bassist Pat Keen of the Minneapolis Jazz Trio Belvedere 58 .. We got into their band’s history and the new 2023 album Vista Cruiser. The band merges the traditional improvised jazz trio sound with hip hop and electronic music using extensive post production techniques ..On this sophomore record, the horizon is wid...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Minnesota-based Jazz Bassist Chris Bates & Saxophonist Nathan Hanson  .. Together on the same call, they opened up about their long union and their new 2023 Album Weights and Measures .. As longtime friends and frequent live collaborators, this duo talks about this set of spontaneous compositions recorded on March 29th, 2021 at Christ...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran English Jazz Pianist Mike Bell .. He talked about his new 2023 CD Jazz on the Rails .. This is his second jazz album following his 2017 release Just For The Record .. All the material on the new CD are original, composed and played by Mike himself. He takes a lot of his inspiration from The Golden Era of jazz with greats like...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series Veteran & Acclaimed Jazz Singer & Songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway .. She opened up about her new 2023 Album Fever: A Peggy Lee Celebration .. This new project highlights the songwriting talents of Lee who wrote or co-wrote over 270 songs in her lifetime .. She comes from an artistic background. Her parents were John Callaway, a legendary T...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Chicago-born, Harlem-based Saxophonist, Arranger, Composer & Educator Christopher McBride .. He opened up about his new 2023 Album Ramon and a great ride in music  ..  He has been slowly but steadily turning heads with his s work as a sideman and is now seen as of the most versatile saxophonists in the world. Since his 2012 debut albu...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with San Diego-based Singer & Songwriter Allison Adams Tucker on 2023’s Retro Trilogy .. On  each EP, she zeroes in on the three decades of her evolved freedom of musical expression: the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s—from Cat Stevens to Paul Simon, from Tears for Fears to Prince, from Beck to Elizabeth Fraser with Massive Attack. We get into the new...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Founder, Bassist & Composer of Mike Rivard  Club d’Elf on the 25th Anniversary .. For twenty-five years now, Boston-based dub-jazz collective Club d’Elf has been helping audiences lose track of time while creating mesmerizing musical chimeras that weave their distinct, Moroccan folk-infused trance with elements from an astonishing spe...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Israeli-born, NYC Jazz Guitarist & Composer Tomer Cohen .. He opened up about the new 2023 Album Not the Same River. He was born in the US, but spent his childhood in the countryside in Israel. He picked up the guitar at a young age and from that moment on, he knew that music was his pursuit in life. He studied jazz at the Israeli Con...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with The Host of the wonderful jazz podcast and radio show Something Came From Baltimore .. Tom graciously invited me to talk about an iconic jazz album at length and I picked Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool .. I'm all for it, while Tom was needing some convincing .. We get into all angles of this album and much , much more .. Always great...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Bassist Jamie McElhinney in the Australian Jazz Group Firetail .. Their music spans from 70’s jazz-fusion, South Indian Carnatic music and their very own brand of jazz-tronica. Formed in 2018 as a collaborative recording project, Firetail has developed an ambient approach to song-writing that blends soul-infused rhythms with evocative...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Jazz Pianist, Composer & Producer Lonnie Leibowitz & Vocalist Emily Mazella .. I caught up with them together to talk about their meeting, musical relationship, history and their exuberance over the release of new 2023 Debut Album Awakening .. Emily is a 21 year old, up and coming jazz singer on the scene. Her story with jazz...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Chicago-based Jazz Saxophonist & Composer Anthony Bruno .. He opened up about his new self-titled album coming out on April 14th, 2023 .. Life events inspire the best recorded music and living through a pandemic, falling out of love, back in love and out again all resulted in the making of the record – that was the trajectory of this...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Caribbean-born, NYC-based Saxophone Colossus Jacques Schwarz-Bart ..He talked about his long anticipated 2023 album called The Harlem Suite out on March 31, 2023 via Ropeadope Records. On his 11th album, it showcases a harvest of tunes and arrangements that he wrote to celebrate each step into his perilous but rewarding journey, from...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Chicago-based Baritone Saxophonist Jimmy Farace  .. - The Chicago Based Trio Profondo will release their debut recording on March 31, 2023 called  "Mosaic" featuring Jimmy on baritone saxophone,  Stephen Parisi Jr. on bass and Paul Barrilles on drums .. Jimmy works as a freelance jazz musician in Chicago and has established himself as...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Jazz Saxophonist & Vocalist Darmon Meader .. He opened up about his new 2023 album Losing My Mind .. He is a founding member of the New York Voices and stands as one of the most gifted tenors, multi-instrumentalists, composers and arrangers in the craft. On his second album as a leader, this project is one of several post-pand...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Vocalist & Songwriter Eric Hoffman with Producer, Arranger & Guitarist Ken Hatfield .. They opened up at length about their new collaboration .. the 2023 album Stirrings Still. This project is an intimate set of duets for voice and guitar featuring the distinctive baritone vocals of song stylist Eric accompanied by award-winning compo...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Chicago-based Jazz Saxophonist & Composer Chris Madsen .. He opened up about his new 2023 CD The Trio out on May 12th, 2023 and done with long-time collaborators Bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Dana Hall. He is one of the most in-demand figures in the Chicago jazz world as a performer, composer, and pedagogue. He is a sought-after j...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Denmark-based Jazz Vocalist & Bassist Kristin Korb .. In 2021, this Montana-born musician released a double CD entitled “What If? / Why Not?” reflecting the pop and jazz sides of her personality. On “What if?”, she departs from her Great American Songbook tradition and dives deep into the exploration of pop tunes that burst with her t...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Jazz Musician, Composer & Educator Anthony Branker .. We spent some time talking about his new 2023 album – Anthony Branker & Imagine / What Place Can Be For Us? A Suite in Ten Movements .. It’s his eighth release on Origin Records that speaks to notions of "Place" and the overarching issues of inclusion and belonging, as well...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Drummer & Leader Josh Feldstein of The Verve Jazz Ensemble on the 2023 CD All In .. It’s their 8th album together and has a very defined mid-20th century Americana kind of vibe.” This 10 track album includes arrangements and compositions that are fresh, yet comfortably familiar .. The VJE is a regular on Neon Jazz and they always...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Jazz Saxophonist & Composer Ari Silberman .. His debut album is the 2023 recording Beneath the Canopy out on March 31st, 2023 . He leads a quartet and woodwind ensemble that performs his dynamic original music a stellar cast of cats.  He recorded this debut album while pursuing his teaching credential at Cal State Northridge. Dig this...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with LA-Based Jazz Multi-Awarded Concert Pianist, Vocalist & Educator Marina Pacowski .. She opened up about her new 2023 CD Inner Urge our on Summit Records in March 2023.  It’s a grand mixture of Great American Songbook standards, bebop classics, modern jazz, and even a French song or two .. She is a multi-faceted artist that has toured...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Award-Winning NYC Jazz Singer, Composer & Arranger Danielle Wertz .. We got into her new 2023 album Other Side and much more .. She is a singer on the rise weaving together elements of jazz, folk and the use of her voice as an instrumental texture to create an intimate and personal musical world. After being named a 2015 Thelonious Mo...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Vocalist Roxane Reddy & Drummer Simon Desrosiers of Montreal’s Greenhouse Ensemble .. The opened up about their debut and new 2023 CD  that is dubbed as comforting, earthy, moving and enchanting as a six-piece opus as their introduction into the jazz world. For the septet, the group anchors its cross-current aesthetic with maturity an...

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Veteran Jazz Trumpeter, Flugelhornist, Composer & Music Producer Rachel Therrien .. She talked about her new 2023 album Mi Hogar .. She is consistently innovative and working between New York City and Montreal. She is considered one of the most promising jazz musicians of her generation fully recognized for her personal touch and her...