Tales from the Jazz Side with Tenor Saxophonist and Psychologist Dr. George De Leon. In Woodstock, you’ll find a handful of venues that showcase jazz, though most lean toward the rock and folk sounds that define the area. About ten years ago, I was playing at one of these local jazz spots with guitarist and composer Peter Einhorn when I had the unexpected and delightful pleasure of meeting—and hearing—George De Leon for the first time.At that moment, I had no idea about the intriguingly different path his life had taken. To me, he was simply a beautiful, sensitive player with...

Tales From the Jazz Side with cellist/composer/educator Garfield Moore. I have known Mr. Moore for quite some time and have had the privilege to perform with him on only one occasion. And that one time, the plethora of knowledge that I gained in that interaction still sits with me today as I progress into new territories of music. Where do I start with the history of this fascinating and seasoned artist? Well, I trust this interview will provide you with some insights. I was very excited to have my long-time friend share his story with you. African Americans are not...

Tales From the Jazz Side with singer-songwriter/musician/visual artist Simi Stone I can’t think of a better way to start my first interview for 2023 than for it to be with the talented, admirable and notably beautiful artist Samantha Molly Lou Sernaker (aka Simi Stone). I have never performed with Simi but I am a fan of both her music and visual artworks. I find that it can be very difficult to find people, whom you can immediately say to yourself – wow, this person is a free and pure spirit-being. Someone who is the embodiment of grace, compassion, love and...

Tales with bassist/composer Vashon Johnson I must admit that it has been a long time since I last aired the show. I recorded this podcast over five years ago and never got around to launching it. But we are back now and ready to hit the road and get some great interviews from some incredibly talented musicians and artisans. I am happy that my first show for this “come back” is with my “little brother”, Vashon Johnson. I’m excited to have as my guest on this episode of tales not only a friend from way back in the day, but...

Tales with drummer/bassist/ guitarist/composer Lionel Cordew My guest this month is another accomplished player that I have had the honor to work with while out on the Michael Franks tour. One of the first impressions you may get when first meeting Lionel Cordew is his open and easy going manner, his willingness to cooperate and to go beyond what is required in order to do the best job that he can. And man, can he do the best job. In fact not only is it the best job, but it is an exceptional job. And you don’t have to take...

Tales with electric bassist/composer/arranger/producer, Jimmy Haslip. Back in August while playing with Michael and the band in Los Angeles, I had an excellent opportunity to invite this extraordinarily talented and humble gentleman to do an episode of Tales. We conducted the interview backstage after the show. Amidst the noise of the guys packing up and chilling out at the same time, I was able to find out even more information on this fascinating and hardworking musician.

Tales will be coming from vocalist Sheila Jordan. “Sheila Jordan is one of the Jazz world’s best kept secrets.”– Blue Note – With 51 + albums to her credit, how could she be the best-kept secret? People “in the know”, and what I mean by that, people who are true jazz lovers and listeners know who Sheila Jordan is and what is so uncommon about her. She is one of the first vocalists to perform exclusively using only a bassist. When they speak about song stylist, storytellers, and makers of history, Ms. Jordan is smack dab in the middle. Starting...

Les McCann, legendary musician, artist-renaissance man. He is most known for being a pianists, vocalist and composer, but not a lot of people know that he is also a painter and a published photographer. There is a LOT of information out there about this innovator and pioneer of music evolution. And if you are one of the numbers that don’t know much about this prodigious musician, then you need to get busy and find out. Why? I don’t need to tell you….. you just need to listen, but just in case you’re still in a fog, here is a little...

Tales will be coming from guitarist, composer and teacher, Jay Azzolina. One of the things that I love about doing these podcasts is that I get to reconnect with musicians/friends that I admire and respect as artists.

Tales coming to you with guest artist drummer/composer Buddy Williams, will be presented in two parts. Part one and part two. (As of 2020 , the show is presented in its entirety.) When I thought about how to begin this post, the first thing that came to mind was Bob Baldwin’s quote taken from Buddy Williams’ website. Mr.Baldwin’s statement was the most definitive and perfect in-a-nutshell quote about Buddy William’s career and artistry. “Buddy Williams has got to be one of the most 10 recorded drummers of all time. Period.The resume is just ridiculous. You have to just see it to believe. The page...

Spotlight Welcome to Tales from the Jazz Side first spotlight addition! This new segment features young musicians as they start their musical journey, creating their own stories to be passed on. Tales will be coming from singer-songwriter, Julia Blenzig. I met Julia about 3 months after she was born. She is the daughter of pianist, composer, arranger, Charles Blenzig. Since Charles and I have been on the road together touring with Michael Franks for over 20  years, I’ve had the pleasure to get to know Charles’ family through dinners, rehearsals, events and celebrations. Watching his children as they grew from infants to...

All good things come to those who wait. And wait I did until finally everything lined up and voilà, I now present to you the interview with my road buddy, my friend, Charles Blenzig. You ask, how come that was so hard to do, don’t you guys tour together? The answer is yes we do, for over 21 years to be exact. Timing is everything and that seems to be the case with Charles and me. It was just the right time when we met, it was just the right amount of time for our friendship to develop, and so...

If you’ve ever wondered who is that amazing bass player on American Lullaby, Standard Delivery, Awake and Travis Shook plays Kurt Weill, it is none other than Jennifer Vincent. As with most of my guests so far on this show, we too go back a ways.

It is believed that Jazz evolved from the blues. I think we are all in agreement with that statement. What I don’t think we are clear on are the feelings that surround the music and just how it has truly influence all the music that’s played today.

From his collaborations with the late poet Amir Baraka in the Blue Ark Ensemble, through his voluminous work as a sideman to Anthony Davis, Oliver Lake, Henry Threadgill, Yosuke Yamashita, Mal Waldron, Geri Allen, Don Byron just some of the names you will find in his biography; Pheeroan clearly adds his special flavor bringing to the brew a taste of the transcendent.

Image by Frank Rubolino Bassist, composer and arranger Sean Conly is another notable musician with an impressive multiple musical language background. He has played with such legendary greats as Andrew Hill, Russ Lossing, Ray Barretto, Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Randy Brecker, Howard Alden and Lew Tabackin to name a few. I had the pleasure of meeting him while working with the Michael Franks’s band. Besides the road life we share, he and I also perform at local gigs in and around New York City. He is the principal bassist on my tribute CD “The Art of Michael Franks”.

Image by Will Hull I was working on my list of guest invitees when I noticed that each month I added more names to the list, so much so, that the list almost doubled in size every month. At the rate I was going it would be 25 years before I’d get through the first page of the list.

As some of you may recall from last months’ episode, in October and November, I traveled to the far east with the Michael Franks’ band. While there, I recorded a marvelous December episode with bassist Kengo Nakamura. I finished my tour dates in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, then traveled further south and landed in Jakarta, Indonesia.

In October I had the pleasure to play Billboard Live Tokyo with the Michael Franks band. I was excited to travel to Japan as it had been a while since we had played there. This leg of the tour, we would play in Tokyo for 2 nights and then onto Osaka. It had been at least 10 years since we were in Osaka. I knew that Kengo divided his time between living, performing and teaching in Japan and doing the same thing in the United States. Before I arrived I emailed Kengo to see if he would be in Tokyo...

Moving back to my 20 years with Michael Franks anniversary tribute, I have the utmost delight in speaking with a gentleman that I’ve known primarily from listening to his music. And once again, through Michael, I now have the greatest pleasure to work with this unique artist Mark Egan.