All That's Jazz

Season 3 Episode 19 Lu & Goods

Jazz-funk bassist Richie Goods and vibraphonist, percussionist, and composer  Chien Chien Lu are a powerful musical duo. On their newest self-produced release titled ‘Connected’, the two come together on a collaborative effort to produce an album which reflects on an imagery of love, hope and unity within a world where unwarranted violence against African American and Asian communities exists.  

‘Connected’ is a landmark for Richie and Chien Chien’s collaborative musical relationship. This multi-dimensional, riveting album- highlighted by several powerful tracks that include both music and conversation - offers a message of love and hope while placing it squarely in the context of unwarranted violence against African American and Asian communities, a deeply personal reality for both bandleaders.

With Chien Chien on vibes and marimba throughout and Richie splitting his time between electric and upright bass, ‘Connected’ also includes the all-star contributions of drummer Allan Mednard and guitarist Quintin Zoto. Special guests include vocalists Sy Smith, Jamison Ross and Pastor Dr. Adolfus Lacey, drummers Lil John Roberts and David Frazier Jr, percussionist Danny Sadownick, keyboardist BIGYUKI, Shedrick Mitchell on organ and piano, Brett Williams on keys and rhodes and Mike King on rhodes and organ.

Season 3 Episode 18 ”In the Stars”

Join us for a conversation with pianist / composer Skip Wilkins, and his son, saxophonist Dan Wilkins, about the story behind the album ‘In the Stars’ by the Skip and Dan Wilkins Quartet. This is the second of three recordings the Quartet is doing on Dear Head Records and is the follow-up to the first release called ‘Someday’ that came out in 2019. The development of this latest album was delayed by the Covid Pandemic but then the Quartet got together again in June of 2021 and recorded ‘In the Stars’ in July of that year. This episode also explores the special relationship and collaboration of the father-son team. 

Besides once again recording with his son Dan, ‘In The Stars’ marks Skip’s sixth outing with longtime friends, bassist Tony Marino, and drummer Bill Goodwin.

Season 3 Episode 17 Santi Debriano

Bassist-composer Santi Debriano, who emigrated to the United States from Panama at the age of four, has one of the most fascinating backstories around his new release, ASHANTI, that we’ve covered on All That’s Jazz.

During the pandemic lockdown, Santi created a sanctuary and communal practice space for New York area jazz musicians in the basement of his Staten Island home. He would organize weekly bembés based on a West African ritual of the Yoruba tribe involving a celebration of food, drink, music and dance. Santi created his own, pandemic-inspired intimate jam session tradition that offered a musical lifeline for artists until it was safe to go back to the recording the studio again.

Out of this came increasingly more complex compositions for his group of musicians now known as Arkestra Bembé, including Santi as leader and anchor on bass, with Robby Ameen on drums, TK Blue on alto saxophone, Andrea Brachfeld on flute, Tommy Morimoto on tenor saxophone, Ray Scro on baritone saxophone, Emile Turner on trumpet, Adrian Alvárado on guitar and Mamiko Watanabe on piano.

In our conversation with Santi - as well as with the selected sample tracks - we give you an inside look at how love, ingenuity, and determination to continue to create during the pandemic produced a remarkable album that may not have otherwise happened.

Season 3 Episode 16 Jane Monheit

A master of her craft, Jane Monheit's stunning interpretations of the American Songbook, classic pop songs, and traditional Latin / bossa nova tunes have mesmerized fans the world over. Her ability to honor timeless material with her well-honed vocal performances has resulted in several of her albums going to #1 on the Billboard Jazz Charts.

Coming from a family of professional singers and musicians, Jane says she realized at the age of 4 that jazz was the thing she wanted to do and told us her main influences were Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland.

With the start of the holiday season, we talk to Jane about her new release ‘The Merriest’ [out on Club 44 Records and now streaming ]. It’s her second holiday album, following 2005's ‘The Season’. On ‘The Merriest’, Jane continues her tradition of imbuing timeless music with her unique vocal and jazz stylings through a personally handpicked collection of festive favorites. We also talk about her album ‘Come What May’. Released in 2021, it was her first in five years, and as Broadway World noted in their review “highlights her fresh takes on first-rate standards, with deft interpretations honed after years on the road.”

Season 3 Episode 15 Sirintip

Bangkok-born Thai-Swedish singer, producer and multi-modal artist Sirintip recently released her second album, ‘carbon,’ featuring all original music that invites a new and fascinating conversation around climate change. 

Borrowing from the tradition of hip hop, Sirintip utilizes a number of found instruments, including plastic water jugs transformed into percussion, processed recordings from backyard wildlife, even sand. ‘carbon’ presents a suite of music through which science elevates Sirintip’s lyrical musicianship. Her compositions breathe with purpose. 

It is one of the most fascinating, and in many ways one of the most topically important conversations we’ve had on All That’s Jazz. 

Season 3 Episode 14 Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Aymee Nuviola

This episode we catch up with Multi-GRAMMY® winning jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and both GRAMMY® and Latin GRAMMY® winning vocalist Aymée Nuviola to focus on their latest collaboration, Live in Marciac, out on 5Passion Records  and which is nominated to a Latin GRAMMY in the category of  Best Traditional Tropical Album. 

 

Live in Marciac was recorded during the duo’s  2021 tour performance at the Jazz in Marciac festival in France at the Chapiteau Concert Hall. The album has been described as “a breathtaking display of music’s power to unite, heal, dream, merge and elevate our spiritual capacities.” After listening, we wholeheartedly agree. 

 

The Latin GRAMMY® Awards are November 17 and will be broadcast live on Univision TV. 

If you missed our first conversation with Gonzalo and Aymée from Season 1, here is the link. 

 

https://www.allthatsjazz.net/podcast-1/episode/4d2051d9/episode-50-gonzalo-rubalcabaaymee-nuviola

Season 3 Episode 13 Kate Baker

Celebrated vocalist Kate Baker and her late husband, guitar giant Vic Juris, chronicle a moving love story on Return to Shore, their evocative, newly released album featuring a stunning recorded document of tender connection and supreme musical synergy.  

The album’s origin began several years prior to Juris’ untimely passing in December of 2019 at the age of 66 from neuroendocrine cancer. His untimely death created a crater-like  hole in the music community. Known as a true “musicians' musician,” his career spanned 40 years with several important musical partnerships, including a 20-year tenure in saxophonist Dave Liebman’s band.  

However, the most meaningful partnership was with Kate. They performed together often and their uncommon collaboration left audiences floored. Despite their frequent live appearances, the duo never released an album together. Perhaps even more surprisingly, Baker had never issued a formal recorded debut. When Vic passed, the recordings they had done in studio from earlier that year took on new significance, and with producer and guitar great Dave Stryker’s help, Jill wanted to deliver one last document of her late husband’s work to the world. The results are revelatory and cathartic. 

Our conversation chronicles Kate’s personal and professional journey of releasing Return to Shore. The music speaks for itself, and we share clips with you in this episode. This story can’t be adequately told without hearing the immense love and respect behind it.  

Season 3 Episode 12 David Chesky

In this episode, we catch up David Chesky, an American pianist, composer, producer, arranger, and co-founder of the independent, audiophile label Chesky Records. He is also co-founder and CEO of HDtracks, an online music store that sells high-resolution digital music.  

 

David is considered a technological and musical innovator with eclectic interests that come shining through with his new release, The Great European Songbook. Here, David transforms  classical European standards by Bach, Beethoven, Strauss and Chopin into a modern jazz genre, with David on piano, and accompanied by jazz greats Peter Washington on bass and Billy Drummond on drums. 

 

“It is amazing to me how well Bach’s music sounds as jazz. Bach was the ultimate jazz player of his time, a master improviser, and his music swings.”

 

It’s a fun conversation that highlights clips of music sure to surprise and delight those who love both classical and jazz.

Season 3 Episode 11 Spicy G & Lia Booth

Jason Goldman, known professionally as “Spicy G”, is a multi-platinum selling hit record producer, songwriter, composer/arranger, and engineer. Jason’s produced, written, and arranged for some true heavy weights in the music industry including Michael Buble, mega-producer David Foster, Rod Stewart, Herbie Hancock and many more. As a performer, he’s played with legendary artists Michael Bublé, Queen Latifah, Wayne Newton, Chris Isaak, Michael Feinstein, Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, and Wayne Shorter.

Vocalist, Lia Booth, is quickly establishing herself as one of Southern California’s most talked about young jazz vocalists. Her daring yet effortless musical style is rooted deeply in the past but with a contemporary sensibility that breathes new life into classic jazz standards night after night. Lia Booth has shared the stage with Jeff Goldblum’s Mildred Snitzer Orchestra as well as with trumpet great Arturo Sandoval.

In this episode of “Catching Up” with Jason (we first spoke with him in Season 1), he introduces us to Lia and we talk about their collaboration on Jason’s latest project, There’s Only One, released on September 16, 2022 that he produced, engineered, mixed, mastered and also was a contributing composer and musician. Recorded at G Street Studios, the album is infused with many different styles of music, from classic jazz swing, to Latin grooves to modern pop sounds, all while honoring the traditions of The Great American Songbook genre.

Season 3 Episode 10 Julie Benko & Jason Yeager

Making beautiful music together is what actress, singer and writer Julie Benko, and husband, pianist and composer, Jason Yeager, do - both separately as well as hand in hand, which is also the name of their debut duo album that they produced and arranged. 

 

JULIE  is currently on Broadway as the standby for Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. She has performed on stages on and off-Broadway and across the country, including Broadway turns in Fiddler on the Roof and Les Misérables. She holds a BFA and MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. 

 

JASON  has performed across five continents at such noteworthy venues as Carnegie Hall, the Blue Note, Panama Jazz Festival, Qintai Concert Hall, and more. He’s released five albums as a bandleader and will soon release Unstuck in Time: The Kurt Vonnegut Suite (Sunnyside Records), with his septet and special guest Miguel Zenón.  He also currently serves as Assistant Professor of Piano at Berklee College of Music, and where he’s taught since 2012. 

 

Our conversation not only highlights their musical careers, but also tells the fun almost theater script-like backstory of their chance meeting and how it brought the two of them to this collaborative album called ‘Hand In Hand,’ the concept which developed during their weekly virtual performances performed for friends, family and fans during the height of the pandemic.