Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

Pat Irwin is a renowned film and television composer; some of his scores include Dexter: New Blood, Rocko’s Modern Life, Pepper Ann, and Nurse Jackie. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist who was a member of the B52s for 18 years; he founded The Raybeats and 8 Eyed Spy, and more recently the band SUSS of which I’m a fan. Pat also teaches film composition at NYU, and Brooklyn College at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, and this conversation wove it’s way into important topics for all of us: a life well-lived, grief, the importance of creativity and of having a good hang. As always, I’ve included detailed timestamps, so if you want to jump to his days with the B52s or Dexter, go ahead, but I hope you’ll take the time to listen to this whole episode which is rich with music and stories. Pat is as articulate as he is creative. You may be surprised that the episode begins with his time in Paris interviewing jazz musicians and learning from John Cage. Please buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Like all my episodes in this series, this is also a video, and the transcript is linked here as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/pat-irwin Pat Irwin: https://patirwinmusic.com/ Rocko's Modern Life soundtrack album link: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4cxM57oL5yL3wIDlagQyOG Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:51) Paris meeting Dexter Gordon, Bill Coleman, Mal Waldron, Steve Lacey, Nadia Boulanger, John Cage (09:54) intro to clip from Rocko’s Modern Life (10:21) clip from Rocko’s Modern Life the Pogo Stick Scenario (10:52) Nadia Boulanger, love of jazz (13:25) intro to Lost and Found albums (14:02) Swing Time from Volume 3 of New Sounds From the Lost and Found (15:51) Open Window from Volume 4 of Lost and Found (17:06) intro to Rocko’s Modern Life (18:11) Rocko Versus Food Boy from Rocko’s Modern Life soundtrack (20:11) Rocko’s Modern Life, Kevin Norton, Art Barron (22:12) Walter Hawkes, Long Island City, Ernie Brooks, Don Cherry, The Talking Heads (26:07) In Another Time from Wide open Sky with J. Walter Hawkes (30:36) NYC 8 Eyed Spy, The Raybeats, the B-52s, deaths of Ricky Wilson and George Scott (37:24) touring life and joining the B-52s (44:03) writing music for film and television, collecting instruments (47:12) Early Morning Song from volume 5 The Lost and Found (52:56) Dexter: New Blood (57:21) music from Dexter: New Blood Suite part 1 (59:12) SUSS, Gary Leib (01:06:06) Winter Was Hard SUSS (01:07:59) pedal steel, lap steel, Jonathan Gregg (01:09:00) teaching film composition at NYU, advice to young composers, the importance of the arts (01:17:30) SUSS (01:24:54) SUSS Across the Horizon (01:30:46) Pat’s start composing for film, changes in film composition industry (01:35:27) reflections on the importance of music

Colin Aguiar is an award-winning Indian-Candian composer based in Los Angeles who specializes in film scoring. In this conversation we talked about his youth, growing up across parts of India, the Middle East, Europe and Canada and studying the music of various cultures, learning different instruments with a start on drums as a toddler, as well as his love for the music of Arvo Pärt and other great composers. Colins spoke about some of his mentors including Mychael Danna. This episode with Colin is the first release of several film composers I have interviewed recently, and I find it fascinating how diverse their musical backgrounds are and what a challenging and little-understood part of the music world this is. During the episode you’ll hear some clips from Colin’s compositions, used with permission. Like all my episodes, this is available on your favourite podcast player as well as a video, and the transcript is linked as well to my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/colin-aguiar https://colinaguiar.com/ Help me keep this podcast going!! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:18) toddler drum set, Dad’s band (05:47) Parents’ travels and emigration from India, different cultures (09:17) intro to music from Fly (12:41) music from Fly (16:01) intro to music from Torn from her Arms, Arvo Pärt (17:59) music from Torn from her Arms (19:42) synthesizers, working with session musicians who play by ear (22:51) immigration stories (25:15) arrangement of El Salvadorian anthem (26:25) learning drums and cultures through music (30:52) practicing 5 hours a day, learning different instruments (33:32) starting to compose and arrange (35:41) composition studio gear (38:46) intro to music from film “Construct”, use of dubstep (39:45) music from “Construct” (40:43) Mychael Danna and learning the job of film scoring (48:14) Lou Natale, challenges of time pressure for composers (51:29) intro to palindrome (52:18) clip from palindrome written for Construct (54:23) learning from other composers (56:55) composition Roman Toi (58:29) mentors Lou Natale, John Welsman, glenn Morley, Mychael Danna, Robert Dunca, Christopher Young (01:00:10) internal music soundtrack, being able to remember music with precision (01:02:41) Kathakali, other parallels with film music (01:06:00) different styles of film scoring, decision making, time crunches (01:13:16) use of temp tracks (01:16:27) Canadian film industry (01:17:46) pandemic shutdowns

Philip Griffin is an amazingly versatile, creative, and generous musician. He plays, improvises, and composes in many styles on many different instruments. During this episode you’ll hear him play the rebab, the ukulele, and guitar in his duo with violinist Jude Iddison. He reflects on his work teaching children and people with disabilities, and reflects on some of his important mentors including Richard Gill, Linsey Pollak and Ross Daly. In the video version, I’ve included a slide show of some of his amazing nature photography, which is also on my website linked to this episode, and the link for Philip’s website and Facebook page are also included below. In this conversation with Philip, I was really happy to be able to talk about some of the themes I find most interesting as a musician: education, creativity, and mentorship. Philip was introduced to me by Linsey Pollak, and I hope if you missed his episode that you’ll check it out: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/linsey-pollak Like all my episodes, this is available as a video, and the transcript is linked here as well as some of his amazing nature photographs: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/philip-griffin Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman https://philipgriffin.bandcamp.com/album/banksia https://www.philipgriffin.com/ https://www.facebook.com/philip.griffin.7106 Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:30) Linsey Pollak (06:02) talking about different instruments laouto, oud, rebab, banjo (10:24) Ross Daly, studying Turkish music (17:10) introduction to the rebab (20:24) rebab improv (23:26) Ross Daly, tours to Australia with Kelly Thoma (25:43) Linsey Pollak, learning modal music (29:23) Ricahrd Gill, learning conducting, singing (41:13) Tutti Arts, Pat Rix, and working with musicians with disabilities (53:25) music educator in schools (57:45) ukulele, New Zealand music programs Mary Cornish Maria Winder Kiwilele (01:07:38) Pat Megowan luthier (01:11:25) Renaissance guitar music by Tourdion on ukulele (01:12:46) Affetto Early Music ensemble (01:16:27) Dominique Schwartz: why Philip moved around so much! (01:18:59) Banksia album with Jude Iddison (01:19:31) violin Jude Iddison: Planting the Garlic/Philip’s Wardrobe from album Banksia (01:24:32) meeting Jude and making the album (01:27:15) Frogs, birds, Barry Wilson, photography (with slide show), Glen Storr (01:36:08) Philip’s advice

I’m delighted to feature the master bansuri player Milind Date, who joined me from his home in Pune, India, and played his flutes as well as shared his perspectives from his life in music. As always, check the timestamps below for both the music and the many topics we covered. Milind spoke to me about his studies with the legendary Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, of his fusion projects especially in South Korea, he had a great story about a memorable concert he played in Toronto, he talked about his extensive travels in India and internationally. He has a large and varied discography, and has composed music for many films: https://www.milind.date/ Like all my episodes, this is available both as a podcast and video, with a transcript all linked to my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/milind-date-bansuri-player Please help me continue this series! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:46) bansuri flute (03:28) Sunand Bhairav (04:50) early rock music influences, fusion music Hariprasad Chaurasia (11:01) Korean tours and collaborations (17:59) solo 6 month trip in India 2021 (26:11) folk tune from Uttarakhand region (30:01) different folk traditions in India (32:18) Milind’s collection of flutes in different keys (35:01) differences between Hindustani and Carnatic music (38:09) system of gharanas, studies with Hariprasad Chaurasia (55:49) Zakir Hussain (01:05:31) writing film music, notation, Western classical musicians (01:11:31) around the world tour 2013 (01:12:58) performances in Canada (01:20:00) music as meditation (01:23:14) teaching and learning (01:29:56) flute performance

I was so honoured to have this opportunity to talk with the inspiring Destiny Muhammad, who is a California-based jazz harpist and composer. You’ll get to hear inspiring stories from her life as well as her music. She had a dream to play the harp but didn’t have the opportunity until she was 30 years old. She speaks openly about the challenges in the 1980s due to the crack cocaine trade, her success as a barber, her determination and mentors including John Handy, and her unique perspectives in celebrating the legacies of Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. When we recorded the episode, I experienced an incredible private concert including several of her original tunes. However, after we listened to the tracks, we agreed it would be even better if she were to record the music separately to have the best possible harp sound, which she generously agreed to do. Like all my episodes this is available as both as a video and a podcast, with transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/destiny-muhammad-jazz-harpist Destiny Muhammad website: https://destinymuhammad.net/ Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (03:29) Algorithms (harp) (05:18) Destiny’s start on the harp, Stephanie Kaufman Osborne (09:55) learning jazz, Dorothy Ashby, Alice Coltrane, Khalil Shaheed (15:22) John Handy (20:16) Alice Coltrane tribute concerts SF Jazz (26:45) Dorothy Ashby (31:37) If it’s magic (harp) (36:06) Shirley Muramoto, San Francisco Symphony (37:00) Amateur Music Network, SF Jazz community jam sessions, (40:37) Teaching jazz, teaching music (53:14) creative process (59:15) tribute to Rosie Lee Tompkins (01:08:40) lessons learned from running a barbershop (01:21:20) growing up in the projects, dealing with bigotry (01:25:51) compositions for orchestra, Matt Wong arranger (01:29:06) Coltrane (harp)

Matt Zimbel is a percussionist with the band Manteca, and also an award-winning writer, producer, documentary filmmaker, artistic director, broadcast executive and radio and tv host. In this fascinating episode he shares his insights gained from a wealth of experience across the music industry. We speak near the beginning about his father the photographer George Zimbel, who died this past January 2023, after we recorded the episode. We talk about the beautiful documentary film, “Zimbelism” that Matt made with director Jean-Francois Gratton. Matt offered that the trailer for Zimbelism, which features the music of Manteca, could be used in this episode. He has also generously let me weave in a pre-release of a fantastic new percussion piece with Art Avalos which will appear on Manteca’s upcoming Offspring Project. The video version of this episode, with the transcript is here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mattzimbel Matt Zimbel website: http://mattzimbel.com/ Manteca: https://manteca-music.com/ Busking in Deadwood video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBtrn8Mob5s Manteca albums on Bandcamp: https://mantecamusic.bandcamp.com/music Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:30) early influences: Osibisa, jazz on CBC radio (05:38) dropping out of school at 14, percussion studies Jim Farety, Dido Morris, John Ruddell, Armando’s Orchestra, forming Manteca (08:30) intro Hit Record percussion piece with Art Avalos pre-release for Manteca’s The Offspring Project (09:20) Hit Record (10:31) learning percussion, playing diferent styles, recording disco (12:30) early influences: Eddie Harris (13:11) creating the film Zimbelism (14:38) clip from trailer for Zimbelism (16:03) making of Zimbelism, Elaine Sernovitz and George Zimbel (21:03) adoption of Jodi from Korea, racism (23:27) immgration to Canada to a farm on PEI (26:00) Matt’s family’s reaction to him dropping out of school, living the freelance life as an artist (27:59) orchestra life (29:22) Manteca, Colleen Allen and memorizing music, Will Jarvis (31:21) Road Stories with Manteca (34:06) Manteca’s The Offspring Project (44:46) Leonard Cohen, Miles Davis (48:42) Canada Day show, PanAm Games (58:41) publicity, finding new audiences, Canadian culture (01:07:28) Doug Wilde creative process Manteca (01:09:17) clip from Miss Météo from album Augmented Indiference, (01:12:23) story about Miss Météo (01:15:33) problem with streaming music, Busking in Deadwood video (01:18:09) dealing with the pandemic through creativity, livestream with Lyne Tremblay, Matt’s sons (01:21:45) the importance of good food (01:23:01) Rick Tait (01:24:59) crowdfunding and challenges for performers (01:28:44) lessons learned from his parents (01:32:05) Matt’s perspectives on a varied career

My guest today is the phenomenal jazz violinist, mandolinist, arranger, and writer Aaron Weinstein. Aaron is a self-taught violinist and attended the renowned Berklee College on a 4 year talent based scholarship. As a young man he performed and recorded with many jazz legends. In this episode we talked about some of these mentors, including Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Les Paul, and this interview is full of Aaron’s stories and insights as a performer and educator. He has generously agreed to let me use two of his previously released self-produced videos so you can hear some of his playing. I first discovered Aaron in his comedy series with Linda Lavin; I encourage you to check it out along with his other projects and albums: http://www.aaronweinstein.net/ All my episodes are also a video and the transcript is at the same link: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/aaron-weinstein Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:41) Aaron’s start on old-time fiddle (03:16) Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli (06:50) Mel Bay books Swingin’ Jazz Fiddle Solos and Mandolin Chord Melody System (09:28) Aaron Weinstein plays Avalon, both violin and mandolin (11:05) Don Stiernberg (12:27) “Give Me the Simple Life” Aaron Weinstein on mandolin (13:56) difference between jazz mandolin and jazz violin (17:18) Album 3x3 on Chesky label (18:21) Berklee College of Muisic, Sandy Kott first formal violin lessons (23:32)Les Paul (25:05) playing with jazz legends as a young man, learning the tunes, Annie Ross (27:46) lyrics, Sondheim, Andy Zerman (30:35) working with Broadway singers and appreciating different genres (33:59) self-criticism, dealing with different performance realities (36:15) Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Johnny Frigo (38:54) Linda Lavin, Irvin Arthur (45:12) agents, jazz in the music business (46:59) mandolin, violin, guitar, Hamilton de Holanda (49:11) teaching jazz (56:03) giving and getting feedback (59:04) getting established in New York, support from John Pizzarelli (01:01:26) arranging, practicing classical music, interpretation and originality (01:06:43) writing (01:13:54) advice for younger players, problems with social media (01:20:19) how to practice, improvisation (01:26:05) Les Paul story (01:28:00) missing the opportunity to hear Stéphane Grappelli

Welcome to a special Catch-Up bonus episode with violinist Gina Burgess. My original episode with her is linked here, as well as the podcast versions of both, with transcripts: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e18-s1-gina-burgess-multi-style-violinist If you missed my first conversation with Gina, you’ll be interested to hear her fascinating personal story and how she became so connected with the North. Gina has had a really interesting year, going back to university in Newfoundland, moving to the far north of Canada in Iqaluit, and releasing her first album as bandleader. We talked about Inuit throatsinging, and have included two excerpts from the album which I encourage you to check out on Bandcamp: https://ginaburgessmusic.bandcamp.com/album/isnow Please help me keep this podcast going! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:24) music education at Memorial University in Newfoundland (03:56) touring life cut short by pandemic and pivoting to teaching (04:59) placement in Iqaluit (07:40) Inuit throat singing, Cynthia Pitsiulak (09:32) intro to Anuri (12:06) clip from Anuri on ISNOW album (14:34) album release in Iqaluit with drum dancers, Olivia Chislett throat singer (16:17) album ISNOW (17:38) Ravens on the Roof intro (19:50) clip from Ravens on the Roof (20:34) crafting, sober jam (22:09) teaching (23:22) teaching teenagers, the importance of knowing them (24:48) playing in hospital

Gertrude Létourneau, known to some as Trudy, is a flutist, pianist, singer and a therapeutic musician. During this episode, she tells many moving stories of the residents she has worked with in her many years working at Pearly Health. During the episode she frequently breaks into song and plays a variety of flutes as well as paints a vivid picture of the fulfilling role she plays working with veterans. We also spoke about her mentors Peter Wiegold, Jeffrey Gilbert, and Marie-Claire Séguin. This was an episode very much about going out your comfort zone, connecting with your audience, and learning to slow down and enjoy every day. Help me keep this series going! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Video and Transcript link: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/gertrude-trudy-letourneau Gertrude's website: https://gertrudeletourneau.com/ photo credit: Dave Poulin Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (03:02) how Gertrude got into this work as a therapeutic musician at Perley Health, Performance and Communication Skills at Guildhall with Peter Wiegold (08:12) making music with the residents, sing-along culture, Kohai Educational Center working kids with learning disabilities (12:20) learning the repertoire, playing by ear, choosing themes, different aspects of the work at Perley Health (16:01) difference between Music Therapist and Therapeutic Musician (17:44) story about Lili Marlene and World War II veteran (20:55) PTSD story (25:56) J’attendrai ton retour with story (28:53) developing as a singer, coaching with Marie-Claire Séguin, finalist in Ma première Place des Arts competition (34:05) Audience engagement, talking to the audience and building bridges (38:52) Jeffrey Gilbert (41:58) childhood music and decision to pursue the flute (46:35) dealing with grief and loss (52:54) planning repertoire around themes (55:36) coping with the COVID Pandemic in long-term care, online concerts with Concerts in Care and the Music Performance Trust Fund (01:01:03) living in the moment, Québecois culture and La Bolduc, a musician’s last gig (01:06:50) lessons learned (01:16:33) Let Me Call You Sweetheart, creative challenges and going out of your comfort zone

Adam Hurt is an acclaimed clawhammer banjo player and one of my favourite performers in any style and I was absolutely delighted that he agreed not only to speak to me at length about his life and teaching of traditional music, but also perform for this episode some of my favourite music. His albums of gourd banjo music “Earth Tones” and “Back to the Earth” are beloved by a wide range of listeners, I think partly because the sound colour of the instrument is much more mellow than other banjos. You’ll hear him play and talk about the fascinating history of both his gourd banjo and one of his favourite antique instruments. He’s also a fine old-time fiddler, and although he grew up with classical musician parents, his father a violinist with the Minnesota orchestra, Adam’s life-changing musical moment was with a wonderful and dedicated school teacher. The video version of this episode along with the transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/adam-hurt Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Adam Hurt website: https://www.adamhurt.com/ If you enjoyed this episode you may be interested in some of my episodes with other traditional musicians, including Janie Rothfield and Alexis Chartrand. I continue to feature many players of plucked instruments with some nice surprises coming your way in Season 3. If you subscribe to my newsletter through my website https://www.leahroseman.com/contact, you’ll get exclusive sneak peeks for upcoming episodes. Timestamps (00:00:00) Cold open and intro (00:02:17) antique Dobson banjo, restoration by Will Seeders Mosheim (00:07:43) intro to “Fortune” played on the Dobson banjo (00:11:06) Adam’s early music education, difficulty reading music (00:15:26) Don Payden first Old-Time teacher, learning by ear, mandolin with Brian Wicklund, clawhammer with Marianne Kovatch (00:27:58) tone production on the banjo (00:35:39) Ricky Skaggs collaboration on album Back to the Earth (00:39:11) gourd banjo, performance of “Josie-O” (00:45:05) history of this David Hyatt gourd banjo and the recording of Eartht Tones album (00:50:04) African origins of the banjo, racist history (00:53:47) tablature, Walt Koken story, Adam’s teaching (00:59:21) Clifftop (01:04:53) Adam’s father, learning fiddle (01:09:22) open A tuning, performance of Patty on the Pike on fiddle (01:14:17) dancing and old-time, Adam’s experience of learning flatfoot syle (01:16:42) album Fine Times at our House (01:18:32) why we love Bandcamp (01:22:20) the hawk story (01:28:51) Adam’s teaching strategies (01:36:53) intro to performance of Snowdrop on the antique Dobson banjo

Ineke Vando orn is a wonderfully expressive prizewinning jazz vocalist, author, composer and educator. We talked about overcoming voice problems, the craft of writing lyrics, teaching vocal improvisation, her book “Singing from the Inside Out”, and many of her fascinating creative collaborations.During the recording of this episode Ineke performed 3 times, and also check out the timestamps below for the many topics we covered. The link for both the video and the transcript is here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/ineke-vandoorn Be sure to check out my episode with Ineke’s partner guitarist Marc Van Vugt: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/marc-van-vugt-guitarist-and-composer Ineke's website: https://www.inekevandoorn.com/ Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo: Jiri Büller Timestamps (00:00) Cold open and Intro (01:34) early days with Marc van Vugt (03:29) voice problems (05:57) process for writing book “Singing From the Inside Out” (14:33) song “Holysloot” by Ineke Vandoorn (19:57) singing workshops (21:00) project with Cecilia Moisio “I Can See Myself Through Your Eyes” (29:00) criticism and performance anxiety (35:04) song “Tea”by Marc van Vugt with lyrics by Ineke Vandoorn (41:02) use of DigiTech400 Vocal pedal (42:50) Paris, Van Doesburg house residency, challenges of self-promotion as an independant jazz artist (45:35) coaching students about different practical skills (48:51) teaching improvisation (50:30) the importance and lack of government support for music (52:09) pitch memory, singing a cappella, Voice Lab group (54:54) family music, early years (56:15) coming into her own as a singer, support of Don Thompson, going to Banff (59:17) mentoring younger women (01:00:39) writing lyrics in English and Dutch (01:10:01) Flora Purim, gaining confidence as a performer (01:12:36) “Alice in Space” opera with Ingmar Heytze and Marc van Vugt (01:14:39) free improv vocal solo (01:19:39) collaboraing with recorder player Saskia Coolen (01:22:34) reflections on turning 60 (01:24:18) project with Jasper van ’t Hof (01:27:29) album “Crossing Canada” (01:28:28) balancing time between teaching at ArtEZ, performing and creating (01:30:58) plans for a new book about vocal improvisation

Ali Omar El-Farouk is an Egyptian and Canadian oud guitar player, composer and teacher. Ali plays his oud and three other instruments during this fascinating conversation in which we talked about learning from a place of joy, connecting across cultures through music, languages, architecture, Istanbul, Spain, Umm Kulthum, Nubian music, jazz, and lots more. The link for the video version and transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/ali-omar-el-farouk Support this series through my Ko-fi page! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman https://aliomarelfarouk.com/ photo: Joshua Hansen Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:50) Ali’s background in architectural engineering, coming to Montreal to study jazz (00:02:57) early music lessons piano and guitar (00:07:55) about the oud, with improvisation (00:16:50) Ali’s time in Spain studying flamenco and introduction to “Nostalgia Esperanzadora” (00:29:31) Ali’s composition “Nostalgia Esperanzadora” for oud and flamenco guitar (00:38:21) vibrato and different expressive techniques on the oud, about the risha and different types of plectrums (00:46:28) Arab architecture, Alhambra, traveling in Southern Spain (00:52:20) learning Spanish, Turkish and communicating through music (00:55:29) bringing musicians to Egypt, Mike de Masi, Thomas Durant, Freddy Rizk, Hamza El Din, Nubian music (01:02:47) Umm Kulthum (01:09:13) Ali’s musicial influences, learning Arabic music, Anouar Brahem, Simon Shaheen (01:14:55) 2011 pro-democracy protests in Cairo (01:21:07) different Arabic dialects, Arabic community in Montreal (01:24:25) Turkey, trip to Istanbul (01:29:45) album Ela Mataa, Joseph Khoury (01:36:12) demonstration of frame drum and history of the frame drum (01:41:08) Montreal jazz scene (01:44:48) teaching (01:47:21) Joseph Tawadros, Cengiz Sarikus (01:49:26) intro to Naima by John Coltrane on electric guitar (01:53:38) Ali’s advice about practicing and learning music

Multi-instrumentalist Colleen Allen is a versatile and expressive performer based in Toronto, Canada. In this conversation, we talked about her perspectives on evaluating priorities, rising to new challenges, collaboration, teaching improvisation, and the physical challenges of playing so many different instruments. Colleen’s candid warmth and love of music really shine through in this wide-ranging conversation. Please help me keep this podcast going: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Video and Transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/colleen-allen photo: Jean-François Gratton clip of Manteca playing "Mind Monday" used with permission, writer/composer Doug Wilde and Matt Zimbel album available: https://mantecamusic.bandcamp.com/album/monday-night-at-the-mensa-disco Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:34) women in jazz, role models and mentors (11:38) Gloucester high school (13:26) the challenges of learning music (17:18) teaching improvisation (22:07) Women’s Blues Revue, Toronto Blues Society (25:38) learning different instruments, ergonomics and keeping fit (31:19) alto sax “If I Were a Bell” by Miles Davis (34:02) playing in big bands, playing different instruments in Manteca (35:40) clip of band Manteca playing “Mind Monday” writer/composer Doug Wilde and Matt Zimbel (37:19) Accordion, working with actors, different ways of memorizing music (44:07) stage fright, dealing with nerves, challenge state, breathwork (47:52) writing arrangements, Toronto Sax Quartet, Molly Johnson (53:19) life on tour (54:43) Jazz scene in Toronto (56:09) Cirque du Soleil Pomp Duck and Circumstance (01:01:02) solo albums Flashlight and Colleen Allen, Marc Jordan, process of recording (01:06:49) evolution of vibrato in jazz (01:08:33) pandemic, livestreams, Syncspace, Adrian Cho (01:12:40) stopping teaching, assessing priorities (01:15:33) jazz flute demo, Moe Koffman, Manteca Offspring project, Jake Koffman (01:18:50) Oliver Schroer (01:21:44) Soulpepper theatre, learning leadership (01:23:49) student days, how things are evolving in a positive way, the life of a musician

I was honoured to speak with the inspiring singer, composer, choir leader, pianist and cultural activist Polina Shepherd. In this episode you’ll hear Polina’s stories from growing up in Tartarstan, in the former Soviet Union, finding a bridge to her Jewish identity through Klezmer music, collaborating with her mentors, founding Yiddish and Russian choirs in the U.K., and many other creative projects. During the episode she sings songs from different traditions, including one of her compositions, and is such a warm and engaging speaker I trust a wide audience will find inspiration and food for thought in her perspectives on education, mentorship, creativity, health, identity, connection and collaboration. The link for both the podcast and video is linked with the full transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/polina-shepherd Her website https://www.polinashepherd.co.uk/ If you are specifically interested in Klezmer music, you may be interested in previous episodes with Alicia Svigals, Josh “Socalled” Dolgin, and Marilyn Lerner. Please encourage me to keep this series going. https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo credit: Shendl Copitman Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:27) connecting through music, COVID, Sing With Me workshops (00:05:14) Polina’s childhood, family music-making (00:07:16) intro to Russian Romance by Lermontov and Shashina (00:10:14) Polina’s musical training and voice (00:12:16) Tomsk, Kazan, growing up in Tartarstan, Jewish community, perestroika (00:16:27) Yiddish song, Polina sings “A Frisher Vind” Dovid Hofshsteyn poetry (00:21:31) secular Yiddish culture, song cycle with poems of Troim Katz Handler (00:24:11) falling in love with Merlin Shepherd, experience of immigration to the UK (00:28:17) first trip to US, Lorin Sklamberg, Adrienne Cooper, Zalmen Mlotek (00:31:07) 150 Voices with Lorin Sklamberg, part in “The Crown” (00:35:09) The Caravan Orchestra and Choir, teaching improvisation, working with youth (00:40:39) Tartarstan cultural influences (00:42:40) Polina’s advice for musicians, collaboration (00:48:13) memorisation, playing by ear (00:49:15) advice for health for singers and everyone else (00:52:48) accompanying silent films (00:57:43) collaboration with dance, community outreach (00:59:22) Polina’s way of manifesting projects, starting her choirs, Jackie Fuller (01:04:12) working with community choirs (01:06:55) learning from Adrienne Cooper, Zalmen Mlotek, Lorin Sklamberg, Frank London, Merlin Shepherd, Psoy Korolenko (01:13:37) Niggun Koyach (01:16:14) Polina’s reflections and advice

This episode features the fantastic drummer Mike Essoudry, who is a busy performer and composer in Ottawa, Canada, playing with many projects in the funk, jazz, and improvised music scene. He’s in the funk group Gephilte with a previous guest of this series, Josh “Socalled” Dolgin, and in the Together Ensemble with his partner Megan Jerome. Today also marks the release of my bonus catch-up episode with Megan, in which she shares how she and Mike fell in love as well as her new album and great advice about an important aspect of the music business as an independant artist. Her episodes are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/megan-jerome-e10-s2This episode was unique in that Mike was sitting at his drumset during the entire episode and we talked in detail about the history of the drumset and evolution of different styles of drumming. Mike demonstrated lots of intricate grooves and finished the episode with a cool little solo. He also shared stories from his childhood and talked about how in his youth he built his drums and an intricate treehouse in a park. Transcript and Video: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mike-essoudry-drummer Mike's website: https://mikeessoudrymusic.com/home Support this podcast with a tip, or consider becoming a monthly supporter with access to perks: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo: JC Batista Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:02:12) drum set history with demonstrations: bass drum, ride cymbal, Zildjian, Ludwig, Beatles, speed-metal (00:12:51) tom-toms with demonstration (00:16:54) brushes, cajon sticks, mallets (00:20:26) the importance of drummers learning harmony and melody (00:23:30) counting, knowing the tune (00:27:03) Latin grooves (00:32:32) drum solos, not losing the count, the advantage of having someone play with your solo (00:36:09) poly-rhythms and groupings (00:42:39) Mike’s book of beats and teaching, playing by ear and reading (00:46:22) Foley artists, history of radio, silent movies, sound effects (00:49:14) hand percussion, playing without shoes (00:51:27) Mike’s childhood, rock drumming, blues (00:55:31) drum pads substitute for drums (00:57:45) marching bands, New Orleans, different traditions from around the world, Balkan music (01:03:48) Mike’s parents, hand percussion on the drum set (demonstration) (01:11:44) Mike’s father’s immigration story from Moroccon Jewish community, how his parents met (01:17:37) carpentry skills, classic Lego, treehouse story, building his drum set (01:23:53) visual and intuitive learning style (01:26:24) Atlantis Jazz Ensemble, Alouette Space Agency (01:31:24) solo drum project, balancing earning money with carpentry and writing and playing music (01:34:39) how Mike practices and the importance of keeping your ears in shape, pushing boundaries like immitating machine beats

This is a special bonus Catch-Up episode with singer-songwriter Megan Jerome. Today is also the release of my conversation with her husband, the jazz drummer Mike Essoudry. In this short episode, you’ll hear how Megan fell in love with Mike, as well as about the creation of her new album “Love” with the Together Ensemble including two songs from the album, “Hot Pink Heart”, and “Isn’t Life Grand”. She also talked about some valuable mentorship that helped her secure funding for the album. Megan’s original episode as well as this catch-up bonus are linked together with the video and podcast versions, and the transcripts: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/megan-jerome-e10-s2 Mike Essoudry, podcast, video and transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mike-essoudry-drummer Support this podcast and get access to unique perks! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo: JC Batista Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:34) how Megan and Mike Essoudry fell in love (03:56) “Isn’t Life Grand” Megan Jerome and the Together Ensemble (08:37) Megan’s new album “Love”, release plan, funding Canada Council and City of Ottawa (14:30) Vel Omazic and Canada Music Incubators (17:34) “Hot Pink Heart” Megan Jerome and the Together Ensemble

Renée Yoxon is a trans non-binary singer, songwriter, jazz musician, and trans voice teacher. In this episode, Renee shares some beautiful and inspiring performances from their albums, as well as stories from life as a disabled person and how their disability and chronic pain has guided the direction of their career. We talk about their musical development, and their experiences both bad and good as they navigated their musical education (after finishing a degree in physics!). Renée explains the kind of work they do with trans vocal exploration and we dive into all kinds of topics in the usual tangential style of this series. The transcript and video are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/rene-yoxon Please consider supporting this series and get access to some cool and unique perks: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Renée Yoxon website: https://www.reneeyoxon.com/ photo: Laurence Philomène podcast theme music: Nick Kold Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:21) Renée’s physics degree, start in school band, Jazz Works camp (00:04:19) free improv group, intergenerational friendships (00:06:38) intro to “Willow Weep for Me” by Ann Ronell (00:08:53) “Willow Weep for Me” with René Gely (00:13:57) piano, ukulele (00:15:26) “Beautiful Alchemy”, film with Teagan Lance and album (00:17:14) “Terrible Alchemy” (00:23:19) Blossom Dearie (00:23:52) worldless improv (00:24:37) studies in New York, living as a disabled person, vocal technique (00:29:33) singing in rock band “Gorgeous George”, care of the voice and endurance training (00:32:20) trans voice aleration, TikTok success, pitch lowering, taking risks and learning to be silly (00:40:14) gender presentation and gender identity (00:42:35) ways we can alter the voice (00:45:09) different languages in terms of vocal alteration, vocal fry and gendered cutural coding for vocal characteristics (00:47:52) TikTok (00:49:22) teaching Trans Voice Alteration to other teachers (00:51:45) the importance of teaching business skills to musicians, University of Limerick, Edel Meade (00:55:58) Banff, McGill, growing up in Ottawa, the importance of mentors, Mark Ferguson, René Gely (01:00:29) social anxiety, speaking in public with a different voice or new language (01:02:38) different people who take Renée’s courses on voice alteration (01:03:18) songwriting, Aoife McAtamney Pink Breath (01:04:27) “Drinking Coffee” (01:08:58) songs “The Bad Years” about their chronic illness (01:10:27) Kazaa music sharing, learning jazz repertoire (01:12:53) Renée’s perspective on the music industry as a disabled person, and experiences at McGill university with lack of accessibility (01:17:46) Mx non-binary honorific, the importance of pronouns (01:20:32) disability rights, more about their McGill experience (01:22:45) Montreal

Leslie DeShazor is a multi-style violist, violinist and composer based in Detroit. She teaches students both through the Sphinx Organization and the Detroit Symphony as well as privately. She was named one of thirty Professional Movers and Shakers in the Performing Arts by Musical America in 2019 and in 2022 she released her jazz and R&B album “Journey With Me” which features herself as soloist, bandleader, and composer. Towards the beginning of this episode you’ll hear her composition “Simply Complicated” from “Journey With Me”. This conversation was full of stories and insights from Leslie’s life. She shared valuable perspectives that educators, parents and anyone who mentors children and young adults will find inspiring and thought-provoking. We talked a lot about why kids quit playing music, why so many young adults today have trouble figuring out the direction of their life, and how the educational system can take away people’s innate creativity and confidence. Leslie is such an articulate and engaging speaker; I’m sure listeners everywhere will enjoy this episode! The musicians on Simply Complicated are: Nate Winn - drums, Brendon Davis - piano Brandon Rose - bass Photo: Bruce Turner Please support this series! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Video and Transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/leslie-deshazor Leslie DeShazor website: https://lesliedeshazor.com/ Complete Catalog of Episodes: ⁠⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/about⁠⁠ Newsletter sign-up: ⁠⁠https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter⁠⁠ Timestamps: (00:00) Cold open quote plus Intro (02:00) album Journey With Me, accepting help (06:16) differences playing acoustic and electric instruments (07:30) intro to tune “Simply Complicated” (13:25) Leslie’s childhood musical pranks, growing up in Inkster and Canton (16:10) the importance of Detroit in many different musical genres (18:36) the influence and importantce of church music (22:47) Interlochen, perspectives on exposing kids to a competitive atmosphere (32:43) Leslie’s approach to coaching student ensembles (36:14) Leslie’s history going to Orchestra Hall, continuity and history of Detroit (40:52) parenting, guiding children in music (42:37) University of Michigan and Wayne State college experiences, James Dapogny, how to guide students, the importance of helping music students with options (51:00) dealing with injury (53:06) different cultures through dance, learning Spanish, teaching with Sphinx (56:14) Sphinx organization (01:03:10) Musique Noire, Eunoia Society, JoVia Armstrong (01:04:45) problem with labels in music, colonial attitudes (01:10:44) teaching music using different strategies (01:16:35) challenges in guiding students (01:19:53) students who are over-scheduled, the benefits of allowing time for creativity and play (01:25:42) Cole Randolph taking time off and motivation (01:26:42) dealing with stress through exercise, jumping rope, keeping balance (01:30:00) freelance life stress (01:31:18) teaching body percussion, benefits of community music making, learning from other educators (01:35:35) Leslie’s advice about bravery

The internationally renowned guitarist Derek Gripper is famous for his groundbreaking technique for evoking the West African kora on the guitar. During this episode you’ll get to hear Derek play quite a bit and you will hear his wonderful insights on how we listen to and learn music, the influence of Montessori and Alexander Technique in his life, his reflections on important collaborations in his career and his perspectives on changes that have been imposed on creators and performers. Please help me keep this podcast going: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman The video and transcript are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/derek-gripper https://www.derekgripper.com/ Timestamps: (00:00:00) Introduction (00:01:45) Bach guitar music with intro (00:04:00) carnatic music studies, album with tabla player Udai Mazumdar (00:06:12) structural improvisation, Bach (00:08:18) Alexander Technique (00:15:28) violin studies (00:16:24) Derek's recording approach (00:20:30) “Billly Goes to Durban” (00:21:28) kora music, Toumani Diabaté (00:25:18) “Tubaka” guitar music (00:26:36) Derek’s transcriptions, Zoom classes (00:30:12) online music economy, Derek’s experiences with selling albums, Platoon label (00:35:35) Montessori method and teaching guitar (00:39:38) "A Year of Swimming" (00:41:34) Alex Van Heerden, “Sagtevlei”, Steve Reich, Bryan Bolton (00:45:36) Guy Buttery and different collaborations (00:48:12) South Africa and COVID’s economic ramifications (00:49:43) Madosini (00:52:06) World Music as a genre and marketing tool (00:58:23) Derek’s style of performing (01:00:31) mental health, touring, mindset with Alexander Technique inhibition and internal resistance (01:04:42) "Seeing Nobody" guitar music (01:07:00) reflections on Derek’s career, being South African, John Williams, Lucy Duran (01:11:30) Derek’s guitars, Paul Galbraith Brahms guitar, “Bloomdorns”, Hermann Hauser, just intonation and bending notes, oud, lute, veena, (01:17:36) Derek’s advice and reflections on too much input photo: Luke Young

This is a short bonus episode in my "Inspiring Excerpts" series, with the wonderful jazz guitarist and composer Roddy Ellias. The full episode is here, both video and podcast: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e12-s1-roddy-ellias-guitarist-and-composer You'll get to hear some great stories from Roddy's early career in touring rock bands, connections between martial arts and music, and how he teaches students to get into the feel of flow. Guitar enthusiasts, you’ll be happy to know that this series will soon be featuring quite a few more guitarists and also specialists in other plucked instruments. . I hope you enjoy these in-depth and wide-ranging conversations, and that your curiosity is stimulated for music that may be new to you. Please support this podcast with a tip! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Roddy Ellias website: https://www.roddyellias.com/ photo: Evan Shaw

Marc van Vugt is a wonderful award-winning composer and jazz guitarist from the Netherlands. In this episode you’ll be introduced to several beautiful guitars in his collection that are featured in his new solo album, “The Lonely Coyote” and you’ll also get to hear stories from his travels and his perspectives about different musical scenes, composing, and some of the biggest challenges now for musicians worldwide. Please buy me a coffee! (and get access to unique perks) https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman The video version of this is linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/marc-van-vugt-guitarist-and-composer https://baiximrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-lonely-coyote photo: Jiri Büller Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:39) “Simiane” intro and performance (08:01)influence of Latin American music, growing up in a small Dutch town (10:49) Paris, Theo van Doesburg house in Meudon, composing the Vandoesburg Suite (15:28) album “The Lonely Coyote”, collection of guitars, touring challenges with a guitar (21:21) baritone guitar (21:22) Martin guitar, technique of playing with a mix of nails and pick (28:20) harp zither (33:44) more about “The Lonely Coyote” ablum, living in the desert, influences of Alberto Gismonti, Ralph Towner, Leo Kottke (40:19) creative process of composing, Kenny Wheeler (48:36) HKU University for the Arts in Utrecht, Hans Kox, Eef Albers, creating the jazz and improvised music department with Bert van der Brink (51:17) Banff, categories of music, the free improvised music scene in the Netherlands (56:03) experience of growing up in a place and time with limited access to music and different musicians in contrast to now with the challenges of exposure YouTube and social media in general (01:01:48) touring and collaborating with local musicians, trips to Indonesia and playing with gamelan players (01:05:06) trip to Brazil (01:07:31) teaching composition (01:12:46) Rogier van Otterloo (01:15:16) writing music for films of Georges Méliès (01:19:12) archtop guitar

This is a re-release with improved audio. I was thrilled to have a fascinating chat with the inspiring and innovative multi-style violinist/vocalist, author, composer, producer and educator Julie Lyonn Lieberman. I first learned about her when I bought her book You Are Your Instrument, which was the first book written about how to overcome and prevent musicians’ overuse injuries. In this conversation we discuss her unique path through world music, some of the research she’s done for her book and radio programs, illuminating the history of slave fiddlers and the evolution of improvised string playing in the United States. She gives some wonderful advice about following your own path, and at the end, she plays two tunes in different styles. Please support this podcast with a tip! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman This episode in video form, along with the transcript, is here linked on my podcast website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/julie-lyonn-lieberman JULIE’S BOOKS AND DVDs https://julielyonnmusic.ecwid.com STRINGS WITHOUT BOUNDARIES Multi-Style Video Library https://www.stringswithoutboundaries.com/video-library.html IMPROVISED VIOLIN Documentary https://vimeo.com/117067048 Julie Lyonn Lieberman String Archives https://julielyonn.com/string-archives/ D’Addario workshops with Julie: https://daddario.formstack.com/forms/... photo credit: Leonard Cascia

Gary Muzsynski is a versatile percussionist and entrepreneur and this conversation delves into his experiences playing samba in Brazil, his discovery and exploration of the handpan, and some of his work as an educator in both community music projects and as an innovator using music in the corporate world. We also talked about his beautiful album "Roots and Wings - Medicine Music", which won the Gold Medal Best of Show in the 2021 Global Music Awards and features 25 master musicians from 8 countries. Gary plays several contrasting instruments in different styles during the episode, and timestamps are included below. Like every episode, this is available both as a video and podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, and the transcript is also linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/gary-muszynski Please support this series! Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:31) Mbira music (06:45) Gary’s mentors and training with Community Music: Babatunde Olatunji, David Darling (09:21) Gary’s childhood and life-changing experience with music (18:26) early career in St. Louis, going to Brazil and learning Samba (24:10) Gary’s story about creatively getting a plane ticket to return to Brazil to perform in Carnaval (28:36) Samba school experiences in Brazil (38:44) demonstration of some samba rhythms on agogô and surdo (46:02) Samba in the Midwest, community music making “Sambistas” band (48:26) Handpan history, different types and demonstration (01:09:57) about the “Roots and Wings, Medicine Music” album, Global Music Awards winner, Tito La Rosa, Yair Dalal, Varijashree Venugopal (01:20:07) Gary’s executive and team coaching and how he pivoted to online during 2020 (01:23:14) Community music Babatunde Olatunji (01:27:29) handpan improvisation photo: Irene Young

Linsey Pollak is an Australian musician who is known worldwide as a passionate and creative advocate for community music. His life has been full of unusual opportunities to explore different styles of music, and his inventiveness has spurred him to create countless instruments from found objects. In this episode you’ll get to hear him play 4 different instruments in different improvisatory styles, and I’m sure that everyone will be inspired by stories from his life, describing some of his incredibly unusual, fun and beautiful collaborations and creations. This is available both video and podcast :https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/linsey-pollak Please support this podcast! Get access to unique perks: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo credit: Beat Lehmann Timestamps: (00:00 Intro) (01:30) gaida music (04:59) Rafting trip, discovering Macedonian bagpipes, first trip to Macedonia (11:35) trip to Greece to study klarino with Stavros Vasthekis (13:15) discovering the Macedonian community in Australia, establishing Kulcha (17:36) Linsey’s start making instruments, London and Early Music scene (23:14) busking in Europe, learning Macedonian dance, Živko Firfov Group, Destan Destanovski (31:48) importance of humour in his solo shows (33:17) duduk design and music (38:56) Linsey’s early musical education and projects (41:27) developing live looping in the early 90s, his solo shows (49:25) rubber glove bagpipe (54:36) Linsey’s current project going out to record in the forest with ambient sounds (his album of this music is on Bandcamp), also the frog sounds album (56:53) Dva with Tunji Beier and now Beier-Griffin-Pollak trio with Philip Griffin (58:23) Humarimba community music project (01:09:16) Paranormal Music Society Romano Crivici and Blair Greenberg, and QWERTY with Peter Rowe (01:13:47) MIDI wind controller Dangerous Song project with demonstration using animal sounds (01:33:26) Linsey’s drive to create instruments and connect people, his creative process (01:37:20) Linsey’s decision to stop touring outside of Australia (01:40:07) Linsey’s advice

James Ehnes is known internationally as one of the foremost violin soloists. He’s a GRAMMY winner who’s created over 60 acclaimed albums. In this short episode you’ll hear him talk about the joys and challenges of squeezing in chamber music with the Ehnes String Quartet, his youth in Brandon and his studies with both Frances Chaplin and Sally Thomas. The episode ends with some great advice for all musicians! The full episode is available here, both video and podcast, along with the transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e11-s1-james-ehnes Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo: Benjamin Ealovega

I was honored to have this conversation with Marilyn Lerner, who is a unique pianist and composer who is a powerfully expressive musician across a range of styles. She’s a wonderful improvisor and has performed worldwide, as well as recorded extensively as both a soloist and as an ensemble player. She’s also a therapist and psychoanalyst, and our conversation moved through many fascinating and important topics including ideas around identity and creativity. The video version is available here, and the transcript will later be published to the same link: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/marilyn-lerner Please support this series! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo: Jake Sherman Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:06) jazz piano improvisation (03:47) exploring different musical styles (04:52) accompanying Silent film music (08:58) teaching classical musicians to improvise, KlezCanada, Lori Freedman (14:18) the piano as a textural instrument and different kinds of improv (with musical example) (16:46) Marilyn’s youth (21:10) university years at York University (switching from Psychology into music), and Marilyn’s work as a psychoanalyst, exploring the psychological aspects of being a musician, issues around identity (27:48) the challenges of making a living as a musician (30:22) experiences during 2020 lockdowns for both Marilyn and Leah (36:33) Adrienne Cooper, Anna Margolin, Dave Wall, “All Silent Things Speak Today” collection of songs, “Dreaming in Yiddish” (41:21) Yiddish and Ashkenazic Jewish history (45:45) Marilyn plays piano “Romanian Fantasy” (51:09) Yoshie Fruchter “The Pieces Broken” (52:27) mridangam studies Trichy Sankaran, opportunities at York University, Reginald Godden, Ethnomusicology (56:58) Salsa: learning Montunos with Rodrigo Munoz (57:47) Jane Bunnett, Larry Kramer, Maqueque,Cuban musicians, “Birds Are Returning” Dafnis Prieto (01:03:04) classical influences in improvising (01:07:18) psychology, becoming a therapist (01:09:47) Marilyn’s youth, development as a pianist and musician (01:11:45) challenges of finding focus and creative time

This episode features the wonderful Bulgarian gadulka player Hristina Beleva, and this project would not have been possible without the generous translation and voice-overs from fellow musician Milena Krassi. Milena was with us during the interview and it’s mostly her voice that you’ll be hearing. Hristina is a virtuoso of the traditional bowed instrument of Bulgaria, the gadulka, which looks a bit like an upside-down violin, with usually 3 main strings and several resonating strings, up to 16. Hristina performs as a soloist with the Ensemble Philip Koutev Folk Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio, the Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices, Bulgara, the Milanov-Beleva duo, and is featured on the 2019 Grammy nominated album with David Kuckhermann and Lisa Gerrard, “Hiraeth”. Hristina recently released a wonderful duo album with bass player Vasil Hajigrudev, “Trikop”. This episode features lots of music, and we talk about both traditional music and her fusion collaborations. The video version of this episode is here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/hristina-beleva-gadulka-player Support this series! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:38) gadulka performance: Ruchenitsa traditional Bulgarian folk dance ( 03:11) - " Hubava si Moia Goro" You are Beautiful My Forest" - old Bulgarian song ( 03:25) introduction to the instrument and the modal tradition ( 09:12) Hristina’s fusion projects and collaborations: Vasil Hajigrudev, Peter Milanov, Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices, David Kuckhermann and Lisa Gerrard (15:32) “Melancholy Beauty” by Georgy Andreev story of the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust (17:29) experience during pandemic lockdowns (19:32) gadulka performance (20:42) traditional dances of Bulgaria (22:05) traditional folklore orchestra of ensemble Philip Koutev (24:20) demonstration with improvisations of different musical modes (27:16) comparison of different instruments and traditions ( 28:06) Hristina’s development as a musician photo credit: Ivelina Milanova

Peter Purich is an innovative violin maker known for his unique personalized chin rest design. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist who plays in many different styles, and a dedicated violin and viola pedagogue. Because this conversation was extra-long it has been divided into two episodes. Part 2 continues with a lot of specifics about playing and teaching the violin, and he describes some of his innovative instrument designs, his unique shoulder support, and some great wisdom. If you missed Part 1, it delves into his development as an instrument maker and innovator, and as a creative musician. He describes some of his innovations with chin rest design and the episode ends with some improvisation and some great parenting advice! I have added timestamps in the description, and like all these episodes this is available both as a podcast and a video, the link is in the description and the transcript will be published to the same link, where you can also find Part 1: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/peter-purich Support this series and get access to unique perks! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman (00:00) Intro (01:06) violin and viola pedagogy: bow arm, using imagery, Peter’s devices to help students (10:43) archery (14:08) concepts in teaching bowing technique for violin and viola, Galamian (29:45) Peter’s instruments and instrument innovations (38:62) shoulder rests, how to hold a violin, Peter’s invention Senza Rest (52:06) freedom of expression (53:08) perspectives on orchestra players (56:46) Peter’s creative process in building and playing

Peter Purich is an innovative violin maker known for his unique personalized chinrest design. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist who plays in many different styles, and a dedicated violin and viola pedagogue. Because this conversation was extra-long it has been divided into two episodes. Part 1 delves into his development as an instrument maker and innovator, and as a creative musician. He shows and describes some of his innovations with chinrest design. The episode ends with some improvisation and some great parenting advice! Part 2 will continue with a lot of specifics about playing and teaching the violin, and he shows some of his inventive instrument designs, his unique shoulder support, and some great wisdom. I have added timestamps below, and like all these episodes this is available both as a podcast and a video, and the transcript will be published to this same link: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/peter-purich Please support this podcast: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:29) Peter’s father and his start making instruments and bows (06:12) Peter’s trip to Europe, Vienna Philharmonic instruments (10:17) different kinds of woods, styles of violin bows (13:44) research on carbon fiber (19:25) Peter’s custom-made chin rests, vibrato, shifting, how to hold a violin (46:34) Peter’s pedagogy (49:30) Peter’s approach to improvisation and experiences with different styles and instruments (51:30) I Musici chamber orchestra in Montreal, Yuli Turovsky (54:30) Arthur Garami (56:27) Gerald Stanick (57:44) why it’s good to improvise with demonstrations (01:09:36) teaching students improvisation (01:11:59) parenting and Peter’s great advice

In this Inspiring Excerpts short bonus episode, you will hear violinist Aaron Schwebel's reflections on the best environments for learning and growth, on how the pandemic has affected his priorities, and some of the unique benefits and challenges of a life of a professional musician. Aaron Currently holds the positions of Concertmaster with the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra and Associate Concertmaster with the Canadian Opera Company. He is a member of the LARK ensemble and the Rosebud String Quartet, and is the founder and artistic director of Echo Chamber Toronto, a series that merges chamber music and contemporary dance. The full episode is linked here, both podcast and video format, and the transcript can be found through the same link: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e10-s1-aaron-schwebel-violinist photo credit: Bo Huang

Raphael Weinroth-Browne is an internationally renowned Canadian cellist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. He merges his classical cello training with a love of progressive metal and Middle Eastern music, and has formed several acclaimed ensembles including The Visit, Musk Ox, and Kamancello (this duo is with a previous guest of this podcast, kamanche player Shahriyar Jamshidi). Raphael has been touring with the Norwegian progressive band Leprous since 2017, and has appeared on over 150 studio albums. In 2020 he released his first solo album, Worlds Within. Raph is a very thoughtful and articulate person, and this conversation touched on many interesting topics. Part 2 of this episode includes some interesting background on Raphs’ development as a musician. He also shares his advice on building relationships in the music business to help artists find different avenues to promote their music. He speaks about improvisation, his love of Middle-Eastern music, and his collaboration with Shahriyar Jamshidi in Kamancello (featured in this series: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/shahriyar-jamshidi-kamancheh) If you missed Part 1, it is linked here along with the video of both episodes: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/raphael-weinroth-browne In Part 1 Raph demonstrates and talks about the first part of Worlds Within, and you get to hear about his career as a studio musician and his experiences touring with Leprous. He shares his thoughts about knowing yourself, being creative, connecting with your audience, and balancing your life and expectations of yourself. https://raphaelweinrothbrowne.com/ Support this podcast? Check out my perks: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps for Part 2: ( 00:00) Intro (01:23) Raph’s evolution as an artist, and his teen and university years ( 08:58) music from Worlds Within (16:12) more about Raph’s development as a musician ( 19:24) advice about developing as a performer (21:15) album reviews, advice for promoting your music, Laura Bitner ( 34:38) Shahriyar Jamshidi and Kamancello ( 45:09) Windsor symphony, community outreach photo credit: Jonathan Lorange

Raphael Weinroth-Browne is an internationally renowned Canadian cellist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. He merges his classical cello training with a love of progressive metal and Middle Eastern music, and has formed several acclaimed ensembles including The Visit, Musk Ox, and Kamancello (this duo is with a previous guest of this podcast, kamanche player Shahriyar Jamshidi https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/shahriyar-jamshidi-kamancheh). Raphael has been touring with the Norwegian progressive band Leprous since 2017, and has appeared on over 150 studio albums. In 2020 he released his first solo album, Worlds Within. Raph is a very thoughtful and articulate person, and this conversation touched on many interesting topics. In Part 1 you will get to hear him demonstrate and talk about the first part of Worlds Within, and hear about his career as a studio musician and his experiences touring with Leprous. He shares his thoughts about knowing yourself, being creative, connecting with your audience, and balancing your life and expectations of yourself. Part 2 of this episode is the next release in this podcast and video series, and everything is linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/raphael-weinroth-browne Please consider leaving me a virtual tip! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman You can access cool perks as well! https://raphaelweinrothbrowne.com/ Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:18 the creation of Worlds Within (09:40) production of music videos 15:26 Heather Sita-Black album art (19:30) differing tunings, music from Worlds Within ( 31:27) social media promotion, reaching new audiences ( 37:19) dealing with March 2020 lockdowns ( 41:26) Raph’s career as a studio musician (49:53) electric extended-range versus and acoustic cellos (57:08) Perfectionism, intonation, improvisation ( 01:05:01) Leprous (01:13:09) hearing damage ( 01:15:46) habits for physical and mental health (01:23:51) taking time to enjoy the slow process and take pride in your work photo credit: Jonathan Lorange

The incredibly charming American musician Janie Rothfield is a great traditional fiddler, banjo player, educator, composer, and so much fun to talk to! This episode features quite a bit of music on both fiddle and banjo. The conversation delved into the best ways to teach music, learn tunes, play with ease, accompany dancers and most importantly find connection with others through music! We talked about her childhood, learning violin in one of the first Suzuki classes in the United States with Louise Behrend, figure skating, learning the banjo, moving to Scotland, playing at music festivals, and why she started her unique “Janie’s Jumpstart Weekend Camps”. Janie records and tours with many bands and teaches both fiddle and clawhammer banjo. This episode is available as a video, and the transcript will later be published to my website as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/janie-rothfield-traditional-american-fiddler-banjo-player-composer-and-educator I’ve also included timestamps below. Janie's website: https://janierothfield.com/ photo credit: Clara Williams Buy me a coffee? Please help this podcast keep going! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:36) New Jordon on fiddle by Uncle Norm Edmonds (04:04) groove and rhythmic drive and variety (05:34) Suzuki lessons, Louise Behrand (09:09) Janie’s Jumpstart Weekend camps, how they got started (11:08) pivoting during pandemic (12:38) Contra dances (15:30) Allan Carr (17:01) Janie’s childhood figure skating, dancing (18:56) early career, balancing parenting, Little Missy with Shona Carr (21:35) Hen’s Teeth duo with Nathan Bontrager, and the Idumea string quartet with Ewan McDonald and Becka Wolfe (26:21) meeting Allan in Scotland (27:24) how Janie teaches music (33:11) different influences in old-time music (34:50) festivals Clifftop and Fire in the Mountain (36:28) how to memorize tunes (38:53) cross-tuning, variety in interpretation with Candy Girl (45:15) old-time history Jimmy McConn, Paul David Smith, Owen “Snake” Chapman and a simple approach to learning (46:53) history of enslaved blues fiddlers, wondering about the connection with old-time dances during the time of slavery, Julie Lyonn Lieberman research, Béla Fleck (48:26) Shetland rhythms, different fiddling traditions, story of Albany radio station being heard in Shetland and influencing the music of Peerie Willie Johnson 50:15 benefit of playing for dancers, Alexis Chartrand 51:55 Janie’s sister musician Suzy Thompson, folk influences from their mother 52:59 learning the banjo 54:27 Johnny Don’t Come Home Drunk on banjo 57:33 difference with bluegrass and old-time, story about Blaine Sprouse 01:01:12 Candy Girl on the banjo 01:03:34 learning the guitar, Allan Carr’s approach 01:04:27 Brendan Power harmonica player 01:07:55 fiddlesticks, Colin Currie Nicole Lizée, foot percussion 01:11:38 Jane’s tune “Harry Garrison” on fiddle 01:15:04 discussion about Jane’s outgoing and upbeat personality and how it’s impacted her career and music, her advice for inviting collaborations 01:22:37 Jane’s tune “The Mist”

Violinist Veronica Thomas talks about her diverse career, her musical training, her inspiring mother Belva Boroditsky Thomas, and the wonderful work the Centre Préville is doing, including their uniquely flexible and high-quality video-conferencing platform and the incredible arts outreach they've been doing with remote Indigenous communities and more. She is General Director of the Préville Fine Arts Centre which her mother started in 1974. https://centrepreville.org/ The video version of this conversation is linked here along with the transcript and bonus episode: ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e6-s1-veronica-thomas⁠ Please support this podcast with a tip! I'm an independant podcast who does all the jobs and covers all the costs, with a little help from my friends through Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Her mother's memoir is available in print or here: https://books.google.ca/books?id=7D48... This was recorded June 10, 2021.

Mark Ferguson is a jazz pianist, trombonist, composer, arranger, producer and music educator. In this episode you get to hear him perform 3 of his original compositions on piano. We talk about his mentors, perspectives on music education and the interesting twists and turns in his varied career. He’s performed with many of the world’s great artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Gil Evans, Aretha Franklin, Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, Holly Cole and Manteca,. Mark Ferguson website: http://markferguson.ca/music/ All these episodes are available in video format as well, and the transcripts are gradually being published to my blog: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mark-ferguson-jazz-pianist-trombonist-composer-arranger-producer-and-music-educator Please help me keep this going! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo credit: Claude Brazeau Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:56) how we met (02:29) Mark’s early education and gigs (08:32) lessons with Jerry Johnson and playing gigs with Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Rosemary Clooney, Rita Moreno (11:06) lessons with Rob McConnell, arranging, valve trombone (14:37) Mark’s composition “F Sharp” (20:55) jazz harmony, different roles as rhythm player in the band and horn player (22:40) Miguel De Armas (23:13) Manteca, Colleen Allen, Matt Zimbel (26:29) teaching at McGill University (27:52) Classical and jazz worlds James McGowan (30:37) Kellylee Evans, Ella Fitzgerald, jazz (31:18) teaching orchestration and theory (33:04) learning tunes and Hugh O’Connor (35:19) learning lyrics and Ben Webster story (37:00) transposition (39:21) importance of keyboard skills (40:15) Voicing chords (42:00) arranging (43:09) staying in shape as a trombonist (43:45) pandemic experience, performing on Syncspace live (44:45) teaching online (46:32) variety in rhythm, keeping the groove (50:21) working with high school students, jazz history (52:19) Mark’s composition “Home” (59:51) performance skills (01:01:42) Mark’s new solo album plans (01:03:03) different sides of Mark’s personality as a trombone player and pianist, big band versus small ensemble (01:04:16) jazz audience, advantages of knowing jazz harmony, Alexander Shelley (01:07:04) Mark’s early days as a jazz pianist, career choices (01:08:42) advice for young players (01:10:04) Vista Trio, playing with others to keep in shape (01:11:37) difference between composition and improvisation (01:12:14) staying healthy (01:14:37) Mark’s composition “Take the O Train”

In this episode I speak with a wonderful colleague, the Bass Trombonist Douglas Burden, who has recently retired from Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra after 50 years. He shares his perspectives on his career, including wisdom passed down from some of his mentors including Emory Remington and Arnold Jacobs, and the lessons he learned about staying healthy and keeping his playing at the highest level. Doug is also well-known as an educator and will continue to teach at the University of Ottawa; he also shares his thoughts on what an orchestral career means, his memories of different conductors, his practice tips, and the importance of balancing different aspects of a life well-lived. As I point out in the intro,I'm including a link to Doug's gorgeous singing style in a Bordogni Vocalise (since we weren't able to use the recording he made during the episode due to a technical problem): https://youtu.be/p5ti8bKzsEg Below I've included timestamps for the many topics covered. All these episodes are also available as videos, here's the link: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/douglas-burden-bass-trombonist-and-educator Help me keep this podcast going with a tip! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo credit: Fred Cattroll (00:00) Intro (01:44) playing as singing, Jack Everly (04:12) how to anticipate the beat, release the sound, Mario Bernardi and history of NACO (10:41) role of low brass in an orchestra (14:06) types of trombones, particularities of the instrument (17:14) Arnold Jacobs (26:03) Doug’s start in music and family background (30:15) Emory Remington’s legacy and his sudden death, Donald Knaub (38:15) starting out in NACO and many brass players at the time: Gordon Cherry, Bob Odes, Gene Watts, Chuck Kaellenbach (40:02) Pinchas Zukerman and establishing contracts for positions like bass trombone (45:37) changes in the working conditions over the years (46:58) changes in auditions (49:57) advice for musicians preparing orchestral auditions, more about Arnold Jacobs (53:42) Intonation (01:00:56) Endurance, preventing injury, staying in good physical shape and taking care of yourself (01:16:17) Franz-Paul Decker (01:20:11) score study, practice routine, practicing Bach Cello Suites (01:31:12) advice for serious students contemplating an orchestral career

Tracy Silverman is truly an inspiring musician in every respect and it was such an honour to meet him and be able to record this memorable episode! This interview is also available as a video, and the transcript will soon be published, everything linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/tracy-silverman-electric-violinist-and-author-of-the-strum-bowing-method We talked about his classical roots, studying with legendary teachers Lewis Kaplan and Ivan Galamian, his rejection of the classical world and his fascinating career, through his years in rock bands, we even talked about some of his early gigs, including learning the ropes as a strolling violinist, getting the job as first violinist of the innovative Turtle Island string quartet, and the development of his Strum Bowing method. We talked about many musicians, including some of his collaborators and mentors including Terry Riley, Darol Anger, Roy “Futureman” Wooten, Mark Wood, and composers Roberto Sierra and John Adams. In this conversation one of the many topics we covered was the new concerto writtten for Tracy called “Ficciones” by Roberto Sierra. Finally, we dived into his creative process, how music affects our emotions, and how to stay open by listening to others, and learning to show up as ourselves. Tracy Silverman website: https://www.tracysilverman.com/ Please help me keep this podcast going! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman (00:00:00) Intro (00:02:29) Concerto "Ficciones" by Roberto Sierra, premiered with the American Symphony Orchestra (00:06:13) Tracy's 6-string electric violin built by Joe Glazer with demonstrations, and more about "Ficciones" (00:13:14) Tracy's support system for the instrument and hisi progression from classical violinist through his rock days (00:21:37) Lewis Kaplan (00:24:25) Ivan Galamian (00:27:40) Tracy's approach to Bach (00:31:04) Tracy's childhood, starting to study composition (00:33:14) intersection of improvisation and composition (00:35:17) more about "Ficciones" (00:37:20) "Between the Kiss and the Chaos" (00:39:51) Turtle Island String Quartet and career advice (00:43:35) Strolling violin gigs, wedding singer (00:46:41) John Adams, "Dharma at Big Sur", solo recital versions of concerti (00:49:00) Looping with demo (00:56:27) Album "Beats and Jams" with son "Toby Beats" (01:01:11) mentor and collaborator Terry Riley (01:03:23) process of improvisation (01:09:56) using Strum bowign principles in different styles (01:16:47) Egberto Gismonti, Darol Anger (01:19:24) Caito Marcondes (01:21:00) teaching, strum bowing in school music programs (01:23:43) Turtle Island String Quartet, Darol Anger and the origin of strum bowing (01:27:08) how music affects our emotions (01:31:10) Roy "Futureman" Wooten, positive mindset (01:36:30) challenges with the 2020 lockdowns (01:43:25) manager Brian Horner and putting together commission for "Ficciones" with different orchestras (01:45:21) Rudolph Hawkin, Mark Wood, Matt Bell, Chuck Bond Trager, Tracy's mission with string playing (01:50:23) How Tracy practices (02:03:28) Advice on being open and listening to other musicians

I find my colleague Anna Petersen is such an inspiring person both as an incredible musician in her role as an oboe and English horn player and teacher, and as founder of Passionflower Yoga. In this conversation, we talk about life’s challenges as a performer and the dangers of perfectionism and the importance of self-compassion, and how her experience as a yoga practitioner and teacher have supported her both physically, psychologically and spiritually. Anna’s positivity really comes through in her beautiful playing, which you’ll get a taste of at the beginning of the episode, and in the way she has navigated some difficult life circumstances. Timestamps are included below in the description for the many topics that we touched on during this conversation. All these episodes are available in both video and podcast format and the transcript will soon be published to my podcast website leahroseman.com: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/anna-petersen-oboe-player-and-educator-founder-of-passionflower-yoga The performance of the Mozart Oboe quintet is used both with permission of Chamberfest and violinist Yosuke Kawasaki, violist Paul Casey and cellist Rachel Mercer (followers of this series will recognize several musicians!). Anna Petersen joined Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) as Second Oboe and English horn in 2013. She has performed orchestral and chamber concerts throughout Canada and the United States and internationally in China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and throughout Europe. Prior to joining NACO, she held positions as Principal Oboe of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and as B-contract Second Oboe of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. She has enjoyed guest appearances as Principal Oboe with the Pittsburgh, Detroit and Wichita Symphony Orchestras, The Florida Orchestra, the Lake Placid Sinfonietta, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom she made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2013. She has also recently performed with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in Auckland, New Zealand. Anna earned her Bachelor of Music Degree and Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music. Her primary teachers include Richard Killmer and Suzanne Geoffrey. In addition to her musical life, Anna is also an internationally certified yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance, having completed 300 hours of training in Bali, Indonesia. Her yoga website: https://passionfloweryoga.ca/ Buy me a coffee? This podcast costs me a lot of time and money ! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00:00) Introduction (00:01:27) Mozart Oboe quartet 3rd movement (00:06:03) Interview starts, with oboe demo Peter and the Wolf Prokofiev (00:07:05) English horn demo and discussion, breathing technique (00:09:38) Anna's musical history, Richard Killmer (00:11:42) Reed making (00:17:25) some oboe history (00:20:41) more about Richard Killmer (00:21:48) Anna's childhood and starting music (00:24:05) studies at Eastman (00:25:31) first job with Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (00:27:24) Auditions, self-compassion, growth mindset (00:32:18) teaching music, singing (00:34:55) Yoga, teacher training in Bali, gaining perspective (00:38:39) Anna's pre-playing routines (00:40:49) posture, body awareness (00:42:42) founding Passionflower Yoga (00:45:24) the loss of Marjorie (00:47:55) Syracuse Symphony and bankruptcy of the orchestra (00:50:10) path to joining the National Arts Centre Orchestra (00:51:13) pandemic shut-downs and first rehearsals (00:54:09) experiences in differ

In this short bonus episode with the inspiring trumpet player and educator, Karen Donnelly, Principal Trumpet of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, she shares stories of her outreach during the pandemic lockdowns, her role as mentor and her role in the The Canadian Women's Brass Collective, and finally wonderful advice for all musicians about improving. The full episode is available in both video and podcast format, with the full transcript all linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/blog/karen-donnelly-transcript Buy me a coffee? Please help this podcast keep going! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

Stephen Nachmanovitch is the author of both Free Play and more recently The Art of Is. Yo Yo Ma wrote that “Stephen Nachmanovitch’sThe Art of Is is a philosophical meditation on living, living fully, living in the present. To the author, an improvisation is a co-creation that arises out of listening and mutual attentiveness, out of a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity. It is a product of the nervous system, bigger than the brain and bigger than the body; it is a once-in-a-lifetime encounter, unprecedented and unrepeatable. Drawing from the wisdom of the ages,The Art of Is not only gives the reader an inside view of the states of mind that give rise to improvisation, it is also a celebration of the power of the human spirit, which — when exercised with love, immense patience, and discipline — is an antidote to hate.” This was an amazingly inspiring conversation, extremely wide-ranging, including some musical improvisation. I’ve included timestamps to help listeners navigate the many topics we touched on including many important artists, which include: Yehudi Menuhin, John Cage, William Blake, Herbert Zipper, Keith Johnstone, Ali Akbar Khan The video is here, and the transcript will also soon be linked on my podcast website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/stephen-nachmanovitch-author-of-free-play-and-the-art-of-is Please buy me a coffee? Thanks! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro to episode with Yo-Yo Ma quote and books “The Art of Is” and “Free Play” (01:46) World Music Menu (05:03) Violectra by David Bruce Johnson (09:43) sarangi, viola d’amore, sympathetic strings (13:10) work as a software programmer, sacred desk and secular desk (15:58) synesthesia, Visual Music Tone Painter, William Blake (18:19) Keith Johnstone and the intersections of art forms in improv: theatre, dance, music, (22:49) cooking (24:07) Yehudi Menuhin (26:47) Stephen re-learning the violin in a different way after injury (28:13) Indian music studies with Shashi Nayak and Ali Akbar Khan (29:49) “The Art of Is” and “Free Play” (30:52) Buddhism, Gregory Bateson, San Franciso Zen Center, Dorland Mountain Colony (37:53) William Blake (41:19) writing “The Art of Is” with Jack Nachmanovitch as editor (43:09) Herbert Zipper, documentary “Never Give Up” (49:38) parameters in improvisation (55:30) improvisation Leah Roseman on acoustic violin, Stephen Nachmanovitch on Violectra, waterphone and voice (01:03:23) body awareness, working with dancers (01:10:15) The judging specter (01:12:17) visual cortex interaction when listening (01:14:41) inspiration from nature, Stephen’s health problems and isolation, album “Hermitage of Thrushes” with David Rothenberg, collaborations with Ellen Burr, Anders Hagberg (01:21:13) “Finger Kissing” and the judging specter (01:27:15) John Cage (01:36:47) Stephen’s wife (01:39:29) Stephen’s advice photo credit: Dirk Dobíey

Brendan Power is famous internationally as a phenomenal harmonica player in many genres and also as an instrument innovator. He’s invented many unique harmonicas to increase the expressiveness and range possibilities of the instrument family, and is constantly experimenting. Brendan also has a fascinating personal story in that he discovered the harmonica in his university years, and changed his life in order to master it. He is completely self-taught and you may have heard his playing on albums with Sting, Kate Bush, Van Morrison, movies like Shanghai Noon and Atonement, or over 20 of his solo albums. I was thrilled to have this opportunity to speak with him! During the episode Brendan demonstrates a few of his harmonicas in different styles, and I’ve added timestamps below. The video version (transcript will be added soon) is: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/brendan-power-harmonica-player-and-inventor Brendan Power's website is: https://www.brendan-power.com/ Help me out? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:12) Amazing Grace on the AsiaBend harmonica (03:15) Discussion of the AsiaBend harmonica and different musical traditions, including Indianization of different instruments (07:58) Bulgarian music (10:10) How Brendan started developing different tunings (10:58) Brendan’s start in music, hearing Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee (12:56) Brendan’s family influences, early playing opportunities in New Zealand (15:27) how Brendan learned by ear, understanding of harmony (18:32) Brendan early years in England, winning the All-Ireland (21:39) getting hired by Sting for the Ten Summoner’s Tales videos, playing with David Sanchez, Vinnie Colaiuta (24:04) Internet history: a CD of Ten Summoner’s Tales sold in 1994 was the first secure transaction on the internet (24:59) Lucy Randall (25:26) Irish music Corner House jig into a reel (28:01) retuning harmonicas, developing different harmonicas (29:45) History of the harmonica (31:27) using iPad for music effects, MIDI, Akai EWI, SWAM Audio Modeling (35:43) Richter tuning, development of bending notes in the Blues, Paddy Richter tuning (38:10) the number of harmonicas most serious players have (41:38) pros and cons of the chromatic harmonica (43:46) how to alter a chromatic harmonica for more expressive possibilities (45:54) discussion of the SlipSlider and new innovations (49:07) pros and cons of MIDI harmonicas (51:21) Brendan’s early years learning on his own

This is a short bonus episode in my "Inspiring Excerpts" series, featuring the wonderful violinist Kerson Leong, in which he gives great advice for not only musicians, but anyone striving to live a more meaningful and mindful life. The full episode is here, available in podcast format and soon with the full transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e8-s1-kerson-leong-violinist Virtuoso violinist Kerson Leong is as eloquent in his musicality as in the way he talks about music and violin playing. I trust that a broad audience will take inspiration from this wide-ranging discussion. At the beginning of the full episode we are treated to an impromptu performance of Ysayë's Allemande from Violin Sonata no. 4. This conversation was recorded June 15, 2021. Kerson has many upcoming performances, all of which can be found on his website here: https://kersonleong.com/ Please consider helping me continue this series! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

In this short bonus episode in my Inspiring Excerpts series, Violinmaker Theo Marks talks about discovering these, as he calls them, “compelling wooden boxes", his childhood, learning the cello, and the craft and magic of violin making! The full episode is available in both video and podcast form, wherever you listen to podcasts, along with the transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e7-s1-theo-marks-luthier On my podcast website you can sign up for my podcast newsletter to get sneak peeks of upcoming guests! Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

Shahriyar Jamshidi is a Kurdish-Canadian kamanche player, composer and improvisor who grew up in Iran, and lived through some very difficult times. He has collaborated with many musicians including heavy-metal cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne (also a guest of this series) in their duo Kamancello, and has released numerous albums which feature his unique improvisational style. I find his playing to be extremely expressive and his personal story compelling. In this conversation he introduces us to this spiked-fiddle, which is the ancestor of the violin, and is used across many cultures, and also speaks about the need for humanity to stay in touch with our traditional music. Timestamps are below. Like all my episodes, this is also a video, and the transcript is linked here as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/shahriyar-jamshidi-kamancheh https://shahriyarjamshidi.com/ Help me keep going with this series! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) intro (01:20) description and history of the kamancheh (10:00) first improvisation (13:57) discussion of musical education (19:01) discussion of microtones and modes (24:03) demonstration of different techniques (28:42) discussion of the use of the kamanche and it’s relation to song (33:38) discussion about album “A Yellow Flower” (38:51) different Kurdish languages (41:59) growing up in Kermansheh, the political situation and ban on music (45:03) the importance of traditional music, more about the culture and censorship (52:42) immigration to Canada (54:54) Banff residency (57:15) International Society for Music Education conference in Azerbaijan (59:48) International Society for Improvised Music, different collaborations (1:03:23) second improvisation (1:05:41) how Shahriyar practices and the importance of traditional music (1:07:39) album “My Sunset Land Rojava” and the importance of music to express the most difficult emotions (1:17:21) process and inspiration for improvising (1:25:23) Kamancello duo with Raphael Weinroth-Browne (1:27:17) collaborations with different musicians, Richard Robeson “Meet Me in Tangier” (1:31:23) final improvisation

This is a short bonus episode in my Inspiring Excerpts series, featuring the violinist Veronica Thomas. She speaks about some of the incredible outreach the unique Préville Fine Arts Centre is doing, of which she is General Director. There’s also a clip about her experience of being on the jury of the Canadian Music Competition. In the full episode, she speaks about her unique and fascinating childhood, and reflects on her life in music. The link to the full transcript of the whole interview is here along with all the links to the video and podcast versions of the full episode, and bonus episodes as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e6-s1-veronica-thomas Préville Fine Arts Centre: https://centrepreville.org/ Support this podcast and get access to unique perks: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

Jesse Stewart is an award-winning percussionist, scholar, composer, artist, writer, instrument-maker and community activist. In 2012 he founded “We Are All Musicians” founded on his belief that music is a fundamental human right, through which he helps create opportunites for people to make music regardless of age, musical training, socio-economic circumstance and ability. During the conversation he demonstrates how any object can be used to create interesting music, and we also get to hear him improvise on a waterphone, as well as with me on my violin, with a unique instrument which he explains. I do hope you’ll find Jesse to be as inspiring and interesting as I do! Below are timestamps for all the topics we covered. The video is close-captioned and the transcript will be published soon, at the same link on my podcast website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/jesse-stewart-e13-s2-percussionist-composer-community-activist-artist-writer-instrument-builder Jesse Stewart website: https://www.jessestewart.ca/home.html Please help me with a tip? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo credit: Michele McMillan Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:50) percussion (03:48) waterphone (07:06) discussion of Pulse water dripping on drum head (09:18) intersection of visual art and music, Reinhard Reitzenstein, Gayle Young, Suzy Lake (12:09) building a vibraphone (14:31) Glacialis ice music (16:43) exploring boxes and balloons, and different instruments in teaching orchestration (26:28) studies in composition and ethnomusicology James Tenney, David Mott, Rob Bowman (32:07) recovering from brain surgery, making videos of many different instruments and found objects like canoe paddles (37:35) demonstration of different found objects (42:20) snare drum compositions with demonstration of sonic exploration with wrenches (46:06) Community activism: We Are All Musicians (49:16) Adaptive Use Musical Instrument, Pauline Oliveros (56:38) improv with violin, waterphone and the gongs with the AUMI (01:100:32) Ajay Heble and upcoming book about the pedagogy of musical improvisation (01:07:38) improv with dancers, cellist Peggy Lee, Propeller Dance, Natasha Bakht (01:11:56) notating the drum studies, discussion of jazz drumming, Elvin Jones (01:20:43) fond memories of playing with Kevin Breit, Matt Brubeck, David Mott, William Partker, playing for the Dalai Lama

Diane Nalini is an incredibly nuanced jazz singer, and composer. She performs in 4 languages and teaches jazz ukulele as well. I hope you’ll join me in my fascination with the incredible range of Diane’s interests and expertise. Besides being a phenomenal musician she also is a Rhodes scholar with Phd in Applied Physics from Oxford university and presently works in environmental science policy for the Canadian government. Not only is she a great lyricist, but she has also written songs inspired by great literature including Shakespeare, in jazz, blues, gospel, folk and bossa nova styles. During this conversation, she performs some of her original songs for us, and I’ve added timestamps in the description of the episode for the many interesting topics we touched on as well as her incredible performances. The video version is linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e12-s2-diane-nalini Diane Nalini's website: https://www.dianenalini.com/about/ Give me a tip? You can get access to unique perks: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks! Timestamps: (00:00 Intro) (00:53) Shakespeare “Songs of Sweet Fire” (03:30) Rhodes scholar, and Chinese calligraphy and watercolour painting with Virginia Chang, Bill Evans (08:07) paintings for “Songs of Sweet Fire”, role as album producer (10:55) Diane’s experience as a dancer and also starting to sing jazz songs at 3 years of age, also her experience of strict piano lessons (14:18) National Ballet School summer program experience (15:49) first professional jazz gigs (16:57) Science mentors at Dawson College Richard Shoemaker and John Mohamed (17:58) intro to her baritone ukulele and “Winter Eclipse” (19:04) Song “Winter Eclipse” (23:13) discussion of her song “Kiss Me Like That” and astronomy (26:18) Diane’s work for Environment, Climate Change Canada (28:13) discussion of her song “The Last Hurrah” (29:50) discussion of the challenges for individuals to limit consumption (34:48) jazz ukulele, Diane’s YouTube Ukulele for Jazz Singers, her workshops and teaching (39:48) teaching and performing online, connecting with people worldwide (41:37) learning Portuguese (47:23) Syncspace Live with husband Adrian Cho (56:00) some advantages to online teaching (58:02) introduction to song “Le Tournesol” (58:58) Song “Le Tournesol” (01:02:01) discussion about languages, etymology, Diane’s father (01:06:13) singing Schubert Lieder, learning German (01:10:52) turning down a recording contract offer, balancing a life in Science and Music (01:14:39) producing her first album, the process of putting together albums (01:16:34) making new musical connections in England, joining a salsa band (01:22:04) Diane’s ukulele made by Luis Feu de Mesquita, also history of the ukulele (01:29:36) Future Perfect album, pandemic challenges, new songs (01:33:42) Diane’s creative process and memory for music (01:38:19) Diane’s music in movies and tv shows (01:41:01) how listeners interpret songs so differently, including her song “After Dusk” photo credit: Adrian Cho

I'm re-releasing my very first episode, recorded May 27, 2021 with the wonderful nyckelharpa player, violinist, teacher, and composer Kirsty Money. During the episode she plays some wonderful music for us and shares some charming stories about how she got to know this beautiful and unusual instrument. All of these episodes are also in video format, and I have also published the complete transcript of this episode. Video, transcript and short bonus episodes are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e1s1kirstymoney Help me with a tip? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks! I'm an independant podcaster who does all the things, and pays for all the things! photo credit: Hamish Gordon

I speak with Elaine Klimasko, who is a Canadian violinist who joined the newly-formed National Arts Centre Orchestra in 1969 as the youngest member, and is well-known as a teacher. Her students are very frequently winners of competitions and hold important positions as chamber and orchestral musicians all over North America. In 2003 NACO Music Director Pinchas Zukerman asked her to launch the first Junior Young Artists Programme for the NAC Summer Music Institute. In this episode she tells many stories from her life, and about some legendary teachers she studied with including Josef Gingold and Lorand Fenyves. She reflects on her long career, from the perspectives of a teacher and as a player. Timestamps are listed below! Every episode is also available as a video, the link is here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/elaine-klimasko-e11-s2-violinist-and-teacher Please buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Thanks! Elaine Klimasko: "But I do say to all of my students though, if you think that playing in a symphony orchestra is secondary, that's the worst thing you could be thinking because the joy of orchestral playing, and I'm sure you feel the same way, Leah, is, there's nothing in life to me that compares with that. When you're playing one of those grand symphonies and that buildup a crescendo and you hear the horns and the French horns... I mean, I'm just covered in goosebumps. In my seventies still, and I don't know of any other profession that makes you feel that way. Maybe a doctor delivering a baby. I don't know. But it's pretty special." Timestamps ( 00:00) Intro ( 00:51) Joining the National Arts Centre Orchestra ( 12:29) music festivals like Kiwanis (13:04) dealing with stagefright (15:18) more about John Moskalyk (19:12) Lorand Fenyves ( 23:08) perfect pitch (25:52) Josef Gingold ( 31:52) violin teaching ( 33:42) music festivals (37:15) mentoring students who go on as professional musicians ( 41:46) the joy of orchestral playing ( 42:33) advice for orchestral auditions (45:07) the role of orchestral players in educational outreach ( 46:46) the Young Artists Program with Pinchas Zukerman ( 51:08) Pinchas Zukerman (55:23) story about Jascha Heifetz ( 56:08) chamber music ( 59:07) history of the NAC and Hamilton Southam (01:02:00) advice for serious players about buying instruments and bows ( 01:07:15) reflections on teaching ( 01:12:14 )building audiences for the future

This short bonus episode in my Inspiring Excerpts series is with Québecois traditional fiddler Alexis Chartrand, created from clips from Episode 5 Season 1. We first hear Alexis perform a jig by Josef Allard. Alexis learned a lot from playing with dancers from a young age, and In the next clips you’ll hear him discuss both groove and ornamentation in traditional Quebecois fiddling. The full transcript is now available, and the links to the full episode in both podcast and video format (with timestamps in the descriptions) are all here: https://leahroseman.com/blog/alexis-chartrand-e5-s1-transcript Alexis Chartrand: "I learned a lot from step dancers, listening to the sound of their feet, to the inherent groove that they've developed. To me that's really the basis of my practice of the bow, all of the rhythms that we have to summon with the traditional style of bowing." Please help me keep this podcast going! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman