What do you get when you combine re-imagined classic rock and roll with jazz music delivered by a Grammy award winning Big Band orchestra and Grammy nominated vocalist? In this case, you get a newly-minted Grammy nomination for ‘Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album’ from The Count Basie Orchestra, featuring Billboard’s #1 jazz artist - and our podcast guest - Deborah Silver, for “Basie Rocks!”

This 11 track project is packed with iconic hits from the likes of Elton John, Peter Frampton The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, the Steve Miller Band and more, delivered by The Count Basie Orchestra and Silver, in collaboration with Arturo Sandoval, Kurt Elling, Wycliffe Gordon, Trombone Shorty, Bill Frisell and others.

Join me as our conversation with Deborah Silver discusses her fascinating story, and how her collaboration with The Count Basie Orchestra ultimately led to this extraordinary GRAMMY nominated album.

April Varner is a rising jazz vocalist and the 2023 winner of the International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition. Her full-length Christmas album, featuring unique and reimagined holiday standards, is called ‘Winter Songs Vol. 2’ just released on the Cellar Music Group label.

We have chosen to showcase the project as one of the standouts from a long list of holiday recordings produced every year at this time. The album features an impressive gathering of Varner collaborators, including GRAMMY- winning producer Ulysses Owens Jr. on drums, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, pianist Luther Allison, guitarist Leandro Pellegrino, and an outstanding vocal trio The Sunhouse Singers, featuring June Cavlan, Kate Kortum, and Joie Bianco.

My holiday gift to you is a conversation with this amazing and talented artist about the development of her holiday recording, as well as a little bit about the backstory of a vocalist and a name you’re going to want to remember.

The Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra also known as CCJO is one of the Midwest’s most prominent jazz bands. Founded in 2013, CCJO is currently a 17-piece not-for-profit ensemble dedicated to performing, preserving and teaching jazz as a living art form. More than a decade ago, Rob Parton – the former artistic director of the CCJO – floated the idea of creating a new jazz version of “Nutcracker.”

One might ask why, when in 1960 a couple of jazz giants named Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn created their own jazz version of the work called “The Nutcracker Suite,”which became an iconic and beloved holiday jazz standard.

Moving to the present day, along comes the dynamic duo of CCJO’s current artistic director Eric Lechliter and Doug Lillibridge the CCJO board president who were not at all intimidated, and have now created their own jazzy take on the Nutcracker called the “Nutcracker Remix”. This recording is a 12-track album featuring nine reimagined tracks from the Tchaikovsky ballet and three bonus Christmas-themed tracks sung by powerhouse jazz singer Mandy Gaines.

Eric and Doug have “thrown down the gauntlet” to establish CCJO’s place as a standard-bearer for holiday recordings. Here is our conversation, along with snippets of what we are sure will become a holiday classic.

There is a new jazz record of note on the scene created by Rin Seo, a Korea- born composer/conductor, titled ‘City Suite,’ released on the Cellar Music Group record label.

Rin was raised in a rich musical environment encompassing Western classical, Theater, and Korean folk music, but her work and life is now fully committed to jazz. This debut album is a remarkable musical journey for Rin. As an immigrant, her compositions reflect her decade-long life as a New Yorker, while also honoring her Korean heritage.

My fascinating conversation with Rin picks up with her moving to New York City and the development of her debut album.

Brandon Sanders, has always cut his own unique path. Born in Kansas City but spending his formative years in Compton, Brandon grew up in a musical household. He also honed his love of Jazz at the Kansas City jazz club, Casablanca, run by his grandmother.

But first, college called. After playing basketball for a junior college near Los Angeles, he enrolled at the behest of his grandmother—actually, she did the enrolling for him—at the University of Kansas. While studying communications there, Brandon became a walk-on practice player for the top-seeded team in the country where quickly gained a reputation as a dogged defender.

After receiving his undergraduate degree in communications, and Master’s in social work at Kansas, Brandon dedicated himself to that field. But eventually his passion for music caught up with him. So, at age 25, he taught himself how to play drums, until a Kansas City drummer named Todd Strait, who used to play with Marian McPartland, took Brandon under his wing. And with years of intense practice, Brandon attained such a high level of proficiency that he was accepted at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, where he formed friendships and musical associations with future jazz greats including Warren Wolf, trumpeter Darren Barrett, and drummer Kendrick Scott. He started playing in various bands at Boston clubs including Wally’s Jazz Cafe and the Wonder Bar, gaining experience that eventually led him New York.

Now living in Brooklyn, Brandon has a third album titled “Lasting Impression,” on the heels of two critically acclaimed releases “Brandon Sanders: The Tables Will Turn,” and his first titled, “Compton’s Finest.”

In this episode, I talk with Brandon about his remarkable career trajectory, and the forming of collaborations with a stellar list of jazz all-stars to create a path to his musical success.

Roger Glenn is truly one of the most interesting people in the world of music. He is a multi-instrumentalist who has performed, recorded and toured with a Who’s Who list of Jazz and Latin Jazz luminaries.

As our conversation came to a close, it became clear that we simply could not tell Roger’s story without making it in two parts. So, Part 1 was about Roger’s backstory. To call him multi-faceted and unique is an understatement.

Interestingly, before I started production of Part 2, we had the serendipitous privilege of spending time with Roger at Keys Jazz Bistro during a quick trip to San Francisco, and it brought our Part 1 episode full circle. Meeting Roger in person proved to be everything I thought it would be. He was gracious, funny, a marvelous storyteller and thoroughly engaging - all the attributes I was delighted to experience when we recorded our interview via Zoom.

Now, in Part 2, we shift gears to talk about his latest release as a leader. The album, called ‘My Latin Heart,’ is out now on the Patois Records label. The most remarkable thing about it, besides the incredible music, is the fact that for this 80-year-old musician it is only his second album as the front man in 49 + years.

My guest is Roger Glenn, who would have been the perfect spokesperson for a series of commercials titled the “Most Interesting Man in the World” - in the world of music. Roger is a multi-instrumentalist who plays flute, vibes, marimba, saxophone, clarinet, percussion and more. He’s been described as being overshadowed but in plain sight for decades. In fact, the bio on his website says it best: “He is ingredient X. The secret sauce. The cat behind the cat. Now, after decades of elevating the music of bona fide legends in jazz, Latin jazz, blues, and funk, this versatile, singular multi-instrumental master is stepping out of the shadows and into the spotlight with his first new album in four decades.”

Roger is the son of the legendary jazz trombonist and vibes man Tyree Glenn. Roger is also a pilot, and sailing aficionado, who studied math and physics. And this interesting man, who has just turned 80-years old, can still do it all. To celebrate his 80th birthday, Roger has released his second album as a leader in 49 years, on the Patois Records label, titled, “My Latin Heart.” It’s a panoramic journey through his lifelong passion for Afro-Caribbean rhythms.

Because his amazing story is so all-encompassing, we feel compelled to tell it in two episodes. Here is Episode One. It’s where we take a deep dive into the backstory of his life and times, and how it led him to his breakout moment on the occasion of his 80th birthday.

My conversation with vocalist and composer, Mandy Harvey, may be one of the most memorable we’ve done. Why? Because this incredibly talented woman with an exquisite voice has been profoundly deaf since the age of 18. We conducted the interview over Zoom with Mandy using a voice-to-text captioning program in order for her to see and reply to my questions. Her voice? Well, you’ll find out that it speaks for itself. And her story is one you’ll never forget.

Our episode begins with a discussion about her musical life, followed by a journey through how she was able to transcend the hardships and challenges she faced to become a successful artist and motivational inspiration for others.