This episode is about a story that needs to be heard. It’s the tale of an amazing individual and jazz artist named René Marie. Her story has been portrayed in an award - winning short documentary by Rachel Kessler, a Brooklyn-based director, screenwriter, and producer with over a decade of experience deeply rooted in her artistic and creative beliefs.

The beauty and soul of René Marie has been captured in this film called, ‘Tuning René Marie’, that weaves you through the early life of this GRAMMY-nominated jazz vocalist. It premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Woodstock Film Festival in 2022 where it was nominated for Best Short Documentary; it’s now available for all to see on the prestigious short film channel, Omeleto.

It’s an extraordinary story that we’re honored to share as we speak to both women about how it came to be, and the impact it’s had on them, and on everyone who’s seen it.

Fado is a powerful and poignant musical expression of the Portuguese soul, often associated with the hardships of everyday life and characterized by melancholy, expressive vocal performances with a strong emphasis on emotional, poetic storytelling.

The unique sound of Fado is highlighted by the guitarra portuguesa, or Portuguese guitar - a pear-shaped cittern with 12 wire strings - and is usually accompanied by a wire-strung acoustic guitar. In many ways, its’ free-form style is reminiscent of early Blues and Jazz.

Intrigued by what we learned from our research, we sought out a specific Fado performance while visiting the city of Porto. This turned out to be a serendipitous experience. We were the only two audience members in what ended up being a private concert. This allowed us to dig deeper into the history and soul of this music deeply rooted in Portuguese tradition. The session featured the outstanding talents of noted Fado vocalist, Ana Margarida, and her two musicians, Artur on Portuguese guitar, and Antonio on classical acoustic guitar.

With apologies in advance for the less-than-perfect audio, we couldn’t pass up the chance to record this unexpected, once-in-a- lifetime session with a cell phone since we were without our professional audio equipment.

By sharing our experience, we hope to give you an insight into this extraordinary musical genre through our conversation recorded in the majestic Grand Salon of Porto City Hall.

This is a is the story of how New York-based pianist, composer, arranger and educator, Caili O'Doherty, developed and recently released an album called ‘Bluer Than Blue’ which honors the overlooked genius of Lillian “Lil” Hardin Armstrong. If that name is somewhat familiar to you, it’s because this highly talented artist and composer in her own right was married to none other than Louis Satchmo Armstrong. Lil was Armstrong’s second wife, and they collaborated on many recordings in the 1920s. But it was actually Lil who wrote many famous, classic tunes of that early jazz era.

Caili discovered Lil’s prolific background while taking a course from Ricky Riccardi, the Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong Museum titled, “The Music of Louis Armstrong.” Not only did it whet Caili’s appetite to learn more about this unsung Jazz heroine, but also led to assembling her core trio of Tamir Schmerling on bass, drummer Cory Cox ,and saxophonist Nicole Glover, along with special guest vocalists Tahria Clayton and Michael Mayo, to record Lil Hardin Armstrong’s music.

My conversation begins with Caili diving into even more about Lil’s early career as she unravels for us details of this little-known magical, musical history.

Israeli born jazz drummer, composer and bandleader, Dan Pugach, grew up not far from Tel Aviv. His Jazz education and service as a drummer in the IDF Air Force Band and attending Israel's Rimon School of Music led him to The US to attend the Berklee College of Music. Dan moved to New York City where he began building an impressive musical resume with his original music and arrangements. Along the way, he formed the Dan Pugach Nonet, and the Dan Pugach Big Band; both leading to award-winning recognition for his talents and musical collaborations.

The most notable collaboration in Dan’s life, however, came in 2009 when he met stunning singer/songwriter Nicole Zuraitis. Nicole and Dan flourished individually - and together - collecting numerous awards, including several Grammy nominations.

Along the way, their partnership in the studio and on stage, became more permanent when they married in 2018. Nicole went on to win her first Grammy award for her 2023 vocal album “How Love Begins,” which was co-produced by jazz giant Christian McBride and featured her drummer-husband.

Not to be outdone, Dan took to the stage for his first Grammy win this year with his Big Band as winner of the 2024 award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble album titled “Bianca Reimagined.” And, you guessed it, the album also features the love of his life, his wife Nicole. The album was inspired by their pit bull rescue dog named Bianca, and 15 years of dedicated efforts by this couple to rescue and rehabilitate pit bulls from shelters in New York City.

It’s a fascinating and unique backstory, highlighted by cuts from the Grammy-winning album, we know you’ll enjoy.

Ryan Middagh is not only a composer, arranger, baritone saxophonist and educator, as Chair of the Department of Jazz and Global Music at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, he has delivered all that, and more, in his latest release called “Tenor Madness.” This album is a love letter to both the saxophone itself, and the abundance of saxophonists found in the vibrant and growing Nashville music scene.

To bring the music to this release, Ryan gathered together an amazing group of his talented friends and saxophone colleagues like Jeff Coffin, Joel Frahm, Don Aliquo, Jovan Quallo, Alex Graham, vocalist Jenna McLean, trombonists Jeremy Wilson, and special guest Roy Agee, as well as members the Ryan Middagh Jazz Orchestra.

Join me for a conversation about the development of this stunning album, “Tenor Madness,” and the man behind the music. If you’re like me, a fan of big band music and have a keen interest in the sound of the saxophone as a stand-out instrument to deliver that dynamic genre of music, then you are in for a treat with this episode.

Pittsburgh has a strong connection to the world of jazz; in fact, you might say it is sacred ground for this music genre. Many of the legends of jazz - like Billy Eckstine, Billy Taylor, Ray Brown, George Benson, Stanley Turrentine, Mary Lou Williams, Ahmad Jamal, Art Blakey and dozens more - are from this Pennsylvania “burg.”

In this episode, we talk with co-founder and executive producer of MCG Jazz, Marty Ashby, about how MCG Jazz grew out of the organization founded in the 1960’s by Bill Strickland as Manchester Craftsman Guild. What started as Strickland’s dream to serve and give back to the community, has since grown into a powerhouse program.

As a Craftsman Guild, MCG initially provided a space to develop ceramics, photography and digital design education for urban youth. In the late 80’s, Strickland joined forces with jazz guitarist Ashby. Together as co-founders, they started MCG Jazz, where Ashby also continues to grow this legacy program as its executive producer.

Our conversation begins with Marty Ashby telling me about the backstory to this incredible organization, its history, present projects and their vision for the future of keeping Jazz alive for generations to come

Jazz Manouche is a style of music that mixes jazz with traditional French dance music and Romani, also known as Gypsy music. Django Reinhardt is considered to be the pioneer of jazz manouche in the 1930s. Django is, in fact, one of the most influential guitarists of all time. His music and recordings are classics and they have touched the hearts and minds of others for decades. One such artist moved by this legendary figure is vocalist Tatiana Eva Marie. Tatiana’s latest project, a celebration of the music of Django Reinhardt called “Djangology,” sprang from a desire to reconnect with her Romani (Gypsy) origins.

Born into a family of musicians, painters, and poets, Tatiana was immersed in a world of show business, arts, and culture. Moved by the music she grew up with, her Gypsy soul carried her on a musical journey that took Tatiana from her birthplace of Switzerland to a bohemian lifestyle at the young age of 15 when she entered college in Paris. From there, Tatiana continued to travel across the globe, eventually winding up in New York City where she continues to develop new projects when she’s not traveling.

Join me in exploring the colorful and fascinating story of this artist who the New York Times calls, “The Gypsy jazz warbler.”

Band of Other Brothers is a stellar, multi genre supergroup whose members boast incredible associations with a Who’s Who of A-listers. There's pianist Jeff Babko (Jimmy Kimmel Live, Sheryl Crow), saxophonist and woodwind wizard Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones), drummer Keith Carlock (Steely Dan, John Mayer), guitarist Nir Felder (Esperanza Spalding, Jack DeJohnette), and bassist, vocalist Will Lee (Late Show with David Letterman, The Brecker Brothers).

While they’ve joined forces before, this is their first holiday release. It’s called “This Year At Christmas” on Ear Up records, and offers Christmas standards delivered in a unique, and even unconventional manner, by this all-star group of multi Grammy®️ winning musicians. The album also features two very special guest vocalists, as well as Keith Carlock’s own Carlock Family Choir, all highlighted by an amazing string ensemble that offers the perfect complement the joubilant selection of tunes.

My guests for this fun and more than occasionally frenetic conversation are Jeff Babko, Jeff Coffin, Nir Felder and Will Lee. Drummer Keith Carlock was tending to the reindeer and sadly couldn’t join in the Christmas chaos. Join me for a whimsical journey through the backstory behind this one-of-a-kind holiday release.