Heart to heart talks with musicians and other creatives about music and life with Jill Minyé, Daniel Townsend.
Episodes
Monday Mar 30, 2020
Monday Mar 30, 2020
What you just heard is our guest setting an intention for this interview, by singing this little song in Haitian Kreyol. I’m happy to announce that we have our first drummer and percussionist on the show! I’ve seen him perform many times over the years and have always enjoyed something about his playing that is hard to describe. I guess I could say that it is as much about his Presence as his playing.
He was born in Bronxville, New York, grew up in Western Connecticut, and made his way to California in 1974. He performs in and around the Bay Area playing with a large pool of musicians and plays in a variety of styles and genres. That said, he has a special passion for Haitian drumming, has studied seriously for many years, and performs regularly with two Bay Area Haitian dance companies.
He has also been a member of the Brazilian Jazz guitarist/composer Ricardo Peixoto’s quintet for five years.
Our guest is also a teacher, teaching both privately and at Sonoma State University, where he leads an ensemble in the Jazz Program.
He is one of the first people I thought of having on the show when Daniel and I first started this project, so I’m thrilled that we finally got to sit down with him, and get to share our conversation with you! We are so pleased to welcome, Kendrick Freeman!
Rara Tou Limen with Daniel Brevil
Blanche Brown leader of Hatian Dance Company, Group Petit La Croix
Sunday Mar 08, 2020
Sunday Mar 08, 2020
Marc Farre: Singer/Songwriter and Guitarist, The Craft of Songwriting: Where do Songs Come From? The Value of Self-Discipline and Perils of Perfectionism, Being Your Own Benefactor.
Our guest this episode is a guitarist/singer-songwriter who is known as an Indie POP-rock musician with an art house French vibe sound, a throaty voice, and darkly poetic lyrics.
He grew up in Washington D.C., was raised speaking both French and English at home, and sings many of his songs in French.
After graduating from Georgetown University with a degree in Mathematical Economics he lived in NYC for about 10 years, working as a manager for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and traveling the world, before he left to pursue a career in music. In 2018, he and his wife made their way out to Sebastopol, California, where they currently live, growing their own food, and enjoying the beauty of Sonoma County.
This episode has plenty of music throughout, with several clips from songs from our guest’s albums as well as two live performances.
We are so pleased to share with you our charming poet-musician, Marc Farre!
Saturday Feb 08, 2020
Saturday Feb 08, 2020
Our guest this episode is a professional pianist, originally from Newport Beach, California, currently residing in the San Francisco Bay Area where he performs with his trio, as well as with a long list of other accomplished musicians, including vocalist Deborah Winters, and soul singer Chris Saunders. He is also a member of guitarist Ricardo Peixoto’s Quintet.
Our guest is an adjunct faculty member of the Jazz department at Sonoma State, teaches piano privately, and composes and scores music for film. He loves all kinds of music and has played on 13 albums.
He has a B.A. in Economics, attended Berklee College of Music in Boston and has a Masters degree in Jazz Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music.
I feel fortunate to have gotten to know our guest and listen to him play live during our conversation, as he shares his heart and wisdom generously through both. He is also strong in the empathy department!
We are so pleased to welcome to the show, Ken Cook!
Monday Jan 06, 2020
Monday Jan 06, 2020
Our guest this episode was born and raised in Carson California, where she studied classical piano throughout her childhood starting at very young age. After high school, she attended University of California, Long Beach, where she studied Interior Design. After one semester there, she changed course and made her way to Sonoma State, where she graduated with a BA in both Music, (piano) and Fine Art, (printmaking).
Our guest works as an accompanist in private studios and is currently the pianist who accompanies the applied music students at Santa Rosa Junior College in Northern California. She is also a vocal coach for these voice students.
While our guest’s career is primarily focused on music, her interest in the arts is eclectic. She has a passion for both comedy and drawing and finds great satisfaction through creating comics strips. She also loves variety shows, theater, puppets, and dance and has even created, starred in and produced several variety shows for the stage!
We are so pleased to welcome our multi-talented, funny and humble guest, Nancy Hayashibara!
Sunday Dec 22, 2019
Sunday Dec 22, 2019
Our guest this episode was born and raised in the UK in East Anglia - and in December of 2019, she became a US citizen. She is a vocal improviser, which means that she sings without knowing what she is going to sing, both alone and with others, and she is also a teacher.
Our guest developed her musicianship chops through studying with well known vocal improvisers, Rhiannon and Bobby McFerrin, as well as with bassist and guitarist, David Eskenazy and Indian master singer, Atulkumar Upadhye. In 2017, she recorded “Listen”, an album of completely improvised vocal music with her quintet, The Elements, and has two albums coming out in 2020.
While she performs in ceremonial contexts such as weddings, blessings, and grief rituals, as well as regular gigs throughout the UK and America, our guest is also very much a helper/healer/priestess of sorts. She has trained with Dr Melissa Michaels of the SomaSource Leadership Training, and works with people who have experienced trauma and oppression. I have had the honor to both witness and experience her capacity to hold sacred space, and the therapeutic nature of her work.
We are so honored and pleased to welcome our guest, Briony Greenhill!
Sunday Dec 08, 2019
Sunday Dec 08, 2019
We are pleased to announce that this is our first episode where our guest plays live music on the show. Our guest this episode is a Native Californian. He began playing piano at age four, soon transitioned to guitar, bass guitar and by age 14, decided on eight stringed guitar as his primary instrument. Our guest is a full time musician, primarily playing solo gigs on his eight string guitar, with which he simultaneously plays bass, chords, melody and fills. He has a passion for the blues, which is evident in all of his playing. He writes and performs originals and creates unique arrangements of cover tunes, embracing a wide variety of genres from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, to today’s music. We are so pleased to welcome our guest, a hard working musician with incredible chops, Nate Lopez! We are al is our first episode where we are recording an artist playing live.
Saturday Nov 23, 2019
Saturday Nov 23, 2019
Our guest this episode grew up in a suburb outside of Paris, France and currently lives in Penngrove, California. She started singing and performing with her brother, Gabe Pirard, when they were children, and later, after having moved to the States, formed the band Dgiin, where they performed together for over 12 years.
After a vocal injury that required a two year vocal rest, our guest formed a new band called SonoMusette, where they perform in the style of French Chanson from the 20th Century, including covers of Jaques Brel and Edith Piaf, as well as their originals.
Our guest is also Mom to a six year old, an avid mountaineer, kayak lover and bee keeper!
We are so happy to welcome to the show, Mimi Pierce!
Photo by Frederic Aube
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
Sunday Nov 10, 2019
Our guest this week grew up in the Bronx, New York, currently lives in Sonoma Valley, California. She is a professional pianist who composes, performs and teaches a variety of genres, and has a passion for Brazilian Jazz. She started studying classical piano as a young girl and began attending the children’s program at Manhattan School of Music/Juilliard at age 11. Our guest has a BA in Piano Performance from University of Michigan School of Music, and she also wrote for, acted in and directed a feminist theater group at the University. She has been playing and performing since childhood, and since moving to California, has performed at many of the major Bay Area venues, The San Jose Jazz Festival, and has headlined The Healdsburg Jazz Festival with Grammy-winning Brazilian Jazz Icon, Leny Andrade. Our hard-working guest is also the music director for both a synagogue and a Christian church- and she happens to be a great story-teller. Her effervescent, joyful personality infuses her music and all that she does.
We are thrilled to welcome our guest, Stephanie Ozer!
Monday Oct 28, 2019
Monday Oct 28, 2019
Our guest this episode is from Petaluma, California. She started singing, taking piano lessons, and studying classical voice as a young girl living in the country. As a teen, she attended a performing arts high school, then moved East to continue her studies at Syracuse University where she focused on theater arts. Our guest then moved to New York City and pursued acting for five years before returning to her hometown of Petaluma. Upon her return, she and guitarist Gabe Pirard started a band called French Oak Gypsies, based on their mutual interests in French Gypsy Jazz and Traditional Jazz from New Orleans. This band is now called, Bandjango Collectif.
Several years later, our guest developed The Billie Holiday Project, combining her acting and story-telling skills with her vocals as Billie, creating a top notch quartet to accompany her.
Along with being the leader of several bands, acting as their manager, booking agent, and publicist, today’s guest teaches voice, acting, beginning piano and guitar.
We are so pleased to welcome our guest, Stella Heath!
Links:
Sunday Oct 20, 2019
Sunday Oct 20, 2019
Our guest this episode is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a pianist, composer, arranger, sound engineer, accompanist, as well as the music director at a church. He moved to Northern California in 1979, and currently lives in Sebastopol, CA.
Our guest also works as producer, musician, and sound engineer at his recording Studio, J Dog Studios in Sebastopol. He has both a Bachelors and Masters degree in Music Composition and composes in the genres, jazz and electronics. You can find clips of his music at the end of the podcast in this order: “A Night in Athabasca” (Electronic piece), followed by “CMYK”, and “Crepuscle with Nellie” - both Jazz piano compositions, and can listen to many other recordings on his website, johnsimon.net by clicking on "listen".
Our guest is also an accomplished soloist and the preferred accompanist for many vocalists and instrumentalists in the Bay Area, as well as the keyboardist for many different rock, dance and jazz groups.
Along with his gifts as a performer and composer, our guest is also a teacher. He taught at Sonoma State for seven years, and at Santa Rosa Junior college for 11. He also teaches piano out of his studio in Sebastopol, where I’ve been the lucky recipient of his knowledge, wisdom, and hilarity!
We are very pleased to welcome our guest, John Simon!
Sunday Oct 13, 2019
Sunday Oct 13, 2019
Our guest on today’s episode lives in Napa, California. He is a guitar teacher at Napa School of Music, and is the YouTube phenom who created, “100 Famous Rock Guitar Riffs”. He has a BA in Music Composition and has diverse musical interests. He has written and performed in a multitude of genres from Latin Rock, to Medieval Folk music, to 12 tone serialism.
Our guest also happens to have been our co-host, Daniel Townsend’s guitar teacher for many years.
We are thrilled to welcome our guest, Brodie Cumming!
Sunday Sep 29, 2019
Sunday Sep 29, 2019
Our guest this episode is originally from Indiana and currently lives in Santa Rosa, California. He is a sound engineer, audio-tech, archivist, singer/songwriter and recording artist. He has performed throughout Europe, where he lived for ten years, gigged as an audio-tech since the 90’s, worked as an archivist at George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound, and worked many festivals such as Bottlerock. He is currently semi-retired, enjoying occasional gigs and composing and recording new music. We are pleased to welcome our guest, Reed Maidenberg!
Notes:
Reed's daughter's band: PRXZM
Sunday Sep 22, 2019
Sunday Sep 22, 2019
Our guest this episode plays both stand-up and electric bass, and is also a guitarist and singer/songwriter. He currently lives in his hometown of Petaluma, California. He graduated from San Francisco State with a BA in music and recently toured Europe for several months with Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids.
He currently plays in several bands, including the Reggae Band, Sol Horizon, the Gypsy Jazz band, Bandjango Collectif, formerly known as French Oak Gypsy Band, as well as with the Mike Saliani Band, and Lisa Stano and the Gang.
Our talented guest is a hard working, humble and gentle soul, with an easy laugh and a penchant for taking gigs that require learning lots of tunes in a short amount of time. He also teaches both bass and guitar.
We are pleased to welcome our guest Skyler Stover.
Links:
Sunday Sep 15, 2019
Sunday Sep 15, 2019
Our guest this episode lives in Point Reyes, California. She is a singer, guitarist, pianist, voice teacher, choir director, and community organizer, as well as a long-time yoga teacher. She leads a choir of up to 50 people that absolutely delights and inspires the community with their performances.
During our conversation, she reveals that she is more interested in singing as a path to personal healing and transformation than as a performance-oriented activity. This becomes a main area of focus in our discussion.
She is also the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit, Sound Orchard, and believes that, "making music together can help create a more healthy, vibrant and connected community”.
We are thrilled to welcome our guest this episode, Devi Daly.
Links:
Sunday Sep 08, 2019
Sunday Sep 08, 2019
Our guest this episode started playing piano at 10, and played his first professional gig at 14. He also plays a bit of trumpet, drum kit, and bass. His piano studies began with classical and ragtime, and soon after, he discovered Jazz. He still loves classical piano, has a passion for the music of George Gershwin and is known for playing a mean stride piano.
At 25, he is currently the pianist for The Billie Holiday Project, led by Stella Heath, and has played at most of the top local Bay Area venues, including Blue Note, Napa, The Back Room, Red Poppy Arthouse, Occidental Center for the Arts, Healdsburg Hotel, and the Mystic Theater in Petaluma to name a few. He has numerous gigs lined up with The Billie Holliday Project in New York City as well as other parts of the country.
He is a humble and generous man with a lot of talent, a great work ethic and a charming sense of humor. Our guest today is Neil Angelo Fontano.
In this episode we hear lots of stories from Neil, including what happened one day when he was sent to his room as a kid for four hours, the surprising experiences that helped him overcome stage fright, and his thoughts on numerous subjects that fascinate him.
We hope you enjoy this episode! Please subscribe and spread the word if you do!
Links:
Sunday Sep 01, 2019
Sunday Sep 01, 2019
Our guest this episode was born and raised in Santa Monica, California. He began playing trumpet at age 10, fell in love with the low tones of the tuba at 13, and switched to electric bass at 15.
He started gigging in clubs as a teenager in LA, toured with early rock and R&B bands, played in Hollywood Punk-Era clubs, and toured with a Latin folk band.
He’s toured with The Drifters, Richard Berry, and performed on bills with the likes of Albert King, Pete Seeger, Bonnie Raitt and Billy Idol. He is a hard-working session player, and has played on many artists’ albums, including a couple of Mazzy Star’s.
Our guest moved from LA to the Bay Area in 1991, and now resides in Sebastopol, California. He is the go-to bass player for many acts, and continues to be an active session player.
We are happy to welcome our guest, Paul Olguin to the podcast!
Links:
FeatPrints, a Tribute to Little Feat
http://www.loraleechristensen.com
Sunday Aug 25, 2019
Sunday Aug 25, 2019
Today’s guest is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He plays tenor and baritone sax, clarinet, flute and any other woodwind instrument he can get his hands on. While he is well known and loved in the local music community and beyond for being a versatile player of many genres, I know him as a killer jazz musician, passionate, generous and creative, with very big ears and the ability to connect with anyone.
He also happens to be a community development consultant who travels the world, and a kind and humble man. Today’s guest is Michael Fortunato.
In this entertaining and energetic episode we cover a lot of territory. The importance of play, community building, musicians as natural community leaders, and mental health are just a few of the topics discussed. You will find plenty of laughter and silliness interspersed with interesting reflections and ponderings.
We hope you enjoy this episode of Meaningful Musical Conversations. Please feel free to leave a comment, like, and share with friends if you feel so moved.
Notes from Michael:
"I have to give credit to my woodwinds teacher, Jimmy Guerra, who was the driving force behind how I play today. He taught me how to teach myself, and did the best he could given the limited time we had together."
”Innovation happens at the nexus of unlike things.”
Here is a link to the book Michael highly recommends:
Saturday Aug 17, 2019
Saturday Aug 17, 2019
We are delighted to share Dena DeRose, with you in this episode. Dena is a masterful jazz singer and pianist, jazz educator and overall wise and very fun person! She’s performed in New York clubs since the early 90’s and played at festivals and concerts throughout the world.
Dena has worked with Gene Bertoncini, Ray Brown, Jay Clayton, John Clayton, Bruce Forman, Benny Golson, Wycliffe Gordon, Jeff Hamilton, Billy Hart, Bill Henderson, Mark Murphy, Judy Niemack, Ken Peplowski, Houston Person, Alex Riel, Marvin Stamm, Clark Terry, and Steve Turre, and is the leader on 12 albums, three of which are Grammy nominated. She's recording a new album with Highnote Records in October which will be out in 2020.
Dena is currently professor for Jazz Voice at The University of Music and Performing Arts, in Graz, Austria, where she currently resides.
Jazz Institute of the University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz, Austria
Bach Dining and Dancing Society
Justin Eggert, Tai Chi and Qigong Master
Saturday Aug 17, 2019
Saturday Aug 17, 2019
Our second episode, we are delighted and honored to have Jill's dear friend, Lisa Stano as our very first guest. She currently resides in Petaluma California, and is a prolific and talented singer/songwriter, guitar player, stand-up bassist, and overall delightful human being.
Lisa is someone who seeks and finds joy in whatever she does. In this inspiring episode, which is more of a conversation than a straight-up interview, you will find a lot of laughter joy, and inspiration. We discuss songwriting, what makes a great gig, the art of performing, and, as both Lisa and Jill have brothers who died of AIDS, they discuss the role music played in Jill's brother's passing.
Please subscribe to our podcast if you enjoyed this episode, and feel free to leave a comment, as we would love to hear from you!
Saturday Aug 17, 2019
Saturday Aug 17, 2019
In the first episode of Meaningful Musical Conversations, Jill, jazz pianist and singer, and Daniel, jazz and rock guitarist/singer/songwriter, have a fun time getting to know each other.
https://www.danieltownsendmusic.com