Episodes
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!
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 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 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: