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Joe Gransden has built his brand on multiple levels, perhaps best known as big band leader, heading up the 16-piece group of jazz musicians that filled Café 290 on Monday nights for more than 12 years and continues to entertain at venues and events around Atlanta and beyond, as well as performing with a variety of combinations for a variety of gigs, from restaurants to corporate parties to his own popular jam sessions.
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At 57, Roderick Harper is gaining steam. A versatile artist with both jazz and R&B albums, he calls on a background that started as early a small child singing along with TV commercials, through early lessons in the American Songbook and a minor in jazz studies at Southern University, to a performer audiences love for the passion and integrity of his singing. Mike and Kevin talk with Roderick in between two nights of his performances, accompanied by Kevin, at the Atlanta-area jazz club, The Velvet Note.
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Every Elton John has his Bernie Taupin. Jerome Kern had to have his Oscar Hammerstein. Even Duke Ellington needed a Billy Strayhorn or Irving Mills or Bob Russell. Point is, a song isnât much of a song without lyrics, and how lyricists and composers work together, if unique to each pair, is one more example of the cooperation involved in making great music.
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Consistent with the podcastâs focus on the life lessons that learning to play music teaches, Kevin and Mike talk about musical conversation, that is, how musicians playing together collaborate, listening to each other and accommodating each otherâs playing, to create better music.
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Whether youâre a youngster who wants to learn how to play an instrument, or a parent who recognizes the value of music in their childâs education, or an adult who has never played but wants to learn how, itâs never too early or too late to start. Kevin shares insights on how to get started from his three decades of teaching young and adult students.
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People who make their living playing music typically do a lot of travelling. While some might have a house gig in their hometown, most find themselves in venues that take them to different parts of their country and even around the world. Those experiencesâthat breadth of experienceâcombine to be one of the great benefits of life as a musician.
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From Bill Evans to Oscar Peterson to Ahmad Jamal to Charlie Parker to John Coltrane to Miles Davis, and on and on, each of the great players is distinguished by their own unique style. In this podcast, Kevin talks about the some of those legends and how they expressed themselves, and he and Mike discuss the importance of individualistic expressionâthat is, to perform from your heartâto all music.
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The song from Babes in Arms, a 1937 musical by Richard Rodgers and Lorenzo Hart, has been recorded more than 1300 times by more than 600 artists. The song continues to receive mixed reviews from musicians and music critics, but it has been a favorite of artists from Frank Sinatra to Sarah Vaughan to jazz trumpeter/vocalist Chet Baker, whose recording of it is enshrined. The podcast delivers some interesting takes on the history of the tune, some of the recordings, and the song itself.
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So many great musicians are also dedicated teachers. They love passing along their knowledge and inspiring others, getting them excited about the things theyâre excited about, infecting them with love for what theyâre doing, and how exciting it is to make music with other people. It is the jazz teaching tradition at its best: âEach one, teach one.â
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Most great jazz musicians were trained in classical music. So do you need to learn classical music first before you can play jazz? Or is playing jazz about learning shapes and harmony, technique and structures, the things required to play any music well. There shouldnât be a separation between classical and jazz; the creation and performance of music is the same regardless of the genre. Classical Musicâs role for jazz musicians is in its long tradition of attempts at solving technical issues; it is a great resource for jazz musicians.
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As avid readers, we have our favorite books about music and musicians. We discuss a few here in some detail in hopes they might be of interest to you. If you have others you like, let us know at musiclifeandtimes.com > contact us, and weâll share them in a future podcast.
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From the origins of jazz to the songs of the 1960s protesting the Vietnam War and supporting the Civil Rights Movement to the Grammy Song of the Year in 2021, music has played an essential role in social change, shedding light on the issues and attitudes that threaten our freedoms, here in America and around the world. Your podcasters comment on those times and music and share some stories of their own.
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From 78 rpm to 33 rpmâand of course 45s with one song on each sideâfrom albums to CDs to streaming, the way music is delivered has evolved substantially. The intent has been to make the music you want to hear easier to access. But have we lost something along the way? Is that why vinyl outsold CDs last year for the first time since the introduction of the music CD?
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In 2019, as the culmination of what they had discovered as a shared passion, the music of Fred Rogers, Kevin and Keri Johnsrud researched, selected, arranged, then recorded 11 songs composed by Fred Rogers, best known for his long-running childrenâs television show Mister Rogersâ Neighborhood. The jazz arrangements of what have been generally perceived as childrenâs songs credit Fred Rogers as a composer as well as Kevin, Keri, Bill Thornton, and Marlon Patton as arrangers and jazz musicians.
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The Audience Perspective: An interview with Bruce Pulver, author of Above the Chatter, Our Words Matter.
Intro: As performing musicians, Kevin and Mike work to please audiences by playing their best. Bruce Pulver studied music in college but decided to pursue it âas an avocation as opposed to a vocation.â He is an avid fan of live music, even to the point of hosting concerts in his home. His advice: âGet out to hear music live; it will make your day.â
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Is a career in a creative art like music really that different from other types of careers? While many people see a music career as a counterpoint to other ways to make a living, the process is much the same, including spending the time necessary to build and grow your business. And for people in other professions or business careers who spend time studying and playing music, that exposure helps them develop their inherent creativity, which can work to their benefit in their chosen fields.
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If you play music for an audience, be that at home in front of your family or for thousands of people in a concert hall, youâre likely to be nervous before you play. Thatâs not necessarily a bad thing; can even be a good thing as Kevin explains in this episode. But of course, shaky hands and a quavering voice arenât helpful to your performance, so consider some of these ways of dealing with nerves and anxiety.
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Learning music is about playing music. And playing music leads to performing. And because music is a communicative art, the job of a performing musician is to communicate with his or her audience, to play for the people.
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Most players are uncomfortable hearing their own music. They donât find it as perfect as they think it should be. But an important lesson to learn is not to judge yourself, and indeed, first takes are often the best takes in recording sessions.
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Vinnie DâAgostinoâsaxophone, clarinet, and fluteâfirst performed as an 8-year-old and started playing professionally at 15. Throughout his youth he was convinced he would live his life as a professional musician. But as he approached his 20s, he decided on a different path, as an IT professional in the corporate world, a career he concluded as Global IT Director for Global HR Technology at Coca-Cola. Today, he is again a full-time musician, involved in a wide range of projects, and recognized as a highly accomplished player.
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