In my follow-up interview with Lynell Allen, we talk about his growing up on the Coast and spending time at the local rec center and boys' club. We delve into his father's influence and the time Allen spent with adults starting at a very early age. He offers an honest appraisal of prison life and advice to those coming up about the prison system. Lastly, we discuss several of the most important people in his life, who have seen him through trials and tribulations and supported his great work as a mentor and community activist.

In  this episode, I join jazz bassist, composer, and bandleader Omer Avital in his beautiful, intimate studio in Brooklyn, NY. Born in Givatayim, Israel, to Moroccan and Yemeni parents, Omer studied classical guitar from age 11 before eventually shifting to acoustic bass. We talk about his 1992 arrival in New York, where he shook up the city playing in groups with jazz legends Roy Haynes, Jimmy Cobb, Kenny Garrett, and Rashied Ali. We discuss his musical influences and the importance of learning about the elders and jazz masters who paved the way for him, as well as politics in the Middle East and how he views it all as an artist. Lastly we consider the Brooklyn oasis he created called Wilson Live. Founded in 2018, Wilson Live provides a platform that enables local artists to document and present their work in an easy and effective way, all while forming a musical community in the heart of the borough. Wilson Live hosts weekly musical happenings with great homemade food by its culinary curator, Yoav Adereth.

https://www.omeravital.com

In this episode, I sit down with one of the greatest Pop Warner running backs of all time, as well as one of the best pop lockers in San Diego history and an OG from the West Coast Crips. We discuss his upbringing, his dad's influence, and the tension he felt between sports and the pull of the streets. We talk about gang culture and the way it robbed him of his youth. His long battle with substance use and his nearly thirty years, off and on, of incarceration were also a focus of conversation, along with a near-death experience he had when he was shot five times at point-blank range. Lynell shares how he turned his life around and found numerous ways to give back to the place he calls home, as a group facilitator, a change agent, the founder of Speak On It Recovery, and a community activist.

This interview took place at the historical St. Stephen's Church of God in Christ

In this episode, I sit down with Steve Lehman, visionary alto saxophonist and composer, to discuss his project "Ex Machina," a collaboration with the grammy-nominated Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ). We talk in detail about his approach to composing and how the process varies according to the size of the group he's composing for—big bands versus quartets—and how he writes for other musicians so that they can shine while leaving space for his own solos. We compare classical to jazz and their differing approaches to improvisation, as well as improv in general, exemplified in his latest work, an interweaving of forms and patterns. Last but not least, we discuss his musical influences, including trombonist George Lewis and alto saxophonist Jackie McLean, with whom he studied for several years.

"Ex Machina" releases September 15, 2023

MUSICIANS-
Steve Lehman - alto saxophone, electronics
Jonathan Finlayson - trumpet
Chris Dingman - vibraphone

Members of Orchestre National de Jazz
Frédéric Maurin - direction, electronics
Fanny Ménégoz - flute, alto flute, piccolo
Catherine Delaunay - clarinet, basset horn
Julien Soro - tenor saxophone, clarinet
Fabien Debellefontaine - baritone saxophone, clarinet, flute
Fabien Norbert - trumpet, flugelhorn
Daniel Zimmermann - trombone
Christiane Bopp - trombone
Fanny Meteier - tuba
Bruno Ruder - piano, synthesizer
Stéphan Caracci - vibraphone, marimba, glockenspiel, percussion, synthesizer
Rafaël Koerner - drums
Sarah Murcia - double bass
Jérôme Nika - generative electronics creation & artistic collaboration
Dionysios Papanikolaou - IRCAM electronics

https://www.stevelehman.com/

In this episode, I interview Chicago-based investigative journalist Yohance Lacour. Our conversation ranges from his upbringing—books he was given by his parents, the influence of an uncle, and his early awareness of the African-American experience—to his ten-year incarceration for selling drugs. We also discuss his podcast, "You Didn’t See Nothin’," a history of a young black boy named Lenard Clark who was beaten into a coma in 1997 for riding his bike into a white neighborhood. The podcast, part investigation and part memoir, reviews the case and the complex characters involved.

https://invisible.institute/yohance-lacour

https://www.yjlacour.com

https://www.withanthonythomas.com

During this episode I sat sown with local San Diego film maker Rose Sanchez to do my first ever collaboration interview.  We go back and forth interviewing each other. She recently graduated from SDSU as a film studies major so I asked her several questions about  why she wants to be a film director, her inspirations and future goals. She asked me about three of the major components of my podcast, jazz music, documenting the stories of the elders and honoring my neighborhood, specifically Highland Park.  

In this episode I sat down with Jahsun Edmonds aka Oluwo Ifakolade, head priest of Idin Kaa Ifa Temple in Los Angeles. We discussed  his recent journey to Nigeria for the World Ifa Orisha Festival.  He explains  the importance of traveling to the homeland of Yoruba culture and what it was like to experience sacred sites, festivals and rituals. Jahsun explains  the meanings, symbolisms and literalism of some of the various Orishas (spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba tradition).  He talks about how he has taken an ancient African spiritual system and applied it to his community in South Central Los Angeles.  

In this episode I talk with mc's and producers of the hip-hop group NMS (Nephlim Modulation Systems). We discuss they're upcoming album NMS 3- Liberation Is The Only Thing Left. Their two previous albums NMS 1- Woe Thee O' Land Whose King Is A Child 2003 and NMS 2- Imperial Letters Of Protection 2005 are available on all platforms.  We talk in-depth about their very unique sound and what goes into their production, including what type of equipment they prefer.  We also discuss their no compromise approach to being artist and why lyrical content is so important. They both talk about their writing process and how literature, African history and African scholars play a major role in their choice of topics.  Bigg Jus talks about his time as a member of the hip-hop group Company Flow and being part of the classic album Funcrusher Plus, Orko talks about honing his skills in the San Diego hip-hop scene and being part of the group Masters of the Universe

In this episode I traveled to Atlanta, Georgia  for a celebration,  It was Baba Eusi's  98th birthday.  Friends, family, former students and many others who walked with him in the struggle gathered to pay homage to one of Guyana's greatest treasures.  These are their testimonies. 

Eusi Kwayana, formerly Sydney King (born April 4 1925) in Lusignan, Guyana. A cabinet minister in the People's Progressive Party (PPP) government of 1953. Later he left the PPP to form ASCRIA (African Society for Cultural Relations with Independent Africa), a Pan-Africanist grassroots political group that, after a brief time with the People's National Congress (PNC) of Forbes Burnham, fused into the Working People's Alliance (WPA). 

In 1956 he founded and became principal of County High School, later renamed Republic Cooperative High School, in Buxton, Guyana.

Kwayana met his wife Tchaiko Kwayana (formerly Ann Cook), a Pan-Africanist, and civil rights activist from Georgia, in 1968. She made her transition in 2017.

Baba Eusi is a Playwright, poet, author, educator, political songwriter and grassroots organizer. 

A special thanks to Elder Kadumu Moyenda for the opening libation and Elder Yiriba for the drumming on my introduction. 

In this episode, I sit down with musician, bandleader, professor, and historian Mausiki Scales. We talk about his growing-up years in Gary, Indiana, where he was raised in a household that promoted education and black excellence. He shares what it was like for him, as a teenager, to meet the likes of James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and Gwendolyn Brooks and the profound effect that had on him later in his life. He went on to meet deep-thinking, impactful professors at Tuskegee University; it was there that he experienced a cultural awakening, and in graduate school at Clark-Atlanta where his love for travel, and especially his time in West Africa, helped him see the world in a different way. We discuss the influence on him of African writer Fu-Kiau, as well as Mausiki's approach to African spirituality and bringing balance to the community. Lastly, we take a deep dive into his musical career and the influence of Fela Kuti and Parliament Funkadelic.

https://www.mausikiscalescommonground.com