Bite-Size Jazz

“It was an intense record — you can hear that in the music. The musicians really had something to say that day”

The reissuing of Strings celebrates 20 years since the original recording — and memorializes 20 years since the attack on the Twin Towers, an attack that affected the recording in unprecedented ways. Saxophonist Jim Snidero was headed to the recording studio for this album on September 11, 2001. When he descended into the subway tunnels at 8:30 that morning, the twin towers were still standing. When he arrived in Brooklyn, the air was filled with smoke and floating work documents from the decimated offices. It was obvious they would have to reschedule. When they regrouped two months later, it was a somber meeting and the emotion everyone held in their hearts seeped into the music. Song titles like “Forever Gone,” “On the Banks of the Hudson,” and “The Talk of the Town,” suddenly held much different meanings than they previously anticipated.

You would never guess from listening, but saxophonist Jim Snidero had never written for strings before this album. He originally planned to record the project for a label that would connect him with an arranger, but when the label dropped the project, he decided to dig into string arranging himself. Jim delved into recordings from musicians like Clare Fischer and Nelson Riddle, listening closely to the way they created different textures through voicings. Through it all, he learned to paint musical pictures for songs like “River Suite, Pt. 1: Dawn,” “River Suite, Pt.2: On the Banks,” and “River Suite, Pt.3: Torrent.”

For example, “River Suite, Pt.1: Dawn” is written in the key of Db, which he refers to as the calmest key in music. Above sustaining chords, he plays a curious melody that characterizes the mysterious calm in the world as the sun rises each morning on the Hudson River. In “River Suite, Pt. 3: Torrent,” drummer Billy Drummond kicks up a whirlwind that portrays the chaos of storms blowing in from the ocean to Manhattan. Jim wrote “Forever Gone,” in the key of Eb minor, which he says is the saddest key in music, and cites Mozart's Requiem as another heartbreakingly beautiful piece in Eb minor.

There’s much more to learn from Jim about his composition techniques. Listen to the full Bite-Size Jazz interview with jazz saxophonist Jim Snidero to hear more about the inspiration behind the songs of his newly reissued album Strings, how he used texture, voicings, and chord changes to represent emotions, and the album’s connection to 9/11.

Resources

Learn more about Jim Snidero on his website, You can find Strings anywhere you stream music. It’s also available for purchase from Amazon Music.

Enjoying Bite-Size Jazz? You can support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee! You can also leave a review, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We’d love to connect with you!

The sound of big bands brewed a love for jazz that carried Miki Yamanaka from her home in Japan all the way to New York City.

Miki Yamanaka was no stranger to jazz during her formative years — apparently, you can’t even go into a noodle shop in Japan without hearing John Coltrane. Her own parents were avid jazz fans, enrolling Miki in an after-school music program with a jazz band. That musical passion was further cemented during a five-day visit to New York where Miki Yamanaka watched Cedar Walton play at Dizzy’s Club. When the night was over, there was only one thought left in Miki’s mind: I have to live here. The level of jazz that she had only imagined was possible was played everywhere in New York. Miki packed up her bags again, saying she would stay in New York for just a year — now it’s been nine years and she has no intention of leaving anytime soon.

October 2021 saw the release of Miki’s third album as a leader, Stairway to the Stars, recorded in the midst of a pandemic from her own apartment. When it became obvious that her original plan of a live recording would be impossible, she had the recording equipment brought to her home for a DIY studio. It was the first time playing with guests for months and the excitement is palpable. She includes stellar arrangements of tunes like “Cheryl” and “My Melancholy Baby,” and originals, “Wonder” and “Oatmeal” (inspired by her oatmeal-loving husband and sister-in-law).

Listen to the full interview to learn more about Miki Yamanaka’s music and experience as a musician in New York. She opens about moving to New York, becoming fluent in both English and music, the tough love she received at jam sessions and now dishes out as the host, which aspects of Japanese culture she misses and which ones she truly does not — and, of course — the music from her new album Stairway to the Stars.

Resources

Learn more about Miki Yamanaka on her website, You can find Stairway to the Stars anywhere you stream music. It’s also available for purchase from Amazon Music.

Enjoying Bite-Size Jazz? You can support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee! You can also leave a review, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We’d love to connect with you!

“In this setting, it can feel like you have to fill in the space — like filling in an awkward pause in a conversation. But actually, if you leave the space it makes the notes much more meaningful” - Clovis Nicolas

Playing without a drummer leaves a lot of extra room in your soundscape. It can seem natural to fill it up with comping, melodic fills, or rhythmic hits — but Michael Valeanu, Clovis Nicolas, and Jon Boutellier do the opposite. Rather than constantly churning out notes, the guitar-bass-saxophone trio leaves ample room for a three-way conversation on their latest album, Three of a Kind.

Inspired by the Jimmy Guiffre and Jim Hall trio, Michael opted for a drumless trio where he could better control his dynamics and textures within a group. It’s easier to hear yourself without a drummer, and Michael felt there was more he could convey to the audience in that setting. Clovis and Jon loved the unique instrumentation and jumped on board for the one-day recording session.

Clovis, Jon, and Michael are certainly “three of a kind” — they share a love for jazz, composition, a childhood in France, and a current home in New York City. They compare the two jazz scenes, and amidst the discussion we come to the conclusion: while jazz is more common-place in New York, you certainly don’t have to live there to become a great jazz musician. Thanks to modern technology and the widespread availability of recordings, students across the world are discovering musical giants like Miles Davis and John Coltrane.

Join the conversation with Michael Valeanu, Jon Boutellier, and Clovis Nicolas to learn more about the original compositions and arrangements from their new album, Three of a Kind. Michael Valeanu describes the five-year process of composing “Miroirs,” Jon Boutellier shares his process of unraveling Duke Ellington’s “Reminiscing in Tempo,” and Clovis Nicolas discloses the connection between his song “Minor Thing” and Ellington's classic “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”

Resources

Learn more about Michael Valeanu, Jon Boutellier, and Clovis Nicolas on their websites, You can find Three of a Kind anywhere you stream music.

Enjoying Bite-Size Jazz? You can support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee! You can also leave a review, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We’d love to connect with you!

“Philly’s got its own way of swing — it’s a deep-rooted, down-home feeling”

Drummer Tom Cohen must have had flames coming off his sticks when he finished recording his latest record. Short but mighty, My Take features five burning tracks with Philadelphia greats like Hammond B3 organist Dave Posmontier and guitarist Steve Warfield, tenor saxophonists Tim Warfield and Ralph Bowen, and Joey DeFrancesco, also on the Hammond B3 of course. Musicians rotate through Tom’s interpretations of five classic jazz tunes.

Tom Cohen reminisces about his early days on the Philly jazz scene, hanging out at Gert’s Lounge with jazz organ masters like Herbie Nicks and Shirley Scott.  Though there was barely enough room between the stage and the bar to squeeze in two people, the music was so toe-tapping that people couldn’t help but get up and dance. Philadelphia has rightly earned its reputation as a B3 town, especially considering the players that have come out of that city: the aforementioned Herbie Nicks and Shirley Scott, Don Patterson, Trudy Pitts, and Joey DeFrancesco.

Listen to the full Bite-Size Jazz interview to learn more about Tom Cohen’s love for the Philly jazz scene, his experience as a versatile studio musician, and his collaboration with Joey DeFrancesco for his latest album My Take.

Resources

Learn more about Tom Cohen on his website. You can find My Take anywhere you stream music. It’s also available for purchase on Amazon Music.

Enjoying Bite-Size Jazz? You can support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee! You can also leave a review, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We’d love to connect with you!

“No matter how good you get — if you don't listen, then it’s nothing because listening is 99% of what we do”

Jazz pianist Marc Cary shares the wisdom he’s gained from years as a professional musician in his latest album Life Lessons. The first lesson he shares is that in order to truly understand jazz, you have to dig deep — real deep. The roots of this music go back farther than American history — across the ocean, and across continents even. All great musicians were influenced by the places they traveled and the sounds they heard, especially from indigenous groups. Marc opens up about his own Native American ancestry and how his music was influenced by their sound and turbulent history.

In addition to his fascination with and influence from indigenous music, Marc’s compositions are also quite lyrical, no doubt impacted by his time spent with vocalists like Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln. Marc laughs about the time Abbey Lincoln told him it was alright if he couldn’t make her gigs once in a while so he could pursue his own interests — and then fired him the first time he said he was unavailable. While that year-long hiatus from her band may have disgruntled him at first, it propelled him to record his first album as a bandleader, for which he was grateful. His latest album Life Lessons includes two Abbey Lincoln songs, “It Was Supposed to Be Love” and “Learning to Listen,” where Marc opens up about the issue of domestic abuse and why listening is essential to making music.

Listen to the full Bite-Size Jazz interview with pianist Marc Cary about his new album Life Lessons to learn more about his passion for indigenous music, the inspiration behind songs like “Not a Good Day to Die,” and his collaboration with artists like Roy Hargrove and Abby Lincoln.

Resources

Learn more about Marc Cary on his website. You can find Life Lessons anywhere you stream music. It’s also available for purchase on Amazon Music.

Enjoying Bite-Size Jazz? You can support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee! You can also leave a review, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We’d love to connect with you!

“We need to get back to love, the love that was lost”

Jazz vocalist Jazzmeia Horn’s latest album Dear Love is a love letter to her community, family, friends, and future lover. Her music spreads warmth and positivity, encouraging us to be the eye of the hurricane by finding balance and peace amidst the chaos of society.

“Can’t Buy Me Love” reminds us that all the money in the world can’t fill the gap of genuine love. The original verses she added are a perfect pairing with the Beatles’ classic tune. “Let Us Take Our Time” teaches that love can be beautiful, romantic, even sexy, without “letting all of you hang out.” Love is most liberating when it’s dedicated. Jazzmeia openly shares the story behind “Where We Are,” a mantra she sang to keep afloat during her darkest days. It’s also a dedication to the women who brought her to this point and women all around the world working to bring the next generation forward.

Her original songs paired with stunning poetry offer a unique album — according to her research, Jazzmeia is the first female vocalist to write, arrange, and lead an entire big band album. Rather than give up when multiple labels turned down her idea, Jazzmeia started her own label: Empress Legacy Records. Armed with complete artistic freedom, she learned to write for a big band for the first time and recorded previously unreleased tracks that were turned down by other labels —and which are now receiving record airplay.

Listen to the full interview with jazz vocalist Jazzmeia Horn on Bite-Size Jazz to learn about her compositional process — including singing all the parts for the big band and then transcribing — finding a balance amid career and family responsibilities, and more stories behind the music of her new jazz album, Dear Love.

Resources

Learn more about Jazzmeia Horn on her website. You can find Dear Love anywhere you stream music. It’s also available for purchase on Amazon Music.

Enjoying Bite-Size Jazz? You can support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee! You can also leave a review, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I’d love to connect with you!

“Modern feminism encourages harder, more masculine elements in women and makes you feel sort of funny about being soft and gentle. I think that’s the opposite of what we need to do — I think we should embrace the fact that women are softer, more gentle, and caring, and love is at the center of all of that. To me, being a woman means embracing that, not trying to act more masculine so I can fit into society” - Lucy Yeghiazaryan

In Her Words tells the story of what it means to be a woman through original songs and jazz standards. While most of the world is telling women they have to be tough, masculine, and hard, Lucy Yeghiazaryan and Vanisha Gould have another idea. They believe the key to being a woman is embracing what makes them unique: the softer, gentler, and loving side. It also means embracing the fact that as women, we talk about love, romance, and men — a lot

Songs on their new album range from 'Gypsy Feet", a Vanisha Gould original about a non-committal woman leaving a string of broken hearts in her wake and in turn breaking her own, to Lucy Yeghiazaryan’s arrangement of Billie Holiday’s "My Man", where Lucy opens up about the domestic abuse she witnessed in the community of Armenia where she grew up. They also talk about the whims of women checking out cute men on the sly through "Cute Boy" and the flirtations of men on city streets through "Hey Baby." Vanisha and Lucy also discuss the spoken and unspoken challenges of navigating the tough landscape of competitive musicians as a woman in New York City. They talk about why being kind makes a huge difference to musicians, even though tough love is still necessary for musical and personal development.

Resources

Learn more about Vanisha Gould on her social media pages and about Lucy Yeghiazaryan on her website.  You can find In Her Words anywhere you stream music. It’s also available for purchase on Amazon Music.

Enjoying Bite-Size Jazz? You can support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee! You can also leave a review, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I’d love to connect with you!

“If you do something that matters to yourself, then all the extra stuff — whether people like it or not — has less importance. If it’s self-fulfilling, you can’t lose.”

Growing up with parents like singer Gail Dobson and the late pianist Smith Dobson, Sasha Dobson nurtured a love for jazz from a young age. However, she wasn’t afraid to embrace other genres on her musical journey. When her father suddenly passed away in a tragic car accident, the personal history and weight attached to jazz felt too heavy for Sasha to sing. Looking for a new avenue, Sasha started flirting with the idea of playing the guitar. It blossomed into a love for songwriting and Americana music — even starting the band Puss n Boots along with Norah Jones and Catherine Popper. But all those years of curating a love for jazz stirred up a renewed interest in Sasha, and she’s returned to her jazz roots with her latest album, Girl Talk.

Listen to the full interview with jazz vocalist Sasha Dobson to learn more about her diverse musical journey, why it’s never too late to try something new, and the inspiration behind her original tunes “You’re the Death of Me” and “Better Days.”

Resources

Learn more about Sasha Dobson at www.sashadobson.com. You can find Girl Talk anywhere you stream music. It’s also available for purchase on Amazon Music.

Enjoying Bite-Size Jazz? You can support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee! You can also leave a review, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I’d love to connect with you!

“It IS a good morning. No matter what it is or what’s going on in life — there’s always someone else in a different situation.”

Terence Thompson brings his positivity and joy for life into his album If I Only Had A Band. Whether it’s embracing the day through his track “Good Morning,” or feeling welcomed into a warm, inviting restaurant like in “Yassie’s Cafe,” If I Only Had A Band will have you feeling good for all 20 tracks.

It’s not just the message that feels good — each tune really grooves. Terence combines his rap and R&B influence into this pseudo-jazz offering. While rap might seem like a far cry from jazz, Terence says they’re really not so different — he even calls them intertwined. Each genre carries similar themes, both are continually trying to push the envelope creatively, and they’re both truly American art forms. And, as he says, great music is great music.

Terence Thompson is also a notable and versatile producer for hundreds of independent artists and has collaborated with some major artists — he worked with producer Teddy Riley on the song “Heaven Can Wait” on Michael Jackson’s Invincible album, and can also be heard on Monifah’s “Too Late” and “How Ya Gonna Luv Me.” He brings that expertise to his own songwriting, along with a team of wonderful musicians.

Listen to the full interview with Terence Thompson to learn more about how he transitioned from DJing as a teenager to a versatile producer, what his role as producer entails, and the stories behind his album If I Only Had A Band.

Resources

Learn more about Terence Thompson at www.mrterencethompson.com. You can find If I Only Had a Band anywhere you stream music. It’s also available for purchase on Amazon Music.

Enjoying Bite-Size Jazz? You can support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee! You can also leave a review, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I’d love to connect with you!

“I wasn’t sure how far I would actually go, I was just happy to be somewhere singing”

Samara says she only started listening to jazz four years ago, but since then she’s won the Sarah Vaughn International Jazz Vocalist Competition (2019), played all over NYC, and performed in Europe. I wish I could say that much about myself by the time I was 23!

But getting started as a late bloomer wasn’t easy, and Samara often felt discouraged — it seemed like everyone on the New York City jazz scene already had their clique. Plus, watching everyone at school have it all together when she felt so new to the music made her want to quit. So what kept her going? Encouraging words from audience members, fellow musicians, friends, and professors. Someone else believing in you can give you the power to believe in yourself.

Now Samara has released her first album, backed by the Pasquale Grasso Trio. The playful interaction between guitar and vocals, joined by bass and drums, brings new life to a timeless set of standards. This debut album is just the first of many, I’m sure.

Listen to the full interview with jazz vocalist Samara to learn more about her experience coming up on the jazz scene in NYC, what kept her going when it was hard, and the inspiration behind the song choices of her self-titled debut album.

Resources

Learn more about Samara Joy at www.samarajoy.com. You can find Samara Joy anywhere you stream music. It’s also available for purchase on Amazon Music.

Enjoying Bite-Size Jazz? You can support the podcast by Buying Me a Coffee! You can also leave a review, subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. I’d love to connect with you!