Bite-Size Jazz

“If you know anything about being on a boat, it’s that you can't be still — if you get sideways then you capsize. You literally have to make sure you’re pointed into the waves so you won’t sink. In life, you also have to keep trucking, keeping moving forward, and keep a forward vision”

The title of guitarist Andrew Renfroe’s latest album was inspired by a family history legend. When he was a kid, his family was caught in a terrible thunderstorm off the coast of Florida — so bad that the whole family almost drowned. But, they survived due to one key principle — when the waves are rocky, you can’t be still. You have to “run” headfirst into the waves. Only by staying in constant motion were they able to live to share their story.

When Andrew found himself in the stormy waters of his life — including ending a long-term relationship, among other big life changes — he knew had to do the same thing. Keep trucking, keep moving ahead, always maintaining that forward motion.

In this episode of Bite-Size Jazz, guitarist Andrew Renfroe opens up about the inspiration behind his album Run in the Storm and his compositional process. From harmonies inspired by Olivier Messiaen, to learning how to incorporate electric sounds in an acoustic band, Andrew’s music carries a unique sound. Listen to the full interview to learn more!

Resources

Learn more about Andrew Renfroe at www.andrewrenfroe.com. You can find Run in the Storm 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!

“There’s so much outside of our control, but there’s a lot we can control to move forward and not let circumstances control our destiny”

Love, Life, Music. Jazz vocalist Rebecca Angel’s latest album reflects her journey through the last year. Love — Rebecca was one of the brave brides to get married during the pandemic. Life — is about rolling with the punches and learning how to cope with the tragedies of the last year. Choices — choosing to move forward in these trying times and focusing on how we can change instead of lamenting what is beyond our control.

Each song, whether it’s reggae, bossa nova, pop, or jazz, drives the theme of the album. And Rebecca Angel isn’t afraid to open up about the stories behind her music. In this episode of Bite-Size Jazz, Rebecca talks about how the song “Just the Two of Us” brought her and her now-husband together, the dream that sparked the lyrics for Erik Satie’s “Gymnopdie,” and how the lyrics to “Summer Song” came to her while she was brushing her teeth. Listen to the full interview to learn more about Rebecca Angel and her album Love, Life, Choices.

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Resources

Learn more about Rebecca Angel at www.rebeccaangel.net You can find Love, Life, Choices 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!

“You can’t act like what came before you didn’t exist, or try to lessen the impact of those influences so that you seem more hip”

The term “griot” originates from a West African tradition of a traveling storyteller, poet, or musician. They journeyed abroad sharing tales of those who came before in order to pass on their ancestor's traditions. Trumpeter, educator, producer, and now author Jeremy Pelt has become a griot for the tradition of jazz in America.

Jeremy Pelt composed his latest album Griot: This is Important! as a companion to his book Griot: Examining the Lives of Jazz’s Greatest Storytellers Vol.1. The 15 interviews contained in the book candidly discuss the history of jazz, of black musicians in America, and the importance of passing on the tradition.

Listen to the full Bite-Size Jazz interview to learn more about Jeremy Pelt’s compositional process, the people he interviewed for the book, and why understanding the history of jazz is essential to understanding the music.

Resources

Learn more about Jeremy Pelt at www.jeremypelt.net. You can find Griot: This is Important!  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’s like creating the soundtrack to a movie. Except there’s no movie.”

James Brandon Lewis found the inspiration for his latest album in the scientist and inventor George Carver Washington. Jesup Wagon depicts the journey of Carver and his mobile classroom among the poor farmers of the south on his mission to help them build better lives.

People say you have to experience something in order to play it. While James Brandon Lewis couldn’t literally step in the shoes of Mr. Carver — he did immerse himself in Carver’s published writings and personal letters in order to carry the essence of Carver’s life and mission into his music. In songs like “Experiment Station,” you can hear the innate curiosity of one of America’s most prominent black scientists. “Lowlands of Sorrow” carries the weight of this country’s dark racial history.

Listen to the full interview to learn more about what James Brandon Lewis discovered as he researched George Washington Carver, James’s process of composing and improvising, and the musicians that join James on his musical journey.

Resources

Learn more about James Brandon Lewis at JBLewis.com. You can find Jesup Wagon 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's always a great lyric, but the more you perform, the more you live, and the more experience you have — the more meaning it takes on.”

Singer-Pianist Billy Stritch has been performing professionally for over 40 years. His talent as an accompanist has taken him all over the world — especially during his 25 years playing with Liza Minnelli, ducking from paparazzi, staying with celebrities like Frank Sinatra, and learning how to cope when the power goes off right before your show at the Hollywood Bowl.

But Billy is also a talented entertainer in his own right, and his latest venture of weekly live streams has been documented in his album Billy’s Place. Every Thursday night at 8 pm he invites the public into his “virtual speakeasy” for an hour of music and cocktails — as long as you make it yourself. The album Billy’s Place brings us 12 of his most beloved tunes, recorded in Nashville for Club44 Records.

Listen to the full interview to hear more from Billy Stritch about what makes a great accompanist, how to memorize hundreds of tunes, and his adventures playing around the world. Billy is also celebrating the album release with a run of concerts at Birdland August 5-7, so you can see him live instead of just through a webcam! Link to tickets below.

Resources

Birdland tickets are available at www.BirdlandJazz.com. You can also continue watching his live stream concerts Thursday night at 8:00 pm EST on his Facebook page. Learn more about Billy Stritch on his website, www.billystritch.com. 

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’m not someone who’s like ‘I just play this genre.’ I play music. I play the guitar.”

Guitarist Molly Miller released St. George, which is hailed by some as a jazz album. But she’s also played with the Black-Eyed Peas and is the go-to guitarist for Jason Miraz. So where does that put her musically? Molly would say distinctions don't matter; for her, it’s all just music.

Molly also says her trio is trying to bring the instrumental back. While there is no singing on the album, you can hear the story in the emotion in her songs, whether it’s inspired by a breakup, touring, or the street she runs on every day.

Listen to the latest episode of Bite-Size Jazz to hear Molly talk about how bassist Jennifer Condos and drummer Jay Bellerose brought clarity to her music, how she deals with performance nerves, and why she chose the name St. George (hint: It’s not because of Utah)

Resources

Learn more about Molly Miller on her website, and find her album anywhere you stream music. It's also available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon Music. Check out her latest music video, "Spry." 

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!

“What’s special is that we don’t play it the same way twice. If we do it means we’re not really connected, we’re not really present.”

Cyrille Aimée and Michael Valeanu say their work as a duo started when their band couldn’t make it to a gig in Ohio because of a snowstorm - but after the response from the audience, they realized they could keep it going. One time in Milan, they had four encores as a duo! Their album I’ll Be Seeing You reflects their collaboration and relationship over the last decade.

In this interview, Cyrille Aimée and Michael Valeanu open up about their creative process. They talk about how they came up with arrangements for tunes like “Bye Bye Blackbird,” “Softly As In a Morning Sunrise” and “How Deep is the Ocean.” They also discuss the importance of listening and communicating through the music, what it means to be vulnerable and present, and how they keep the music fresh every time.

Resources

You can learn more about Cyrille Aimée at CyrilleMusic.dom, and Michael Valeanu at MichaelValeanu.com. I’ll Be Seeing You is available for purchase on Amazon Music and Apple 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!

“My writing is a reflection of what I’m listening to and what I’m experiencing in my day-to-day life”

At 23-years-old, Caity Gyorgy is already an adept lyricist, songwriter, arranger, and bandleader. Her latest EP Now Pronouncing showcases her talents along with her hand-picked 10 piece band. Inspired by the music and cinema of the 50s and 60s, her original tunes fit right within the vein of the Great American Songbook.

Caity’s music varies from sweet love songs, to nostalgic remembrances, to witty sarcasm. In this episode of Bite-Size Jazz, Caity Gyorgy digs into who and what inspired each song - including how she and her long-time boyfriend met as teenagers, the house she left behind after her parent’s divorce, and the person who inspired the “diss track” on the album. Listen to the full interview to hear more!

Resources

Learn more about Caity on her website caitygyorgy.com and find the full album 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. I’d love to connect with you!

“Don’t have a fallback plan, because then you’ll fall back on it.”

Jonathan Karrant didn’t grow up in the heart of Manhattan or Los Angeles, but that didn’t stop him from pursuing his dream career. Though he may be from a small town in Arkansas, he didn’t hesitate to move to New York City straight out of high school, where he found himself on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera and American Ballet Theater, before striking out for California and finally settling into the show business of Las Vegas.

Jonathan Karrant has received numerous awards, including the New York City Jazz Honors, “Best Singer” for the Bravo California Awards, and was named one of Downbeat’s top 12 rising jazz vocalists. His latest release, Shadows Fall, features duo arrangements with his longtime friend and musical collaborator, pianist Joshua White.

Resources

Learn more about Joshua on his website, www.jonathankarrant.com, and find the full album 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. I’d love to connect with you!

“We’re trying to transcend our instruments. I think all musicians in general are trying to get to that point. When you get to a great way of expression you don’t really think about the medium, the instrument, anymore. You’re just in full expression and connection with the music.”

Vibraphonist Simon Moullier brings full expression to his latest album, Countdown. It's his second album, featuring drummer JK Kim and bassist Luca Allemanno. While his first album Spirit Song is mostly originals, Countdown explores jazz standards arranged so creatively, they almost sound like originals. 

In this episode, we break down the amount of work it takes to bring a great arrangement to your band, how Simon Moullier finds new ideas for songs, and how Berklee's community outreach program changed the way he sees music. 

Resources

Learn more about Simon Moullier on his website. You can find Countdown 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!