Creative Confidential with Bryan Tuk

A survivor of non-hodgkin’s lymphoma, heart failure and ultimately a heart transplant, Derek Fitzgerald has faced his share of challenges. Eight months after transplant, Derek began channeling the perseverance and determination that helped him overcome his health obstacles by entering the field of endurance sports. Less than a year and a half after surgery, he completed his first half Ironman. At two and a half years out, Derek became the only person in the world to survive both cancer and a heart transplant to finish a full iron-distance race.

Over the past four years, Derek completed over 70 endurance events, including a coast-to-coast bike ride and four IRONMAN races, with the most recent being the World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Derek serves on the board of several charities and is the founder of the Recycledman Foundation, a non-profit organization created to educate and inspire supporters of advancements in cancer research, heart health, and organ donation.

Lee Rudnicki (http://www.drumlaw80.com/) has followed a very interesting career path that has led him into the world of screenwriting and filmmaking. Starting out as a musician, Lee went to California to follow musical opportunities and ended up attending law school with the mission of working in the entertainment industry. Lee's latest production is a short film entitled "Red Skies at Night" which he wrote, directed and produced. Lee's feature length production, "Good Bye Blue Sky," will be released later in 2016.

A young Scott Tixier (http://scott-tixier.com) arrived in New York City from France speaking no English but determined to become a professional musician at the highest level. He quickly received accolades from the best in the business.

Grammy Award winning bassist Marcus Miller says that Tixier “is making an international name for himself. I heard him in France and was immediately struck by his individuality and his sound.“ Guitarist Pat Metheny says, “[Scott] has found a place for himself within the elite community of New York jazz musicians, no small feat.” In an interview with the All About Jazz in 2010, violinist Mark Feldman called Scott “really up-and-coming and very talented.” And Jean-Luc Ponty said “I have heard Scott’s recordings, seen his live performances and I think that he stands above the crowd of current jazz violinists around the world.”

Scott has played at Carnegie Hall, at the Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Blue Note Jazz Club, The Apollo Theater, the Smalls Jazz Club, The Stone, Roulette, Smoke Jazz, Hammerstein Ballroom, Joe’s Pub, America’s Got Talent on NBC and also on the David Letterman Late Show on CBS.

Scott has performed and/or recorded with a wide range of artists, including: Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Anthony Braxton, Josh Groban, Joss Stone, Gladys Knight, Ariana Grande and Natalie Cole.

The word virtuoso gets thrown around a lot but today's guest is exactly that. Laurence Hobgood (http://laurnecehobgood.com) is a classically trained pianist who started playing jazz in his teen years. A chance meeting with vocalist Kurt Elling led to a 20 year stint at Elling's musical director, during which time Laurence collected multiple GRAMMY nominations and a Grammy award in 2010. Now leading his own ensemble, Laurence is forging his own path.

The Lafayette Bar (www.lafayettebarjazz.com/) in Easton is in a word, unique. It's a smoky jazz club in an industrial town on the Delaware River. As one steps inside the Lafayette, you see people from all walks of life standing elbow to elbow, listening to jazz players from New York or from the Valley. In the middle of it all, you find a man who goes by one name..."Tunsie".

Tunsie Jabbour's family has owned The Lafayette since the mid 1970s, and in switching to a live jazz format in 2006, found success and never looked back. The Lafayette is a destination for musicians and fans alike. Tunsie shares his story with us.

Special thanks for Dan DeChellis (www.dandechellis.com/) for permission to use his two compositions: "Never Satisfied" and "Angst" from his release "Moving Mountains", which is available on iTunes.

Jeff “Tain” Watts (http://tainish.com) is an acclaimed jazz musician, drummer and composer based in Easton, Pennsylvania. With 5 GRAMMY awards on his resume, Jeff has had a lengthy recording career as a sideman to many prominent jazz artists, including both Wynton and Branford Marsalis.

His compositional skills now command equal attention. Jeff initially majored in classical percussion at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University, where he was primarily a timpanist, followed by enrollment at the Berklee School of Music. Jeff joined the Wynton Marsalis Quartet in 1981 and proceeded to win three Grammy Awards with the ensemble: Black Codes From The Underground, J Mood and Marsalis Standard Time. Watts left Wynton Marsalis in 1988. After working with George Benson, Harry Connick. Jr. and McCoy Tyner, he joined the Branford Marsalis Quartet in 1989, winning Grammys for I Heard You Twice the First Time and Contemporary Jazz.

In the film and television industry Jeff has appeared as both a musician on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and as an actor, Rhythm Jones in Spike Lee’s “Mo Better Blues”. Jeff joined Kenny Garrett’s band after returning to New York in 1995 and continued to record and tour with Branford Marsalis as well as Danilo Perez, Michael Brecker, Betty Carter, Kenny Kirkland, Courtney Pine, Geri Allen, Alice Coltrane, Greg Osby, McCoy Tyner, Steve Coleman, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Harry Connick Jr, and Ravi Coltrane.

Jeff now leads his own band, and records his own compositions on his own record label, Dark Key Music. (http://myiesstore.com/darkkeymusic/)

Along with explosive power, blinding speed and mastery of complex rhythms and time signatures, Jeff’s style is at once elegant, composed, and yet very gritty at the same time.

His latest recording, “Blue, Vol. 1” (http://myiesstore.com/darkkeymusic/product/blue-vol-1-cd/) is available now and receiving widespread critical acclaim.

Eve Tannery joined the WFMZ-TV news team in September of 2005. You can catch her anchoring 69 News at Sunrise and 69 News at Noon with Jaciel Cordoba Monday through Friday. Eve shares her story about how she got her start in journalism and what it takes to build and sustain a career in broadcasting.

Eve is also heavily involved in charity work in and around the Lehigh Valley, and she is an avid supporter of Cops 'n' Kids, The Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley, The State Theatre, Go Red for Women, Child Care Information Services, and other organizations that support both of our local hospitals.

You can follow Eve on Facebook here. (https://www.facebook.com/EveTannery/)

Don Cunningham has a long track record of public service. Don was an enormously popular two term Mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania from 1997 to 2003, then subsequently served two terms as the Lehigh County Executive, and currently is the President and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation.

Don has led a high profile political career and enjoyed enormous popularity.

What is interesting still is that Don fronts a rock band, Cunningham & Associates, which routinely plays to the larger regional venues - with crowds approaching 1,000 in attendance. It's not your typical side project.

CEO by day, guitarist and rock band front man by night. Don shares his story with us.

Learn more about LVEDC here: http://lehighvalley.org

Learn more about Don's music at: http://cunninghamassociatesband.com

Like all the guests on the podcast, Chris Malinowski is many things: a guitarist, composer, bandleader yet at the same time he’s also a writer, director and filmmaker.

His most recent film, Yes, Your Tide is Cold and Dark Sir (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2354577/) has been making the film festival circuit nationwide to critical acclaim. While Chris wrote, directed and starred in the film, he also wrote the soundtrack, which was preformed by his band, The Collingwood (https://www.facebook.com/The-Collingwood-98351340067/).

Chris talks about the filmmaking process, the music making process, and how to stay true to your artistic vision.

Lucy Woodward is a London-born, NYC-raised, Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter who's been touring the world frequently for the past 15 years. As her parents were both musicians, she was literally born into making music. She has released major label albums on Atlantic and Verve, and will be releasing her yet-to-be-titled 2016 album through Snarky Puppy's label GroundUp/Universal this summer. Over the past few years, she has toured with Snarky Puppy, Pink Martini and Rod Stewart, dashing home in between tours to finish her forthcoming studio album.