Neon Jazz Interviews

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series with Detroit-based jazz pianist, bandleader, composer, and educator Zen Zadravec.

We caught up with Zen to explore his new 2026 album, New Paradigm, and a remarkable musical career that has taken him across continents and through decades of contemporary jazz.

With a rich international career as a bandleader, collaborator, and educator, Zadravec has developed a distinctive voice rooted in the belief that music is more than sound—it is a form of creative communication, an expressive language shaped by human experience, connection, and a deeply humanistic perspective.

Throughout his career, Zen has performed and collaborated with some of the most respected figures in the international jazz community, including Ron Carter, Louis Hayes, Sean Jones, Steve Turre, and many others.

Today, he leads two original projects that showcase different dimensions of his musical vision: the Zen Zadravec Quintet and the fusion-oriented ensemble Human Revolution.

In this conversation, we get into New Paradigm, Zen's international journey, his Detroit roots, the philosophy behind his music, collaboration, improvisation, education, and the continuing evolution of jazz in the modern world.

Zen Zadravec's story is one of musical exploration, international collaboration, education, and a lifelong commitment to using jazz as a language of human expression.

From Detroit to stages around the world, his work continues to connect tradition with innovation while exploring where contemporary jazz can go next.

Listen to New Paradigm
Zen Zadravec — *New Paradigm* on Apple Music

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Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series with veteran Austin, Texas-based saxophonist Elias Haslanger.

We caught up with this longtime fixture of the Central Texas jazz scene to talk about his ninth album, Legacy, and the remarkable 30-year journey that has made him one of the enduring voices in Texas jazz.

Legacy is deeply personal.

The album is dedicated to the great mentors who have influenced Elias throughout his musical life, and it serves as an all-original program celebrating the people, experiences, lessons, and musical traditions that helped shape his sound.

For this special recording, Elias assembled an exceptional group of musicians from across the country, including his longtime partner Mike Sailors on trumpet and flugelhorn.

Over the course of his three-decade career, Elias Haslanger's playing and writing have drawn comparisons to jazz giants including John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster, and Wayne Shorter. He has also performed, recorded, and toured with numerous world-class musicians, including legendary New Orleans pianist and educator Ellis Marsalis and acclaimed bandleader and trumpeter Maynard Ferguson.

In this conversation, we explore Legacy, the mentors who shaped Elias' musical identity, his evolution as a saxophonist and composer, the Austin jazz scene, and what it means to continue creating original music after 30 years in the business.

At its heart, Legacy is about more than music.

It's about the people who teach us, inspire us, challenge us, and leave something behind in us that continues long after the lesson is over.

Elias Haslanger brings three decades of experience, an impressive musical résumé, and a deep respect for the jazz tradition into this fascinating conversation about mentorship, composition, performance, Austin jazz, and the continuing evolution of his sound.

Get the Album & More
Elias Haslanger Official Website 

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Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series with Brooklyn-based jazz flutist/composer Michel Gentile and drummer/composer Rob Garcia as we explore two exciting new 2026 albums from Connection Works Records.

Released worldwide on May 29, 2026, these two recordings offer different perspectives on contemporary jazz while sharing a deep commitment to composition, improvisation, collaboration, and creative exploration.

First up is Light of Day by Michel Gentile FLOW—Gentile's debut recording as a leader. The project features Gentile on flute, alto flute, bass flute, and piccolo, joined by Michael McGinnis on clarinet, Jacob Garchik on trombone, Chris Lightcap on bass, and Tom Rainey on drums. The music moves between carefully constructed compositions and open-ended improvisation, creating an adventurous chamber-jazz sound filled with texture and interaction.

Then we get into **Rob Garcia's Sizzle Ensemble, a new group featuring Garcia on drums with Noah Preminger on tenor saxophone, Shane Endsley on trumpet, Gary Versace on piano/electric piano, and Kim Cass on bass. The album combines Garcia's original compositions with inventive interpretations of music by artists including Thelonious Monk, Marcus Miller, and Herbie Hancock.

Both artists are deeply connected to Connection Works, the Brooklyn artist-run nonprofit they co-direct with pianist/composer Daniel Kelly. The organization has been supporting new jazz and creative music in Brooklyn since 2007.

In this conversation, we explore the creative thinking behind both albums, the Brooklyn jazz community, composition and improvisation, building ensembles, the relationship between structure and freedom, and what it means to create adventurous jazz in 2026.

It's a special dual-album conversation with two important voices in the Brooklyn jazz community—and two musicians who continue to push their music forward through collaboration, curiosity, and fearless creativity.

Get the Albums
Connection Works Records — Michel Gentile & Rob Garcia releases

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Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series with Washington, DC–based baritone saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Leigh Pilzer.

On this episode, we dive into Leigh's compelling new 2026 album, Keep Holding On, released on Strange Woman Records. The project finds Pilzer exploring intimate trio and quartet settings, creating an environment where composition, improvisation, interaction, phrasing, and musical structure can breathe.

Leigh brings a distinctive compositional philosophy to the record. Rather than simply placing her baritone saxophone within an ensemble, she approaches instrument, composition, arrangement, and collaboration as one unified expressive system.

The result is music where every detail matters—from the shape of a melody and the architecture of an arrangement to the spontaneous interaction between musicians.

In this conversation, Leigh and Joe also explore what it means to create meaningful music in 2026 America, the evolving role of the jazz composer and bandleader, her approach to ensemble design, and the possibility of bringing her music to Kansas City in the near future.

Keep Holding On is a fascinating look at what can happen when composition, musicianship, improvisation, and ensemble chemistry become inseparable.

This is a conversation about the architecture of jazz—and the freedom that can emerge when great musicians know exactly when to follow the structure and when to break away from it.

Leigh Pilzer — Keep Holding On
https://leighpilzer.bandcamp.com/album/keep-holding-on

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Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series with Jazz Trumpeter & FONT Music Organizer Allison Philips. On this episode, we get deep into the roots, history, mission, and activities surrounding the Festival of New Trumpet Music (FONT Music)—one of the most adventurous and important organizations dedicated to expanding the possibilities of the trumpet in contemporary music.

Now entering its 24th season, FONT Music will take place September 14–20, 2026, with performances and educational events happening across New York City, Brooklyn, Jersey City, and online.

Founded in 2003 by legendary trumpeters Dave Douglas and Roy Campbell Jr., FONT Music has become the world's leading presenter dedicated exclusively to new trumpet music.

The festival brings together artists working across jazz, improvised music, contemporary composition, electronics, experimental music, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, creating a space where musicians can push the trumpet far beyond traditional boundaries.

In this conversation, Allison Philips takes us inside the story of FONT Music, its evolution, its community, and the incredible range of artists helping shape the future of the instrument.

The 2026 festival brings together an international community of established innovators and emerging voices, showcasing the extraordinary diversity of approaches being applied to the trumpet today.

A major centerpiece of this year's festival will be the presentation of the FONT Music Award of Recognition to legendary trumpeter, composer, educator, and cultural visionary Ahmed Abdullah on September 15 at The New School.

FONT Music is about more than a festival. It is about creating a community around experimentation, innovation, education, and the limitless possibilities of one of music's most powerful instruments.

From New York City to the international jazz community, this is a fascinating look at the people and ideas helping push trumpet music into the future.

Everything FONT Music Festival 2026
FONT Music Official Website

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Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series with rising UK jazz vocalist, composer, and arranger Freddie Benedict.

On this episode, we dive into Freddie's 2026 debut single, Colours, and the remarkable musical journey that has taken him from the lockdown-era writing of an original song about first love to performances on some of the UK's most prestigious stages.

Freddie began his professional career as the lead male singer with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, launching a path that has seen him perform throughout the UK at celebrated venues including Ronnie Scott's, The Ritz, The Savoy, and The Maine.

At the heart of this conversation is Colours, an original composition that uses the spectrum of colors and emotions to explore the highs and lows of first love through jazz and scat. Written during lockdown, the song captures both youthful emotion and Freddie's developing voice as a composer and performer.

His growing musical résumé includes coaching from jazz luminary Emma Smith and sharing the stage with legendary vocalist Jacqui Dankworth. Those experiences have helped shape an artist equally comfortable honoring the jazz tradition while developing his own contemporary sound.

This is a conversation about young jazz talent, songwriting, improvisation, first love, musical education, and finding your own voice within a great musical tradition.

Freddie Benedict is an artist with plenty of road ahead—and Colours offers an intriguing first glimpse at where that road may lead.

Instagram:
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Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we talk with Janette Burke, Women's Leadership Speaker, Media Personality, and TV Podcast Host who has reached an incredible 15.2 million women across 15 seasons of her own television podcast.

But behind the success is a deeply personal story about caregiving, capacity, identity, resilience, leadership, and reinvention.

When Janette's mother's health changed, everything changed.

She found herself rebuilding her entire business around a 20-hour maximum work week while quietly carrying the responsibilities and emotional weight of caregiving. She didn't walk away from her career or give up on her ambitions—but she had to become brutally honest about what she could actually carry.

That experience transformed the way she thinks about success.

Janette now speaks directly to women—particularly women over 40—who are holding families, careers, relationships, and other people together while simultaneously trying to figure out who they are becoming themselves. 

Her message is about recognizing limits without surrendering ambition, embracing change without losing identity, and finding the courage to tell the truth about what life actually requires.

From her base in Toronto, Janette shares a story filled with truth, grit, vulnerability, resilience, and hope.

More Janette Burke:
Janette Burke Official Website

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Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. On this episode, we talk with Danura Miriyagalla, Author and International Development & Management Specialist whose remarkable career has taken him across Asia, Africa, Australia, the Pacific, and the United States.

His work sits at the intersection of research, creative practice, cross-cultural leadership, global experience, and personal transformation.

Those years of moving between countries, cultures, careers, and communities profoundly shaped the way Danura thinks about belonging, direction, identity, and change.

His book, The Navigator's Pivot, is a reflective guide for anyone navigating a major work-life transition.

Drawing on ancient seafaring wisdom, philosophy, lived global experience, and modern leadership practice, Danura explores how we can move through periods of uncertainty with greater clarity, calm, awareness, and purpose.

At the heart of the book is a powerful idea: every transition involves two movements—the Pivot and the Inflection.

The Pivot is about changing direction.

The Inflection is about understanding how that change reshapes the journey.

Together, they offer a different way of thinking about career transitions, personal reinvention, leadership, uncertainty, and the moments when the path ahead suddenly looks very different.

Danura's philosophy isn't about escaping life's storms.

It's about learning how to steer through them with grace—and discovering that somewhere within us, the compass may already be pointing home.

More Danura Miriyagalla & The Navigator's Pivot
Get *The Navigator's Pivot*
Danura Miriyagalla on LinkedIn

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Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series with Boston-based pianist Yoko Miwa and vocalist Mikayla Shirley.

On this episode, we dive into their beautiful new 2026 debut album, The Midnight Hour—a recording born from late-night performances, intimate musical chemistry, and a shared love for great songs.

Last year, Yoko and Mikayla began performing together during The Mad Monkfish's Midnight Sessions in Cambridge, Massachusetts. What started as intimate duo performances gradually developed into a remarkable musical collaboration, creating what has become one of the Boston jazz scene's hidden treasures.

Their debut recording captures the atmosphere and spirit of those late-night sessions, showcasing two musicians who move effortlessly across musical boundaries.

The repertoire travels from jazz standards and Broadway songs to Brazilian music, classic pop, and contemporary songwriting. But rather than being defined by genre, the project is united by something much simpler—and much more powerful:

A great song.

Yoko Miwa and Mikayla Shirley bring their individual voices together in a setting that leaves plenty of room for intimacy, spontaneity, conversation, and musical discovery.

The Midnight Hour is a celebration of songs, atmosphere, musical chemistry, and the magic that can happen when two artists simply sit down together and listen to each other.

This is a wonderful conversation about the art of the duo, the Boston jazz community, and why sometimes the most powerful music happens long after the sun goes down.

Yoko Miwa & Mikayla Shirley — The Midnight Hour
https://store.spinneymedia.com/products/yoko-miwa-mikayla-shirley-the-midnight-hour-cd 

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Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz Interview Series with acclaimed Los Angeles-based jazz singer Amber Weekes.

On this episode, we reconnect with Amber to explore her powerful new 2026 album, To Oscar with Love—a deeply personal tribute to the late, great Oscar Brown Jr., the legendary singer-songwriter, poet, storyteller, and Civil Rights activist.

For Amber, this project is much more than a tribute album. It represents the fulfillment of a musical destiny that began when she was a young girl and first heard Oscar Brown Jr.'s iconic song “The Snake” playing on the car radio during a family trip.

That moment sparked her imagination.

Oscar's music, personality, storytelling, wit, and unique ability to illuminate the lived experience of Black Americans stayed with Amber throughout her life. Nearly five decades later, she has turned that lifelong fascination into To Oscar with Love—a collection of Oscar Brown Jr.'s songs that demonstrates just how relevant his music and message remain today.

The album also arrives as part of the celebration surrounding Oscar Brown Jr.'s centennial, with October 10, 2026 marking what would have been his 100th birthday.

Amber and Joe also reconnect after previously speaking before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, making this a particularly meaningful return to the Neon Jazz program. 

This is a conversation about jazz, history, storytelling, Black American culture, musical legacy, social consciousness, and the remarkable power of one artist's work to inspire another generation decades later. 

Amber Weekes brings her own voice and perspective to Oscar Brown Jr.'s remarkable catalog, creating a tribute that is both deeply respectful and completely alive in the present.

Amber Weekes — To Oscar with Love
https://amberweekes.com/to-oscar-with-love/

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