Rhythm Changes Podcast

Jason Winikoff talks about Broadway songs, Zambian music, and more. Jason is a percussionist and ethnomusicologist known for playing in trad-jazz scenes and other music traditions. He first came to Vancouver from the U.S. in 2018 but moved back stateside earlier this year.

Jason recently played the annual Rocky Horror Music Show and has upcoming shows while in town at Guilt & Co. on Wednesday, Nov. 5 with his Hot Five; and Zameen Art House on Saturday, Nov. 8 with his Broadway Jazz Revue.

Become a member for free today at rhythmchanges.ca. You'll get the free weekly email with upcoming events from the gig list, plus artists, events, or recordings for you to enjoy and share. Sent every Tuesday morning at 6:00 AM Pacific Time.

Hosted by Chris Fraser. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music: "Lutin" by William Chernoff.

On the Rhythm Changes Podcast, Nick Peck talks about coming from England to BC, machine learning and the textures and forms that technology produces in collision with the arts, and guitars versus keyboards. Nick is an English composer, pianist, and computer programmer among other things. He is known on the scene for playing in bands with Len Aruliah, Jared Burrows, Nick Hempton, and more diverse artists while being based on Vancouver Island.

Bill Coon talks about his solo guitar album Standard Elegance releasing on Cellar Music October 3rd, the nature of music education, learning from Jim Hall, playing at O'Doul's, and what it means to be happy but not satisfied with your artistic work.

Bill is one of our scene's long-tenured and treasured guitarists, known for his playing in groups like Triology with Miles Black and Jodi Proznick, who also released an album on Cellar this year, The Slow Road featuring Scott Hamilton; Two Much Guitar, with Oliver Gannon; and his own trios.

Bill was previously a guest on the show alongside Laura Crema for episode 63, hosted by Will Chernoff in 2022.

Become a member for free today at rhythmchanges.ca. You'll get the free weekly email with upcoming events from the gig list, plus artists, events, or recordings for you to enjoy and share. Sent every Tuesday morning at 6:00 AM Pacific Time.

Hosted by Chris Fraser. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music: "Lutin" by William Chernoff.

Ardeshir Pourkeramati talks about meeting your heroes, staying hungry to learn more from mentors and friends in the music, practicing, confronting the raw truth of your playing by recording yourself, stories from coming up in the 2010s scene, and studying at the University of Oregon and the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.

Ardeshir plays tonight (Saturday, Sep. 6) at Frankie's as part of the "Sonny-fest" billed as Vancouver Celebrates Sonny Rollins, where he'll play the music of Saxophone Colossus.

Become a member for free today at rhythmchanges.ca. You'll get the free weekly email with upcoming events from the gig list, plus artists, events, or recordings for you to enjoy and share. Sent every Tuesday morning at 6:00 AM Pacific Time.

Hosted by Chris Fraser. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music: "Lutin" by William Chernoff.

Trent Otter talks about his busy session playing lifestyle, bandleading, the battle of music labour versus streaming, gear, moving from teaching lessons toward full-time playing, and the nuances of how you start to enjoy playing when you're young. Trent is a drummer with an unmatched work ethic in our generation on the scene. Some bands he plays in are Bungalow, Meridian, John Korsrud's Absolute Unit, MissingNo., and his own trio.

Trent performs at Guilt & Co. in the ten-piece funk band Melgar on Friday, August 8th, starting at 10pm. missingNo. plays Tyrant Studios on August 15th.

Become a member for free today at rhythmchanges.ca. You'll get the free weekly email with upcoming events from the gig list, plus artists, events, or recordings for you to enjoy and share. Sent every Tuesday morning at 6:00 AM Pacific Time.

Hosted by Chris Fraser. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music: "Lutin" by William Chernoff.

Cole Schmidt talks about the upcoming 40th Vancouver International Jazz Festival presented by the Coastal Jazz and Blues Society, where he is the co-artistic director. Cole is a guitarist and composer who is an absolute mainstay of our scene and has been for many years now. To say that Cole has a full plate at any given time is a gross understatement. His project with Peggy Lee, Forever Stories Of: Moving Parties, came out in November 2024 to critical acclaim. More recently, the band KneeJerk with Brian Horswill, Karlis Silins, Kenton Loewen, and Cole released their album The Speed of Dark in May on the Infidels Jazz label.

Cole is working on future projects with his longtime band, Sick Boss; a new group called LETTR OPENR with Feven Kidane, Kevin Romain, and Nebyu Yohannes; a duo with Alvaro Rojas, and even a solo record. In short, the man is making music happen.

Next week, Cole is playing at the festival on June 25: 5:00 PM - Revue Stage, Forever Stories Of: Moving Parties (pay what you can).

Here are my gigs around jazzfest time!

• June 22: 2:00 PM - Hero's Welcome, Jazz Salvation Organ Trio with Mary Ancheta & Biboye Onanuga ($10 cover)
• June 23: 9:30 PM - Tyrant Studios, my quartet with John Nicholson, Conrad Good, & Todd Stewart + a jam (get tickets)
• June 26: 4:00 PM - Ocean Artworks, John Nicholson Quintet (pay what you can)
• June 28: 1:00 PM - North Vancouver Civic Plaza, Taras Luka (FREE)

Also check out Will's gig with the Madeleine Elkins Trio (joined by Kevin Romain) on June 29: 4:00 PM - Ocean Artworks (pay what you can)!

Become a member for free today at rhythmchanges.ca. You'll get the free weekly email with upcoming events from the gig list, plus artists, events, or recordings for you to enjoy and share. Sent every Tuesday morning at 6:00 AM Pacific Time.

Hosted by Chris Fraser. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music: "Lutin" by William Chernoff.

Jessica Hawkes talks about the Nashville songwriting scene and her perspective on that world coming from a jazz background. Jess is a vocalist, songwriter, producer, and engineer who goes way back with me to formative years at CapU. Originally from Lake Country, BC, she has split her time between Vancouver, New York City, and Nashville.

Become a member for free today at rhythmchanges.ca. You'll get the free weekly email with upcoming events from the gig list, plus artists, events, or recordings for you to enjoy and share. Sent every Tuesday morning at 6:00 AM Pacific Time.

Hosted by Chris Fraser. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music: "Lutin" by William Chernoff.

Dean Thiessen talks about his Stranger Friends Orchestra (I'm a band member) and their upcoming performance at the Fox Cabaret on May 31 presented by Infidels Jazz. The large ensemble will celebrate the release of a live EP that weekend on the Infidels Jazz label. Dean is a pianist and composer from Alberta who has been active in Vancouver as a working musician and composer-bandleader for over a decade. His small group, also called Stranger Friends, will perform at the jazzfest and release a new album this year as well.

Will Chernoff has a new podcast called Upsample with our friend Carson Tworow. Find it wherever you're listening to this podcast or see the links here.

Become a member for free today at rhythmchanges.ca. You'll get the free weekly email with upcoming events from the gig list, plus artists, events, or recordings for you to enjoy and share. Sent every Tuesday morning at 6:00 AM Pacific Time.

Hosted by Chris Fraser. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music: "Lutin" by William Chernoff.

Biboye Onanuga talks about his latest of what is now several trips to Vancouver from Edmonton, and the different flavours inspiring him as he goes about his creative life today, from the literally food-based to the musical. He played two Infidels Jazz shows this weekend: one at the VIFF Centre playing the music of Thelonious Monk, and the other at Frankie's After Dark with his quartet, billed as "Low and Slow". He'll return to play around jazzfest time this year (with me in the group). This is Biboye's second appearance on the show, the previous one being episode 95 hosted by Will Chernoff.

Become a member for free today at rhythmchanges.ca. You'll get the free weekly email with upcoming events from the gig list, plus artists, events, or recordings for you to enjoy and share. Sent every Tuesday morning at 6:00 AM Pacific Time.

Hosted by Chris Fraser. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music: "Lutin" by William Chernoff.

Shruti Ramani talks about her Juno nomination at the 54th awards taking place in Vancouver this weekend, for her band Raagaverse's album Jaya in the Jazz Album of the Year - Group category.

Raagaverse consists of Shruti as the vocalist-bandleader and the composer of most tracks on Jaya, Noah Franche-Nolan as the pianist and co-arranger, Jodi Proznick on bass, and Nicholas Bracewell on drums. Jaya, the band's first album, also features a horn section and strings. Raagaverse released it on the new Rhea Records label. This is Shruti's second appearance on the podcast, the previous one being episode 72 hosted by Will Chernoff.

Become a member for free today at rhythmchanges.ca. You'll get the free weekly email with upcoming events from the gig list, plus artists, events, or recordings for you to enjoy and share. Sent every Tuesday morning at 6:00 AM Pacific Time.

Hosted by Chris Fraser. Edited and mixed by Will Chernoff. A Chernoff Music podcast. Theme music: "Lutin" by William Chernoff.