Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

di Leah Roseman

Stagione 3

Polina Shepherd: Cultural activist, Singer, Composer, Choir leader

I was honoured to speak with the inspiring singer, composer, choir leader, pianist and cultural activist Polina Shepherd. In this episode you’ll hear Polina’s stories from growing up in Tartarstan, in the former Soviet Union, finding a bridge to her Jewish identity through Klezmer music, collaborating with her mentors, founding Yiddish and Russian choirs in the U.K., and many other creative projects. During the episode she sings songs from different traditions, including one of her compositions, and is such a warm and engaging speaker I trust a wide audience will find inspiration and food for thought in her perspectives on education, mentorship, creativity, health, identity, connection and collaboration. The link for both the podcast and video is linked with the full transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/polina-shepherd Her website https://www.polinashepherd.co.uk/ If you are specifically interested in Klezmer music, you may be interested in previous episodes with Alicia Svigals, Josh “Socalled” Dolgin, and Marilyn Lerner. Please encourage me to keep this series going. https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo credit: Shendl Copitman Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:27) connecting through music, COVID, Sing With Me workshops (00:05:14) Polina’s childhood, family music-making (00:07:16) intro to Russian Romance by Lermontov and Shashina (00:10:14) Polina’s musical training and voice (00:12:16) Tomsk, Kazan, growing up in Tartarstan, Jewish community, perestroika (00:16:27) Yiddish song, Polina sings “A Frisher Vind” Dovid Hofshsteyn poetry (00:21:31) secular Yiddish culture, song cycle with poems of Troim Katz Handler (00:24:11) falling in love with Merlin Shepherd, experience of immigration to the UK (00:28:17) first trip to US, Lorin Sklamberg, Adrienne Cooper, Zalmen Mlotek (00:31:07) 150 Voices with Lorin Sklamberg, part in “The Crown” (00:35:09) The Caravan Orchestra and Choir, teaching improvisation, working with youth (00:40:39) Tartarstan cultural influences (00:42:40) Polina’s advice for musicians, collaboration (00:48:13) memorisation, playing by ear (00:49:15) advice for health for singers and everyone else (00:52:48) accompanying silent films (00:57:43) collaboration with dance, community outreach (00:59:22) Polina’s way of manifesting projects, starting her choirs, Jackie Fuller (01:04:12) working with community choirs (01:06:55) learning from Adrienne Cooper, Zalmen Mlotek, Lorin Sklamberg, Frank London, Merlin Shepherd, Psoy Korolenko (01:13:37) Niggun Koyach (01:16:14) Polina’s reflections and advice

S3 · E3

20 gen 2023

1:21:36

Mike Essoudry: Drummer

This episode features the fantastic drummer Mike Essoudry, who is a busy performer and composer in Ottawa, Canada, playing with many projects in the funk, jazz, and improvised music scene. He’s in the funk group Gephilte with a previous guest of this series, Josh “Socalled” Dolgin, and in the Together Ensemble with his partner Megan Jerome. Today also marks the release of my bonus catch-up episode with Megan, in which she shares how she and Mike fell in love as well as her new album and great advice about an important aspect of the music business as an independant artist. Her episodes are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/megan-jerome-e10-s2This episode was unique in that Mike was sitting at his drumset during the entire episode and we talked in detail about the history of the drumset and evolution of different styles of drumming. Mike demonstrated lots of intricate grooves and finished the episode with a cool little solo. He also shared stories from his childhood and talked about how in his youth he built his drums and an intricate treehouse in a park. Transcript and Video: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mike-essoudry-drummer Mike's website: https://mikeessoudrymusic.com/home Support this podcast with a tip, or consider becoming a monthly supporter with access to perks: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo: JC Batista Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:02:12) drum set history with demonstrations: bass drum, ride cymbal, Zildjian, Ludwig, Beatles, speed-metal (00:12:51) tom-toms with demonstration (00:16:54) brushes, cajon sticks, mallets (00:20:26) the importance of drummers learning harmony and melody (00:23:30) counting, knowing the tune (00:27:03) Latin grooves (00:32:32) drum solos, not losing the count, the advantage of having someone play with your solo (00:36:09) poly-rhythms and groupings (00:42:39) Mike’s book of beats and teaching, playing by ear and reading (00:46:22) Foley artists, history of radio, silent movies, sound effects (00:49:14) hand percussion, playing without shoes (00:51:27) Mike’s childhood, rock drumming, blues (00:55:31) drum pads substitute for drums (00:57:45) marching bands, New Orleans, different traditions from around the world, Balkan music (01:03:48) Mike’s parents, hand percussion on the drum set (demonstration) (01:11:44) Mike’s father’s immigration story from Moroccon Jewish community, how his parents met (01:17:37) carpentry skills, classic Lego, treehouse story, building his drum set (01:23:53) visual and intuitive learning style (01:26:24) Atlantis Jazz Ensemble, Alouette Space Agency (01:31:24) solo drum project, balancing earning money with carpentry and writing and playing music (01:34:39) how Mike practices and the importance of keeping your ears in shape, pushing boundaries like immitating machine beats

S3 · E2

14 gen 2023

1:40:24

Stagione 2

Megan Jerome Catch-Up Bonus!

Bonus

This is a special bonus Catch-Up episode with singer-songwriter Megan Jerome. Today is also the release of my conversation with her husband, the jazz drummer Mike Essoudry. In this short episode, you’ll hear how Megan fell in love with Mike, as well as about the creation of her new album “Love” with the Together Ensemble including two songs from the album, “Hot Pink Heart”, and “Isn’t Life Grand”. She also talked about some valuable mentorship that helped her secure funding for the album. Megan’s original episode as well as this catch-up bonus are linked together with the video and podcast versions, and the transcripts: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/megan-jerome-e10-s2 Mike Essoudry, podcast, video and transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mike-essoudry-drummer Support this podcast and get access to unique perks! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman photo: JC Batista Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:34) how Megan and Mike Essoudry fell in love (03:56) “Isn’t Life Grand” Megan Jerome and the Together Ensemble (08:37) Megan’s new album “Love”, release plan, funding Canada Council and City of Ottawa (14:30) Vel Omazic and Canada Music Incubators (17:34) “Hot Pink Heart” Megan Jerome and the Together Ensemble

S2 · E10

14 gen 2023

20:14

Stagione 3

Renée Yoxon

Renée Yoxon is a trans non-binary singer, songwriter, jazz musician, and trans voice teacher. In this episode, Renee shares some beautiful and inspiring performances from their albums, as well as stories from life as a disabled person and how their disability and chronic pain has guided the direction of their career. We talk about their musical development, and their experiences both bad and good as they navigated their musical education (after finishing a degree in physics!). Renée explains the kind of work they do with trans vocal exploration and we dive into all kinds of topics in the usual tangential style of this series. The transcript and video are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/rene-yoxon Please consider supporting this series and get access to some cool and unique perks: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Renée Yoxon website: https://www.reneeyoxon.com/ photo: Laurence Philomène podcast theme music: Nick Kold Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:21) Renée’s physics degree, start in school band, Jazz Works camp (00:04:19) free improv group, intergenerational friendships (00:06:38) intro to “Willow Weep for Me” by Ann Ronell (00:08:53) “Willow Weep for Me” with René Gely (00:13:57) piano, ukulele (00:15:26) “Beautiful Alchemy”, film with Teagan Lance and album (00:17:14) “Terrible Alchemy” (00:23:19) Blossom Dearie (00:23:52) worldless improv (00:24:37) studies in New York, living as a disabled person, vocal technique (00:29:33) singing in rock band “Gorgeous George”, care of the voice and endurance training (00:32:20) trans voice aleration, TikTok success, pitch lowering, taking risks and learning to be silly (00:40:14) gender presentation and gender identity (00:42:35) ways we can alter the voice (00:45:09) different languages in terms of vocal alteration, vocal fry and gendered cutural coding for vocal characteristics (00:47:52) TikTok (00:49:22) teaching Trans Voice Alteration to other teachers (00:51:45) the importance of teaching business skills to musicians, University of Limerick, Edel Meade (00:55:58) Banff, McGill, growing up in Ottawa, the importance of mentors, Mark Ferguson, René Gely (01:00:29) social anxiety, speaking in public with a different voice or new language (01:02:38) different people who take Renée’s courses on voice alteration (01:03:18) songwriting, Aoife McAtamney Pink Breath (01:04:27) “Drinking Coffee” (01:08:58) songs “The Bad Years” about their chronic illness (01:10:27) Kazaa music sharing, learning jazz repertoire (01:12:53) Renée’s perspective on the music industry as a disabled person, and experiences at McGill university with lack of accessibility (01:17:46) Mx non-binary honorific, the importance of pronouns (01:20:32) disability rights, more about their McGill experience (01:22:45) Montreal

S3 · E1

7 gen 2023

1:24:25

Stagione 2

Leslie DeShazor

Leslie DeShazor is a multi-style violist, violinist and composer based in Detroit. She teaches students both through the Sphinx Organization and the Detroit Symphony as well as privately. She was named one of thirty Professional Movers and Shakers in the Performing Arts by Musical America in 2019 and in 2022 she released her jazz and R&B album “Journey With Me” which features herself as soloist, bandleader, and composer. Towards the beginning of this episode you’ll hear her composition “Simply Complicated” from “Journey With Me”. This conversation was full of stories and insights from Leslie’s life. She shared valuable perspectives that educators, parents and anyone who mentors children and young adults will find inspiring and thought-provoking. We talked a lot about why kids quit playing music, why so many young adults today have trouble figuring out the direction of their life, and how the educational system can take away people’s innate creativity and confidence. Leslie is such an articulate and engaging speaker; I’m sure listeners everywhere will enjoy this episode! The musicians on Simply Complicated are: Nate Winn - drums, Brendon Davis - piano Brandon Rose - bass Photo: Bruce Turner Please support this series! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Video and Transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/leslie-deshazor Leslie DeShazor website: https://lesliedeshazor.com/ Complete Catalog of Episodes: ⁠⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/about⁠⁠ Newsletter sign-up: ⁠⁠https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter⁠⁠ Timestamps: (00:00) Cold open quote plus Intro (02:00) album Journey With Me, accepting help (06:16) differences playing acoustic and electric instruments (07:30) intro to tune “Simply Complicated” (13:25) Leslie’s childhood musical pranks, growing up in Inkster and Canton (16:10) the importance of Detroit in many different musical genres (18:36) the influence and importantce of church music (22:47) Interlochen, perspectives on exposing kids to a competitive atmosphere (32:43) Leslie’s approach to coaching student ensembles (36:14) Leslie’s history going to Orchestra Hall, continuity and history of Detroit (40:52) parenting, guiding children in music (42:37) University of Michigan and Wayne State college experiences, James Dapogny, how to guide students, the importance of helping music students with options (51:00) dealing with injury (53:06) different cultures through dance, learning Spanish, teaching with Sphinx (56:14) Sphinx organization (01:03:10) Musique Noire, Eunoia Society, JoVia Armstrong (01:04:45) problem with labels in music, colonial attitudes (01:10:44) teaching music using different strategies (01:16:35) challenges in guiding students (01:19:53) students who are over-scheduled, the benefits of allowing time for creativity and play (01:25:42) Cole Randolph taking time off and motivation (01:26:42) dealing with stress through exercise, jumping rope, keeping balance (01:30:00) freelance life stress (01:31:18) teaching body percussion, benefits of community music making, learning from other educators (01:35:35) Leslie’s advice about bravery

S2 · E30

26 nov 2022

1:42:58

Derek Gripper

The internationally renowned guitarist Derek Gripper is famous for his groundbreaking technique for evoking the West African kora on the guitar. During this episode you’ll get to hear Derek play quite a bit and you will hear his wonderful insights on how we listen to and learn music, the influence of Montessori and Alexander Technique in his life, his reflections on important collaborations in his career and his perspectives on changes that have been imposed on creators and performers. Please help me keep this podcast going: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman The video and transcript are linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/derek-gripper https://www.derekgripper.com/ Timestamps: (00:00:00) Introduction (00:01:45) Bach guitar music with intro (00:04:00) carnatic music studies, album with tabla player Udai Mazumdar (00:06:12) structural improvisation, Bach (00:08:18) Alexander Technique (00:15:28) violin studies (00:16:24) Derek's recording approach (00:20:30) “Billly Goes to Durban” (00:21:28) kora music, Toumani Diabaté (00:25:18) “Tubaka” guitar music (00:26:36) Derek’s transcriptions, Zoom classes (00:30:12) online music economy, Derek’s experiences with selling albums, Platoon label (00:35:35) Montessori method and teaching guitar (00:39:38) "A Year of Swimming" (00:41:34) Alex Van Heerden, “Sagtevlei”, Steve Reich, Bryan Bolton (00:45:36) Guy Buttery and different collaborations (00:48:12) South Africa and COVID’s economic ramifications (00:49:43) Madosini (00:52:06) World Music as a genre and marketing tool (00:58:23) Derek’s style of performing (01:00:31) mental health, touring, mindset with Alexander Technique inhibition and internal resistance (01:04:42) "Seeing Nobody" guitar music (01:07:00) reflections on Derek’s career, being South African, John Williams, Lucy Duran (01:11:30) Derek’s guitars, Paul Galbraith Brahms guitar, “Bloomdorns”, Hermann Hauser, just intonation and bending notes, oud, lute, veena, (01:17:36) Derek’s advice and reflections on too much input photo: Luke Young

S2 · E29

19 nov 2022

1:22:22

Stagione 1

Inspiring Excerpts with Roddy Ellias: Flow, Martial Arts, and Rock bands!

Bonus

This is a short bonus episode in my "Inspiring Excerpts" series, with the wonderful jazz guitarist and composer Roddy Ellias. The full episode is here, both video and podcast: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/e12-s1-roddy-ellias-guitarist-and-composer You'll get to hear some great stories from Roddy's early career in touring rock bands, connections between martial arts and music, and how he teaches students to get into the feel of flow. Guitar enthusiasts, you’ll be happy to know that this series will soon be featuring quite a few more guitarists and also specialists in other plucked instruments. . I hope you enjoy these in-depth and wide-ranging conversations, and that your curiosity is stimulated for music that may be new to you. Please support this podcast with a tip! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Roddy Ellias website: https://www.roddyellias.com/ photo: Evan Shaw

S1 · E12

12 nov 2022

8:36

Stagione 2

Marc van Vugt: guitarist and composer

Marc van Vugt is a wonderful award-winning composer and jazz guitarist from the Netherlands. In this episode you’ll be introduced to several beautiful guitars in his collection that are featured in his new solo album, “The Lonely Coyote” and you’ll also get to hear stories from his travels and his perspectives about different musical scenes, composing, and some of the biggest challenges now for musicians worldwide. Please buy me a coffee! (and get access to unique perks) https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman The video version of this is linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/marc-van-vugt-guitarist-and-composer https://baiximrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-lonely-coyote photo: Jiri Büller Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (01:39) “Simiane” intro and performance (08:01)influence of Latin American music, growing up in a small Dutch town (10:49) Paris, Theo van Doesburg house in Meudon, composing the Vandoesburg Suite (15:28) album “The Lonely Coyote”, collection of guitars, touring challenges with a guitar (21:21) baritone guitar (21:22) Martin guitar, technique of playing with a mix of nails and pick (28:20) harp zither (33:44) more about “The Lonely Coyote” ablum, living in the desert, influences of Alberto Gismonti, Ralph Towner, Leo Kottke (40:19) creative process of composing, Kenny Wheeler (48:36) HKU University for the Arts in Utrecht, Hans Kox, Eef Albers, creating the jazz and improvised music department with Bert van der Brink (51:17) Banff, categories of music, the free improvised music scene in the Netherlands (56:03) experience of growing up in a place and time with limited access to music and different musicians in contrast to now with the challenges of exposure YouTube and social media in general (01:01:48) touring and collaborating with local musicians, trips to Indonesia and playing with gamelan players (01:05:06) trip to Brazil (01:07:31) teaching composition (01:12:46) Rogier van Otterloo (01:15:16) writing music for films of Georges Méliès (01:19:12) archtop guitar

S2 · E28

5 nov 2022

1:25:18

Julie Lyonn Lieberman: Multi-style Violinist/Vocalist, Author, Composer, Producer, Educator

This is a re-release with improved audio. I was thrilled to have a fascinating chat with the inspiring and innovative multi-style violinist/vocalist, author, composer, producer and educator Julie Lyonn Lieberman. I first learned about her when I bought her book You Are Your Instrument, which was the first book written about how to overcome and prevent musicians’ overuse injuries. In this conversation we discuss her unique path through world music, some of the research she’s done for her book and radio programs, illuminating the history of slave fiddlers and the evolution of improvised string playing in the United States. She gives some wonderful advice about following your own path, and at the end, she plays two tunes in different styles. Please support this podcast with a tip! https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman This episode in video form, along with the transcript, is here linked on my podcast website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/julie-lyonn-lieberman JULIE’S BOOKS AND DVDs https://julielyonnmusic.ecwid.com STRINGS WITHOUT BOUNDARIES Multi-Style Video Library https://www.stringswithoutboundaries.com/video-library.html IMPROVISED VIOLIN Documentary https://vimeo.com/117067048 Julie Lyonn Lieberman String Archives https://julielyonn.com/string-archives/ D’Addario workshops with Julie: https://daddario.formstack.com/forms/... photo credit: Leonard Cascia

S2 · E7

1 nov 2022

56:37

Gary Muszynski

Gary Muzsynski is a versatile percussionist and entrepreneur and this conversation delves into his experiences playing samba in Brazil, his discovery and exploration of the handpan, and some of his work as an educator in both community music projects and as an innovator using music in the corporate world. We also talked about his beautiful album "Roots and Wings - Medicine Music", which won the Gold Medal Best of Show in the 2021 Global Music Awards and features 25 master musicians from 8 countries. Gary plays several contrasting instruments in different styles during the episode, and timestamps are included below. Like every episode, this is available both as a video and podcast wherever you listen to podcasts, and the transcript is also linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/gary-muszynski Please support this series! Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps (00:00) Intro (01:31) Mbira music (06:45) Gary’s mentors and training with Community Music: Babatunde Olatunji, David Darling (09:21) Gary’s childhood and life-changing experience with music (18:26) early career in St. Louis, going to Brazil and learning Samba (24:10) Gary’s story about creatively getting a plane ticket to return to Brazil to perform in Carnaval (28:36) Samba school experiences in Brazil (38:44) demonstration of some samba rhythms on agogô and surdo (46:02) Samba in the Midwest, community music making “Sambistas” band (48:26) Handpan history, different types and demonstration (01:09:57) about the “Roots and Wings, Medicine Music” album, Global Music Awards winner, Tito La Rosa, Yair Dalal, Varijashree Venugopal (01:20:07) Gary’s executive and team coaching and how he pivoted to online during 2020 (01:23:14) Community music Babatunde Olatunji (01:27:29) handpan improvisation photo: Irene Young

S2 · E27

29 ott 2022

1:34:17

19 di 26