Jazz Tones

Listen to WCLK's Jazz Tones this Sunday from 3pm-7pm on Atlanta’s Jazz Station 91.9 WCLK. My guest this Sunday will be Pianist Greg Murphy. An adept pianist of universal appeal, Murphy has done it all from jam sessions to late night gigs. Hailing from Chicago, he has had a 20 year plus career with Rashied Ali which gives him roots to the John Coltrane lineage. Bright Idea , his fifth release overall, is on Whaling City Sound and is his one of his best as a leader . Murphy's trio consists...

Join me Sunday on WCLK's Jazz Tones from 3pm-7pm. My special guest will be Etienne Charles--Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at Michigan State University, recording artist, and arranger. Etienne is a young Trinidadian who is an amazing trumpet, steel drum, and cuatro player. He graduated from Jazz programs at Florida State University and Juillard. Carnival The Sound of A People Vol 1 is his new release on Culture Shock Music.

Join me on Jazz Tones on Atlanta's Jazz Station 91.9 WCLK Sunday at 3pm as I continue my look at the behind the scenes experts who are helping keep Jazz alive(and funded). I will be joined by Sara Donnelly. Donnelly is the Director, Jazz at South Arts . She is an experienced arts administrator and Jazz specialist. Donnelly has held grantmaking postions in the national Jazz and arts funding arenas, including with the National Endowment for the Arts ( Jazz Fellowships, Multi-Music...

Join me Sunday at 3pm on Jazz Tones on Atlanta's Jazz Station 91.9 WCLK when my guest will be GayeLynn McKinney, a multi-genre percussionist and composer. She is one of the most accomplished drummers in Detroit. Her father was the legendary jazz pianist and composer Harold McKinney, who once played with Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, and John Coltrane among others. GayeLynn has been playing drums since childhood. After graduating from college, Gayelynn joined forces with Bassist Marion...

Join me for Jazz Tones Sunday at 3pm on Atlanta's Jazz Station 91.9 WCLK. I'll be joined by Jana La Sorte. La Sorte is Founder and Creative Director of Ambassadora and a creative strategist with over 25 years experience in arts, education, politics, community engagement and communications. The former director of Urban Bush Women (UBW), she managed business and program operations, including strategic planning, board development, fundraising and community engagement. Jana is a former college...

Join me for Jazz Tones on Atlanta's Jazz Station 91.9 WCLK on Sunday from 3pm to 7pm. My guest will be Stefanie Batten Bland, choreographer and filmmaker. She is the daughter of Ed Bland, who produced the film The Cry of Jazz in 1959, a short film documentary that was a polemical essay on the politics of music and race. He was a filmaker, composer and arranger. Stefanie is the Artistic Director of Company SBB, which is an inter-continental dance company that blurs physical defintions in...

This past Sunday on Jazz Tones on Atlanta's Jazz Station 91.9 WCLK I had the honor of interviewing an extraordinary pianist- Josiah Alexander Sila, better known as Joey Alexander. He was born in Bali in 2003 and lived in Jakarta and then moved to New York in 2014. At age 14, Joey has already recorded two Grammy-nominated studio albums-- 2015's My Favorite Things and 2016's Countdown , as well as Joey.Monk.Live . Eclipse (Motema Music), which is Joey's most recent release, was recorded over...

Join me for Jazz Tones on Atlanta's Jazz Station 91.9 WCLK on Sunday afternoon at 3pm. My special guest will be Mario Grillo, otherwise known as Machito, Jr.. From the 1940s to the 1960s, American urban culture in big cities spiked with with the introduction of Latin Jazz big bands. When reminiscing about the age of mambo and the Palladium Ballroom, a few names especially come to mind-- Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, and Machito, the famed Cuban bandleader/maraca player, who caused a mini...

Grammy-nominated, multi-instrumentalist, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Member Ted Nash joins me Sunday on Jazz Tones beginning at 3pm on Atlanta's Jazz Station 91.9 WCLK. He is a Los Angeles-born composer, performer, arranger and educator. Nash comes from a musical family. His father Dick Nash and Uncle Ted Nash were both well known studio Jazz musicians in their era. Ted started playing piano at age seven. By the time he turned 12 he had started playing clarinet, and a year later he...

Jazz Tones is your home for the latest and the greatest in straight ahead Jazz and African and Brazilian rhythms. Listen each Sunday afternoon from 3pm-7pm on Atlanta's Jazz Station 91.9 WCLK. Pianist Kevin Bales recently joined me on Jazz Tones. He is a pianist, teacher and composer. Kevin has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Louie Bellson, James Moody, Eddie Daniels, Marcus Printup and many others. He toured and recorded with vocalist René Marie for ten years. Kevin has performed at The...

Join me for Jazz Tones on Atlanta's Jazz Station 91.9 WCLK, Sundays from 3pm-7pm. My special guest this Sunday will be Aimee Allen, who has released her fifth record, Wings Uncaged (Azuline) . The very talented jazz vocalist and lyricist has made her most mature and original musical statement to date. Aimee's music is strongly marked by originals that reflect on relationships like the track Night Owl . She also writes and sings about the obstacles we need to overcome within our society in...

Listen to Jazz Tones this Sunday from 3pm-7pm on Atlanta's Jazz Station 91.9 WCLK. I will interview Mark Winkler, platinum award-winning singer/lyricist. His recent release with Cheryl Bentyne from Manhattan Transfer, Eastern Standard Time (Cafe Pacific Records), includes songs of East Coast lineage that will remind listeners of the music performed in jazz clubs in New York City between 1950-1960. https://youtu.be/pSwCoETg4ag

Grammy award - winner David Sanchez recently joined me during Jazz Tones on WCLK to talk about his music, his academic career, and a Friday night performance at Georgia State University. Globally, he is considered one of the finest saxophonists of his generation. Sanchez "merges Jazz syntax with musical dialects of his native Puerto Rico and other Caribbean and Latin American sources,"states Howard Reich. Sanchez has eight Grammy nominations and has received a Latin Grammy in 2005 for best...

This Sunday July 22 during Jazz Tones on WCLK from 3pm until 7pm, I'll be joined by Joe Jennings. Mr. Jennings recently retired and is founder of The Spelman College Jazz Ensemble and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Spelman College. Joe has been director of music at the Atlanta Center of Black Art, and artist-in residence at the Neighborhood Arts Center, also in Atlanta. He was the founder and director of the Neighborhood Arts Ensemble, a 22 piece big band. He also led The Joe Jennings...

Join me on Jazz Tones on Jazz 91.9 WCLK, Sunday, June 24 from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. when my guest will be Cheryl Bentyne of the Manhattan Transfer. Their new studio release is The Junction (BMG), and they will be appearing at Atlanta Symphony Hall on Friday, June 22 at 8:00pm. The Manhattan Transfer has been performing and making music for over forty years. The late Tim Hauser formed the group in 1969, and they explore a capella, vocalese, swing, Jazz and other forms of music....

Join me for Jazz Tones on Jazz 91.9 WCLK Sunday, June 3 from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. This week I'll be talking to Allan Harris, a native New Yorker and singer-songwriter, who is considered a classic romantic crooner. Harris pays heartfelt tribute to iconic singer and innovator of vocalise Eddie Jefferson in his new Resilience Music release The Genius of Eddie Jefferson . He discovered the depth of Jefferson’s unusual takes on the classic solo’s of Jazz giants like: Miles Davis, Dexter...

Keyboardist Lao Tizer was a child prodigy and is a native of Boulder Colorado. Lao’s career spans a quarter of century and nine albums. His latest release is Songs from the Swinghouse (Yse Records) which was recorded in three days and documented by award-winning Film Director Andy LaViolette. The Lao Tizer Quartet Featuring Eric Marienthal will be appearing at The Atlanta Jazz Festival 2018 and performing Sunday May 27 at 1pm on the Legends Stage. You can here more Jazz Tones Insights on...

Morgan Guerin was a child prodigy and was given his first pair of drum sticks at six months. He grew up within a musical family and was influenced by his father saxophonist Roland Guerin and his mother Brianna Williams, an entertainment attorney. Morgan is currently studying at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City. He was also a member of the Rialto Youth Jazz Orchestra directed by Gordon Vernick. Morgan has two self-releases, The Saga and The Saga II . Guerin will...

Join me for Jazz Tones on Jazz 91.9 WCLK Sunday, May 20 from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. I'll talk with Bradie Speller. Speller is a producer, acoustic and electronic percussionist from New York City. He has a unique style that incorporates African and Latin drumming. This has allowed him to perform with such notable musicians as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report and The Pyramids. His debut release is Climate Change , dedicated to artists who had and continue to have influence on our...

On the Sunday, April 29 edition of Jazz Tones from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Jazz 91.9 WCLK, I'll be joined by Monika Herzig. She is a composer, pianist, arranger, author and Head of Indiana University's Music Department. Her recent release Sheroes is the second release of this all female international band. They are all incredibly accomplished musicians, including: Rosa Avila on drums; Jamie Baum on flute; Myra Casales on percussion; Monika Herzig on piano; Ingrid Jensen on trumpet; Reut...