Podcast 830: A Conversation with Vince Mendoza
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show
Release Date: 07/05/2021
Podcast 997: Previewing the 2025 Saratoga Jazz Festival with Danny Melnick
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show
There's a new sponsor for the first big jazz festival of the season, but the same great music as always seems to be ready to go. The 2025 Saratoga Jazz Festival is sponsored by GE Vernova, and is scheduled for June 28-29 on the scenic grounds of Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC). As always, the range of talent is broad, from the blues (Gary Clark Jr.) to the great vocalists of today and tomorrow (Gregory Porter, Cassandra Wilson, Veronica Swift, Nicole Zuraitis) to certified jazz legends (Al DiMeola, Gary Bartz, Kenny Garrett) to successful crossover acts (Lettuce, Trombone Shorty)....
info_outline
Podcast 996: A Conversation with Susan Hinkson
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show
Sometimes jazz musicians get their big breaks at school, and others from mentors on the bandstand. And others…from their job in land use regulation? Such is the case for singer Susan Hinkson, whose debut album Just In Time (on windfall creations, LLC) is a spirited romp through the Great American Songbook. For years Susan was a regulator and policy maker for architectural real estate both for the city of New York and as the managing member in the Capalino Ventures, LLC urban strategy firm. Among those with whom she worked closely was Richard Barth, the touchstone of regulatory real...
info_outline
Podcast 995: A Conversation with Richard Underhill and Stich Wynston from the Shuffle Demons
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show
You don’t judge a book by it’s cover, and you don’t judge a band by its name. Toronto-based Shuffle Demons may sound like a retro-blues band, but in fact the sounds they have captured on their latest album, Are You Really Real? (Alma/Universal ) don’t easily get categorized. There’s the jazz-funk of “X Marks The Spot,” swinging “Good Mourning,” and more intricate “Ride the Wave” among a set of tunes heavy in high-energy improvisation. The band presents a unique lineup of instrumentation featuring Richard Underhill (alto and baritone sax), Kelly Jefferson and Matt...
info_outline
Podcast 994: A Conversation with Eric Scott Reed
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show
I last caught up with pianist Eric Reed almost two years ago, as he marked the release of his fine tribute album Black, Brown and Blue (Smoke Sessions Records). He returns to original music with his full name on the album Out Late (Smoke Sessions Records), buoyed by a killer band featuring trumpeter Nicholas Payton, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Joe Farnsworth. This stellar quintet’s members share deep histories with one another as well as with the l+abel’s namesake Manhattan club. So it seemed natural when Reed wanted to record a new batch of...
info_outline
Podcast 993: New Holiday Jazz for You All
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show
There's a bumper crop of new Holiday Jazz out there folks, so i you are looking for last minute enjoyment for Christmas and Hanukkah (and all the rest of the seasonal celebrations) you can listen to Podcast 993, featuring: Nick Maclean - "Christmas Time is Here" from his single on Browntasauras Records Christian Sands - "Do You Hear What I Here" from Christmas Stories George Burt0n - "The Holly and the Ivy" from Yule Log Rich Wiley - "Silver Bells" from Boptism Christmas George Gee Swing Orchestra - "Winter Wonderland Mambo" from Winter Wonderland Band of Other Brothers - "Santa Claus is...
info_outline
Podcast 992: A Conversation with Sivan Arbel
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show
At its heart, Oneness is Israeli-born vocalist/songwriter/arranger Sivan Arbel’s musical response to the divisions she sees in society. Seamlessly blending Eastern and Western influences, she invites listeners to embrace their cultural and ideological differences and yet recognize the universal connections that bind us all. A tall order in late 2024. Oneness echoes this hopeful idealism by envisioning what is possible. Growing up in an environment where diverse cultures coexisted fueled her lifelong curiosity and desire to explore and integrate different musical...
info_outline
Podcast 991: A Conversation with Mauricio Morales
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show
On its own merits, the music on Seven Days, Mauricio Morales’ latest album, speaks with a strong, persuasive creative voice. The respected bassist-composer-bandleader’s fourth album presents seven distinctive compositions for sextet, with sophisticated shifts in mood and musical structure. In a mode of decidedly modern jazz which also manages to be easy on the ear and heart, the music also benefits from bold, integrated playing and soloing by his young allies from both the east and west coasts--connections made when the Mexican Morales lived and studied in Boston before settling in his...
info_outline
Podcast 990: A Conversation with Janis Siegel and Yoran Gershovsky
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show
With The Colors of My Life: A Cy Coleman Songbook, Manhattan Transfer founding member and Grammy Award-Winning vocalist Janis Siegel and acclaimed pianist/arranger/musical director Yaron Gershovsky, together have co-produced their first duo songbook album. And it comes from a classic “When a door closes, a window opens” moment. The Manhattan Transfer performed its final concert a year ago, bringing to a close one of the most storied chapters in vocal jazz history. With their scintillating live performances and memorable recordings, The Transfer bridged the...
info_outline
Podcast 989: A Conversation with Youn Sun Nah
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show
Long hailed for her style-blurring renditions of artists spanning Tom Waits and Jimi Hendrix to Marvin Gaye and Metallica, Elles sees Youn Sun Nah bringing her remarkable voice and unique perspective to a range of songs that have deeply fueled her own indescribable musical approach, all made famous by such iconic female artists as Björk, Sarah Vaughan, Grace Jones, Roberta Flack, Edith Piaf, Grace Slick, Maria João, and more. Recorded in New York City alongside acclaimed pianist (Brian Blade, Cassandra Wilson, Lizz Wright) and producer/musician Tomek...
info_outline
Podcast 988: A Conversation with Orrin Evans
Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show
No Cowards in Our Band is a musical drama telling the story of renowned activist and abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) through his own words. With the performance just days before the 2024 Presidential Election, the piece is a striking reminder of the power of the pen, the voice, and the vote. Based on a libretto by Anthony Knight, Jr. and interwoven with Negro spirituals arranged by GRAMMY-nominated jazz artist Orrin Evans, No Cowards in Our Band stars actor, artist, and TV personality Masud Olufani as...
info_outlineVince Mendoza has been at the forefront of the Jazz and contemporary music scene as a composer, conductor and recording artist for the last 30 years. He has written scores of compositions and arrangements for big band, extended compositions for chamber and symphonic settings while his jazz composing credits read like a “who's who” of the best modern instrumentalists and singers in the world today. He has 6 Grammy awards and 34 nominations.
Mendoza's arranging has appeared on many critically acclaimed projects that include dozens of albums with song writing legends and vocalists such as Björk, Gregory Porter, Chaka Khan, Elvis Costello, Al Jarreau, Robert Glasper, Bobby McFerrin, Diana Krall, Melody Gardot, Sting and Joni Mitchell. He is the composer in residence with the West Deutsche Rundfunk in Koln. Mendoza is also the Conductor Laureate of the Netherlands Metropole Orkest, of which he was Chief Conductor for 9 seasons.
However, he calls his latest release, Freedom is Everything, “a tectonic shift” in how he composes for large ensembles. The five movement “Concerto for Orchestra,” which he began in 2016, eschews some musical traditions, and adds a rhythm section by Antonio Sanchez and Derrick Hodge to the Czech National Symphony Orchestra and soloists like Joshua Redman. Recorded partly live and then overdubbed due to the pandemic. it makes a significant musical statement.
Further, this is the most overtly political piece Mendoza has composed, as he found the unsettling events that began in the 2016 presidential elections, and the protests and related violence that followed becoming part of his artistic process. The resulting work is another touchstone in the genre of “Third Stream” music, the amalgamation of European Art music and American Jazz pioneered by the late Gunther Schuller. Add to that the rapping of the Roots' Black Thought to the final Concerto movement, and you have a truly unique 21st century work.
Podcast 830 is my conversation with Vince (we last spoke back in August 2019 for Podcast 693) as he discusses the long road to writing, arranging and recording (during a pandemic) Freedom is Everything. Musical selections include the fourth movement of the "Concerto for Orchestra" featuring a moving solo by saxophonist Joshua Redman.