Zeshan B: Chicago-Born Opera-Trained Indian Muslim Soul Singer
World Music Foundation Podcast
Release Date: 07/16/2019
Illmind- Filipino-American Multi-Platinum Music Producer and Innovator
World Music Foundation Podcast
Many articles, films, and interviews have been made about Illmind’s extraordinary career producing many albums for several of the top names in Hip-Hop today. This isn’t one of those interviews. In this week’s episode, John digs deep into the early experiences and upbringing that shaped Ramon Ibanga Jr - AKA !llmind - as a musician and planted the seeds of what has become a life’s quest towards community building. After years of social innovation within the Producer Community, we catch up with this 2x GRAMMY Award winning artist just days before he speaks at Gary Vaynerchuck’s VeeCon...
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Daniel Nebiat: Eritrean Krar Master & Founding Member Of The Juno Award Winning Okavango African Orchestra
World Music Foundation Podcast
Juno award-winning, Eritrian krar player, Daniel Nebiat joins John to talk about his journey playing the krar. From growing up in the midst of a war for independence to working with African legends, Daniel Nebiat shares the ways he had to persevere, adapt, and innovate to continue pursuing his passion for music. Currently based in Toronto, he is a founding member of the Okavango African Orchestra, where he and African musicians from six other countries create original music for traditional instruments that have historically had little or no interaction. Whether he’s talking about krar,...
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We Will Return Soon! (Upcoming Episodes Trailer)
World Music Foundation Podcast
Like all of us, the global pandemic has hit The World Music Foundation hard. We're excited to return soon and we're excited to share with you a sneak peek of upcoming episodes along with some updates on what we've been up to.
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Rhymefest: American Rapper, Writer, Community Organizer, and Explorer
World Music Foundation Podcast
In this week’s episode John meets with American rapper and prolific creator, Che “Rhymefest” Smith to discuss Hip-Hop and his Hollywood acting debut, along with topics ranging from Chicago’s youth, spirituality, various life changing trips around the world, and much more. Rhymefest's upcoming album is titled Love Lessons Part 1. This episode also includes the world-premier of an amazing track from the upcoming album, featuring Black Thought (aka Tariq Trotter of The Roots) & Raheem DeVaughn.
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Wu Fei: Genre-bending Composer, Guzheng Virtuoso & Vocalist From Beijing
World Music Foundation Podcast
Wu Fei describes herself as an ancient soul trapped in a feisty woman's body. Hailing from Beijing, China, Wu Fei is a multi-talented composer and guzheng virtuoso, known also for her improvisational singing and piano playing. Fei talks to John about transitioning from China to the U.S., how both countries have influenced her and her music, and what it was like to hear American music for the first time in her teenage years. She also discusses her critically acclaimed original work "Hello Gold Mountain."
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Louis York: American Griots, Weirdo Workshop Founders, and Multi-GRAMMY Nominated Musicians
World Music Foundation Podcast
This week's episode takes us to Nashville, TN, USA where John visits Weirdo Workshop, the music label and creative headquarters for our guests, Louis York, to speak with them about their new album and everything that's brought them to this point in their careers. Louis York is the powerful duo of multi-GRAMMY nominated songwriting and production team, Claude Kelly and Chuck Harmony. Their debut album is titled American Griots and it's a sonic adventure that's deserving of their incredible backstory.
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Roberto Fonseca: Cuban Pianist, Composer, and Bandleader
World Music Foundation Podcast
Self-proclaimed "crazy, romantic musician", Roberto Fonseca, speaks with John about his recently released 9th solo album, Yesun, along with the life experiences and musical training that have brought him to this point. Roberto is a GRAMMY nominated, Cuban pianist, composer, producer and bandleader, and on this album he experiments with a wide range of musical forms. Roberto also talks about his tenure with the Buena Vista Social Club and this forever changed his approach to music making.
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Femi Kuti: Afrobeat Legend And Concerned Citizen Of The World
World Music Foundation Podcast
John spoke with Afrobeat icon Femi Kuti from the Shrine in Lagos, Nigeria, where he shared his life-changing transition from the Saxophone to the Trumpet and the effect this has had on his music and his thoughts. Femi is the son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, and is considered a torch-bearer to his father’s legacy, but in this interview Femi explains why he believes that his mother, Remilekun Taylor, is actually 90% responsible for who he is.
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Goat Picnic: Hill Country Music of North Mississippi
World Music Foundation Podcast
John travels down to Coldwater, MS for the 69th Annual Goat Picnic in honor of fife & drum legend, Otha Turner. What started off as something else, ends up being a a good handful of great conversations with musicians (and even some audience members) about the Hill Country Music of Northern Mississippi, USA.
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Mei-Ann Chen: Award-Winning Taiwanese-American Conductor & Music Director
World Music Foundation Podcast
Mei-Ann Chen is acclaimed for infusing orchestras with energy, enthusiasm. In our conversation we follow her musical evolution from shy violin player in her birth country, Taiwan, to dynamic, trailblazing, internationally sought-after conductor. Mei-Ann also shares the inspirational interaction with Martin Luther King that inspired the creation of the MacArthur Award-winning, Chicago Sinfonietta, the nations most diverse orchestra, of which she is the principle conductor and music director.
info_outlineChicago’s own Zeshan B’s fearlessness as an individual translates into music that knows no boundaries and takes from a wider range of influences than we may be used to hearing in one musician’s discography. In 2017 he released Vetted, his debut album, to critical acclaim. He made his national TV debut that same year on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Since then he’s been touring and preparing for his next release. We talk about his experience in music education, his current project, and how we all share an inherent hunger for groovy music.
Here’s an external link to every Musical Mention in this episode:
0:20 Zeshan Bagewadi
1:48 Bill Withers – Lean on Me
1:50 M.C. Hammer – Can’t Touch This
3:50 Lithuanian Opera
5:35 Raj Kapoor
6:45 Luciano Pavarotti
10:35 Gospel Choir
10:53 Gregorian chants
11:17 Chicago Lyric Opera
13:33 Don Giovanni: a Mozart Opera
13:45 Giuseppe Verdi
13:45 Beethoven
18:20 Soul music
18:48 Sam Cooke
18:50 Ray Charles
18:54 Chicago Blues
18:54 Muddy Waters
19:00 Curtis Mayfield
19:01 Mahalia Jackson
19:34 Bill Withers
19:34 Marvin Gaye
20:54 Medhi Hassan
20:55 Kishore Kumar
20:56 Mohammed Rafi
20:58 Shafqat Amanat Ali
21:05 Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
21:07 Qawwali
21:15 Bollywood Music
21:45 Qawwali
21:48 Ghazal
22:05 Jagjit Singh
22:27 Medhi Hassan
22:32 Ghulam Ali
24:35 Ghazal
24:35 Indian Classical Music
24:55 Lady Gaga
24:55 Bruno Mars
25:30 Folk geet (Indian folk music)
25:38 Qawwali
25:38 Ghazal
27:15 Drum kit
27:19 Farfisa Organ
27:35 Harlem Renaissance
27:36 Langston Hughes
27:38 Zora Neale Hurston
27:44 Amiri Baraka
27:47 Assata Shakur
28:45 Elvis Presley
28:50 Tom and Jerry Theme song
37:00 Harmonium
40:23 Sitar
40:40 Indian Classical Music
43:22 Meri Jaan
43:27 Little Walter – My Babe
43:41 Muddy Waters
43:42 J.B. Hutto
43:43 Bo Diddley
44:33 Howlin Wolf
44:38 Donny Hathaway
44:40 Curtis Mayfield
44:41 Mahalia Jackson
45:05 Get Higher
45:06 Brown Power
49:37 Kurt Weill – Street Scene
49:58 Gian Carlo Menotti – The Consul
50:18 Dmitri Shostakovich
50:20 Leningrad Symphony
50:40 Richard Strauss – The Alpine Symphony
51:00 Beethoven Symphony No.9
51:07 John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
53:05 Lestor Snell
53:12 Isaac Hayes
53:12 Al Green
53:15 Shaft
54:45 Bhangra music