Meaningful Musical Conversations

Our guest on today’s episode lives in Napa, California. He is a guitar teacher at Napa School of Music, and is the YouTube phenom who created, “100 Famous Rock Guitar Riffs”. He has a BA in Music Composition and has diverse musical interests. He has written and performed in a multitude of genres from Latin Rock, to Medieval Folk music, to 12 tone serialism.

Our guest also happens to have been our co-host, Daniel Townsend’s guitar teacher for many years.

We are thrilled to welcome our guest, Brodie Cumming!

A Canadian Christmas

Daniel Townsend Music

Our guest this episode is originally from Indiana and currently lives in Santa Rosa, California. He is a sound engineer, audio-tech, archivist, singer/songwriter and recording artist. He has performed throughout Europe, where he lived for ten years, gigged as an audio-tech since the 90’s, worked as an archivist at George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound, and worked many festivals such as Bottlerock. He is currently semi-retired, enjoying occasional gigs and composing and recording new music. We are pleased to welcome our guest, Reed Maidenberg!

Notes:

Reed on YouTube

Reed's Music on Spotify

Reed's daughter's band:PRXZM

Our guest this episode plays both stand-up and electric bass, and is also a guitarist and singer/songwriter. He currently lives in his hometown of Petaluma, California. He graduated from San Francisco State with a BA in music and recently toured Europe for several months with Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids.

He currently plays in several bands, including the Reggae Band,Sol Horizon, the Gypsy Jazz band, Bandjango Collectif, formerly known as French Oak Gypsy Band, as well as with the Mike Saliani Band, and Lisa Stano and the Gang.

Our talented guest is a hard working, humble and gentle soul, with an easy laugh and a penchant for taking gigs that require learning lots of tunes in a short amount of time. He also teaches both bass and guitar.

We are pleased to welcome our guest Skyler Stover.

Links:

Lisa Stano

Bandjango Collectif

Mike Saliani Band

Idris Ackamoor and the Pyramids

Chelsea Selbert

Our guest this episode lives in Point Reyes, California. She is a singer, guitarist, pianist, voice teacher, choir director, and community organizer, as well as a long-time yoga teacher.She leads a choir of up to 50 people that absolutely delights and inspires the community with their performances.

During our conversation, she reveals that she is more interested in singing as a path to personal healing and transformation than as a performance-oriented activity. This becomes a main area of focus in our discussion.

She is also the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit, Sound Orchard,and believes that, "making music together can help create a more healthy, vibrant and connected community”.

We are thrilled to welcome our guest this episode, Devi Daly.

Links:

Devi Daly

Sound Orchard

Songs of Death, Grief and Renewal

Point Reyes Yoga

Rhiannon

MC Yogi

Our guest this episode started playing piano at 10, and played his first professional gig at 14. He also plays a bit of trumpet, drum kit, and bass. His piano studies began with classical and ragtime, and soon after, he discovered Jazz. He still loves classical piano, has a passion for the music of George Gershwin and is known for playing a mean stride piano.

At 25, he is currently the pianist for The Billie Holiday Project, led by Stella Heath, and has played at most of the top local Bay Area venues, including Blue Note, Napa, The Back Room, Red Poppy Arthouse, Occidental Center for the Arts, Healdsburg Hotel, and the Mystic Theater in Petaluma to name a few. He has numerous gigs lined up with The Billie Holliday Project in New York City as well as other parts of the country.

He is a humble and generous man with a lot of talent, a great work ethic and a charming sense of humor. Our guest today is Neil Angelo Fontano.

In this episode we hear lots of stories from Neil, including what happened one day when he was sent to his room as a kid for four hours, the surprising experiences that helped him overcome stage fright, and his thoughts on numerous subjects that fascinate him.

We hope you enjoy this episode! Please subscribe and spread the word if you do!

Links:

The Billie Holiday Project

Cinnabar Theater

George Gershwin

Our guest this episode was born and raised in Santa Monica, California. He began playing trumpet at age 10, fell in love with the low tones of the tuba at 13, and switched to electric bass at 15.

He started gigging in clubs as a teenager in LA, toured with early rock and R&B bands, played in Hollywood Punk-Era clubs, and toured with a Latin folk band.

He’s toured with The Drifters, Richard Berry, and performed on bills with the likes of Albert King, Pete Seeger, Bonnie Raitt and Billy Idol. He is a hard-working session player, and has played on many artists’ albums, including a couple of Mazzy Star’s.

Our guest moved from LA to the Bay Area in 1991, and now resides in Sebastopol, California. He is the go-to bass player for many acts, and continues to be an active session player.

We are happy to welcome our guest, Paul Olguin to the podcast!

Links:

FeatPrints, a Tribute to Little Feat

http://www.loraleechristensen.com

Redwood Cafe

Erika Luckett

Today’s guest is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.He plays tenor and baritone sax, clarinet, flute and any other woodwind instrument he can get his hands on. While he is well known and loved in the local music community and beyond for being a versatile player of many genres, I know him as a killer jazz musician, passionate, generous and creative, with very big ears and the ability to connect with anyone.

He also happens to be a community development consultant who travels the world, and a kind and humble man. Today’s guest is Michael Fortunato.

In this entertaining and energetic episode we cover a lot of territory. The importance of play, community building, musicians as natural community leaders, and mental health are just a few of the topics discussed. You will find plenty of laughter and silliness interspersed with interesting reflections and ponderings.

We hope you enjoy this episode of Meaningful Musical Conversations. Please feel free to leave a comment, like, and share with friends if you feel so moved.

Notes from Michael:

"I have to give credit to my woodwinds teacher, Jimmy Guerra, who was the driving force behind how I play today. He taught me how to teach myself, and did the best he could given the limited time we had together."

”Innovation happens at the nexus of unlike things.”

Here is a link to the book Michael highly recommends:

The Medici Effect

Balanced Breakfast

We are delighted to shareDena DeRose, with you in this episode. Dena is a masterful jazz singer and pianist, jazz educator and overall wise and very fun person! She’s performed in New York clubs since the early 90’s and played at festivals and concerts throughout the world.

Dena has worked with Gene Bertoncini, Ray Brown, Jay Clayton, John Clayton, Bruce Forman, Benny Golson, Wycliffe Gordon, Jeff Hamilton, Billy Hart, Bill Henderson, Mark Murphy, Judy Niemack, Ken Peplowski, Houston Person, Alex Riel, Marvin Stamm, Clark Terry, and Steve Turre,and is the leader on 12 albums, three of which are Grammy nominated. She's recording a new album with Highnote Records in October which will be out in 2020.

Dena is currently professor for Jazz Voice at The University of Music and Performing Arts, in Graz, Austria, where she currently resides.

We hope you enjoy this episode chock full of Dena’s personal stories, musings, and wisdom, along with useful information, tips for music students, and so much more!

Dena DeRose

Jazz Institute of the University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz, Austria

Stanford Jazz Vocal Program

Birdland Jazz Club

Bach Dining and Dancing Society

Sheila Jordan

Justin Eggert, Tai Chi and Qigong Master

Our second episode, we are delighted and honored to have Jill's dear friend, Lisa Stano as our very first guest. She currently resides in Petaluma California, and is a prolific and talented singer/songwriter, guitar player, stand-up bassist, and overall delightful human being.

Lisa is someone who seeks and finds joy in whatever she does. In this inspiring episode, which is more of a conversation than a straight-up interview, you will find a lot of laughter joy, and inspiration. We discuss songwriting, what makes a great gig, the art of performing, and, as both Lisa and Jill have brothers who died of AIDS, they discuss the role music played in Jill's brother's passing.

Please subscribe to our podcast if you enjoyed this episode, and feel free to leave a comment, as we would love to hear from you!

Lisa Stano

Writing the Natural Way

In the first episode of Meaningful Musical Conversations, Jill, jazz pianist and singer, and Daniel, jazz and rock guitarist/singer/songwriter, have a fun time getting to know each other.

https://www.jillminye.com

https://www.danieltownsendmusic.com