Pierre Chrétien is a Canadian bandleader, multi-instrumentalist and composer who has had international success with his bands The Souljazz Orchestra, Atlantis Jazz Ensemble and his project Cinephonic, and in this episode you’ll learn about all of these and hear highlights from some of these albums on the Marlow Records label. Pierre shares how left his career as an Engineer to devote himself to a full-time career as a performer. He also demonstrates some rare vintage instruments at the beginning of this episode, which he’s also an expert at repairing.

Edison Herbert: “The three of them, George Benson, Wes Montgomery, Grant Green were my favorite options mainly because they really, in my opinion, they really knew how to connect with an audience and they choice of repertoire was always, it was accessible. And I think it's quite easy to forget that you can increase your audience if you think about what you put in front of them, because everyone, it's like food. Everyone doesn't eat the same thing. So if you mix it up and put different ingredients in, then you are more likely to increase your audience.”

Jeeyoon Kim is a very special concert pianist who has opened meaningful connections to new audiences through her innovative concerts, albums, podcast, and now her book “Whenever You’re Ready”. You’ll learn how she sold out her Carnegie Hall debut recital without knowing one person in New York, without an agent or winning a competition. She’s generously shared 3 tracks from some of her albums that punctuate this episode, and please head over to her website which linked in the description. I was so honoured when Jeeyoon agreed to be part of this series, because I knew her wisdom, personal story and her music making would resonate strongly with you.

Jah’Mila: Rooted in Reggae and Connecting with New Audiences

Linked here are the podcast, video and transcript for this in-depth interview with the Reggae artist Jah’Mila which also features tracks from her album Roots Girl.

I had a lot of fun stitching together some of the many highlights from this Season 3 so far, in a 10 minute compilation in which I've included clips from every full episode in 2023 so far! It’s time for my summer break, but the podcast will be back September 2nd with a special episode with two composers who are life partners and also work together with Hans Zimmer at Bleeding Fingers Music. Anže Rozman and Kara Talve will inspire you with both the music of Prehistoric Planet and their personal stories, insights and compositions.

I was really honoured to have this opportunity to sit down and talk with the dynamic conductor, composer, multi-instrumentalist and radio host of CBC's CentreStage, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser. We explored many interesting and important ideas around creating spaces for diverse audiences, amateur versus professional musicians, LGBTQ rights, his project with the drag queen Thorgy Thor, the lost music of Florence Price, and wonderful advice not only for conductors, but for everyone seeking more balance and meaning in their lives. Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser: "Your specific nerdy interests, I believe will be of use and value to the orchestras of the communities that you serve. That would be one thing. For conductors, I would say study languages. If I were to give practical advice, I'm just going to scatter shot a bunch of practical advice. Learning languages is important, not just because of the ability to read scores or read books of languages, but just be able to think in a different way and to have a breadth of knowledge that's like not a triangle, but a pyramid. I think that's really important for a conductor. I think as a conductor, it's really important to listen and I mean, listen, capital L, not just listen to music, but listen to people, because ultimately what a conductor needs to be able to do the best is listen.” photo credit: Benjamin Delarivière