JoVia Armstrong is a an award-winning percussionist, composer and educator whose work blends rhythm, technology, and experimental composition. This year she was voted as one of the best percussionists in the world by DownBeat Magazine’s  74th Annual Critics Poll. She leads the electroacoustic ensemble Eunoia Society which explores sound as a healing tool and you’ll be hearing music from their first two albums, The Antidote Suite and Inception, which are linked in the show notes for you. In fact, I found out about JoVia when I interviewed Leslie De Shazor a couple of years ago for this podcast. Today you’ll learn about JoVia’s collaborators and mentors including Nicole Mitchell and Francisco Mora Catlett as well as her development as a musician with the encouragement of her family. JoVia spoke with me  about the importance of mentoring youth, self-reflection and self-care. She is currently Assistant Professor of music at the University of Virginia, where she teaches in the Composition and Computer Technology Program while researching the intersection of Black contemplative music, technology and urban space. 

Trombonist Jeff Albert joins me for a two-part conversation. The beginning of this episode explores the unique Guthman Musical Instrument Competition at Georgia Tech which celebrates musical inventors from around the world. You’ll be hearing some of these instruments from this year’s competition and you’ll find that information linked in the show notes. The second half of this episode is about Jeff’s life as a trombonist, improvisor, music technologist and professor. You’ll hear about his many years playing and recording in New Orleans across many styles and how digital media pairs with his interest in experimental music. All the music excerpts you’ll hear are linked in the show notes for you, from several of Jeff’s albums. Whether you play in a laptop orchestra or have only the vaguest idea what that means, you’ll enjoy Jeff’s great stories and insights. 

I’ve been following the Guthman competition for a couple of years and I’ve also linked several previous episodes for you with musical instrument inventors in the show notes, as well as some of the other trombone players I’ve featured. 

You can watch the video  on my YouTube  or listen to the podcast, and I’ve also linked the transcript.It’s