Category Archives: Outta World interviews

Taj Weekes and Adowa are involved in conscious music for people who are paying attention. While experiencing sadness in his own life, Taj never lost sight (or even gained a greater perspective) of the world around him. Taj Weekes & Adowa present a brand new experience in classic roots reggae. With wry trenchant lyrics, a haunting dusky quiver in his voice and the knock-down sound of his band Adowa, Taj has managed to weave a rare social consciousness with an unforgettable reggae groove. I had a chance to discuss his awareness, his music and the way you can make a difference through helping improve the lives of underprivileged, at-risk and orphaned children around the world. Check out more on They Often Cry Outreach. A big thank you to Taj and Shirley for reaching out to greenarrowradio to help share the message.

Check out my conversation with Taj Weekes here.

For 11 years, William Christopher played Father Mulcahy on what many consider the best sitcom of all time, M*A*S*H. Bill is in Madison performing in Church Basement Ladies. This hilarious musical comedy is a celebration of the church basement kitchens everywhere and the wonderful, unsung women who work there. This fun for all musical will be on the Capitol Theater Stage in the Overture Center from Tuesday August 12th until Sunday August 31st. Bill takes a moment away from all he is up to to chat with me briefly about this show and his role in it as Pastor Gunderson as well as some M*A*S*H* moments shared and we even discuss briefly his involvement in the world surrounding autism. (Another something we happen to share).

Rejoice in my conversation with Bill here.

Finally, in so many ways I have been feeling super connected to Marcus. We chat today about some of those things including mutual friends the funky Mr. Skeebo Knight and Mr Adam Mewherter, the g-rate sounds of he and his bandmates in one of my favorite sounding bands, King Johnson, the wonderful work his lovely wife is dong at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, and of course his recent employment and inclusion in his new family, the Marshall Tucker Band. In this conversation you’ll learn a few things people might not have known about Marcus, where to find unseen Otis Redding memorabilia and Adam Rapping?????

Take a moment if you could to listen to our conversation here.

I had the pleasure of discussing the Overture Center for the Arts 2008-2009 season to be, with Vice President of Programming, Susan Crofton. With a rich history and a extraordinary vision of the future, the Overture’s 2008-2009 season is filled with diversity, tradition and activities for all ages. The facility contains the fabulous Overture Hall, the intimate Playhouse, three black box spaces, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, the Wisconsin Academy’s James Watrous Gallery, three community galleries, a soaring glass lobby, and the Capitol Theater. Susan and I discuss the potential of all that great space and how the Overture staff works to broaden the spectrum of activities, arts and the people who walk through the doors into the breathtaking lobby.

Listen to Susan and I discussing the ’08-’09 season at the Overture Center for the Arts here.

Born into a family of tradition, respect for culture and artistic talent, Cecilia Villar Eljuri is sure to leave her mark with an album that has a message. Her musical background is as varied as the tracks on this diverse album, starting off with a great clash of beats and Latin vibe EL AIRE with Sly and Robbie. and it just keeps getting more special as the album plays on. Being a rocker at heart, (and this I believe is a heart of musical gold)….Eljuri has transcended sounds and rhythms into words that keep it real, and really keep it on a personal level…but a level that is meant to be listened to and shared. We spend time discussing this new album and those who worked on it with her to share in this vision (including a special track close to that golden heart) and what our fantasy concert might be. If you are down with diversity, check out Eljuri’s EN PAZ, it’s more than music.

Take a moment to check out our conversation with Cecilia here.

This is like a part two after Mike and I had a conversation last year or so ago when Alligator Love Cry first came out. Scrapomatic once again have a new album out in 2008 on Landslide Records“Sidewalk Caesars”. This bluesy roots duo put forth yet another soulful release that has the blues checking to see if it has the blues. With this album I can just simply “feel it”. While busy year round as the front man for the Derek Trucks Band, and time in the studio and taking the Scrapomatic show on the road with band-mate Paul Olsen, we learn what Mike does, or shall we say does not do with his spare time, the plans for the next album and perhaps coming to a place near you……if so…..take the chance to go on and “feel it” for yourself.

Check out my conversation with Mike Mattison here.

I am proud to be a part of Russel Blake world as I truly feel he is someone making a difference in many people’s lives, musically and beyond. My conversation with Mr. Blake reminds me why I like to do what I do in my musical arena….and it is always nice to be reminded why you love something. With a new album due out very soon, I was blessed with the opportunity to debut it on greenarrowradio, with this honor comes a huge THANK YOU. Currently, Mr. Blake has 422 pieces within his repetoire encompassing Classical, Spanish Classical, Jazz Classical, Brazilian, Latin & Pop Music Idioms. As creator of The Universal Language Music History & Cultural Programme, Mr Blake has taught a variety of audiences from Kindergarten – High Schools, universities, libraries, prisons, hospitals & Art Galleries about the history of music. Mr. Blake was also the featured guest soloist at the 9th annual Bass Conference held here in Madison a few years back and was working very closely with Dr. Richard Davis at the time.

Click here to hear my conversation with Mr. Russel Blake.

Find out more about That 1 Guy and his self-created Magic pipe. He will be opening up for Buckethead this Sunday June 1st at the Barrymore. if you aren’t sure, take a listen and take a chance…you want to know more about him.

Check out my conversation with That 1 Guy here.

Heading to the stage of the Capitol Theater in the Overture Center for the Arts on Friday, May 2nd at 8pmCST is “Universes: Live from the Edge”. I had the opportunity to kick back with one of the founding members of Universes, artist Steven Sapp. Universes is an ensemble Company of multi-disciplined writers and performers who fuse Poetry, Theater, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Politics, Down Home Blues and Spanish Boleros to create moving, challenging and entertaining theatrical works. The group breaks the bounds of traditional theater to create their own brand, inviting old and new generations of theater crafters as well as the theater goers and new comers to reshape the face of American Theater. Take a moment and check out what Steven has to say about this show, a cool moment in Chile and Justin Timberlake(?)!!

Listen to our conversation here.

Well, as you will learn in this conversation, Bobby Ricketts found himself while working on his latest release, Skin to Skin for Third Wave Entertainment. Phoning in from Copenhagen, the beginning of our talk is a little technologically off, but that goes away in no time. We discuss Skin to Skin in slight depth, making sure to leave a lot of room for the potential listeners to explore it on their own, Bobby plans for tours and travels, and I had to find out just how he produced such a sexy album! If you have skin, I am thinking this album is for you and for you to share with that someone you love who has the skin for you.

Check out my conversation with Bobby Ricketts here.

The day after his newest solo album, Palmystery was released on Heads Up and his book, The Music Lesson was released by Berkley Publishing Group/ A Division of The Penguin Group USA — I had the chance to discuss the new album/book and the tour which makes its way to Madison at the Barrymore on April 11 with Victor Wooten. We know VICTAH as an innovator and a Flecktone but this album is an eye opener and keeps it so real that you might just have to check with yourself after listening. During our conversation, we discuss the report that Marcus Miller gave us earlier that he, Victor and Stanley Clarke are working on somethings together and I think you’ll be surprised by the response.

Check out my time w/Victah here.

Just when you think it can’t get any funkier around here….Bonerama (pronounced Bone-a-Rama) will bring it home at the Overture Center for the Arts on Friday March 28th. I had the pleasure of talking with Co-founder of the group, Craig Klein about what to expect from a live show, the new album as well as a few other interesting pieces of Bonerama info. When they struts on-stage with their four-trombone frontline…it’s not quite like any rock ‘n’ roll band you’ve seen. When they tear into some vintage New Orleans funk, there’s no questioning from which city these guys hail. And when those ’bones start ripping into Hendrix and Led Zeppelin licks, all stylistic bets are off. Even in a city that doesn’t play by the rules, New Orleans’ Bonerama is something different. They’re not a traditional brass band, but they’ve got brass to spare-even with no trumpets or saxes in sight. They can evoke vintage funk, classic rock and free improvisation in the same set; maybe even the same song…just the reason I will be having myself a Bonerama of a Friday night.

Check out my conversation with Craig here.

thanks to Amy & Abi & Craig for their time.

Check out my on air conversation with Cee Know the Doodlebug of Digable Planets name and fame. We have been working on setting something up for a bit and now was the present, no time like it. We discuss a few upcoming and recent projects, things I have been spinning for sometime now as well as what’s in the works possibly with Digable. Also, check in on what Doodlebug thinks about Sun Ra.

Listen to MisterG and Doodlebug’s conversation here.

Hit up the Cosmic Funk All Stars here.

Check out Deviants of Reality here.

Check out DJ Alex here.

It is an honor for me to be able to bring to you a conversation with Mr. Marcus Miller, as he just released a special album entitled “Marcus“. Winner of the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album of 2001, spent a few years as a top call New York studio musician, working with Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack, Grover Washington Jr., Bob James and David Sanborn, among others. He has appeared as a bassist on over 400 records including recordings by artists as diverse as Joe Sample, McCoy Tyner, Mariah Carey, Bill Withers, Elton John, Bryan Ferry, Frank Sinatra, and LL Cool J. In 1981, he joined his boyhood idol Miles Davis and spent two years on the road with the fabled jazzman, in 1986, he collaborated again with Miles Davis, producing the landmark Tutu album, the first of three Davis albums he would produce. He has also produced Al Jarreau, the Crusaders, Wayne Shorter, Take 6, Chaka Khan, and Kenny Garrett among others, and Luther Vandross. The list of credits goes on for miles (couldn’t resist), but the man behind the music is as bona-fide as the music itself. Please take a moment a listen to us discuss the new album, some moments with Mr. Miles Davis as well as some information on a rare track I happened to find myself in possession of.

Check out my conversation with Mr. Marcus Miller here.

I had a chance to speak with Stan Harrison about his new album, the Optimist as well as where he has been able to draw his inspirations, and even a quick word about his work with They Might be Giants. Stan has performed with and/or appeared on albums by some of music’s most respected bands/singers (including David Bowie, Talking Heads, Radiohead, Duran Duran, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble and many more…) But it’s with ‘The Optimist‘ that we get more of a sense of who Stan Harrison has become. I am glad to bring this conversation to some of you not familiar with the man and his music and invite you to kick back and enjoy.

Click to listen to my conversation w/Stan Here.

So I was just sitting there minding my own business….yeah right!!! We had a special guest phone in live on the program this week….DJ LOGIC. He was in town playing a nearby festival and greenarrowradio was the beneficiary of a moment of his free time. We make time to talk about several new projects including the John Popper Project feat. Logic, as well as the new work being accomplished with Kyle Hollindsworth of String Cheese and Speech from Arrested Development being called Soleside. We even get a moment to discuss the new Billie Holiday remix he had the honor of working on. So, like I said….I was just sitting there minding my mind, making thirsty ear holes fill up and Waaa-BAM!!…I was LOGIC-I-FIED…and now it’s your turn too.

Here the LOGIC right here.

thanks to Diane at DP public relations for all her work!

Positive Vibrations abound with a beat to keep you on your dancing feet, while Pato Baton delivers a message that is food for the mind and soul. Many have considered his charismatic performance as live theatre where no show is alike and the audience members become participants in the experience. Pato communicates with the crowd on a range of topics including current day events and spiritual freedom while keeping the vibes upbeat and fun! The direction of the concert is totally based on the feedback he receives from the audience as there is no fixed set list. Many have said that the positivity generated from the stage has changed their lives forever. I had the opportunity to welcome Pato to New England as he heads up this way. We have a chat about his latest release titled “Positive Vibrations” (Jan 07), also a couple of interesting bits about what is in store for the near future….new record/collaborations….when I called, he was just finishing the last 20 seconds or so of a brand new tune….and it wouldn’t be right not to ask the opinion of something current to our one world, one love.

Enjoy the conversation with Pato Banton here.

Buddy Wakefield is the two-time Individual World Poetry Slam Champion featured on NPR, the BBC, HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, and most recently a moment with MisterG & greenarrowradio. In 2004 he won the Individual World Poetry Slam Finals thanks to the support of anthropologist and producer Norman Lear then successfully defended that title at the International Poetry Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands against the national champions of seven European countries with works translated into Dutch. n the spring of 2001 Buddy left his position as the executive assistant at a biomedical firm in Gig Harbor, WA, sold or gave away everything he owned, moved to the small town of Honda Civic and set out to live for a living, touring North American poetry venues through 2003. He still tours full time while co-managing The Bullhorn Collective (a talent agency founded by Wakefield, made up of 30+ of the most accomplished performance poets alive), and considers his recent tours with Ani DiFranco the highlight of his career thus far.

Buddy is known for delivering raw, rounded, high vibration performances of humor and heart.

I invite you to listen here as Buddy & I share words.

BURNT SUGAR is a territory band, a neo-tribal thang, a community hang, a society music guild aspiring to the condition of all that is molten, glacial, racial, spacial, oceanic, mythic, antiphonal and telepathic. BURNT SUGAR, THE ARKESTRA CHAMBER is the creation of writer/guitarist/producer GregTate. Employing Conduction, an interpretative system for improvisers developed by Lawrence“ Butch” Morris, Tate guides the band through improvisations on each of its song forms. As a result, each performance is an original mutation in tune with the collective personality of the audience as well as the individual character and talents of the players. In addition to founding and conducting Burnt Sugar, Greg Tate is writer whos work has appeared in publications including The Village Voice, The NewYork Times, Rolling Stone, and Vibe and is the author of the books; Flyboy In The Buttermilk (Simon and Shuster), Everything But The Burden: What White People Are Taking From Black Culture (Broadway/Random House) and Midnight Lightning: Jimi Hendrix and the Black Experience (Acapella). Burnt Sugar performs regularly at the usual hotbed venues in New York, including; Joe’s Pub, Tonic, Symphony Space, The Blue Note, Makor, The Knitting Factory, Galapagos, CBGBs, BAM Café, Aaron Davis Hall, Lotus and The Cutting Room. On July 21st here in Hartford CT at REAL ART WAYS, Greg will bring this electric eclectic groove arkestra into our neighborhood for open minds, dancing souls and thirsty earholes can collaborate in a good listen.

LISTEN HERE TO GREG AND I DISCUSSING THE STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS SOUND PAINTING.

Forro in the Dark is not quite that type of traditional forro band, instead they are bringing an updated style of the music to the hipsters and club-goers of NYC, but the sweaty, excitable vibe is still undeniable.
Supplementing the traditional instrumentation with electric guitars, an array of flutes, modern percussion and other contemporary instruments, along with the help of David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto and Miho Hatori, Forro in the Dark capture the immediate, pleasure-craving core of forro for modern audiences to relieve their stress on the dance floor just like the Brazilian workers of the early 1900s. I reached out to Mauro like so many people do these days and was received openly and before I knew it I was spinning my own copy of bonfires of sao joao, Forro’s latest release. Like the album, Mauro was a delight to speak with and we entertained each others opinions and ideas and really openly talk about this album, the people behind it and hopefully shared an organically cosmic moment via the phone waves.
I invite you to listen to our conversation here.