Category Archives: All Interviews

Over the years, Charlie Wooton and I have gotten together to talk about all the projects he has been touching for many years. We go back. From the times with Bonerama and Royal Southern Brotherhood, to his work with/as Zydefunk and his very own Charlie Wooton Project. The guy can play that bass in ways we have only seen a few do before and that can certainly lead to gigs, jobs and music that comes from certain places. Charlie can groove and funk with the best of them. He can make Zydeco sound like it did when it was born or add a little future to it even. This time around, he is heading up to Madison as part of friend of the proGram, Mr. Sonny Landreth‘s band at LA FÊTE DE MARQUETTE on July 16th.. We get into just how the opportunity to make some live music happenings with a childhood hero came about. That story starts off in a space we know well. Charlie relives a moment in Japan with friend of the show, Rafael Pereira, São Paulo native who brings his rich understanding of Brazilian rhythm to Janelle Monae and many others and how their collaborative groove was an introduction to their band Zabadodat, and from there, we get to Mr. Landreth. The tales wander, just like the innovation of the onward mobing artist – and Charlie has some stories and ways to share that will entertain, make you shake your head and of course probably gives you a want to catch this event live.

After all is said and done, Charlie not only opens up about changes to himself thru the years of our hanGin’, but also to where the desire to give back starts and grows. Blue Monday Mission is a nonprofit that takes care of elderly musicians that can’t work anymore. Most musicians live hand to mouth. Blue Monday Mission folks come in and help in anyway possible, from medical help to cutting lawns to just visiting. Blue Monday Mission is also educating younger musicians about the business so they can one day return the favor. It’s run by John Williams. Charlie also shared his thoughts on a potential Congo Square music-documentary that resides in his thoughts but seems ready to spill out in the world.

Free Radicals, a musical, political, & cultural force in Houston for over 2 decades, just dropped their highly anticipated new album ‘White Power Outage Volume 2’. The 25-track project is the follow up to Volume 1 and continues their quest to put an end to white supremacy. ‘White Power Outage Volume 1’ (2020) made waves with the press, radio, & fans through its diverse sound & beautiful mix of vocalists & musicians representing shades of Black, LatinX, white, Asian, mixed, & indigenous people that make the up the culture of Houston Texas. They came together to make revolutionary music, and to demand an end to the white supremacy in the arts, culture, politics, the economy, and in their personal lives. Volume 2 is another genre-bending compilation packed full of highlights. Leading up to the album, Free Radz released the single ‘Bipartisan Baby Jail’ featuring Michele Thibeaux, Henry Alvarez & Karina Nistal. The single also includes 4 year old kids from Peace Camp Houston and combines singing, rap, & poetry over funk. ‘Mutiny On The Bayou’ features one of Houston’s longest standing and best rappers, D-Ology, and rips open the suppressed history of Houston’s 1917 massacre of Black soldiers. ‘Checkpoint / Dompass / Hajiz’ sees Lindi Yeni expressing her lifetime of experience with human rights & South African apartheid to this track. Yeni is joined by Jitsvinger, EQuality, and Prince Alfarra. On ‘Killer Bee Honey’, the Next Generation, Cherria Rattler enlists her daughter Marium to re-record & expand on the track originally recorded by Cherria 22 years ago, protesting the destruction of the planet by shortsighted & greedy men. Other highlights include the Karina Nistal led ‘El Ritmo Contra Gitmo,’ ‘Pokke Koebês’ by Jitsvinger who nails white conquest of South Africa in Afrikaans, Karega Ani’s poem ‘Crystal Stare,’ & instrumental track ‘Manifestación En El Centro Hoy.’

I had the opportunity to check in with Nick Cooper, drummer and producer of Free Radicals along with one of the collaborators on ‘White Power Outage Vol. 2, EQuality. We get into the seed to flower construction of this new music, synchronizing with artists from around the globe on a mission for one, and EQuality dissects ‘America’s Blues’, a track he brought to Nick and away the went. We talk about protests they have attended and shared their sounds and beliefs at, and the desire to get more time with current and new collaborators. Maybe you can brinG them to you.

Writer, composer and musician Tomson Highway was born in a snowbank on the Manitoba/Nunavut border to a family of nomadic caribou hunters. He had the great privilege of growing up in two languages: Cree, his mother tongue, and Dene, the language of the neighboring nation, a people with whom his family travelled and hunted. He is the proud son of legendary caribou hunter and world championship dogsled racer, Joe Highway, and artist-in-her-own-right (as bead-worker and quilt-maker extraordinaire), Pelagie Highway. That’s them on the cover of the brand new record, ‘Cree Country’. Sung by the incomparable Patricia Cano, ‘Cree Country’ is a stylish collection of twelve new country songs from one of Canada’s most prolific artistic innovators. With a spectacular band including the very best of Canadian country players, the album’s compelling tunes speak of real life, love, longing, devotion, our connection with nature, and the courage it takes to strive for your goals. Produced by the award-winning John Alcorn, the virtuosity of each musician is given great room to shine, with backup vocals that recall The Jordanaires, the gospel quartet loved by Elvis. Cree is an Indigenous language spoken by 100,000 North Americans. Many of Canada’s most well-known place names are of Cree origin, including Winnipeg, Manitoba, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Chicoutimi, Québec, and Ottawa. It’s a very rhythmic language that lends itself naturally to music-making – and particularly country! Tomson recalls living in the Manitoba bush in the 1950’s and hanging a transistor radio high in the trees at night to hear country music waft north all the way from Nashville, Tennessee. The joy of hearing that music is the inspiration behind these tunes.

I am proud to say that I had the chance to catch up with Tomson Highway to discuss the seed to flower creation of this fantastic new release. It was incredible to hear how long this music, this show, has been a work in progress. The happiness and joy that this sound spreads is really incomparable to that which oozes out of Tomson…I am still noticing my smile is a little bit wider these days. Within these words, there are paths to inner healing and hints on ways to find that happiness that is clearly still all around – I think I will just climb the ladder a little higher and adjust my transistor radio…recalibrate and check out Tomson and Cree Country.

Saint Disruption, the spirit-driven music & art collective led by renowned improvisational keyboardist John Medeski and musician, scientist, and folk healer Jeff Firewalker Schmitt, has created a soulful rendition of John Lennon’s classic composition “Imagine.” The single features slide guitar work by Grammy winning vocalist, songwriter, guitar legend, >Warren Haynes, marking the first time that Haynes has recorded with his nephew Austn Haynes, cofounder of Asheville-based hip-hop quartet Free Radio. Out April 8, 2022 via Root Doctor Collective, the track also features impressively dynamic vocalists—Datrian Johnson and Grammy winning artist Debrissa McKinney (both of whom also work with Austn in Free Radio)—with the foundational bass parts played by Jake Wolf. “Such a cool, inventive take on this timeless tune,” says Warren. “It highlights the amazing strength and importance of the song while taking it into the future. It’s a real honor to work alongside my nephew Austn, my Asheville cohorts and my old friend John Medeski.” Medeski & Firewalker Schmitt had no idea they’d meet & strike up a friendship when they traveled independently to the heart of the Amazon to work with a shaman healer in 2008— but when they did, a collaborative creative relationship was born. Over a decade after that fateful meeting, in the midst of a global pandemic, the two felt an urgent need to join forces and make music as Saint Disruption. The group brings together musicians and artists to create works that support positive change in the world, with a spotlight on the rich artistic community of Asheville, NC as the creative hub. Firewalker & Medeski are pleased to have created the foundation to bring Warren & Austn Haynes together for the first time in a recording. Looking forward, Saint Disruption is planning to release more music & visual art collaborations, music videos, and their soon-to-be-launched No Simple Disruption Podcast/Video-show—released in conjunction with the No Simple Road Podcast and The UBC TV Network—which aspires to provide a platform for young visionaries to share their works and engage in deep dialogue with thought-leaders of their choice.

I had the chance to catch up with both Jeff and Austn about how they took such a life changing tune and made it into their own vision. We spoke of how the individual spirits combines to form this completely new rendition, the how’s and what’s that caused surprise and what are the possibilities for the future. We get into the healing and spirt side of earlier collaborations and how that music became the gateway bridge in/outward. There reflection on finding a new flow with new music, eldership and collaborations with the North Mississippi Allstars. Towards the end, we get into the coolness that is debuting n the Fall on thegiveback of the upcoming podcast/video show that brings true stories, from real people to the next generations. Deep fun times right here.

To the naked eye, Club d’Elf looks exactly like a world-class instrumental band: 5 or 6 fierce players laying down heavy grooves & exploratory solos on distinctive original material, as audience members dance or listen in amazed attention. To its fans, however, and its large and colorful cast of musicians, D’Elf is all that & much, much more. The paradox & the power of the unusually named Club d’Elf become increasingly clear through repeated encounters. Unlike almost any other band, D’Elf’s personnel changes radically from show to show. Fans have their favorite configurations & players, but unlike groups where musicians’ tenures are finite, ‘D’Elf-ians’ revolve in & out, reappearing in endless combinations. Beyond the cast of characters, the music itself is in constant flux. Individual songs can vary dramatically from performance to performance as new alignments of players make every moment fresh. No 2 sets are alike. Yet the feeling & philosophy that animate D’Elf remain consistent, the product of the vision & dedication of leader Mike Rivard (aka Micro Vard) and the ongoing contributions of his talented collaborators. Club d’Elf’s desire to move beyond the world of appearances & venture into the realm of the eternal is at the center their music. This metaphysical quest is embodied – much to listeners’ benefit – within one of the best bands you will ever hear – and one that rewards repeated listening. You can enjoy D’Elf any old way you choose it, but make no mistake: This community of sound gardeners intends to move your booty, excite your intellect, & ultimately join you in transcendence itself.

This is always a special time for me, when Club d’Elf celebrates the release of new music. Micro and I dive way deep into the new music off You Never Know. We get personal…like the music tends to feel…and we learn how the sound formations took place, where the origins were and how the growth and friendship allowed a new bloom to blossom. The album offers a fusion of jazz, gnawa & other North African traditional music influences refracted through a prism of contemporary psychedelia—Morocco turned technicolor. Over an hour & 15 minutes, the record unfurls upon kaleidoscopic clouds of spiced smoke, shifting from chopped dub-jazz through trance epics that reimagine Boston as a city of bazaars. Micro talks of being inspired to make the record after overcoming a life-threatening embolism he suffered while on a spiritual quest in Peru. In the studio, he was joined by collaborators Dean Johnston (drums), DJ Mister Rourke (turntables), Paul Schultheis and John Medeski (vintage analog keyboards), Casablanca-native Brahim Fribgane (oud, vocals and percussion) and guitarists Duke Levine, David Fiuczynski and Kevin Barry—ceded the spotlight to the collective, allowing for free-play and improvisational dexterity. Through it all rides the trance, pulsing, calming and seeking mystic truths. I welcome you this community, in service of the Groove.

Why would one of poetry’s most revered voices want to curate a jazz saxophonist’s album of gospel hymns and spirituals? “These songs are so important,” says Nikki Giovanni, one of Oprah’s 25 “Living Legends” and a Maya Angelou Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2017. “They comforted people through times of slavery, and during recent years we needed them to comfort us again. But a lot of the students today do not know about the history of these songs, and they should. So I’m out here putting water on the flowers, because they need a drink.” Giovanni’s historic collaboration with saxophonist-composer and former Jazz Messenger Javon Jackson has yielded The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni, available today on his Solid Jackson label. “The spirituals have been around so long,” says the renowned poet, activist and educator, who came to prominence in the 1960s and ’70s as a foundational member of the Black Arts movement following the publication of such early works as 1968’s book of poetry Black Feeling, Black Talk/Black Judgment and 1970’s Re:Creation. “Some spirituals have been updated and stayed around and some have been lost over time,” Giovanni notes “So for me, it’s just helping to keep something going. And I do it because there’s a need.” Jackson brings his bold-toned, Trane-inspired tenor lines to bear on a series of hymns, spirituals and gospel numbers hand-picked by Giovanni, who was also the first person to receive the Rosa L. Parks Women of Courage Award. And the 78-year-old poet makes a rare vocal appearance on the tender ballad “Night Song,” singing a song identified with her close friend, the late civil rights activist and High Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone. Joined by an outstanding crew comprised of pianist Jeremy Manasia, bassist David Williams and drummer McClenty Hunter — the same lineup that appeared on Jackson’s 2018 album For You and his 2020 follow-up, Deja Vu — Jackson interprets gospel staples like “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” “Wade in the Water,” “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel” and “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” with authoritative tenor tones, deep walking bass lines and an organic sense of group swing. “It’s the first time I worked in a collaborative manner,” Jackson says. “The project is personal for me. I come from a lineage of devout Christians, and that has afforded me the chance to connect with that ancestral stream. Captured live at Telefunken Studios in South Windsor, CT, the 10 tunes were all done without the use of headphones, another first for Javon. “This music is something that people will probably be a little surprised to see coming from me,” he says. But given the state of the world, it could be just in time. Both poet and saxophonist stand on the shoulders of their ancestors on The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni.

I had the complete honor to connect with Mr. Jackson to discuss the creation of this project – the way the seeds were nurtured into the beautiful and important flowers released today. We talk about the choice singing by Nikki Giovanni to honor her friend, Nina Simone – how the interpretation of well know tunes made him feel and how one of the miGhty poet’s poems was placed ever so perfectly in a familiar tune. My words cannot express the depth of cool within these 10 tracks, nor the conversation Mr. Jackson and I share in discussion of it. Please earGrab both and let them take you where they will.