Music Life and Times
Music Life and Times, an ongoing discussion between internationally renowned jazz pianist Kevin Bales, and Mike Shaw, singer-pianist and author of the novel The Musician, argues that becoming an accomplished musician takes three commitments: discipline, self-acceptance or self-confidence, and cooperation. They are also the life lessons that music teaches those who would learn to play. Our podcast seeks to prove the premise through revelations about music and musicians past and present as well as from our own experiences as career musicians.
Episodes
Friday Oct 20, 2023
Friday Oct 20, 2023
In 2019, as the culmination of what they had discovered as a shared passion, the music of Fred Rogers, Kevin and Keri Johnsrud researched, selected, arranged, then recorded 11 songs composed by Fred Rogers, best known for his long-running children’s television show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. The jazz arrangements of what have been generally perceived as children’s songs credit Fred Rogers as a composer as well as Kevin, Keri, Bill Thornton, and Marlon Patton as arrangers and jazz musicians.
Friday Oct 13, 2023
Friday Oct 13, 2023
The Audience Perspective: An interview with Bruce Pulver, author of Above the Chatter, Our Words Matter.
Intro: As performing musicians, Kevin and Mike work to please audiences by playing their best. Bruce Pulver studied music in college but decided to pursue it “as an avocation as opposed to a vocation.” He is an avid fan of live music, even to the point of hosting concerts in his home. His advice: “Get out to hear music live; it will make your day.”
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Is a career in a creative art like music really that different from other types of careers? While many people see a music career as a counterpoint to other ways to make a living, the process is much the same, including spending the time necessary to build and grow your business. And for people in other professions or business careers who spend time studying and playing music, that exposure helps them develop their inherent creativity, which can work to their benefit in their chosen fields.
Friday Sep 29, 2023
Friday Sep 29, 2023
If you play music for an audience, be that at home in front of your family or for thousands of people in a concert hall, you’re likely to be nervous before you play. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; can even be a good thing as Kevin explains in this episode. But of course, shaky hands and a quavering voice aren’t helpful to your performance, so consider some of these ways of dealing with nerves and anxiety.
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Learning music is about playing music. And playing music leads to performing. And because music is a communicative art, the job of a performing musician is to communicate with his or her audience, to play for the people.
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Most players are uncomfortable hearing their own music. They don’t find it as perfect as they think it should be. But an important lesson to learn is not to judge yourself, and indeed, first takes are often the best takes in recording sessions.
Friday Sep 08, 2023
Friday Sep 08, 2023
Vinnie D’Agostino—saxophone, clarinet, and flute—first performed as an 8-year-old and started playing professionally at 15. Throughout his youth he was convinced he would live his life as a professional musician. But as he approached his 20s, he decided on a different path, as an IT professional in the corporate world, a career he concluded as Global IT Director for Global HR Technology at Coca-Cola. Today, he is again a full-time musician, involved in a wide range of projects, and recognized as a highly accomplished player.
Friday Sep 01, 2023
Friday Sep 01, 2023
The music business, like selling records and becoming a music star, is a tiny part of the industry whereas the business of music extends to a wide range of occupations, from writing music for commercials to engineering in a recording studio to teaching. And while becoming a star is so rare that it is unachievable for the vast majority of musicians, there are many opportunities to make a living in the business of music. It might not be a regular nine-to-five job, but it is much like other entrepreneurial ventures.
Sunday Aug 27, 2023
Sunday Aug 27, 2023
Jerome Kern, Hoagy Carmichael, the Gershwins, Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, and so many more: the composers of the songs of the golden era of American popular music known as The Great American Songbook, of the tunes that are the platforms from which jazz musicians have launched many of their most memorable improvisations.
Friday Aug 11, 2023
Friday Aug 11, 2023
Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery, but it is also the way musicians over the years have improved their skills. Great players “steal” ideas and phrases they admire and let them influence their playing and broaden their musical vocabulary.
Music Life and Times, an ongoing discussion between internationally renowned jazz pianist Kevin Bales, and Mike Shaw, singer-pianist and author of the novel The Musician, argues that becoming an accomplished musician takes three commitments: discipline, self-acceptance or self-confidence, and cooperation. They are also the life lessons that music teaches those who would learn to play. Our podcast seeks to prove the premise through revelations about music and musicians past and present as well as from our own experiences as career musicians.