Category: Songwriter

After Hours featuring Molly Johnson, air date June 22, 2022

On By Charles BinghamIn Featured guest, Philanthropist, Songwriter, VocalsLeave a comment

Join me for After Hours Alaska at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, June 22, on KRBD public radio in Ketchikan, Alaska, as I’m joined in conversation with award-winning vocalist Molly Johnson.

Molly is known as one of Canada’s greatest vocalists. She is a mother, singer-songwriter, artist and philanthropist, who has just released her highly anticipated new album, “Meaning To Tell Ya”. Produced by multiple GRAMMY Award winning producer, Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, Madeleine Peyroux, Melody Gardot, Norah Jones); it is more than a jazz record. It’s funk, it’s soul, it’s groove played by some of Canada’s best musicians.

Dedicated to supporting communities in need, Molly established the Kumbaya Foundation and Festival in 1992, raising awareness and funds for people living with HIV/AIDS, and continues to work with several other charitable organizations each year. Molly has been awarded the Queen’s Jubilee medal, and in 2008, was honored with becoming an Officer of The Order Of Canada (O.C.). This rare distinction was given to Molly to recognize her philanthropic work for a variety of causes and for her international contributions to the arts. In 2016, Molly launched the Kensington Market Jazz Festival, which fills this colorful and vibrant area of Toronto with over 400 local Canadian musicians, performing 150-plus shows over one weekend in September to more than 5,000 enthusiastic music fans. 

Molly was the voice of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio 2 Weekend Morning program where she eased listeners into their weekend with great Canadian songs, and stories about musicians and the people of Canada, from coast to coast. The Canadian music icon’s latest release, the Juno-nominated, Because of Billie (2014) is a celebration of the music of Billie Holiday. Billie Holiday’s journey inspires Johnson not only as an artist, but as a model citizen. Paying homage to Holiday’s childhood struggles, Johnson donated a portion of album sales to the Boys & Girls Clubs.

Tune in and be inspired.

Click this link to go to Molly’s personal website.

After Hours featuring Leslie Page, air date Feb. 9, 2022

On By Charles BinghamIn Featured guest, Songwriter, VocalsLeave a comment

Join me for After Hours Alaska at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 9, on KRBD public radio in Ketchikan, Alaska, as I’m joined in conversation with jazz vocalist Leslie Page.

Leslie is a singer/songwriter and resident of sunny Southern California. She is an incredible vocal force with unique life experiences that resonate in the timbre of her rich and sultry tone. Her career as a live performance vocalist, studio session singer and touring background vocalist spans with more than 20 years of experience.

Leslie has shared the stage with an ongoing list of world class musicians and entertainers including Joe Walsh, Ringo Starr, Keith Urban, Vince Gill, Billy Gibbons, Rick Springfield, Zack Brown Band, Gary Clark Jr, Hunter Hayes, Brad Paisley, Luke Bryan, Peaches and Herb, Richard Marx and many more. Her vocals have been featured on numerous television/film/commercial recordings and album projects. In July 2019, Leslie released her first jazz album, Heart Songs, produced by Tony Guerrero, featuring some original music as well as covers of some of her favorite jazz tunes.

She has been described as a pro’s pro, having one of the finest and most adaptable voices you’ll ever hear and has been dubbed by producers as the “one take wonder”. Leslie is a woman who sings from the depths of her soul, with great tune and skill. She is truly a master of her instrument.

Click this link to go to Leslie’s personal website.

After Hours featuring Halie Loren, air date Jan. 26, 2022

On By Charles BinghamIn composer, Featured guest, Songwriter, VocalsLeave a comment

Join me for After Hours Alaska at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 26, on KRBD public radio in Ketchikan, Alaska, as I’m joined in conversation with jazz vocalist and former Alaskan Halie Loren.

Halie is an international, award-winning jazz singer/songwriter. This Oregon-based artist brings a fresh and original perspective to time-honored musical paths, channeling her innate understanding of connectedness across musical boundaries to forge bonds with diverse audiences in North America, Asia, and Europe.

Nature, and the natural world, has always featured significantly in Loren’s songwriting. As a child growing up in Alaska, and then as an adult in the Pacific Northwest, her wonder and gratitude for the gifts of the great outdoors have inspired a reverence and communion she brings forth in song.

Halie’s began her career as something of a prodigy at age 13, when she won a songwriting contest, gaining national attention. Before she was 19, she did a stint in Nashville, soaking up that city’s ancestry of great American songwriting. She recorded her first album at 20, and from there she was off and running, recording successive albums that garnered awards, Billboard recognition and an international following that has sent her touring around the globe, including stops in Korea, Africa, Japan, Canada and the Caribbean, to name a few locations. Her records regularly make “best of” lists, and her sublime talents as a vocalist are attested to by several albums hitting the No. 1 slot on Canadian and Japanese jazz charts.

Considering such success, it would have been understandable for Loren to toe the line and stick to the known path with her new album, From the Wild Sky. Instead she chose to take a leap of faith, forging ahead with a vision that encompassed the full complement of her compositional talents. Funding her latest efforts through fan pledges to a Kickstarter campaign, she teamed up with producer Troy Miller (Gregory Porter, Laura Mvula, Jamie Cullum) and a handful of all-star musicians, including Femi Temowo, Ben Williams, Michael Olatuja, Nathan Schram, Andrew Yee, and Becca Stevens (featured on the track “Wild Birds”).

Click this link to go to Halie’s personal website.

After Hours featuring Ron Wilkins, air date Nov. 24, 2021

On By Charles BinghamIn Band leader, educator, Euphonium, Featured guest, Low brass, Songwriter, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, VocalsLeave a comment

Join me for After Hours Alaska at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 24, on KRBD public radio in Ketchikan, Alaska, as I’m joined in conversation with New York-based musician Ron Wilkins.

Ron has been performing on tenor and bass trombones, euphonium, tuba, bass trumpet, and vocals for over forty years. He has performed at the highest levels touring around the world with his own groups, as well as with other premiere artists. Ron also has an extensive background in music education.

Ron is a member of the Birdland Big Band, Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band, and runs his own New York City big band, alongside trombonist Rebecca Patterson, which features their writing and includes some of New York City’s premiere musicians.

Click this link to go to Ron’s personal website.

After Hours featuring Douyé, air date Aug. 11, 2021

On By Charles BinghamIn Featured guest, Songwriter, VocalsLeave a comment

Join me for After Hours at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 11, on KRBD of Ketchikan, Alaska, as I’m joined in conversation with Nigerian-born jazz artist Douyé. This show is tentatively set to broadcast at 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 13, on KSTK in Wrangell, and will air at 10 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 16, on KCAW in Sitka.

Douyé was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and regularly spent her summers in England. She was in a church choir in Africa when she was quite young and often sang along with recordings from her father’s record collection.

Douyé also wrote poems and songs as she grew up. Early on she knew that singing was going to be her lifelong love. In her pursuit of singing, she moved to Los Angeles to attend the Musicians Institute as a vocal major.

Don’t miss this exciting soulful interview.

Missed the show? Click this link to listen to the After Hours show featuring Douyé, originally broadcast on Aug. 11, 2021. Click here to visit Douyé’s personal website.

After Hours featuring Larry Klein, air date Nov. 9, 2020

On By Charles BinghamIn Bassist, Featured guest, Label executive, Producer, SongwriterLeave a comment

Join me for the Nov. 9, 2020, edition of After Hours on KCAW Raven Radio as I’m joined in conversation with multiple Grammy winning record producer, musician/songwriter/label executive Larry Klein.

Larry has produced artists like Joni Mitchell, Melody Gardot, Madeleine Peyroux, Wayne Shorter, Esperanza Spalding, Norah Jones and so many more. He started out playing jazz bass with Freddie Hubbard and Carmen McRae in the 70’s. You don’t want to miss this exclusive interview.

Click this link to listen to the After Hours show featuring Larry Klein, originally broadcast on Nov. 9, 2020. Click here to visit Larry’s personal website.

After Hours featuring Madeleine Peyroux, air date Oct. 19, 2020

On By Charles BinghamIn Featured guest, Guitar, Songwriter, VocalsLeave a comment

Join me for the Oct. 19, 2020, edition of After Hours on KCAW Raven Radio as I’m joined in conversation with American jazz singer and songwriter Madeleine Peyroux.

Madeleine began her career as a teenager busking with her guitar on the streets of Paris, much like her idol Edith Piaf. She sang vintage jazz and blues songs before finding mainstream success in 2004, when her album Careless Love sold half a million copies.

Madeleine’s dusky voice was likened to that of Jazz greats Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. Featuring top musicians Marc Ribot, Vernon Reid, Cyrus Chestnut, Charlie Giordano, Greg Cohen, Kenny Wollesen, Regina Carter, Leon Parker and James Carter, her 1996 debut album, Dreamland, included Madeleine’s renditions of Holiday’s Gettin’ Some Fun Out of Life, Bessie Smith’s Lovesick Blues and Fats Waller’s I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter.

Dreamland cemented Madeleine Peyroux as a ‘classic’ musical talent that was here to stay, and the soulful singer found herself touring the world, singing with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and opening for Cesaria Evora.

Click this link to listen to the After Hours show featuring Madeleine Peyroux, originally broadcast on Oct. 19, 2020. Click here to visit Madeleine’s personal website.

After Hours featuring Arturo Sandoval, air date Aug. 10, 2020

On By Charles BinghamIn Featured guest, Piano, Songwriter, TrumpetLeave a comment

Join me for the Aug. 10, 2020, edition of After Hours on KCAW Raven Radio as I’m joined in conversation with Cuban-born trumpet player Arturo Sandoval.

Arturo is one of the most dynamic and vivacious live performers of our time, and has been seen by millions at the Oscars, at the Grammy Awards, and the Billboard Awards. Sandoval is a protégé of legendary jazz trumpet player Dizzy Gillespie. He began studying classical trumpet at the age of twelve, but it didn’t take him long to catch the excitement of the jazz world. He has since evolved into one of the world’s most acknowledged guardians of jazz trumpet and flugelhorn, as well as a renowned classical artist, pianist and composer.

He has been awarded 10 Grammy Awards, and nominated 19 times and he also has received six Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award. The latter award was for his composing work on the entire underscore of the HBO movie based on his life, “For Love or Country,” that starred Andy Garcia as Sandoval. He was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 by Barack Obama.

Click this link to listen to the After Hours show featuring Arturo Sandoval, originally broadcast on Aug. 10, 2020. Click here to visit Arturo’s personal website.

After Hours featuring Eliane Elias, air date May 25, 2020

On By Charles BinghamIn Featured guest, Songwriter, VocalsLeave a comment

Join me for the May 25, 2020, edition of After Hours on KCAW Raven Radio as I’m joined for an uplifting and stirring conversation with Eliane Elias.

Eliane has had a distinguished career spanning nearly 30 albums, and is a multi-GRAMMY winning pianist/singer/composer. Her distinctive and intoxicating musical style has emerged as one of the most unique and immediately recognizable sounds in jazz.

With more than 2.2 million albums sold to date, she blends her Brazilian roots and alluring voice with her virtuosic instrumental jazz, classical and compositional skills, while she consistently displays her pianistic mastery and ability to integrate the many artistic roles she takes on. Jazziz Magazine describes Eliane as “an artist beyond category.”

Click this link to listen to the After Hours show featuring Eliane Elias, originally broadcast on May 25, 2020. Click here to visit Eliane’s personal website.

After Hours featuring Sheila Jordan, air date May 18, 2020

On By Charles BinghamIn Featured guest, Songwriter, VocalsLeave a comment

Join me for the May 18, 2020, edition of After Hours on KCAW Raven Radio as I’m joined in conversation with guest artist Sheila Jordan.

Sheila is an American jazz singer and songwriter. She has recorded as a session musician with an array of critically acclaimed artists in addition to recording her own albums. Sheila pioneered a bebop and scat jazz singing style with an upright bass as the only accompaniment. Her music has earned praise from many critics, particularly for her ability to improvise lyrics.

Scott Yanow describes her as “one of the most consistently creative of all jazz singers.” Charlie Parker often introduced Jordan as “the singer with the million dollar ears.”

Click this link to listen to the After Hours show featuring Sheila Jordan, originally broadcast on May 18, 2020. Click here to visit Sheila’s personal website.