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

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 Sheila Jordan, air date May 18, 2020

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.

After Hours featuring Bria Skonberg, air date Feb. 10, 2020

Join me for the Feb. 10, 2020, edition of After Hours on KCAW Raven Radio as  I’m joined in conversation with New York City jazz trumpeter, singer and songwriter Bria Skonberg.

Originally from Canada, Bria is described as “one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation” (Wall Street Journal). She recently sang the music of Aretha Franklin alongside Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child, played with U2 at the Apollo, sat in with the Dave Matthews Band, and was a featured guest with Jon Batiste.

A bandleader since her teens, Bria has performed festivals and stages the world over, including New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, and Montreal Jazz Festival, and more than a hundred more.

In 2016 Bria released her debut LP on Sony Masterworks which won a Canadian JUNO award and made the Top 5 on Billboard jazz charts. A six-time Downbeat Rising Star, further accolades include the jazz at Lincoln Center Swing Award, Best Vocal and Best Trumpet from Hot House Jazz Magazine and Outstanding Jazz Artist at the Bistro Awards.

Click this link to listen to the After Hours show featuring Bria Skonberg, originally broadcast on Feb. 10, 2020. Click here to visit Bria’s personal website.

After Hours featuring Anne Phillips, air date Jan. 20, 2020

Join me for the Jan. 20, 2020, edition of After Hours on KCAW Raven Radio (and later broadcast on KRBD Rainbird Radio and KSTK) as I’m joined in conversation with American singer, songwriter, pianist and producer Anne Phillips.

Anne’s career has covered almost every area of the music business. In addition to recording several solo albums, from the classic Born To Be Blue, to her most recent release, Ballet Time on which she sings with such old friends as Dave Brubeck and Marian McPartland, she  has worked  as a singer, choral arranger and conductor with many of the music world’s leading artists and is  widely known in the industry as the writer-arranger-producer of many national commercials.

Anne has worked with Burt Bacharach, Carole King, Mahalia Jackson and has arranged and produced jingles for the Four Tops and Martha and the Vandellas. She started working in demo recordings for songwriters in the 1950s. She was also a member of the Ray Charles Singers on the Perry Como Show.

Join me on this odyssey into the musical heart and soul into this fabulous artist.

Click this link to listen to the After Hours show featuring Anne Phillips, originally broadcast on Jan. 20, 2020. Click here to visit Anne’s personal website.

After Hours featuring Lori Williams, air date Dec. 30, 2019

Join me for the Dec. 30, 2019, edition of After Hours on KCAW Raven Radio in Sitka, Alaska, when I was joined in conversation with “out-of-the-box” jazz vocalist Lori Williams

Lori blends straight ahead, contemporary, soul, inspirational, and urban, creating a truly unique smooth mix of sound. She also is an educator, songwriter, producer, support vocalist, and musical theater actress with five well-received CDs to her credit (a sixth is scheduled for release in 2020) — all of which she self-produced.

As an educator for more than 25 years, Lori has received many honors including Outstanding Music Teacher in the October 2000 issue of Teaching Music, the 2007 Superintendent’s Arts Teacher of the Year Award, and the 2010 Vincent E. Reed Teacher of the Year. As a performing artist, Lori was nominated for a 2014 Helen Hayes Award as an Outstanding Lead Actress in a Resident Musical for her role as Ella Fitzgerald in “Ladies Swing the Blues: A Jazz Fable” (directed by Thomas W. Jones). Lori has received letters of recognition for her performances by Vice President Joseph Biden, former Speaker of the House John Boehner, and Maryland Senator C. Anthony Muse.

Click this link to listen to the KCAW After Hours show featuring Lori Williams, originally broadcast on Dec. 30, 2019. Click here to visit Lori’s personal website.