Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

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Episodes

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There’s a fascinating variety to a life in music; this series features wonderful musicians worldwide with in-depth conversations and great music. Many episodes feature guests playing music spontaneously as part of the episode or sharing performances and albums. The inspiration and connection found in a meaningful creative life, the challenges faced, and the stories from such a diversity of people will draw you into this weekly series, with many topics that will resonate with all listeners. Available also as video and transcript: https://www.leahroseman.com/about

Recent Episodes

NOV 17, 2024

DeWitt Fleming Jr.

DeWitt Fleming Jr. is a multi-talented and brilliant performer, renowned for his tap dancing, choreography and acting, and is also a singer and drummer. As he said to me in this interview “when I’m tap dancing I’m drumming”. You’ll hear about his experience growing up in the Projects, the importance of attending an Arts high school, the usefulness of theatre training for musicians, and insights into memorization, mindset and performing. He shared his experiences working with Wynton Marsalis, meeting his wife the actor and singer Jennie Harney-Fleming, with whom he’s presently performing A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical, his experiences with Cirque du Soleil and touring internationally with Riverdance, and most recently playing both drums and performing tap with the Hot Sardines in Tokyo.

Like all my episodes, you can also watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on all the podcast platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website, everything linked here : https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/dewitt-fleming-jr

DeWitt Fleming Jr. Website: https://www.dewittflemingjr.com/bio

Buy me a coffee? ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠ Thanks!

You may be also interested in my episodes with ⁠J. Walter Hawkes,⁠ ⁠Vahn Black⁠,⁠ Mike Essoudry⁠, ⁠Destiny Muhammad⁠, ⁠EmmoLei Sankofa⁠, ⁠Kellylee Evans⁠ and so many ⁠others. ⁠

“Doxy” highlighting DeWitt’s tap dancing with saxophonist Erica von Kleist; Sax & Taps’ this video which was recorded live at The Red Room in 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6-xm8DZY6c

Sax & Taps’ album Intersplosion!

https://saxandtaps.bandcamp.com/album/intersplosion-live-at-dizzys-club

clips of DeWitt dancing with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGl6svIDzNc

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(02:48) history of tap, African roots

(09:26) DeWitt’s youth Projects of Washington DC, Hoofin’ out of the Hood show

(17:54) meeting his wife Jennie Harney-Fleming, parenting

(22:16) A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical

(23:30) choreography, Broadway

(26:56) benefits of drama training

(29:31) clip from Doxy, Sax & Taps with Erica von Kleist

(32:28) other episodes you may like, and different ways to support this series!

(33:15) drummer, Blue Note Tokyo with The Hot Sardines

(36:47) Cirque du Soleil experience, Broadway Underground

(43:06) meeting and working with Wynton Marsalis

(50:24) tap dancing, mentoring and teaching youth, the importance of theater

(56:10) connections with music, acting, dancing

(59:38) touring internationally with Riverdance

(01:02:35) Alicia Keys

(01:04:57) balance between playing drums and dancing, being in the moment, tap is music

67 MIN

NOV 12, 2024

Yale Strom: Klezmer Ethnographer-Artist

I was honored to be able to record this wide-ranging interview with violinist Yale Strom, who is the leading ethnographer-artist of Klezmer music and history, and also has done many years of research among the Roma communities. He speaks to us about some of his many inspiring experiences during over 75 research expeditions to Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. To prepare for this episode, I read several of his books, including his 400 page The Book of Klezmer: The History, The Music, The Folklore, some of which we touched on during this conversation, and he also spoke about two of his upcoming books and other projects. Yale is an energetic and prolific creator; he’s also a filmmaker, photographer, educator, playwright and composer, and we spoke about many of his projects during this wide-ranging interview. Timestamps below.

https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/yale-strom

Video Transcript

Yale Strom Website

To support this series, please either buy me a coffee

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You may be also interested in these episodes: Alicia Svigals (both episodes linked) Polina Shepherd, Josh “Socalled” Dolgin, and Marilyn Lerner.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(02:29) Yale’s career as ethnographer-artist

(04:03) Stoliner shul concert in Detroit Victory Fellowship Baptist Church

(10:44) Oberek Palota, Klezmer music from Slovakia, from the album “Borsht with Bread, Brothers” with Yale Strom and Hot Pstromi

(14:34) ethnographic research, Wandering Feast book, Yiddish, meeting Holocaust survivors

(24:43)The Witches of Lublin

(27:26) Dire Gelt from The Devil’s Brides with Yale Strom and Hot Pstromi, vocals with Elizabeth Schwartz

(31:10) Yale Strom’s films The Last Klezmer, A Great Day in Eldridge Street, the Man from Munkasc, An American Socialist, the Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs

(35:09)Leopold Kozlowski, The Last Klezmer, Naftuli Brandwein

(39:33) Rom musicians, book Uncertain Roads, Searching for the Gypsies, connections with the Jews

(49:46) Klezmer loshn secret language and culture

(58:46) the lost Stoliner Weinstein manuscript, upcoming book

(01:07:02) other episodes with Klezmer musicians and ways to support this series

(01:07:42) Yale’s compositions and commissions

(01:17:28) Dave Tarras

(01:22:19) Influences of Klezmer and Romani on Russian school of violin playing, Oistrach, Auer

(01:29:25) Shimmering Lights album, Sara Caswell, influences of prayers on Klezmer

(01:33:53) excerpt from Bashir Mizmor, Shimmering Lights album Yale Strom’s Broken Consort, with Sara Caswell improv

(01:35:56) The Expulsion of the Jews, Sephardic communities research

(01:43:33) Schlomo books, new musical about the Chagalls, Sweet Fragrance of Life

107 MIN

NOV 1, 2024

Nimrod Borenstein: Composer and Conductor

Nimrod Borenstein is a brilliant composer, who was a child prodigy as both a composer and performer. His often complex music is beloved by performers and audiences alike, and has been widely recorded and performed internationally. He is also a renowned conductor, and he spoke to me about his difficult decision to cut short his career as a violin soloist in order to find alternate career options as he developed his career as a composer. Vladimir Ashkenazy has been an active champion of Nimrod’s music, and you’ll hear the charming story of their first meeting. Ashkenazy first conducted Borenstein’s orchestral work The Big Bang and Creation of the Universe op. 52 to great acclaim, and the Chandos label released a very successful album devoted to Borenstein’s music conducted by Ashkenazy featuring his Violin Concerto and orchestral works.

Nimrod shares his insights about interpreting music for performers and conductors, the development of his compositional style and his views on creativity in general. Nimrod has an infectious energy in his enthusiasm for the pursuit of beauty. Nimrod has exceptional parents, and you’ll hear how they met, and we start with Nimrod’s close relationship to his father the renowned painter Alec Borenstein.

You’ll be hearing excerpts from a couple of recordings, with thanks to both SOMM recordings and Naxos; links to Nimrod Borenstein's compositions and recordings below

This episode is also a captioned video on YouTube, and you can read the transcript at this link as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/nimrod-borenstein

Nimrod Borenstein website, for his discography, compositions and current projects: https://www.nimrod-borenstein.com/recordings

To support this series, please either buy me a coffee

or shop at my merchandise store

Newsletter sign-up

Catalog of Episodes

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(03:27) father Alec Borenstein, sharing ideas about great art and creativity

(10:44) Un moment de sérénité Shirim, op. 94, no. 5 performed by pianist Clélia Iruzun with thanks to SOMM recordings

(13:24) the importance of contrast

(15:06) importance of dynamics, notation, interpretation

(18:04) evolution of Nimrod’s compositions, decision to give up career as a violin soloist

(22:37)Concertos

(24:51) piano Etudes

(30:11) Tango Etude. op. 66 No. 3 on the Naxos label with pianist Tra Nguyen

(32:32) piano Etudes, first symphony

(35:24) Chopin performed very little, Nimrod’s decision to prioritize composition

(36:41)decision to conduct

(43:47) excerpt from the 3rd movement of the Borenstein Concerto for Piano and Orchestra op. 91, performed by Clélia Iruzun and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Nimrod Borenstein conductor

(47:11) conducting, composition and interpretation

(55:35)past episodes you may enjoy, different ways to support this series

(56:20) English Chamber Orchestra 2025 collaboration Shakespeare Songs

(57:16)how Vladimir Ashkenazy became a champion of Nimrod’s compositions

(01:06:38) evolution of Nimrod’s compositional style, use of polyrhythms, finding his voice

(01:24:09) excerpt from the 2nd movement of the Borenstein Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, op. 91, performed by Clélia Iruzun and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, with Nimrod conducting.

(01:27:31) Nimrod’s childhood in France, then move to the UK, musical influences, rating composers

(01:37:32) Nimrod’s family

(01:42:55) piano pedagogy books and approach to teaching

(01:48:42) great art separate from the creator

photo: Sonia Fitoussi

115 MIN

OCT 28, 2024

Mark Growden: Living an Adventurous Life in Music

Mark Growden is a brilliant, curious, and expressive American multi-faceted musician. He’s a multi-instrumentalist, composer, singer, music educator, conductor, and visual artist. In this episode we focus on his large and varied instrument collection and he demonstrates several unusual instruments, including different jaw harps, biclycle handebars, and overtone flutes. He shares his unique journey, and how he developed new skills in response to different challenges and opportunities. I was fascinated to hear about his inspiring recent trip to Kyrgyzstan, about many of his mentors and collaborators, and his expressive approach to musicianship training. Mark has devoted his life to making music for other people and to helping other people make music for themselves, and he is an advocate for openess about respect and understanding for people with neurodivergence and mood disorders. Mark is the founder and Artistic Director of The Calling All Choir, The Chromatic Community Music Center, SF SingFest, and The SF Jaw Harp Choir. He has released several critically acclaimed albums and has toured the US extensively. He has composed original musical scores for dozens of dance and theater companies and scored several films. We are featuring music from 3 of his albums during this episode and you’ll find his discography linked below.

This episode on YouTube, and the transcript:

https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/mark-growden

Mark Growden website: https://markgrowden.org

To support this series, please either buy me a coffee here: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

or shop at my merchandise store: https://www.leahroseman.com/beautiful-shirts-and-more

Newsletter sign-up: https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter

Catalog of Episodes: https://www.leahroseman.com/about

You may be also interested in my episodes with other wide-ranging musicians involved in community music, instrument-making and exploring, such as with Linsey Pollak, Kavisha Mazzella, Philip Griffin, Polina Shepherd, Jesse Stewart, Sarah Jeffery, and Gary Muszynski.

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(03:16) Kyrgyzstan, Irina Bogatyryova, jaw harp music, Kutman Sultanbekov

(08:25) overtone flutes, bicycle handlebars, selijefloyte

(14:06) jaw harp history and demo

(17:32) jaw harp technique

(21:21)clip from bicycle handlebars improvisation on Mark’s album Saint Judas

(22:02) in-blown flutes, interdental embouchure, Central Asian flutes

(28:23) Mark’s childhood, music education, bands

(31:24)Orff Schulwerk, Blues

(35:05) New Orleans, writing for choirs, leading Community Sings

(42:36) Mark’s early music education

(46:53) Driving into the Sunrise, from In Velvet with the New Orleans Heavies and Mark Growden

(50:20) other episodes you may like and different ways to support this series

(51:07) Juggling, busking, bands, digeridoo, studying art, jazz

(53:04) Kodaly method

(55:11) Mark’s approach to teaching musicianship, hearing intervals according to function

(59:11) how Mark got into singing and choral direction, claw hammer banjo, album Lose me in the sand

(01:04:26) Shady Grove from Lose me in the sand

(01:08:53) move to Portland, show for the Getty museum Edyth Eyde

(01:16:15) Aron Szilagyi jaw harp festival World Vibes Hungary

(01:17:53) bass jaw harp demo

(01:19:06) Lithuanian psaltery tuned in whole tones, Veljo Tormis Tabu, kankles psaltery

(01:22:07) video music art new projects

(01:25:47) mentors Vance George, Alice Parker, Michael Kaulkin

(01:31:50) living and creating with bipolar type 2 and ADHD

101 MIN

OCT 21, 2024

Omo Bello: Celebrating African Art Song

Omo Bello is an acclaimed French-Nigerian operatic soprano , and in this episode we are focussing on her newly-released album “African Art Song” on Somm recordings with pianist Rebeca Omordia. Many of you heard my episode this past summer with pianist and curator of the African Concert Series, Rebeca Omordia, and I’ll be linking that episode below for you.

Omo talked to me about overcoming shyness and stage fright, her childhood and university years in Lagos, Nigeria, and some of her mentors including Grace Bumbry and Thomas Quasthoff. I was fascinated to gain insights from her life as an opera singer, and to learn about many of the composers from Africa and the African diaspora featured on this wonderful album, including Ayo Bankole, Fred Onovwerosuoke, Ishaya Yaron, Chirstian Onyeji and Shirley Thompson .