For the Greater Groove: The Future of Strings

Lewis Kaplan

45 years after graduating from The Juilliard School, I have a chance to chat with my former violin professor there, Lewis Kaplan. At 91, Kaplan is a senior professor of v

Matt Glaser

“There are things in the music that conjoin us all.” Matt Glaser chats about the music that still inspires him after 50 years of study—the swing music of the 20’s thru th

Curtis Stewart

Curtis Stewart is a violinist/composer who is at the forefront of the new music world as a solo performer and recording artist, founding member of the Publiqartet, Artist

Ginny Luke

With a musical worldview centered on individuality, freedom and emotion, Ginny talks about how to deal with the challenges women face in the performing arts, how to be fe

Regina Carter

Regina talks about her sound, her move from classical to jazz, her experience as a hospice caregiver, and then I ask the MacArthur genius how much she knows about...the s

Jean Luc Ponty

Jean Luc Ponty is the father of all modern jazz violinists with a long and ground-breaking career. In this wide-ranging conversation, Jean Luc talks about his transition

Jesus Florido

Violinist and tireless educator Jesus Florido talks about the importance of the groove in Latin music and how it's expressed on the violin. We share an astonishment at ho

Best of ’22: All Killer, No Filler

A collection of highlights of my conversations from the past year, with short musical excerpts, starting with the Zach Brock episode from January and including Natalie Ha

Daniel Bernard Roumain

Composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain shares his unique perspective as a black progressive string player and composer in a very traditional classical world. We talk a

Eugene Friesen

Eugene Friesen is one of the architects of progressive string playing. We go deep and we get specific--Eugene slows down an example of his trademark pizzicato technique a

Mia Asano

Mia Asano is a young electric violinist who has become one of the most visible content creators in the string world. She's a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music a

Mark Summer

Mark and I reminisce about the old Turtle Island days and he confesses to having written one of the best-known solo cello pieces of all time, "Julie-O", on the piano. The

Tomoko Akaboshi

Tomoko shares her story of being a classical violinist in Tokyo who fell in love with jazz and moved to Boston to study with only a suitcase and a violin. She's now a bus

Sirius Quartet

A chat with my good friends in the Sirius Quartet, Chern Hwei and Gregor Huebner, violins, Ron Lawrence, viola and Jeremy Harmon, cello. They were in the studio on a lunc

Danny Seidenberg

My old buddy from the Turtle Island String Quartet demonstrates jazz viola techniques, talks about arranging for TISQ and about his newfound love for the violin. Then I a

Diana Ladio

Diana is the violin half of the violin/cello Moxie Strings duo. They work with thousands of kids every year as guests in schools all over the country. We talk about our s

Roberto Sierra

Composer Roberto Sierra speaks about the new electric violin concerto he is in the middle of composing for me. It's called "Ficciones" and is inspired by short stories by

Billy Contreras

Billy reflects on the influence of Buddy Spicher, tells some gig stories and breaks down the comprehensive and highly structured routine he uses in practice and on the ba

Sara Caswell

One of the most important jazz violinists on the scene today, Sara brings her classical and jazz background to her students at Berklee College and Manhattan School of Mus

Natalie Haas

Natalie Haas has helped define this new role for strings that I keep talking about--the future of string playing, which I believe is all about being a genuine rhythm play