Source: 5049 Records.

Jen Shyu is a master vocalist, multi-instrumentalist / multi-linguist who embarks on incredibly ambitious projects that feature elements of jazz, theatre, dance and performance art. She spent several years as a key member of Steve Coleman‘s Five Elements, has worked closely with Tyshawn Sorey, Nicole Mitchell, Vijay Iyer and Dave Binney. She’s travelled the world, engaged in a practice of research that has informed her most recent work, “Song of Silver Geese”, that was recently released on Pi Records. She tours frequently and in the next year, will engage in a 50-state U.S. tour of her most recent work, “Songs of Our World Now / Songs Everyone Writes Now”.

Source: 5049 Records.

Based in Brooklyn since 1994, Briggan Krauss is a saxophonist and composer whose work explores the sonic possibilities of his instrument in great detail. He’s released several records under his own name, leading bands like 300 and H-Alpha. In addition to his solo and group projects, he’s worked closely with a broad range of artists from Bill Frisell to Ikue Mori, Antony to Satoko Fuji, and is widely known for his contributions to Steven Bernstein‘s long-running Sex Mob. Most recently he has begun an extensive study of the electric guitar and has been releasing a series of solo saxophone recordings entitled “The Art of the Saxophone”.

Source: burning ambulance.

Episode 14 of the Burning Ambulance podcast features an interview with drummer Billy Cobham, an absolute jazz legend. He first came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he worked with Miles Davis on A Tribute to Jack Johnson, and then joined guitarist John McLaughlin‘s new project, a band called the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Cobham started making records under his own name in 1973, with albums like Spectrum, Crosswinds, Total Eclipse, Shabazz, and Inner Conflicts all establishing him as not just an amazing drummer but also a unique compositional voice in the realm of jazz fusion. At the same time, he was doing sessions for McCoy Tyner, Sonny Rollins, Stanley Turrentine and many other artists, particularly on the CTI label. He also played on the John McLaughlin/Carlos Santana album Love Devotion Surrender, worked with the Fania All-Stars on their Latin•Soul•Rock album and the concert that was released as Live at Yankee Stadium, and played on literally hundreds of other records. In this conversation, we discuss as many aspects of his career as we had time for, as well as his approach to drumming and to teaching, what he thinks of younger players, and much, much more.

Source: 5049 Records.

Theresa Wong is a Bay Area based cellist and composer. She has worked closely with Fred Frith, Ellen Fullman, Luciano Chessa, Annie Lewandowski, Chris Brown, Søren Kjærgaard and many others. Her work skillfully incorporates improvisation, movement, visual art and theatre. For this talk we go back to her childhood in upstate New York, her time spent on a sailing ship, travel, music, companionship and much more.