My guest this week is Nigel Hall-an amazing singer/keyboard player/multi-instrumentalist. Born and raised in Washington D.C. and currently residing in New Orleans, LA. Lettuce's keyboardist/vocalist Nigel Hall is an accomplished musician steeped in Gospel tradition, as well as classic soul, funk, hip hop and R&B. Hall was discovered by Lettuce co-founder Ryan Zoidis around 2007, who invited him to Brooklyn to meet Eric Krasno and record with jazz band Soulive. Nigel was a huge fan...

James Casey is an NY/LA-based multi-instrumentalist, singer, producer and composer ​A current member of Trey Anastasio Band, James has had the opportunity to perform, record, produce and write with many of the world's leading and most influential artists. Credits include: The Roots, Phish, Meghan Trainor, Anderson .Paak, The Jonas Brothers, Maceo Parker, Carly Rae Jepsen, J.Cole, Leslie Odom Jr., Dave Matthews Band, Sabrina Claudio, Chaka Khan, Wu-Tang, John Legend, Roy Hargrove, Soulive,...

Today my guest is Adrian Harpham. Adrian is an excellent drummer based in NYC and Philly.  He has played with folks like Leo Nocentelli (of the Meters), Bernie Worrell, Chromeo, Amel Larrieux, Dr. John, Tom Scott, Oz Noy, Screaming Headless Torsos, and so many more. Besides being a stellar drummer, Adrian also has moved into the realm of music production and has produced over 30 records as well as having his own imprint label called Modern Icon Recordings which is part of the Ropeadope...

This is a special one-off episode where Adam Dorn returns and we discuss the 2020 Election.

My guest today is Lex Sadler. Lex is a bassist, programmer, designer and musical director. Besides being a great electric bass player he’s also a very skilled synth bass player. Lex moved to NYC 13 years ago from Australia and has played with people like Peter Cincotti, Talib Kweli, Michael Bolton, etc. He also is a big part of the many of the great local music nights in NYC including Producer Mondays at NuBlu (featuring all kinds of all-star guests) and the Jelly. He has a great solo album...

My Guest This week is Steven Wolf. (Or Wolf as everyone calls him.) Wolf is a drummer, programmer, songwriter, and music producer. His discography includes numerous gold, platinum, and Grammy winning records. He has worked with a range of artists including Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, Hiram Bullock, Grover Washington Jr., Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, The Bee Gees, Miley Cyrus, Annie Lennox, David Bowie and many more. We talk about all kinds of things for nearly 2 hours: evolving as a...

My guest today is the great guitarist/instructor Chris Buono. I met Chris in 2003 through our mutual friend David Fiuczynski while doing a thing at Berklee College of Music. Chris and I have played music together a lot - a good bit of that music has been with the great drummer Tobias Ralph. I've also played bass on many of Chris’s TrueFire courses including an in-depth interactive course along with Keith Carlock called In The Jam: NYC Funk. In addition to being a kick ass guitar player who’s...

In this episode

Steve Lawson is my guest today. Steve is a prolific solo bassist who has put out a staggering amount of records and is always working on something. He explores all kinds of sonic landscapes with effects, loopers, MIDI, accompanied by his trusty 6 string bass. I think I first heard about Steve at some point in the late 90’s and then we became friends in real life maybe ten years ago. Steve has been a part social media forever and he has some of the most forward thinking views about music...

This week’s guest is Teddy Kumpel. Teddy is an amazing guitar player who lives in Brooklyn. He’s worked with people like Joe Jackson (he been in his touring band for the last few years), Rickie Lee Jones, Phil Lesh, Feist, Marshall Crenshaw, and a ton of other folks. He also has played on soundtracks to movies well all love like Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and he’s also a great engineer. Teddy and I became friends sometime back 2013. He had this cool weekly residency at Rockwood Music Hall...

This week I’m talking to the magnificent Julie Slick. Julie is an amazing bass player who I first heard with Adrian Belew’s Power Trio.  It was thrilling to hear her play through all the various music Adrian has been a part of whether it’s his newer compositions or classic King Crimson or Frank Zappa stuff.  She also has a cool project—or a band (side question: what’s the difference between a band or a project?) called EchoTest and that features 2 bass players.  She’s also played with the...

Today I’m talking to the amazing Charlie Hunter. Charlie is an amazing guitar player and has a really unique concept where he plays bass and guitar at the simultaneously—similar to players like Tuck Andress and Joe Pass.  It’s the kind of thing you have to hear to believe and if you see him do it live, it feels like your senses are playing tricks on you.   If you have the D’Angelo album “Voodoo” album you’ve heard him . Go to the track called “Spanish Joint” and listen to the first 20...

My guest on this episode is the great bassist Evan Marien. Evan’s been a good friend of mine for years and is known for his awesome electronic/jazz/funk/fusion duo he has with Dana Hawkins. He also works with Elliot Moss, Wayne Krantz, and is featured on the not-yet-released new album by Tigran Hamasyan which comes out later in the year. Evan and I chatted back on 4/20 and we talk about all kinds of stuff.

Todays guest is Panagiotis Andreou who’s a friend of mine that I’ve known since college at Berklee College of Music. Panagiotis is one of the most unique and expressive musicians I know and besides being one of my favorite bassists to listen to, he’s one of my favorite people to talk to. He’s played with people like New York Gypsy All Stars, Gonzalo Grau, and he’s also a member of the trio Now-VErsus-Now which is a trio that also features Jason Lindner on keyboards and Justin Tyson on...

In this episode, I talk to my good friend the great bassist/producer/composer Derek Nievergelt. I’ve known Derek since the 90’s and we met during our school days at Berklee College of Music. Derek is a consummate musician and has worked with everyone from Terence Blanchard, Pyeng Threadgill, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, Robin Mackelle and the FlyTones and many others. He also has put out a solo album of sorts (featuring the guitarist Al Street and drummer Adrian Harpham) under the name...

Today my guest is Divinity Roxx. She’s probably best known for playing in Beyoncé’s band—and you’ve probably seen one of those concert videos—and before that she played in Victor Wooten’s band for 5 years and has also played with such artists as Jay-Z, nona Hendryx, Will.I.AM, Erykah Badu, Patti Labelle, Ledisi, and Gladys Knight. She also has a solo project which is a combination of funk-hip hop-and rock. I talked to Divinity on June 4th and we cover all kinds of stuff. I really...

This episode is a special episode dedicated to mental health.  I wanted to talk to someone who has some good insight about how to cope with life in the era of the coronavirus. My guest today is Dr. Susan Bodnar.  She is a psychologist based in New York City. Besides her own practice she also teaches at Columbia University.  We discuss the challenges and anxiety that Covid-19 has brought on society and what we all can think about to persevere and stay in a positive place.

My guest this week is Jonathan Herrera. Jonathan is a stellar bass player and he has performed and/or recorded with Cathedrals, MoeTar, Zigaboo Modeliste, Stanley Jordan, Brain, Oz Noy, Garaj Mahal, Miguel Migs, Cyrus Chestnut, Cathy Richardson, Michael Lee Firkins, Jon Fishman, Kai Eckhardt, Matthew Charles Heulitt, Dynamic, Rick Musallum, Levy's Love Lounge, and many more. He also wrote for Bass Player magazine and eventually was Editor-in-cheif before stepping down in 2010. Even after...

Today, my guest is Adam Dorn. Adam is a composer, songwriter, producer, bass player and DJ. You can hear some of his scoring work on the Showtime docuseries “Enemies”, Season 3 of the podcast “serial”, the HBO documentary about Robin Williams called “Robin Williams: Come Inside my Mind”, and he also scored the Richard Pryor documentary “Omit The Logic”. Beyond his career as a composer, Adam’s a successful jazz oriented dance music producer and DJ. He calls himself Mocean Worker and a lot of...

In this episode, I talk to the amazing Vernon Reid. Vernon is one of the most intelligent and interesting people I know. We share out love for science fiction, comic books, and music. Besides Living Colour, he’s played with people like Ronald Shannon Jackson, Mick Jagger, The Roots, Public Enemy, Janet Jackson, Don Byron, Bernie Worrell, Santana, Jack Bruce, and many more. As a guitar player, he’s still very cutting edge and represents what I feel is a perfect balance of feel, technique, and...

Today I’m talking to Alex Skolnick. Alex is an amazing guitar player who is probably best known for being part of the legendary Bay Area Thrash metal band Testament—who actually just released a new record a couple weeks back called “Titans of Creation”. He was in testament from the time he was a teenager into his early 20s and then did some session work with people like the incredible bassists like Stu Hamm and Michael Manring. He also did some stuff with the band Savatage and eventually...

This week I’m talking to the amazing guitarist David Fiuczynski (or as he’s known by many, Fuze). The first time I heard Fuze was on the Meshell N’degeocello song “Soul Record” which is the first song off of her first album “plantation lullabies” where he takes this blazing guitar solo. (Play that solo) As a bass player, that album was already a big deal to me but I was a fan of the Fuze’s guitar playing from then on. I soon heard Lunar Crush which was a record that Fuze made with John...

Today my guest is the bassist/luthier/pick-up maker/electronics wizard Carey Nordstrand. Carey was a musician first and then got into building basses in the mid-90s. He’s worked with some killer companies like Suhr Guitars. In 2002, he started Nordstrand Guitars and less than a year later he started to build his own pickups for basses and guitars. Over time, the demand for his pickups grew and thats when his company started. Carey has some really innovative, forward-thinking designs but also...

In episode 8, I speak to Tim Lefebvre. Tim is one of my favorite bass players. S**t, chances are, he’s probably one of your favorite bass players. Throughout his wide-ranging career, Tim Lefebvre has amassed a reputation for being one of the world’s most innovative bassists. The Foxboro-native’s creative playing style is an addictive blend of jazz improvisation, rock undertones, and electronic grooves that can be heard on his appearances on over 150 recordings, ranging from Grammy...