In our first ever interview on When Music Speaks, I talk with friend and collaborator Gerald Eze. Gerald is a master of the oja, a wind-blown Igbo instrument from Nigeria, whose poetry can praise, warn, and uplift those it addresses. This is a longer episode, but trust me, it's worth it. We talk...

Just what kinds of musical surrogate languages are out there? What instruments are used? And what are people even saying?  In this episode, I take you around the world in five traditions: Bora slit log drumming in the Amazon, Yoruba talking drums in Nigeria, Hmong mouth organs originally from...

Welcome to When Music Speaks! This short episode introduces the topic of the podcast---musical surrogate languages---and gives you a taste of what you can expect from the podcast.