Follow Your Dream - Music And Much More!

Marc Migo is a composer from Spain. He blends his Iberian roots with American music which is regularly performed on the world’s most prestigious stages by major ensembles and soloists. His range spans all genres—from piano preludes to large operatic productions. He has received numerous awards including the Pablo Casals Award, the George Enescu Prize, the Dominic Argento Fellowship for Opera Composition, and the Leo Kaplan Award. His music has premiered and been performed in venues around the world, including Alice Tully Hall in NY, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Palau de la Musica in Barcelona), and Tchaikovsky Concert Hall...

Lauren Marcus is an actress, a singer and a writer whose work has been seen on stage, screen, and at various New York City music venues. She’s perhaps best known for her work in the original Broadway production of “Be More Chill”, which was created by her husband, Joe Iconis, who was also a guest on this show. She’s currently working on the book for a new musical adaptation of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” based upon the movie of the same name. As a singer-songwriter, she released her debut EP in 2016. As an actress, she’s appeared in...

Passing the baton is the natural rhythm of every profession, every art form, and every generation. The new group builds upon the accomplishments of those who came before. Then, in time, they hand the baton to those who follow them. It’s the natural cycle of life.This Essay discusses baton-passing in various contextsCLICK HERE 

Travis Carlton is an active working bass player in Los Angeles who’s played with a lot of folks including Steve Perry, Robben Ford, Christopher Cross, Joe Bonnamassa, Sara Barellies, Steve Gadd, Mark Lettieri, Andy Timmons, and Don Randi, the last four of whom have been guests on this podcast. And his dad is Larry Carlton, the celebrated guitarist who has played with Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell, and who did the Hill St. Blues theme song, among many other things.My featured song is “Moon Shot”, one of my recent singles. Spotify link.—------------------------------------Top...

Craig Dobbin is an acclaimed composer and 2x BMI award winner in film, television and commercials. Shows include NCIS Los Angeles, Discovery Channel Shark Week and the PBS shows Jay Jay the Jet Plane and Betsy’s Kindergarten Adventures. His compositions have also been featured in commercials for Samsung, Visa, McDonalds, Netflix, and Marvel. And he’s got a contemporary jazz group called 3RD FORCE. My featured song is “Out Of Tahini”, from the album Play by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link.—------------------------------------Top 1% of all podcasts with Listeners in 200 countries!Click ...

Melissa Stylianou is a superb jazz singer. She’s Canadian born, with Irish and Greek Cypriot roots. Her material runs the gamut from the Great American Songbook to Johnny Cash. She has performed at numerous festivals and clubs and toured internationally. And she’s also a member of the award winning vocal trio Duchess.My featured song is “Tessa” from the album East Side Sessions by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link.—------------------------------------Top 1% of all podcasts with Listeners in 200 countries!Click here for Start HereClick here for All Episod...

Zuill Bailey is a Grammy® Award winning, internationally renowned, cellist, performing as a soloist, recitalist and Artistic Director. He has been featured with symphony orchestras worldwide, including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Israel and Cape Town symphonies. He has performed at Disney Hall, the Kennedy Center, the United Nations, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd St. Y and Carnegie Hall. His international appearances include notable performances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in its 50th anniversary tour of Russia as well as concerts in Ukraine, Korea, Australia, and many other places. His Network television appearances include a recurring role on the H...

Donna Masini is an acclaimed poet and the author of four books of poems: Did You Find Everything You Were Looking For?, 4:30 Movie, Turning to Fiction, and That Kind of Danger. And she’s also written a novel called About Yvonne. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Best American Poetry, American Poetry Review, The Yale Review, and the Paris Review. And she’s a Professor of English at Hunter College. My featured song is “Tessa” from the album East Side Sessions by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link.—------------------------------------Top 1% of all podc...

Ciara Moser is a spectacular electric bassist. Rarely have I seen talent like this - and she’s even more impressive because she is blind. DownBeat named her Rising Star Electric Bassist of the Year. She was born in Dublin and raised in Austria. She plays jazz, fusion, pop, rock, world, classical, and contemporary. She performed at festivals and venues around the world and played and recorded with stars Danilo Pérez, Terri Lyne Carrington, Charlie Hunter and Victor Wooten. And she has her own podcast, “Blind. So What?”, focusing on life and accessibility as a blind artist.My fe...

James Abruzzo is a longtime non-profit arts executive and management consultant, and he’s an author. He’s the Vice Chair of DHR Global and in that capacity he’s consulted with major symphony orchestras, ballet companies, theaters and opera companies in the United States and abroad. And as I said he’s also an author. He’s written several books including a new fictional short story called “Fefè: A Sicilian American Journey”. My featured song is “Juliet Dances” from the album East Side Sessions by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link.—------------------------------------Top 1% of all podcast...

Steve Conte is a rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer. He’s got the look, the songs and the voice. His description of his most recent album, The Concrete Jangle, captures him: It’s a Brit Pop/Motown/‘60s/Post-Punk ‘80s record – with trashy NYC guitars. He’s a soul-singer/guitar-slinger in tight pants, scarves and eyeliner. He toured with the New York Dolls. One of his works recently was nominated for “Album Of The Year” by the Finnish “Grammys” as well as The Nordic Music Prize. And he’s toured all over the world.My featured song is “Right Now” fr...

Billy Stritch is an acclaimed Pianist-singer who has been a mainstay of the New York and national nightclub scene for nearly four decades. He was the musical director for Liza Minelli for 25 years, and her confidant. He also accompanied Tony Bennett and Marilyn Maye, and currently collaborates with Linda Eder, Christine Ebersole, Laura Benanti, Ann Hampton Callaway and many other top performers. His composition “Does He Love You” won a Grammy in 1993 and was recorded again 29 years later by Reba and Dolly Parton, getting a Grammy nomination in 2023. He was recently named Outstanding Musical Director for the sixth time by th...

Nicole Zuraitis is a fabulous 2x Grammy® winning and 4x Grammy® nominated jazz singer-songwriter and pianist. This lady has an absolutely gorgeous voice. She won the American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal. She’s collaborated with Christian McBride, Morgan James, Livingston Taylor and Benny Benack among others. Nicole leads her own quartet and has performed and recorded with the Birdland Big Band. She’s headlined at the Newport Jazz Festival, Saratoga Jazz Festival and Tanglewood, along with clubs like Dizzy’s, Birdland and the Blue Note.My featured song is “The Cut Of The Knife”, my recent single. Spot...

Melissa Manchester is a musical superstar and Grammy® winning singer, songwriter and actress. Her career has spanned over 50 years. She’s written and recorded a number of hit records starting with “Midnight Blue” (1973) which she wrote with Carole Bayer Sager. In 1980 she was the first artist in the history of the Academy Awards to have, and to perform on the show, two movie nominated theme songs. She’s acted in movies like “For The Boys” with Bette Midler, in TV series like “Blossom”, and on stage in 2023 in a National Tour of “Funny Girl”.My featured song is my recent single “...

Vivian Fang Liu is an award-winning concert pianist, singer, songwriter, music educator, and researcher. But this description just scratches the surface. Her works are like a three ring circus. So much going on. You’ll hear when we get to the Songfest portion. She’s performed all over the place. At Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the Grammy Museum among others. She’s recorded on multiple Grammy-nominated albums. She’s been honored with four Global Music Awards. Her music has been featured on PBS, SinoVision, and SiriusXM. And One of her songs - “Belong” - is an anti-Asian...

After more than 825 episodes, I’ve observed that many of my remarkable guests are connected by one or more common threads.Each episode of Special Collections focuses on a particular thread that ties together some of my guests. In this episode that common thread are the Bios that I get from each artist.Bios typically recite all of the accomplishments and awards of the artist. They're important of course. But what I'm particularly interested in are those tidbits that are a surprise. That talk about an interest or accomplishment that's off the beaten path. Something th...

Tracy Bonham is a classically trained violinist and pianist, who somehow became a very successful alternate rock singer- songwriter and she had a big hit album and single in that genre. That album was called “The Burdens of Being Upright”, and the single was called “Mother Mother”. She received two Grammy nominations for them in 1996. And she became a global star through MTV and radio airplay. And that song still resonates today. Recently it was featured in an episode of Yellowjackets — introducing it to a whole new generation. Now she’s celebrating the 30th anniversary of the album and she has re-i...

Matthew Szlachetka is a roots rock singer-songwriter. For the past five years he’s been touring more than 200 days a year. He’s got a music catalog that’s been called "road-dog roots-rockers and Americana ballads." His latest album is “Young Heart, Old Soul”. He’s appeared alongside Brandi Carlisle, Chris Isaak, and Blackberry Smoke, among others. When not on the road, Matthew has become an in-demand producer, session guitarist and writer in Nashville including for Jeff Silbar.My featured song is “Aches and Pains", from the album Summer Of Love 2020. Spotify link.—------------------------------------The Follow You...

Alan Broadbent is an acclaimed 2x Grammy® winning jazz pianist and arranger originally from Auckland, New Zealand. He’s worked with the Woody Herman band and Charlie Haden’s Quartet West, touring and recording with them for 25 years. He won Grammys® as an arranger for Natalie Cole and Shirley Horn and has been nominated fourteen times. He arranged and performed an evening of music dedicated to Miles Davis’s compositions of the 1950s for the WDR big band. His latest work as an arranger is for a string orchestra album, “It’s Magic”, for the singer Stella Cole. My featured...

ENCORE: Liz Callaway is a force of nature. Just listen to her accomplishments. She’s a Tony nominee and an Emmy award winning actress, singer and recording artist. She made her Broadway debut in Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along”. She went on to star in “Baby” for which she earned a Tony nomination, “The Three Musketeers”, “Sunday In The Park With George”, “Evita”, “Miss Saigon” and “Cats”. She sang the Academy Award nominated song “Journey To The Past” from the animated film Anastasia. She was in the two “Aladdin” sequels, “The Swan Princess” and “Beauty And The Beast”. She’s performed concerts all around th...