Follow Your Dream - Music And Much More!

ENCORE: Ann Hampton Callaway is a Musical Star and a remarkably gifted artist. She’s a leading champion of the Great American Songbook, and she’s known for her work as a singer, pianist, composer, lyricist, actress, TV host, and producer. Her resume is off the charts. Ann was voted by Broadwayworld as “Celebrity of the Year” and two years in a row as “Best Jazz Vocalist”. On Broadway she was nominated for a Tony award for her performance in the hit musical “Swing!” On TV she was the one who wrote and sings the theme song for the hit seri...

Karen Mason is a Broadway star. A celebrated musical theatre actress and singer. Here’s just a few of her successes. She starred as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. She originated the role of Tanya in Mamma Mia, and she starred as Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray. She’s also a cabaret performer and she has performed with a number of symphony orchestras. My featured song is “The Buzz", one of my recent singles. Spotify link. —------------------------------------ The Follow Your Dream Podcast: Top 1% of all podcasts with Listeners in 200 countries! Click ...

Amy B. Scher is an award-winning, bestselling author of five non-fiction books, translated into more than 20 languages.  She writes and teaches on the topics of healing, human-ing, and writing. She’s recognized in particular for her work in mind-body healing. And she’s written a Young Adult novel, “The Unexpected Afterlife of Salon Rose”, which was inspired by the worst week in her life, she says. She’s been featured in Oprah Daily, The Washington Post, Good Morning America, CBS, and Cosmopolitan. And, as I like to say, now she’s really hit the big time appearing on this podcast.  ...

Stevie Simkin is an author, a teacher of drama, film and literature, and also a musician. And he has a PhD in poetry. For over thirty years he has taught at the University of Winchester in the UK. His recent book, “Cultural Constructions of the Femme Fatale”, is about dangerous women. As his subtitle says: from Pandora’s Box to Amanda Knox. My featured song is “The Pardners”. It's from the album East Side Sessions by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link. —------------------------------------ The Follow Your Dream Podcast: Top 1% of all podcasts...

Bruce Forman is a Texas-born jazz guitarist, perhaps best know for his work on three of Clint Eastwood’s films including the soundtrack to “Million Dollar Baby”. He’s released 21 recordings as a leader, and played with a number of jazz luminaries including Ray Brown, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, and Bobby Hutcherson. He’s played numerous times at the Monterey Jazz Festival. And he’s got a “western bebop” band named Cow Bop. My featured song is “The Pardners”. It's from the album East Side Sessions by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link. —------------------------------------ The Follow Your...

Eugene Ruffolo is an acclaimed Background and Jingle singer, and a singer/songwriter with 9 albums of his own. He's sung live and on records with artists like David Byrne, Garth Brooks, and Tony Bennett. As a songwriter he’s won first prize in several competitions. He’s done hundreds of radio and TV commercials. He’s been featured in numerous soundtracks. He’s got a passion for working with children. And he’s a 3x winner of the Parent’s Choice Award. My featured song is “Tessa”. It's from the album East Side Sessions by my band Project Grand Sl...

Zazz is an wonderful actress, singer, and songwriter. She’s performed in theater, concert and cabaret venues. She’s appeared on Late Night with Stephen Colbert and in the HBO documentary Master Class with Bobby McFerrin, and she’s toured with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Here's how she came to be a guest. I first came across Zazz when I interviewed Will Healy, a fabulous musician, about a year ago. One of the works that he gave me for the Songfest was a Zoom video by his group Shouthouse and it featured a terrific singer. I told him that I...

This Legends episode spotlights Chas Chandler. He’s the guy who turned Jimmy James into Jimi Hendrix. Here’s the story. Chas Chandler was the bass player for the Animals, the ‘60s British Invasion band fronted by Eric Burdon, which had a string of hits in that era including “The House Of The Rising Sun”, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, “I’m Crying” and many others. They had a rougher, earthier sound than most of the other British Invasion bands. After tiring of touring nonstop with the Animals for very little money, Chandler left the band to became an artist ma...

Danny Lux is a multiple Emmy nominated television and film composer. His TV series' credits include the theme music for Sliders, Million Dollar Mysteries, Crisis Center, Profiler and Boston Legal. He’s contributed music to Grey’s Anatomy, Hacks, Ally McBeal, NYPD Blue, The Good Wife and others. His movie credits include Halloween: Resurrection and Stolen Summer. In total he’s scored over 2,300 episodes from dramas to comedies to films. My featured song is “Studio One”. It's from the album Play by my band Project Grand Slam. Spotify link. ------------------------------------ The Follow Your Dream Podca...

Benjamin Kruithof is a multiple prize winning Luxembourg-born cellist. In 2025 he won the Young Artist of the Year award. He’s given recitals all over Europe including Cologne, Amsterdam, Vienna, Budapest, London and Baden-Baden. As a soloist, recent highlights include performances with the Luxembourg Philharmonic, Liechtenstein Symphony and the East-West Chamber Orchestra. In recital, he has performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Kings Place in London and the Salle Cortot in Paris. His Chamber music projects include an extensive tour of the Netherlands with Noa Wildschut. My featured song is the new re-mixed, re-mastered version of “Ma Peti...

Tess Remy-Schumacher is is a Grammy® nominated cellist and producer. She’s won a whole bunch of awards including the World Entertainment Award for “Best Classical Album”, first Prize at the International Carlo-Zecchi Competition in Rome, and multiple medals at the Global Music Awards. As a concert soloist, she has recorded at Abbey Road Studios as part of the Six String Symphony with the London Symphony and recorded over 20 albums. She’s performed in Europe, Asia, Australia, and the U.S., including at Wigmore Hall in London, Jubilee Hall in Singapore, and the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. As an educat...

Pille-Rite Rei is an Estonian jazz musician, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter known for her deep connection to Brazilian and Latin-infused jazz. She plays Estonian bossa nova! Her work spans multiple albums and singles, blending Nordic jazz melodies with acoustic and bossa nova rhythms. She honed her vocal skills in Sweden and later won a musical award in Denmark. She then went to Brazil and collaborated there. Now she’s back based in Denmark. My featured song is “The Gift”, one of my recent singles. Spotify link. —------------------------------------ The Follow Your Dream Podcast: Top 1% o...

This episode announces the release of the new re-mixed and re-mastered “Ma Petite Fleur String Quartet”. The new recording has been released on St7dio - Classical, the boutique classical label owned by multiple Grammy® winner Kitt Wakeley and which is run by Allison Charney. Allison is a Grammy® nominated opera singer in her own right, and a recent guest on the podcast. Here’s the back story. In 2012 I wrote and recorded a jazz ballad that I called “Ma Petite Fleur” (my little flower). My ballad was an instrumental love song that I wrote for...

I believe that creativity has no expiration date. But there is another side to the story. Sometimes we watch an artist who we have loved for decades slowly fade before our eyes. Recently I saw a ‘60s era superstar in concert. He will remain nameless for these purposes. In my opinion, he was one of the greatest artists of the rock era. His songwriting, his guitar playing, his singing - all masterful. Which is why seeing him recently was such a complicated experience for me. He’s now in his eighties. Like...

Adrian Galante is an Australian-born jazz multi-instrumentalist, arranger and composer who plays the piano and the clarinet. His debut album, “Introducing Adrian Galante”, was released last year and features pianist Tamir Hendelman and drummer Joe LaBarbera, both of whom have been guests on this podcast. My featured song is “Mi Cachimber”, one of my recent singles. Spotify link. —------------------------------------ The Follow Your Dream Podcast:Top 1% of all podcasts with Listeners in 200 countries! Click here for Start Here Click here for All Episodes  Click here for Guest List  <...

Mitch Marcus is a director and screenwriter for movies and television. He started out working on film crews on movies like 'Stand By Me" and "Field of Dreams".  In 1995, his film “A Boy Called Hate", about the youth culture of guns, received a prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.  He’s worked as a director for hire on several feature length movies.  He’s filmed two feature length documentaries. In television, he produced and directed non-fiction television for A&E, History, Travel, Discovery, Sundance and others - most recently Executive Producing the series, "The Unexplained with William Shatner”. He recently...

Jhoely Garay is a Mexican-born jazz guitarist, composer, and arranger and the leader of the Jhoely Garay Jazz Orchestra. She combines classic and contemporary jazz with Latin rhythms. And like me, she likes to write message songs about subjects like the climate, and also about untold or hidden histories left out of official narratives. She’s become an important part of the jazz scene in New York and Mexico. She’s performed at major venues including Carnegie Hall, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, and The MET Museum. And she won five Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation awards. My f...

Jason SweetTooth Williams is a singer, an actor and a writer. He’s performed in cabaret, on TV, in films and on Broadway. He was in the Broadway musical “Be More Chill”, and regionally and Off Broadway in “Freaky Friday”, “Benny and Joon”, “Bloodsong of Love”, “The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S Thompson Musical” and “Once Upon a Mattress”. And he’s an original member of Joe Iconis and Family. On screen he appeared in “WeCrashed” and in episodes of “Only Murders in the Building”, “BULL”, “FBI”, “The Marvelous Mrs Masiel” and “American Horror Stories”.  My featured song is “The Buzz”, my latest single. Spotify link. <p...

Ana Petrova is a jazz pianist and organist from Kazakhstan. Her playing is a combination of improvisation, groove, and jazz traditions. She studied at Berklee with Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci, and Joe Lovano. She’s shared the stage with Dave Liebman, Catherine Russell, and Terri Lyne Carrington, among others. She’s performed at clubs like Dizzy’s and The Bitter End, and at festivals like the Umbria, Panama, and Monterey Jazz Festivals. My featured song is “Trippin”, from the album of the same name. Spotify link. —------------------------------------ The Follow Your Dream Podcast:Top 1% of...

After more than 800 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 is poetry. This episode features five remarkable, world-class poets who have expanded the range of artistic expression featured on this podcast. When I started this podcast just over five years ago, as a musician myself, I focused primarily on great musicians as my guests. But as those gu...