Rob Shepherd

Freeing the Lion: A Conversation with James Blood Ulmer on Harmolodics and the Black Rock Trio

Great artists have honed a sound that is identifiable regardless of the environment surrounding them. The truly brilliant, however, are…

7 months ago

Channel to the Future: A Conversation with Elliott Sharp on ‘Die Grösste Fuge’

Throughout the ages, some of the greatest composers have gifted to the world pieces not meant for their time. Often…

7 months ago

Bringing the Instrumental Back: A Conversation with Molly Miller on ‘The Ballad of Hotspur’

From the 1940s through the 1960s, even into part of the 1970s, instrumental music reigned supreme in the popular consciousness.…

7 months ago

Physical Expression: A Conversation with Steph Richards on ‘Power Vibe’

Far too often, people perceive music as a solely auditory experience, something heard but which does not affect the rest…

7 months ago

Constructing Sound: A Conversation with Tomeka Reid on ‘3+3’

Joann Wolfgang von Goethe once remarked, "Music is liquid architecture; Architecture is frozen music.” But the philosopher is hardly the…

7 months ago

Spontaneous Combustion: A Conversation with Chloë Sobek and Tim Berne on ‘Burning Up’

Artists have long written compositions that express emotional depths possible only through music. These songs can bring the listener to…

7 months ago

Pass Everything in My Soul: A Conversation with David Murray on ‘Francesca’

The love song is one of the oldest and most primal forms of musical expression, dating back to ancient Greece,…

7 months ago

Filter: A Conversation with Isaiah Collier on ‘The Almighty’

John Coltrane once noted he would “like to point out to people the divine in a musical language that transcends words……

7 months ago

The Journey: A Conversation with Kenny Garrett on ‘Who Killed AI?’

Miles Davis once remarked, “It's not about standing still and becoming safe. If anybody wants to keep creating, they have to be about change.” This emphasis on…

7 months ago

Virtues of Melody: A Conversation with Alan Braufman on ‘Infinite Love Infinite Tears’

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once noted that “melody is the essence of music.” This may be true, but such a perspective overlooks how…

8 months ago