Virtual Interview
Russ Hamm has a passion for electrical engineering and began his career working in recording studios around the Boston area. In 1968 he left Boston for New York and worked for Bob Fine at Fine Recording Studios. Russ was a part of many technological advances in sound recording, such as the switch...
Doug Kershaw is the wild man of Cajun music who has been a powerful ambassador for the musical style around the world for many decades. His passion and high energy performances gained the attention of people who may have otherwise not have been exposed to this native Louisianan's music. Beginning...
John Altman, the world-renowned composer, grew up in a musically rich family and found his own passion for music at an very young age. His uncles (Woolf and Sid Phillips) were successful arrangers, bandleaders and conductors and his cousin Simon Phillips is best known as the drummer for Toto. John...
Frédéric Brun grew up in Paris, France and has been playing the violin since age 6. He attended university studying chemical engineering, but always had music in his head and a desire to start his own company. These dreams became a reality when Frederic met Gilles Pommereuil, another student at the...
Jamal Batiste grew up in a very musical family and when he saw his brother’s drum kit at 3 years old, he fell in love. Raised in New Orleans he was surrounded by what he calls the gumbo of music, playing all styles and in many different settings. Throughout his career he has played alongside groups...
Tosin Abasi is the founder and lead guitarist of the group Animals as Leaders and has a style of playing that is often unmatched. Tosin grew up in Washington, D.C and has memories of trying guitars out at Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center. He took the leap to create music professionally and...
Brenda Russell had a series of hit R&B recordings in the 1970s, 80s and 90s including “Piano In The Dark” and “So Good, So Right.” The success of her recording career as a singer led to her songwriting career, which included penning the musical score for the Broadway version of The Color Purple...
Bill Reeves saw a production of Peter Pan as a kid and was fascinated with how the sets changed and how the actors could fly. While majoring in technical theater in college Bill had a summer job at a local casino resort and started working on the traveling shows. This led to working on his first...
Ernie Watts is the answer to the question - who was playing the “mystery horn” on Frank Zappa’s The Grand Wazoo album? A veteran studio musician and bandleader, Ernie has had thousands of career highlights such as playing in the Tonight Show band and recording with Marvin Gaye, Kenny Burrell,...
Lance “KC” Jackson was always the one to fix the instruments in the band growing up. He learned early on the importance of learning a little bit of everything and to continue to educate himself on new programs and gear over the years. This approach to his career led to an impressive list of artists...