The Third Story with Leo Sidran

Rachael & Vilray are a perfect example of the idea that sometimes what that once seemed old fashioned can actually resonate as new again. Their new record I Love A Love Song! comes out this week. Rachael Price is best known as the singer in the band Lake Street Dive. She and Vilray met at college two decades ago. But it would take them years before they discovered their mutual love of the American songbook standards from the 1930s and 40s, and decided to create a project to showcase Vilray's special gift of channeling classic songwriters in his original music. We spoke recently about how this project came about, how they approach making original work in the mold of a musical tradition that is nearly a hundred years old,the art and craft of classic songwriting and getting the words right. www.third-story.com www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story

A collection of Art of the Story pieces for WBGO News by Leo Sidran / The Third Story Podcast from 2022, including coverage of the Montreal and Umbria jazz festivals (featuring Dave King, Julian Lage, Samara Joy, Matt Pierson, Terence Higgins, Gregory Porter, Kurt Elling, Dave Koz and more) as well as short profiles on Lau Noah, Michael Thurber, Tomasz Stanko, Tyshawn Sorey, Jesse Harris, Jorge Drexler, Christian McBride and Larry Goldings. www.third-story.comwww.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast https://www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story

Every year, The Third Story collects more interviews and conversations than we are able to publish as full episodes, and 2022 was certainly no exception. Finally, we have found a solution: THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY, 2022 HOLIDAY EDITION. Conversations with saxophonist Bill McHenry, keyboard player/producer Didi Gutman, pianist Jon Dryden, pianist Dan Tepfer, trumpet player/graphic designer Jamie Breiwick, and pianist Randy Ingram with singer Aubrey Johnson, collected around the world this year. www.third-story.com www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story

What's so funny about Larry Goldings? He has been such a major musical force for so long, it's hard to remember a time when he was not around. He's one of the most accomplished, respected and admired hammond organ players alive and much of his career has been devoted to that instrument. The trio he formed in the early 90s with guitarist Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart has been one of the pillars of his musical life for over 30 years, and the three have remained United for decades. Their most recent record, Perpetual Pendulum, was released earlier this year. The recording session for the album marked the 30th anniversary of the release of their first record together - the 1991 album The Intimacy of the Blues. Larry eventually moved to the West Coast and carved out a reputation as not only a jazz musician but also a highly sensitive session player, sideman, collaborator, songwriter, and film composer. Goldings is also no stranger to social media: For years he has posted clips of himself - not only musical, but also what you might describe as schtick or comedy. His alter ego, Hans Groiner, for example, claims to be an Austrian accordion player, pianist, educator and Thelonious Monk specialist who has improved Monk's music by making it "more relaxing, and less offensive to the ear." In recent years he's also become a regular fixture with Scary Pockets, the LA based YouTube famous funk collective. Larry Goldings and Scary Pockets even have their own side project called Scary Goldings, they've recorded a bunch of albums and videos together, and over time have brought in Larry's longtime friend John Scofield to join them, as well as other viral superstars like MonoNeon and Louis Cole. In this conversation, originally recorded in 2016, Larry talks about his early development and influences, his ongoing relationship with Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart, working with John Scofield, James Taylor, Maceo Parker, Jon Hendricks, the New York - LA thing, his approach to accompaniment, organ playing and telling jokes on the bandstand. www.third-story.comwww.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast https://www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story Music in this episode: John Scofield "Do Like Eddie"Goldings, Bernstein, Stewart "United"James Taylor "School Song"Johnny Bowtie Barstow "First Noel" Hans Groiner - YoutubeLarry Goldings "Ivermectin"Scary Goldings "Larry Pockets"Jon Hendricks "Freddie Freeloader"Christopher Hollyday "No Second Quarter"Larry Goldings Trio "The Intimacy of The Blues"Jaco Pastorious "Word Of Mouth"Dave McKenna "C Jam Blues"Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery "James and Wes"Peter Bernstein (feat. Larry Goldings) "While We're Young"Chris Anderson "The Folks Who Live On The Hill"Jim Hall (feat. Larry Goldings) "Somewhere"Larry Young "Back Up"Billy Preston "Will It Go Round In Circles"Goldings, Bernstein, Stewart "Reflections In D"Weather Report "In A Silent Way"Jimmy Smith "The Sermon"Abdullah Ibrahim "Carnival"Maceo Parker "Shake Everything You Got"Maceo Parker "Pass The Peas"James Taylor "Country Road"

When drummer Antonio Sanchez released his album Bad Hombre back in 2017, he was responding to a few events that took place in his world at the same time. On a political level, the music was a response to the racism of the Trump campaign against Mexicans. In fact the title of the record Bad Hombre seemed to be an answer to Trump's assertion that a wall needed to be built at the US Mexican border in order to get the "bad hombres" out of the US. An immigrant from Mexico himself, Sanchez reappropriated the phrase. Itseemed, in fact, to be a perfect fit for him because not only did it work as a form of resistance - by using the term he made his feelings clear without having to say too much about it - but it also borrowed from the jazz vernacular. You know, when musicians really respect someone, they will often refer to them as "bad". And in that context, Antonio Sanchez is definitely a bad hombre. Sanchez moved to the US in his early 20s from his native Mexico to go to music school. One of his first teachers, the Panamanian born Danilo Perez, was a supporter, and their work together was one of the early launchpads for Antonio. While he was playing with Danilo, the guitarist Pat Metheny heard him, and that led to a musical relationship that has been at the center of his life for 20 years. Sanchez went on to become one of the most sought-after drummers on the international jazz scene. Has won four Grammys, and has been named Modern Drummer's "Jazz Drummer of the Year" three times, and appeared on the covers of all the big jazz magazines. From early on he thought about drumming, and particularly soloing, as a form of storytelling. He says "I'm a sucker for a good story." So it was only a matter of time before some great storyteller would find a way to use Antonio Sanchez's drums to help tell a story. And that was exactly what happened when the Mexican film director Alejandro González Iñárritu asked Antonio to do an all drum score for his film Birdman in 2014. The film went on to win three academy awards and the score earned Antonio awards (including a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media) and nominations at the Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards. As significant as the awards and accolades were, maybe more significant was that the sound of Antonio's drumming truly entered the zeitgeist after Birdman. And though he hadn't planned for it to turn out that way, he realized that the level of expectation, curiosity, and even pressure on him to follow up that success with something equally resonant had risen. So when in 2017 Antonio went into his newly built home studio to record Bad Hombre, he had a lot of psychic energy stored up and ready to use. He made an entirely instrumental solo record, he played all the instruments and did what has become his trademark production work of mixing drones, samples, programming and live drumming. In fact the only collaborator on the record was his nonagenarian grandfather, the Mexican actor Ignacio López Tarso who appears on the first track. Five years, one pandemic, a few political cycles, and a handful of other projects later, he's back this year with Shift: Bad Hombre Vol. II. This time the list of collaborators is a bit longer. Somewhere in the dense fog of the pandemic, Sanchez decided to ask some of his favorite singers and songwriters — for material he could deconstruct and reimagine. The result sees Dave Matthews & Pat Metheny, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Meshell Ndegeocello, Lila Downs, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Kimbra, Ana Tijoux, Becca Stevens, Silvana Estrada, MARO, Thana Alexa (who is his wife) & SONICA sitting in on their own tunes — or ideas co written by Sánchez. The idea of "shifting" might not only apply to the songs on Bad Hombre Vol. II, but also to a change in Antonio's approach - In the first Bad Hombre release, he was extremely political. Over the years, his outrage and fury with Trump and the turmoil at the US–Mexican border muted – and Sánchez himself "shifted" how he thinks about what he does, and where he wants to go next. We talked recently about that search, the same one that started back in Mexico when he was a competitive gymnast, classical pianist and aspiring rock drummer and brought him all the way to where he is today, the Bad Hombre. www.third-story.com www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast https://www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story

When Ibrahim Maalouf's parents decided to move to Paris from Beirut in the early 1980s, it was meant to be temporary. The Lebanese civil war was raging and they chose to raise their family away from the violence. But the intention was always to return to Lebanon when the war ended. They did their best to educate their children in the traditional way, and because they were both musicians themselves, music was hugely important to them. They played arabic music in the house, and young Ibrahim studied classical arabic trumpet from the age of seven. His father, trumpeter Nassim Maalouf had even invented a special microtonal trumpet or "quarter tone trumpet", which makes it possible to play Arabic maqams on the trumpet, and Ibrahim developed his sound and style using that unique instrument. But as a young boy growing up in Paris in the 80s and 90s, he was also influenced by all the popular sounds around him - Michael Jackson, De La Soul, pop and soul music and dance. In the end, Maalouf's family stayed in Paris rather than returning to Lebanon, and Ibrahim has been processing that distance for much of his life. Ibrahim's career has been, in many ways, an exploration of his two worlds. He has released 17 albums and became the first trumpet player to headline France's biggest arena. He's collaborated with everyone from Sting to Wynton Marsalis, 6 million people tuned into his Bastille Day performance in France last year. He has also written scores for many films. This year he released two albums. The first Queen of Sheba is a collaboration with Angelique Kidjo. The second Capacity to Love is a deep exploration of r&b and hip hop production for the first time in his career. It features De La Soul, D Smoke, Erick the Architect, plus jazz singer Gregory Porter, Tank and the Bangas and international stars from Europe, Africa and South America. The album opens with Charlie Chaplin's famous speech from The Dictator, and ends with a spoken word piece from Sharon Stone. Here he talks about his childhood in France, developing his sound and concept, making elevated popular music, embracing the historical moment, refusing to be limited by labels or genres, and what it means when Quincy Jones orders sushi. www.third-story.com www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast wbgo.org/studios

Jorge Drexler started out as a doctor in Uruguay but eventually emigrated to Spain to try his luck in music. 30 years later, he is widely considered to be one of the most influential Spanish language songwriters alive. He has recorded 15 albums, received 31 Latin Grammy nominations (he won 7 so far and he's nominated for 9 more this year) and an Oscar win for his song "Al otro lado del rio" in 2005. He is currently on tour in the United States in support of his most recent album Tinta y Tiempo. Here we revisit two classic conversations with Drexler, recorded in 2016 and 2021. www.third-story.com www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast www.wbgo.org/studios

Multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator Tyshawn Sorey on his latest recordings (Mesmerism and The Off​-​Off Broadway Guide to Synergism), his recent composition "Monochromatic Light (Afterlife)", making work that defies category, growing up in Newark, comedy as a form of self care, the radical idea of blackness, exploring alternative musical models, his photographic memory, the interaction between improvisation and composition, processing ancestral trauma through music, and bad Italian food. www.third-story.com www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast www.wbgo.org/studios

As one of the most acclaimed and influential producers of the modern era, Daniel Lanois helmed iconic albums for everyone from Bob Dylan and Neil Young to U2 and Peter Gabriel. As a prolific and critically acclaimed songwriter, he's composed scores for Oscar-winning films and blockbuster video games in addition to releasing more than a dozen genre-bending solo records. Rolling Stone declared that his "unmistakable fingerprints are all over an entire wing of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". Daniel's own personal point of view informed and influenced a generation of music that still continues to resonate deeply today. Lanois is a searcher. He's perpetually on the hunt for something else - trying to squeeze out another drop from the atmosphere. Which is how, this week, as he turns 71 years old, Daniel Lanois is releasing Player, Piano, his first project of instrumental piano music. The compositions are concise but highly textured - it's a series of exotic instrumental performances and was recorded at Lanois' studio in Toronto - a former Buddhist temple- with the help of his co-producer Dangerous Wayne Lorenz. Daniel and I spoke recently about his early development in Canada and how it influenced his work, his ongoing creative relationship with Brian Eno, why he likes to travel for work, his attraction to melancholy, projects with U2, Peter Gabriel, Brian Blade, Brian Eno, Rick James (yes, Rick James), Neil Young, Terence Malick, when to use the word "we", the importance of silence, reconnecting with innocence, his production technique of turning "garnishing into a devotion" and why "contemporary work has more to do with vision" than with technology. www.third-story.com www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast www.wbgo.org/studios

Peter Straub was the best selling author of novels, short stories, novellas and essays. He passed away earlier this month at the age of 79. Peter started out with dreams of writing poetry and literary fiction. After publishing his first two novels, and two books of poetry, he finally asked himself the question that so many artists find themselves asking: how do I make a living at this? An agent suggested he try writing a "gothic novel", advice that reoriented him for much of the rest of his career. His natural ability to write novels that, as he said, would be appealing to people who love Philip Roth and those who love Stephen King, connected with a huge audience that picked up what he was putting down over the course of many years. But before he became a writer in earnest he was a jazz lover. He discovered jazz as a boy growing up in Milwaukee in the late 1950s. He gravitated toward Dave Brubeck & Paul Desmond, Clifford Brown, Bill Evans and Miles. While the hip, swinging sounds of his favorite soloists followed him from stage to stage and page to page, there was something else that stayed with him as well: the darker moments of his childhood. A car accident that shaped his first years in school and left him alone and isolated in a body cast and a wheelchair, just as he was learning to read. He recovered, but it turned out to be a kind of catalyst for his career as a writer. And there was an even darker secret that he somehow managed to hide from even himself well into adulthood. In our conversation, originally recorded in 2017, we explored all of this. The through line of jazz and fiction, improvisation and writing, how the past stays with us into the present, and how watching his Norwegian farmer relatives taught him to write diligently. www.third-story.com www.wbgo.org/studios www.patreon.com/thirdstorypodcast