Episode #156: Jonathan Barber

Bill Warfield, a dynamic and innovative composer, bandleader and trumpeter, has energized audiences, performers and writers for over four decades. Warfield’s most recent accomplishments are two highly regarded recordings including “Mercy Mercy Mercy”, recorded on the BluJazz label by the Hell’s Kitchen Funk Orchestra in 2015 and “Trumpet Story” with Randy Brecker on Planet Arts Records, recorded in 2014. These recordings are a celebration of the composer’s formative musical experiences. The two groups perform Jazz selections based on the genres of funk, Latin Jazz, and Hard Bop, all arranged by Warfield. He holds an M.M. in Jazz Commercial Trumpet Performance from the Manhattan School of Music where he received the William H. Borden Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Jazz/Commercial Music, The Carmine Caruso Award for Outstanding Musicality and Trumpet Performance and the Maynard Ferguson Scholarship. In 1990 he participated in the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, directed by Bob Brookmeyer and Manny Albam.

Guitarist Akira Ishiguro studied Jazz performance and composition at Berklee College of Music. Since graduating in 2006, he has been entrenched in the New York City jazz scene.     Tour life has taken him to Japan, Chile, Coasta Rica, Canada, and much of Europe. He has six albums as a leader or co-leader and has appears in over 20 records.   He has shared the stage with Myron Walden, Nate Smith, Ari Hoenig, Mark Guiliana, Takuya Kuroda, Maria Schneider, Dayna Stephens, Jason Lindner, Henry Hey, Will Vinson, John Zorn, George Garzone, Christian McBride, Joe Martin, Matt Penman, Seamus Blake and many more.     Ishiguro’s accolades include grand prize in the 2013 Wilson Center Guitar Festival and Competition, and first prize “Public’s Choice” as well as overall second place in the 2009 Gibson guitar competition as part of the Montreux Jazz Festival.    His latest album “BON” was released in August 2024. 

International Recorded artist, composer, educator, and bandleader Jonathan Barber was voted the #1 Up-and-Coming Drummer of 2018 in Modern Drummer. Barber has already recorded and toured worldwide with such artists as Pat Metheny, Erykah Badu, Nicholas Payton, Buster Williams, Jimmy Greene, Jeremy Pelt, Wallace Roney, Terrace Martin, Jennifer Holiday, Harold Mabern, Steve Davis, J.D. Allen, The Brooklyn Philharmonic and many more. In addition to his first-call status as a sideman, Barber has recently stepped forth as a composer and leader with his Vision Ahead band. Even with Barber’s history of high-profile gigs and recordings taken into consideration, DownBeat magazine gave his latest album “Legacy Holder” 4.5 stars. Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead is a powerful declaration of intent for a band that’s been making waves on the modern jazz scene. Barber’s blend of classic, swinging jazz with elements of gospel, rock, soul, and fusion is a compelling showcase of Barber’s broad stylistic range as a drummer, performer, and composer. Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead was featured and headlined the 2018 Rainy Days Jazz Festival held in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia, 2019 Hartford Jazz Festival, and the 2020 Clifford Brown Jazz Festival. During Spring 2020, Jonathan Barber & Vision Ahead completed their first national tour performing throughout the West-Coast. Being an independent artist Jonathan Barber just released his third album with Vision Ahead entitled “Live at Jazz Standard” which is exclusively on Bandcamp. Also stepping into the role as a Drum Clinician, Barber toured as a solo clinician in Latin America (Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina) and China (Kumming, Loyung, Hefei, Nanjing, Beijing). Barber endorses Ludwig Drums, Istanbul Agop Cymbals, Evans Drumheads, Promark Drumsticks, and Sunhouse Percussion. In this episode, Jonathan shares his background, education, and musical journey.

New York City-based pianist, singer-songwriter, and composer Cestari creates a world that melds the sounds of jazz, pop, classical, latin, and free improvisation together. With rich vocals, vivid lyricism, and a powerful approach to the piano, Cestari's music takes on various inspirations that have merged into one distinct sound. Studying Music Business at NYU, Cestari aims to use his knowledge to share evocative, captivating, and impactful stories. In conjunction with the release of his debut album “In A Moment”, Cestari organized “MOMENTS”, a 90-minute concert on young adult life, mental health, and acceptance, which premiered all the music off the album with an 11-piece ensemble as well as never-before-seen music videos at the renowned DiMenna Center for Classical Music. As written in RAG Magazine, “[Cestari has] so many different undertones that range from a cinematic and almost haunting approach to a pop-coated singer-songwriter style [that] also incorporates just about everything in between.” However, this is only the start as Cestari continues to work and grow as one of the most dynamic voices in the New York music scene.

With inspiration from his stylistic ancestors Nat King Cole and Joe Williams, John Dokes brings new life to the deep-souled world of baritone jazz vocals on his elegant new album, Our Day on his Swing Theory Entertainment imprint. In delivering a distinctive post-pandemic outing of classic songs embodied with hopeful passion, Dokes—also promises that his new endeavor is “an album that will make you move.” Our Day features songs associated with Cole (such as the smooth low-toned “Almost Like Being in Love,” the delightful Rodgers and Hart gem, “This Can’t Be Love,” the Latin-vibed “L.O.V.E.” that elicits dancing), two vocalese numbers (Jon Hendricks’ take on one-time Jazz Messenger composer Bobby Timmons’ “Moanin’,” Mark Murphy’s swinging run through Freddie Hubbard’s “Red Clay”), the full-energy pop vibe on Billy Ocean’s hit “Suddenly,” the calming Michel Legrand tune “I Will Wait for You” made famous from the Frank Sinatra songbook. “I grew up dancing hip-hop, I made a transition to something that I could do for a longer time in my life,” says Dokes. “I switched to Lindy Hop also known as swing dancing. I came to singing later in my life, but I gravitated to the music I was most passionate about—the eras of the ‘40s, ‘50s, early ‘60s. I started picking songs that really moved me. Dokes’ last two albums were quintet affairs. For Our Day, he convened a nonet that includes members of the New York-based George Gee Swing Orchestra where he launched his career as a vocalist. (He documented that with his debut album, John Dokes Sings, George Gee Swings.) Key to the album’s success is the arranging of Gee’s musical director trombonist David Gibson. “Dave is a great arranger,” Dokes says. “He provides layers for the nonet where everyone has a chance to shine on solos as he fills up the space with his lines.” Now, with his fourth album, Dokes has fully arrived. There’s not a dull moment on Our Day. He opens with “Our Day Will Come.” “It’s a love song,” Dokes says. but it’s also an opening from the past. Now is our time. Now is our day. It’s really a song about us as a band coming back together.” Originally, Dokes was in the midst of fashioning a trilogy of quintet recordings (2017’s Forever Reasons and 2019’s True Love on Ian Hendrickson-Smith’s Rondette Jazz label). While the third album is still in the works, a couple of events intervened. “I got derailed,” says Dokes. “First, my drummer Lawrence Leathers died after True Love came out. I moved to Chicago with my wife and two children. Then there was the pandemic that changed how I was looking at the future. I had to restart my brain. I decided to work on some of my material that had never been recorded. I contacted George Gee and he was working on his nonet’s Christmas album in May 2023, so we combined that with David arranging my album. It was a back-to-back operation of small big bands.” The nonet comprises saxophonists Anthony Nelson Jr. and Michael Hashim, multi-reeds player Patience Higgins, trumpeters Freddie Hendrix and Andy Gravish, Gibson on trombone. pianist Steve Einerson, bassist Malik McLaurine and drummer Chris Latona. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas who grew up living in Oakland, California, Dokes never dreamed of becoming a professional singer even though he was fascinated by black-and-white reruns of Nat Coles’ short-lived 15-minute network television show that ran on NBC in 1956. “I watched them nonstop before I ever thought about singing,“ Dokes says. “But there was his elegance, his smoothness, his ease. That resonated with me. And it informed how I approach my singing today. I don’t dive into a lot of vocal acrobatics - but like some of my favorite acrobatic and non-acrobatic singers I like to lean in and tell the story to connect with my audience.” His father was steeped in music while Dokes was growing up. He played Nat King Cole albums in the house, and he was in an r&b band in the Bay Area in the ‘70s that often opened for soul/r&b stars of the day like The Whispers and The Stylistics. He moved to New York and became a regular at swing dance shows including dates by the George Gee Swing Orchestra. One of his dance partners was the legendary Lindy Hopper, cabaret star, alto sax player Dawn Hampton, the cousin of jazz hero Lionel Hampton and sister of legendary trombonist and composer Slide Hampton. She told him that she really liked his voice when he was dancing. “If Dawn likes my voice, I’m going to surprise her one night and sing a couple of songs with George’s band. George only knew me as a dancer. He saw my potential and asked me to join the band. That built my confidence and gave me the path to get better.”

Almost immediately, he found himself as sideman for notable locals such as Kermit Ruffins, Michael Ward and The Reward, and Sun Ra trumpeter, Michael Ray.  In 1992 he co-founded the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars(NOKAS), a pioneering klezmer ensemble that infused that music with the vibrancy and energy of the funk, jazz and brass music of New Orleans. To date he has had opportunity to play with most of New Orleans' greatest musicians from across all genres.  NOKAS was playing some of his compositions, but by 1993 he found himself seeking outlets for his compositions in other styles and forms.  After playing with a plethora of combos and experimenting with many great local musicians he formed Naked On The Floor and eventually The Naked Orchestra. Naked on the Floor (quintet) and the Naked Orchestra (18-24 piece creative orchestra) play Freilich's original compositions exclusively and still play regularly in New Orleans. He has appeared at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 24 times as well as headlining the Berlin Jazz Festival with NOKAS. He has appeared at numerous other festivals inside and outside the country including Bonnaroo, the Ann Arbor Jazz Festival, The American Folklife festival at the Washington Monument, collaborations with poet, Andrei Codrescu at the Holocaust museum in NYC and many others. Other notable work includes appearances with Sam Rivers, Burton Greene, Marshall Allen, The Wild Magnolias and backing songwriters such as Robbie Robertson. He has done arrangements for a wide range of recordings from, Peter Stampfel to Hal Willner’s presentation of U@ doing music of T-Rex. He is featured on over 21 recordings ranging from Klezmer to Afro-Cuban and avant-garde orchestra music. Recently he put out two CD’s of a large orchestra playing his original compositions, a small group, and played on Marianne Faithfull’s latest release.  Many of these recordings are either Big Easy or Offbeat entertainment award winners across a number of categories.  He also has music featured in films and TV shows (Andy Richter conquers the Universe, The Dukes of Hazzard(Warner Home Video) as well as commercials for companies such as Southwest Airlines and Mercedes.    n 2016 he produced and arranged an album, NOLA? for legendary Basque artist, Fermin Muguruza. Rearrangements of Muguruza’s classic work utilizing the great players and sounds of New Orleans. That led to a very successful European run for the Basque New Orleans Orchestra. Other arranging credits include Hal Wilner and U2 tribute to T. Rex and Grammy Award winner, Peter Stampfel’s 100 songs of the 20th century project.      His work includes 4 completed and performed operatic works: a comic-satirical opera, Bang the Law, about a couple of New Orleans lawyers and their movements through New Orleans class detritus after Hurricane Katrina, a two movement orchestral fantasy about Elias Cannetti at carnival, formation of a new quintet to play new original compositions, an octet reduction of Peter and the Wolf for a New Orleans Contemporary Art Center/Guggenheim foundation presentation; a second opera, ee me & cummings thee which premiered in New Orleans in Nov. 2011.   2019 saw the completion of two operas. One a hyper-collaborative project with writer, Bernard Pearce, The Coronation, on the selecting of queen bees. In June 2019 he wrote an operetta on the Dirty Letters of James Joyce to Nora Barnacle, titled Darling, Please do not be offended at what I wrote.  He is the subject of the one hour radio documentary Jonathan Freilich’s Freedom Double-O Naked Klezmer Jazz Latin Boogaloo: The Radio Documentary by award winning documentarian, David Kunian and was the 2008 Louisiana Governors’ Music Fellowship Award recipient.  This year he figured as a Rising Star guitarist in Downbeat’s Critics Poll.  Freilich was born Oct.13, 1968 in Philadelphia, Pa.  He spent most of his early years, up until a late teenager in London, England before moving to Los Angeles in 1985.  Thereafter, he moved to Santa Cruz, Ca in 1987 before the 1989 move to New Orleans.  Currently, he is residing in Los Angeles after completing further studies in composition at California Institute of the Arts. Aside from music, Freilich is also a certified Iyengar yoga instructor and co-owner of a studio in New Orleans for many years.

NYC flutist, composer, Sunnyside Records artist, producer, and clinician, Jamie Baum, has toured the US and over 35 countries performing at major festivals, clubs, and concert halls including the Monterey, Madrid, Oeiras, Bermuda, Edinburgh, North Sea, Winter Jazzfest and London Jazz Festivals, Tampere Jazz Happening, Guimaraes Jazz Festival, Jazztopad, Bimhuis, Unterfahrt, Jazz Gallery, Jazz Standard, 55 Bar, Dizzy’s, Blue Note, etc.. She’s performed with artists as renowned and diverse as Randy Brecker, Roy Hargrove, Donald Brown, Tom Harrell, Paul Motion, Mick Goodrick and Kenny Barron to Dave Douglas, Fred Hersch, Leni Stern, Louis Cole, Jane Bunnett, David Binney, Ralph Alessi, Ben Monder, Anthony Braxton, Karaikudi Mani, V. M. Bhatt, Navin Chettri and Wadada Leo Smith. Though focusing primarily on jazz, she’s been involved in several projects performing classical, new music, Brazilian and Latin music. Receiving critical praise for seven CD's as a leader, with most making several “Best CDs of the Year” lists and four stars from DownBeat, her recently-released What Times Are These received five stars in DownBeat. Inch By Inch (GM Recordings), by the cooperative band Yard Byard: The Jaki Byard Project (w/Jerome Harris, George Schuller), also received four stars from DownBeat. Jamie has appeared on over 40 recordings as a sidewoman including those by Dave Binney, George Colligan, Ursel Schlicht, Frank Carlberg, Patrizia Scascitelli, Taylor Haskins, Monika Herzig, Louise Rogers, Sarah McKenzie, Steve Lampert, Brian Landrus, Laura Andel, Judi Silvano, Shigeko Suzuki, James Hall, etc. Ms. Baum’s many awards and grants for composing and touring include the 2022 Cafe Royale Recording Grant, 2021 South Arts Jazz Road Touring Grant, 2020 International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers (ISJAC) Covid Relief Commission, Foundation for Contemporary Arts 2020, 2020 Chamber Music America Jazz Presenter Consortium, 2018 USArtists International Touring Grant, 2017 New Music USA Project Grant, and a 2014 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. Baum was selected as a 2014-15 Norman Stevens Fellow/MacDowell resident and has since been awarded residencies again at MacDowell (2021), at UCross (2015), and at VCCA (2020). She won the '99 International Jazz Composers Alliance Award, 2010 CAP Award (American Music Center), the 2003 New Works: Creation and Presentation Award and the 2007 Encore Award, both components of the Doris Duke/CMA Jazz Ensembles Project. Ms. Baum has been in the DownBeat Critics Polls annually since 1998, making #1 “Rising Star Flutist” in ’12, #2 “Flutist” in ’19, and #3 “Flutist” in ’20. She was named a "Major New International Talent” in 2015 lists by both “Musica Jazz” and “Jazzit” (Italy), was #2 “Flutist of the Year” in the 2018 Eleventh Annual International Critics Poll and tied for 4th place with Hubert Laws in the 2018 JazzTimes Critics Poll. Jamie was included in Huffington Post’s "Twenty-five Great Jazz Flute Performances”, nominated by the Jazz Journalists Association for “Flutist of the Year“ fourteen times, and The Jamie Baum Septet+ was nominated in 2014 "Best Midsize Ensemble" - in the same list with only two other bands -The Wayne Shorter Quartet and Steve Coleman’s Five Elements! Media attention for her recent CD, Bridges, and previously released, In This Life, brought features on WBGO’s RADAR and NPR’s All Things Considered, reviews in The New York Times, DownBeat, JazzTimes, All About Jazz, etc.. and two hour-long feature/retrospectives on major German and Czech public radio shows. Bridges was voted #4 in the 2018 JazzTimes Readers Poll for “Best New Release,” and In This Life was in the "Best CDs of 2013” lists including Boston Globe, iTunes, and Francis Davis' NPR Music Jazz Critics Poll. Recently, Baum was included in the JazzTimes 10: Essential Jazz Flute Albums (2019), 3 Questions for Today’s Jazz Musicians by Lilian Dericq, Cricket Publishers (Paris), the “Woodshed” in DownBeat, January 2019, and was the flutist on “The Essence of the Blues -- Flute: 10 Great Etudes for Playing and Improvising, Book & CD”, (Jim Snidero “play-along” series, 2019). Through a highly competitive auditioning process, Jamie was chosen to tour for the DOS/Kennedy Center Jazz Ambassador program from ’99 -’03 in South America and South Asia. The US State Department also sponsored later shorter tours, in addition to several isolated US Embassy-sponsored programs while Baum was on her tours in Europe and South Asia. Baum’s two main active projects featuring her compositions include The Jamie Baum Septet+, together since 1999, and her Short Stories band marking five years by performing at the 2020 Winter Jazzfest. In addition, she co-leads Yard Byard: The Jaki Byard Project and is involved in several other projects either as co-leader or side-woman, including The Richie Beirach/Jamie Baum Duo and NYC Jazz Flutes. Baum has been on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Arts department at since 2006, on the adjunct faculty roster at the New School University since 2004, and taught at Berklee College of Music (2011-2013). Summer jazz programs Baum has taught composition, improv, and flute technique, and coached ensembles at including the Stanford Jazz Workshop Institute, Litchfield Jazz Camp, Maryland Jazz Camp, etc. A clinician for Altus Flutes/KHS America since 1993, they have sponsored her innovative, pioneering workshop "A Fear Free Approach to Improvisation for the Classically-Trained Musician” TM, "A Fear Free Approach to Composition for the Improvising Musician” TM and “Flute Technique for Doublers” at colleges, conservatories, festivals, flute clubs and “music and art” schools worldwide.  

With an international background, PATRICK SOLURI is a New York City based composer of music for ballet, opera and film/TV. His love of telling stories through music is evident in a large body of work for the stage, screen and concert hall. Mr. Soluri has had 11 ballet scores performed internationally. This includes a commission and eight sold out performances of JUST BEFORE NOW (2017) at Ballet de l'Opéra National de Bordeaux (France). The same creative team, led by German choreographer Xenia Wiest and costume designer Melanie Frost, first collaborated on TO BE CONTINUED (aka “Continuum” 2009) which was commissioned and performed 18 times over two seasons to great acclaim by Staatsballett Berlin. In 2016 this ballet won the Grande Prixe (1st prize) at the Berritz International Choreographic Competition, and the music was a finalist/winner of the Kaleidescope 2020 international composers competition (with over 8,000 submissions). The latest production is in the 2022/23 season by Ballet X Schwerin in Germany.  During the pandemic the same creative team featuring Xenia Wiest collaborated on “Nacht Ohne Morgen” with Xenia also as the ballet director of Ballett X Schwerin (Germany),  receiving rave reviews and 13 performances in the 2021/22 season, plus 4 additional performances in the 2022/23 season. Other notable ballet works include three productions of MADAME X (1999, 2003, 2019), featuring American Ballet Theater principal Marcelo Gomes, and NY City Ballet principals Abi Stafford and Ask La Cour; FIRE & AIR, premiered at The Kennedy Center with Mr. Soluri conducting; and FANCY NANCY, based on the hit children’s books. Mr. Soluri’s ballets have been performed by STAATSBALLETT BERLIN (Germany), BALLET DE L'OPÉRA NATIONAL DE BORDEAUX (France), BALLETT X SCHWERIN (Germany), INTERMEZZO DANCE CO (New York City), DANCES PATRELLE (New York City), BOWEN McCAULEY DANCE (DC), and CUYAHOGA VALLEY YOUTH BALLET (OH). In opera, Mr. Soluri was a finalist with librettist Deborah Brevoort for ALBERT NOBBS in the 2018 Pellicciotti Opera Composition Prize who then commissioned and work-shopped a 20-minute excerpt in September 2016. In January 2018 ALBERT NOBBS was showcased as part of Opera America's "New Works Forum," with two new scenes added, and won the 2019 Frontiers Competition at FORT WORTH OPERA (FWO). His one-act opera EMBEDDED, commissioned by AMERICAN LYRIC THEATER, also won the 2013 Frontiers Competition at FWO, and had its fully staged world premiere in March 2014 at FARGO-MOORHEAD OPERA, followed by six performances at FWO in their Spring 2016 season where the NY Times praised "Mr. Soluri’s skillfully scored music…” Mr. Soluri is also known for his series of 10 minute comic operas which have performed around the world, four of which have premiered at CARNEGIE HALL. With nearly a dozen productions, his most performed short opera is the dark comedy FIGARO’s LAST HANGOVER. The sequel, FIGARO & THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE was commissioned & premiered by FWO in 2013. His opera INFERNO was featured in the prestigious ‘2003 VOX Showcasing American Composers’ by NEW YORK CITY OPERA. In addition, Mr. Soluri’s operas have been performed by VIENNE EN VOIX FESTIVAL, NEVADA OPERA, CENTER CITY OPERA THEATER, URBAN ARIAS, OPERA ON TAP, UNIVERSITY OF ALBANY, RTB, JUVENTAS, and L'ARIETTA SINGAPORE. Mr. Soluri has also composed numerous film scores, has a vast library of music for film/TV, and a film trailer that showed on 19,000 film screens in the US. Other projects include orchestrating and arranging for the EMMY AWARD winning WONDERPETS, with Sean Lennon on the film score for ALTER EGOS, and scoring the indie short HOSTILE TAKEOVER (2018). Additionally, he has hundreds of cues in various film/tv music production libraries (including SONY/ATV, ReelTracks, and ScoreKeepers), which has been featured worldwide on various TV shows and networks, such as TLC, LOGO and DISCOVERY - including hit shows like NBC's "World of Adventure Sports" and "America's Got Talent." Other works include various chamber and orchestral commissions, including an orchestral overture commissioned by GULF COAST SYMPHONY with multiple performances in their 2014/15 season. Holding dual citizenship in the US and Portugal, Mr. Soluri was born in Brazil, and raised in NYC attending a Montessori School (in Milan & NYC) and later Rudolf Steiner (a Waldorf School). At Bennington College Mr. Soluri studied composition with Tobias Picker and Alan Shawn, then received a BM in classical composition from Manhattan School of Music as a scholarship recipient studying with Aaron J. Kernis and Nils Vigeland. He received a MM in composition from Univ. of Louisville where he held the Moritz von Bomhard Fellowship for Opera Composition. Additionally, he was selected for various prestigious programs including the first “class” of the Composer Librettist Development Program by ALT, the ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop in Hollywood, and VOX Showcasing American Composer by New York City Opera. If you enjoyed this episode please make sure to subscribe, follow, rate, and/or review this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, ect. Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com

AARON JENSEN (he/him), is an award-winning Toronto-based composer and producer. His creative work has been premiered and recorded by JUNO and GRAMMY award-winning artists, including Randy Brecker, Mariah Carey, Natalie MacMaster, and Dame Evelyn Glennie. He had the pleasure of acting as musical director, band leader, and composer for the nine-time EMMY award-winning series, Schitt’s Creek. Jensen’s compositions have been performed around the world by choirs and symphony orchestras. He has contributed to a Broadway-optioned musical, a BAFTA-nominated video game, and a New York Times Bestselling book. His love of vocal music, obsession with language, and penchant for interweaving musical genres can be heard throughout his body of work. Jensen is the Artistic Director of Countermeasure and the Artistic Director Emeritus of SING! The Toronto Vocal Arts Festival. COUNTERMEASURE: Since forming in 2010, this twelve-person vocal group has enjoyed sell-out concerts across Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Italy, and Japan. Countermeasure has recorded with GRAMMY and JUNO award-winning artists including Larnell Lewis, Cindy Cashdollar, and The Barenaked Ladies. They've shared the stage with artists such as Corey Hart, Alan Frew, The Swingle Singers, and Naturally 7. Their albums have been recognized with awards and nominations by the international CARA Awards (Best Album, Best Song), the John Lennon Songwriting Competition (Best Jazz Song), and the Independent Music Awards (Best A Cappella Song). Countermeasure has recently released their 4th studio album, Orchestral Sessions. They are excited to launch their performance season with symphony orchestras in 2025-2026. If you enjoyed this episode please make sure to subscribe, follow, rate, and/or review this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, ect. Connect with us on all social media platforms and at www.improvexchange.com

Jose Miguel is a Filipino singer-songwriter based in the south side of Manila. Heavily influenced by jazz, folk, and big band music, it's no surprise that he believes he was born in the wrong era. The authenticity and the distinct slick sound and energy of that time are what his music is.  An old soul living in the new, his work encapsulates themes, melodies, and words that 100% speak to him-and he hopes it speaks to you, too.  With suave vocals, a charismatic presence, and innate musical talent, Jose Miguel could’ve easily pushed forward with sounds and genres most familiar to today’s generation. Instead, he pushed the rewind button and stayed true to his roots of jazz standards and big band music. However, that’s not to claim that jazz is a genre of the past. Its resurgence first broke into the scene again through artists like Laufey, Stephen Sanchez, and Bruno Major who have been gaining massive streaming numbers and popularity, especially on social media platforms like TikTok. If you still believe that jazz is just old-fashioned music, Jose Miguel is on a mission to reverse that notion. Today’s audience is a critical bunch–they like music that speaks deeply to them and support artists that they can easily connect and resonate with. They see through the honesty and relatability of music. That’s what matters to them and luckily, that’s what Jose Miguel is all about. The album is comparable to a diary–expressing intrusive thoughts, sharing exciting moments, and displays of overthinking anything and everything. In other words, simply writing from the soul. Jose Miguel mentions that all the songs were inspired by real life experiences that left an impact on him, and translated into sophisticated and polished ways of storytelling. Paired with the stories are masterful melodies and refined instrumentals that represent the sounds of the golden age but still incorporating touches of sounds from today, so there’s something for everyone. The best way to interpret the album is that it's an old soul living in the new. Jose Miguel hopes the album resonates with the listeners lyrically and sonically and enjoys it with a little singing and dancing. It’s a dream come true to finally share the music with everybody and he hopes to also give confidence to those people who want to pursue their dreams and raise the flag of homegrown Filipino talent.