Music Life and Times

Charles Ives (1874 - 1954) was an American composer, actuary, and businessman, an insurance executive who came home every evening to write music. He is remembered today as one of the earliest American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. Largely ignored in his early years of composing, his music went unperformed for many years, until later in life when it received recognition through the efforts of contemporaries like Henry Cowell. He was known for his experimentation, which led to innovations that later were widely adopted, leaving him an enduring reputation as the leading American composer of art music of the 20th century.

Some of the best places in America and around the world to play music are provided by club owners who see their role not as businesses designed to create profits, but as a service, to musicians as well as their audiences. By providing work for musicians and a place for people to hear great music, they live at the heart of the music community and are key to the very existence of the profession.

On Saturday evenings at 7:00 on WABE 90.1 FM, the National Public Radio affiliate in Atlanta, jazz pianist Joe Alterman hosts a show titled “The Upside of Jazz.” The show is not so much about songs or albums but “it's more around how they find hope in the music, how they have found their sound, or if they work in a variety of projects, how they stay themselves in totally different things,” Joe says. Beyond the musicians, Joe talks with people whose lives have been significantly impacted by jazz, like Oscar Peterson's wife and comedian Robert Klein. In this episode we talk with Joe about, among other jazz related issues, the show and some of the iconic figures who have appeared with him. 

Rich Matteson was a jazz euphoniumist, rare enough in itself, but also a legendary teacher who started the jazz studies program at the University of North Florida. He recruited Kevin to the University and had a major influence on Kevin's career as a jazz pianist. One of Matteson's favorite lessons to his students was based on an experience recording with Louis Armstrong. Matteson recounts the tale here, and the fundamental lesson he took from it, Armstrong's advice to always “play for someone you love.”

Inspired by Kevin's story in Episode 83 about how several people went out of their way to help him, against all odds, to get to an international performance, Mike talks about a few of the people he met early in his music career who gave him the support and confidence he needed to pursue his dream of playing and performing.

 As one of the most in-demand products in the world, music offers lots of career opportunities. With the right amount of work and dedication, musicians can make a very good living playing and performing as well as in many other music-related jobs. Sometimes, though, life as a musician can be a little erratic, unpredictable. Playing so many different venues, sometimes in locations around the world, can lead to challenging situations. Still, those experiences can result in some of the most memorable and gratifying times of your life.

One of the life lessons you learn, learning to play music is how to be authentic. In music it means developing your own style and individual expression. Of course, you are inspired by others and you have to learn the craft, but as you mature you develop your own sound, your own “voice.” Being authentic takes courage, especially when you are performing, but the courage you amass will carry over to being authentic in whatever your do and with the people you encounter along your way. This episode borrows from and builds on themes from Music Life and Times Episode 63 from July 2025.

Like many accomplished jazz musicians, renowned trumpeter, vocalist and big band leader Joe Gransden is mindful of the need to play a role in ensuring the survival of that American art form. For Joe, that has led to the establishment of the Future of Jazz, a program he has developed in cooperation with the 100-plus-year-old Atlanta Music Club to cultivate the next generation of jazz musicians by connecting them directly with seasoned professionals through mentorship and real-world performance opportunities. The purpose, as Joe describes it, “is to nurture the future world of jazz by ensuring it is lived, felt, and passed on through authentic experiences.” In this episode we talk with Joe about jazz, his career as a jazz musician, and the Future of Jazz.

Jamie Hood is the owner-operator of the digital marketing agency, Jamie Hood Creative/Marketing, but also a lifelong musician. That experience and his passion to “give back” come together in a charitable initiative he calls the Fare Thee Well Foundation. For more than 20 years, Jamie and the Foundation have been staging music-oriented events, the entire proceeds from which go to provide music camp scholarships to kids who otherwise might not be able to afford to attend. In this episode, Jamie talks about how music has impacted not only his life, but the lives of those kids as they experience the joy of playing music.

Sonny Rollins passed away on May 25 at the of 95. The legendary saxophonist of the bebop era and beyond was famously unhappy with his performances. But the occasional bad night was worth the trade-off to Rollins. His refusal to play the same passages the same way from night to night, those risks he took regularly might go badly at times, but they were also responsible for his greatest moments. The example he set applies well beyond his playing, well beyond music in fact, to most of life. Staying safe, on the beaten path, is easier; but great achievements, life's most gratifying moments, only come to those willing to risk departure from safe, to take the road less traveled.