On the Record and Off the Wall

Ricky Valido is a captivating young performer with his own take on modern traditional country music and with a unique vocal style. He’ll get you up and moving with a rattling and foot stomping musical experience and more. Ricky draws on his interesting personal history with his songwriting and ability to connect with his audience, both on and off stage, which is the driving force behind the growing demand for his music. With a timeless sound his relationship with his art is pure, honest and genuine. With a true appreciation for the people who come out to enjoy his shows, Ricky is a fully independent artist with a sincere work ethic and gratitude for his community. He’s an artist who embodies family values, a passion for raising awareness for the protection of nature and wildlife, while also being a talented musician, producer, businessman and creative soul.

Today, the big top is gone and its celebrated performers scattered around the world but we’ve got two people with intimate knowledge of the back story of the circus. We’re going to go back-stage during its glory days to see what it was like behind the scenes with the clowns and other performers. To do that we’ve got circus insiders, Greg DeSanto, who spent 35 years as a performing clown, producer, director, consultant and writer for circuses across the country. He’s the last celebrated producing clown from Ringling and is now Exec. Dir. of the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research ctr in Baraboo Wi. and Dinny McGuire, a TV talk show host, who emceed and directed the Vaudeville Show at the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville Theater, Dinny is a recent guest on our show and former Ringmaster with the RBB&B Circus. Greg and Dinny, you each spent loads of time behind the scenes at the circus, is there a record for number of clowns coming out of a car?

Greg Diamond is a prolific guitarist, composer, and recording artist from New York City.   Touted as “a rising star in the New York jazz scene" by All About Jazz and a “composer of great maturity and genius” by Latin Jazz Network, he has created his own niche with an innovative eclectic style that continues to evolve. Since 2008 he has released five albums including his first solo acoustic venture Musings & Origins (Chasm 2019). He has presented his group at numerous premier venues, such as The Blue Note, Iridium Jazz Club, Joe’s Pub, Smalls Jazz Club, and Zinc Bar —not to mention numerous international festivals, such as The Madrid International Jazz Festival, Barranqui Jazz Festival, Jimmy Glass Jazz Festival, Teatro Libre Jazz Festival, Mede jazz Festival, Jazz al Parque Festival, and the Nublu Jazz Festival. In 2007 he was a semi-finalist at The Gibson International Jazz Guitar Competition hosted by The Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. In the past two decades he has collaborated with numerous renowned artists in the international arena, such as Seamus Blake, Steve Turre, Hector Martignon, John Benitez, Oscar Stagnaro, Emilio Solla, Antonio Hart, Michael Philip Mossman, Don Friedman, Gretchen Parlato, Asha Puthli and others. Diamond has a DMA in Instrumental Jazz Performance from the University of Miami.

 Khoa Le (Kwa Lay) is a NJ/NY based filmmaker and video designer, author of feature films, documentaries, essays and all types of video production.  Le is CEO and Founder of KVibe Studios, an award-winning full-service film and video production company in 2012 and its subsidiary, Live Picture Studios. Khoa is also the president of US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Northeast region where he creates opportunities for businesses to win contracts as a social responsibility.  Khoa directed the movie "Walt Before Mickey", a narrative feature film about Walt Disney’s early life struggles before creating Mickey Mouse. He attended Julliard for music composition and has directed a TV Pilot for the NY Yankees. With little prior film-making experience, Le produced, wrote, and directed his first film, Denial, in 2009. It went on to win the award for "Best Suspense Short" at The New York International Film Festival which received global internet and mobile distribution with Australia’s Goliath Productions.

In the early days of pop music this pioneer radio DJ in Boston got fired after playing Rhythm & Blues for the white audience. He discovered teen idol Freddie 'Boom Boom' Cannon and with American Bandstand's Dick Clark, brought him musical fame. Jack's wife, Beverly McDermott was a leading casting agent for film and TV and Jack's stories are filled with delightful chunks of unheard behind the scenes goings on. Jackie Gleason, Frank Sinatra and Burt Reynolds all add to the story.

A wonderful conversation with Norm Brunet who continues to strike Gold with his music. His new six-song EP "Reflections", is again filled with top-drawer songs all delivered with his smoky, ear-catching vocals. The material here ranges from bluesy, ballsy and funky to solid ballads. While the opening three selections (Let Me In / She Makes It Hard To Walk Away/ All Of The Time) are again another example of Norm Brunet's special talent as a songwriter; the closing three numbers (Letting You Go / She Makes Me Look Good / She Forgot That), all come from Nashville tune-smiths, the first time in his recording career that he goes that route. Brunet's own compositions stand up nicely against the imports. Norm Brunet, an Ottawa-based recording artist for the past quarter century, has been somewhat overlooked domestically while attracting solid airplay Stateside..."Reflections" should change that scoreboard overnight.

SOUTH FLORIDA SINGER/SONGWRITER JIM WURSTER TAKES A CLEAR-EYED LOOK AT LIFE A sober – and sobering – examination of all that is crooked, cockeyed and otherwise out of kilter in America’s current political climate, Life is the latest state of the union address from South Florida stalwart Jim Wurster. Wurster, who took up the mantle of socially prescient singer/songwriter upon the 1995 dissolution of his  beloved Miami band Black Janet, spent 33 years teaching high school history and has released several well received albums in the Americana genre over the years . As a citizen and an artist, he’s always kept the watchdog’s eye on Washington, turning what he sees as his country’s slow-but-steady descent into malaise and moral bankruptcy into gritty, bare-bones poetry. To that end, he’s been compared to everyone from Leonard Cohen to Townes Van Zandt to Tom Waits. It's a fascinating conversation and one that will turn anyone into a Jim Wurster fan!

Dr. Gastón is an MIT graduate and a board-certified Acupuncture Physician with extensive hospital clinical experience in acupuncture and herbology. He trained in the U.S. and China and he’s studied meditation and Buddhism with major Kagyu Lamas. Dr. Gastón completed his clinical training at South Shore Hospital in Miami Beach treating AIDS patients in the Ryan White Program and for two years helped teach students at the UM Medical School Acupuncture Post-Doctoral Courses. He also worked at Boston’s Children’s Hospital’s ER, and at Massachusetts General Hospital’s OR. Dr. Gastón has been a student of Tibetan Kagyu Lamas for decades. He often guides his patients and students in meditation techniques to eliminate stress. He has been in family practice since 1998 and conducts free lectures all over South Florida and at the Miami Shores’ Brockway Library to educate the community on the extraordinary nature of Oriental medicine and meditation.  He is also a singer specializing in opera!  Go to: Quan Yin Medical Center, Miami Shores Fl. for more

Chuck Kirkpatrick: Guitarist, bassist, keyboards. Recording engineer,  Member of FIREFALL, 'Just Remember I Love you', 'You Are the Woman' etc. 1983-1987. Recording engineer at the famous Criteria Studios, Miami, between 1967-1972, 1979-1982. Engineered for Eric Clapton, America, Delaney & Bonnie, Aretha Franklin, Allman Brothers. Session singer and guitarist for Eddie Money, Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, Brian Wilson. jingles and did voice overs, round out a very talented guy. Recorded/engineered: Bee Gee, Clapton: Layla, Delaney and Bonnie, America, Aretha Franklin Gold record…Brook Benton ‘Rainy Night in Georgia’

How much does the Ringmaster's coat weigh? How much space did a clown get on the circus train? Why did the show have to follow the music cues and did the Ringmaster really control the show? Can tigers aim their urine from 15 feet and hit a bullseye? Who was the bullseye? The center ring carries with it a promise to entertain and amaze and through the years Dinny McGuire has kept that promise to audiences around the world for 11 years. We promise a conversation that will give you a new insight into the world of every child's dreams, the world famous RBB&B Circus secrets revealed! We go behind the scenes and see what happens when the band plays a particular song when there's a problem (With the animals) Dinny has been a TV talk show host, choir director and led the famous Big Apple Circus in NYC