The Hot Jazz Network Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Ryan Thorell | Master Luthier Nov 02, 2024

Today's Hot Jazz Network Podcast finds host George Cole delving into the intricate mastery of expert luthier, RYAN THORELL, of Thorell Guitars.

ABOUT Ryan Thorell:

Ryan Thorell is known for worldclass original guitars collected and coveted by some of the best musicians around the planet including Frank Vignola, John Pizzarelli, Tommy Emmanuel and many others. Thorell guitars are all built one at a time by luthier Ryan Thorell in Logan Utah. Ryan built his first guitar in 1994 and opened his shop and started selling fine handmade instruments in 2003. He has averaged 10 guitars a year ever since putting around two hundred Thorell guitars all around the world where they are collected and valued among the best instruments available.

LINKS:

Website: https://www.thorellguitars.com/

Darrel Higham | UK Rockabilly Artist Oct 21, 2024

Great balls of fire! On this VERY Hot Jazz Network Podcast, host George Cole talks with international Rockabilly star, Darrel Higham. Endorsed by Gretsch Guitars and Peavey Amps, Darrel Higham has worked with Jeff Beck, Robert Plant, Jools Holland, Imelda May, Billy Lee Riley, Rocky Burnett, and more. Listen to George and Darrel wind their way through the intersecting paths of musical interests and discuss guitars, great guitarists, and the music that makes them "tick"!

ABOUT Darrel Higham: Born in Bedford, England in 1970, Higham grew up listening to the music of Elvis Presley and Eddie Cochran. Through the influence of these artists, Higham took up the guitar in his early teens and joined his first band whilst still at school.

In 1992 he spent 6 months living in the USA; touring and recording with Eddie Cochran’s original backing band, The Kelly Four. His first solo album was released in 1995 on Nervous Records, entitled Mobile Corrosion. Higham played lead guitar in the West End production of Elvis: The Musical in 1996. He co-wrote the first biography on his musical hero, Eddie Cochran for Mainstream Publishing in 2000. Along with solo albums and records released with his Rockabilly band, The Enforcers, throughout the 90s and 00s, Higham also played lead guitar and produced many other artists. He co-owns Embassy Studio in Hampshire and oversees a great many sessions there. In 2007, Higham started work with Stray Cats drummer, Slim Jim Phantom. Together they recorded 2 albums and toured Europe, even making an appearance on BBC’s Later With Jools in 2012. In 2011 he shared the lead vocal duties with Imelda May on the Jeff Beck DVD and subsequent CD, A Rock 'n' Roll Party. He has played guitar for Robert Plant, Jools Holland, Imelda May, Sharon Shannon, Shakin’ Stevens, Jeff Beck, Billy Lee Riley, Rocky Burnette, Bono, Paul McCartney, to name but a few. Darrel is endorsed by Gretsch guitars, Peavey amplifiers and TV Jones pick-ups. Darrel also helped design The Rockingham semi-acoustic guitar for Peavey.

LINKS

Website: darrelhigham.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Darrel-Higham/100044555554168/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darrelhighammusic/

X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/DCHigham

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darrelhighammusic

Strings Darrel Higham Rockabilly Signature Strings newtonestrings.com

Latest Recording: Darrel Higham, a Tribute to Gene Vincent. https://www.musicking.co.uk/collections/foot-tapping-records/products/darrel-higham-a-tribute-to-gene-vincent-cd A Superb salute to the great Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps. The vast majority of the songs included here are from the glorious 1956 to early '57 period, they capture the spirit of these monumental recordings, all the instruments recorded by Darrel himself.

Darrel Higham PERFORMANCES:

November 2, 2024; Spain. Gene & Eddie Show with Cliff Edmonds.

November 16, 2024; France. Rockin' Gone Party, RockaRocky. Near Lyon.

Vintage Hot Jazz Duo | Miss Maybell and Charlie Judkins Sep 03, 2024

Interesting episode of the Hot Jazz Network Podcast with host George Cole picking the brains of a musically dynamic duo, Miss Maybell (Lauren Sansaricq) and Charlie Judkins.

Currently engrossed in a fun project researching unrecorded songs from 1899-1929, working with the Library of Congress and sourcing sheet music from antique shops or relatives of songwriters. They'll be recording a selection of these songs on an album with Rivermont Records. Lauren and Charlie perform as Miss Maybell & The Jazz Age Artistes playing a large repertoire of early Jazz and Blues from the 1910’s - 30’s. They source their tunes from dusty old 78 records and antique sheet music and give new life to songs from bygone eras. Miss Maybell sings (beautifully!), plays the washboard, banjo, and the guitar. Charlie Judkins plays piano.

WEBSITE: https://www.missmaybell.com/

LATEST RELEASE: https://rivermontrecords.com/collections/new-releases/products/102?variant=41457771282493

UPCOMING APPEARANCES: Sept. 22; Birdland Jazz Theater, 315 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036

https://www.birdlandjazz.com/tm-event/miss-maybell-the-jazz-age-artistes/

https://www.birdlandjazz.com/tm-event/miss-maybell-the-jazz-age-artistes-2/

Kurt Ribak | Bassist, Bandleader, Composer Aug 10, 2024

Great episode of the Hot Jazz Network Podcast with host George Cole taking time to converse with Kurt Ribak and learning a lot about him and his musical universe.

ABOUT KURT RIBAK:

Kurt describes his music as “Charles Mingus meets The Meters. They go to Duke Ellington’s house to jam, and Cachao and Thelonious Monk sit in.” Kurt has three albums as the Kurt Ribak Trio, and two more as Kurt Ribak. The albums feature his own compositions, which are original yet accessible.

Kurt grew up singing and playing classical music. He began playing jazz while attending UC Berkeley. After a battle with tendinitis, Kurt won scholarships to Berklee College of Music. He graduated with top honors and spent many hours mastering the styles of bassists Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, and Charles Mingus and discovering his love of composition and songwriting.

Kurt has shared the stage with circus performers, preachers and fire-breathing strippers, but never all three at once. He has performed in venues ranging from SFJAZZ and Yoshi’s to a club where someone surreptitiously stashed a loaded .45 in his bass bag while Kurt was playing .

In June 2012 Kurt was in an auto accident, seriously injuring his left hand and forearm. Thirteen operations and six years later he resumed playing full-time, much to the surprise of many surgeons. Kurt notes, “When I was hurt I learned how many people loved me, cared about me. That really helped me get back to playing."

Kurt's recordings are played on KCSM-FM, KPFA, KZFR, KKUP, San Diego's Jazz 88, PRI and other jazz stations. His band has sold out Yoshi’s and SFJAZZ. They have also performed at Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse, San Francisco Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, Nor-Cal Jazz Festival, Fillmore Street Jazz Festival, and Blue Note Napa.

LINKS:

Website http://www.ribak.com/

Recordings https://songwhip.com/artist/kurt-ribak, https://songwhip.com/artist/kurt-ribak-trio

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kurt.ribak.music/

SF Jazz Profile: https://www.sfjazz.org/onthecorner/kurt-ribak-interview/

Spotify Artist Page https://open.spotify.com/artist/4SiI0WuOSFkkWdfp8LuTpw?si=PFZTcsrASma7FnDqdzKWGw

KURT RIBAK PERFORMANCES:

Dec. 24, 2024 (a Jazz Service) 7 PM at First United Methodist Church in the Point Richmond District of Richmond, 201 Martina St., Richmond, CA.

May 17, 2025 - Show at SFJAZZ in the Joe Henderson Lab.

Keep up on all things KURT RIBAK... go to http://www.ribak.com/gigs.html or email him at kurt@ribak.com

Teja Gerken | Guitar Wizard, Entreprenuer Jun 26, 2024

TEJA GERKEN

GUITAR WIZARD / ENTERPRENUER

In this most recent episode of the Hot Jazz Network podcast, I had the distinct pleasure of conversing with Teja Gerken. He is a fount of information and our talk is well worth the listen. Teja is, among other things, the co-founder, video producer, and host of the Advanced Fingerstyle Workshop at Peghead Nation https://pegheadnation.com/string-school/courses/advanced-fingerstyle-workshop . He is also a guitar aficionado, and recording/performing artist. Please check out the links below to find out more about Teja his work and his music.

WEBSITE: https://www.tejagerken.com/

ABOUT:https://www.tejagerken.com/about/

RECORDINGS: https://www.tejagerken.com/albums/

WRITINGS: https://www.tejagerken.com/writing/

PEGHEAD NATION: https://pegheadnation.com/

ADVANCED FINGERSTYLE WORKSHOP: https://pegheadnation.com/string-school/courses/advanced-fingerstyle-workshop

SPOTIFY:https://open.spotify.com/artist/0JmQtr8P3IKwP9rUA3BUd4

LATEST RELEASE - "TEST OF TIME": https://open.spotify.com/album/2E85aDIsPGWUGOUWkhVydu?si=C8aBO_dCQuS3IKLYAhMHVg

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/people/Teja-Gerken-Music/100061781719527/?fref=ts

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/tejaguitar

REVIEW - LASTEST RELEASE: https://acousticguitar.com/review-teja-gerkens-test-of-time-is-a-sonic-marvel-from-top-to-bottom/

A Few Facts About Teja Gerken:

– Born in Essen, Germany, in 1970.

– Got his first guitar at the age of six and learned his first chords from his dad.

– First formal lessons at the Freies Musikzentrum München, in Munich, Germany.

– Moved to California in 1986.

– Lived in the guitar-making town of Paracho, Mexico, where he built a classical guitar.

– Private studies with George Quirin, Peter Greenwood, Jim Fletcher, Peppino D’Agostino, Jeff Massanari, and Duck Baker.

– Has managed a guitar shop (Tall Toad Music, in Petaluma, California).

– Was the Gear Editor, then Senior Editor for Acoustic Guitar magazine from 1997 – 2013.

– Wrote The Taylor Guitar Book, and has contributed to several other books.

– Has hosted two long-running monthly Acoustic Guitar Showcases at San Francisco’s Bazaar Cafe (2001 – 2013), and Fairfax’ Sleeping Lady (2009 – 2015).

– Is a former radio host/DJ for KUSF’s Guitar Journey’s program.

– Co-founded Peghead Nation in 2014, where he hosts the Advanced Fingerstyle Workshop, demos instruments, and is the company’s producer.

– Owns a lot of guitars, but you’re most-likely to see him with a Martin Custom Shop OM, a Lowden O10, a Taylor 355 12-string, a Kenny Hill classical, a Mario DeSio baritone, or a National Tricone.

Charlie Roman | Extraordinary Django Style Guitarist May 31, 2024

Charlie 'Roman' Castelluzzo is a hot jazz guitarist based in NYC. Specializing in Django Reinhardt's early playing style, he leads his own hot string quintet drawing out the percussive rhythm style and magic sounds of those years. Additionally, Charlie leads a 10 piece jazz orchestra playing popular music from the 1920-30's where he showcases his innate crooning style of early jazz pioneers.

Instagram

@charlieromanjazz - personal @charlieromanhotclub - django quintet @gladragsjazz - jazz orchestra

Website

www.charlieromanjazz.com

NEW EP- He recently made a trial EP to promote funding towards a new album, you can purchase/listen here:

https://charlieromanhotclub.bandcamp.com/album/la-prima-volta

FIRST CONCERT WITH 10 PIECE ORCHESTRA IN NYC JULY 16TH AT 54 BELOW, TICKETS AVAIL HERE:

https://54below.org/events/charlie-roman-and-the-glad-rags-orchestra-celebrate-the-1920s-and-1930s/

Ron Jackson: American Master of the Seven String Guitar May 01, 2024

Versatile and sophisticated jazz guitarist Ron Jackson has performed, recorded and taught music in over 30 countries. With a varied career as a performer, composer and arranger, Highlights include shows and tours with artists such as Taj Mahal, Jimmy McGriff, Larry Coryell, Benny Golson, Oliver Lake, Russell Malone and Mulgrew Miller. Ron has been featured as a leader in jazz festivals all over the world, including the North Sea Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Jazz Festivals and Winter Jazzfest, NYC. Born in the Philippines, lived in many states as a kid, then settled in Harvard, Massachusetts, west of Boston, Ron was initially influenced by rock guitar greats like Jimmy Page, before falling under the spell of jazz and following the style and career of jazz guitar luminaries like Pat Metheny and George Benson. After attending Berklee School of Music on scholarship, studying jazz composition and arranging, Ron spent two formative years in the mid-1980’s living and playing guitar with the lively expat jazz community in Paris, France. Ron moved to New York City where he remains an active participant in Gotham’s always vibrant jazz scene. A master of the six, seven and twelve string guitars, Ron appeared on over 40 albums by such artists as Hal Singer, Graeme Norris, Ron Blake, Gisele Jackson and T.K. Blue, before founding the independent record label Roni Music in 2003 which has since released some of his eight of his albums as a leader including The Dream I Had (2003), Flubby Dubby (2008) and Akustik InventYours (2014). His latest project, Jazz Standards and Other Songs (2019) is an alluring mix of familiar jazz numbers and innovative adaptations of songs from other genre’s like his trendsetting arrangement for jazz trio of Drake’s “Passion Fruit.” Ron was grateful to be selected as the winner of the 1996 Heritage International Jazz Guitar Competition. He has also been a recipient of the 2012 Donald Knutson Memorial Development Fund and the 1991 and 2000 Meet the Composer Performance Fund. He endorses, Eastman Guitars, Kremona Guitars, Aria Classical Guitars, Paul Reed Smith Guitars and Godin Guitars. An acclaimed music educator, Ron currently teaches guitar at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The New School, Midori and Friends, and is the founder and director of the website www.practicejazzguitar.com. Ron has held master classes, concerts and workshops at Jazz at Lincoln Center-Jazz in the Schools, The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, Escuela Creativa Musica in Madrid, Spain and California State University. Ron has made appearances in several major motion pictures including The Greatest Showman, Vulgar, and Fly by Night. He has also performed in pit orchestras on many Broadway and off-Broadway shows including Avenue Q, Fosse, Shuffle Along, and Bring In `Da Noise, Bring In `Da Funk. In recent years, Ron has also developed a side career as a freelance writer for Acoustic Guitar magazine where he’s published educational and guitar instructional articles.

WEBSITE: https://ronjacksonmusic.com/ FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/ronjacksonmusic/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/ronjacksonmusic/

X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Fronjacksonmusic

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1KGaLagVXONmmBs0TVBzo7?si=-CdqkAbKSE6EgLchQyH8zw&nd=1&dlsi=284d982dded443ed

Richard Herfeld | Vocalist Extraordinaire Mar 29, 2024

Welcome everybody to the Hot Jazz Network podcast. My name is George Cole and I'm your host. In this episode, I interview my guest, vocalist extraordinaire, Richard Herfeld. Here’s a little information about Richard and links to explore more...

Richard Herfeld is a crooner from Germany specializing in the music of the 1920s - 1950s. For the last 15 years he's been performing with different bands and accompanists primarily in Europe, although his travels also led him to North America to perform shows.

He's constantly digging through archives and vaults to find "new" old treasures and to get ideas for new projects, helping to keep the music of this era alive.

Currently, he's working on his first record release: "Moon" - an intimate solo record with pianist Sascha Kommer which will be out later in the year.

LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/RichardHerfeld/

https://www.instagram.com/richardherfeld/

https://richardherfeld.de/

Eric Schoenberg - Schoenberg Guitars | Classic Steel String Guitars Dec 28, 2023

From Sourced Network Productions, it’s the Hot Jazz Network, with host, George Cole.

Welcome everyone to the Hot Jazz Network podcast. I'm your host George Cole. Today, our very special guest is the one and only Eric Schoenberg, proprietor of Schoenberg Guitars and the Dean of Acoustic Guitars in America.

Eric is primarily a finger-style guitarist who started out 50 years ago as a folkie and has since broadened his scope to many other kinds of music. Basically, when a song perks up his ears, it will try to find a place on his guitar.

In 1963, Eric started teaching, which continued till just a couple of years ago. In the late 60s he became the second half of a duo with his cousin, Dave Laibman, helping Dave perform his amazing, groundbreaking arrangements of classical ragtime. This resulted in their album, Contemporary Ragtime Guitar, on Folkways Records.

In the early 70s he starting drifting into a life of performing, touring the US & Europe playing solo fingerstyle guitar, playing the classical rags, folk music, blues, country, Beatles, etc. Since then he has written a book, Fingerpicking Beatles, released two solo albums, Acoustic Guitar and Steel Strings, on Rounder Records, a duet CD, Late Night Conversations with Richard Scholtz, on Live Music Recordings, and several contributions to anthologies.

He has run a concert series, owned and run a guitar shop, Eric Schoenberg Guitars, in Tiburon, CA, and produced a line of high-end classic steel-string guitars, Schoenberg Guitars.

Don Neely - Royal Society Jazz Orchestra | Bandleader Dec 14, 2023

From Sourced Network Productions, it’s the Hot Jazz Network, with host, George Cole.

Welcome, welcome everybody to the Hot Jazz Network podcast. My name is George Cole and I'm your host. Today, we're interviewing, or having a conversation with, the one and only, Don Neely, bandleader of the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra.

San Francisco jazz legend, Turk Murphy, discovered Don’s band and offered them a regular engagement at his famous club, Earthquake McGoon’s. The RSJO’s popularity continued to swell, and Don and his band were featured in numerous national and local television, newspaper and magazine stories.

S.F.Chronicle’s Herb Caen, frequently wrote of the band’s appearances and that newspaper’s Society Columnist, Pat Steger noted the many social events at which the R.S.J.O. performed.

Another milestone for Don came with a long-running engagement on Nob Hill, at the Mark Hopkins Hotel, in the Peacock Court, where most of the famous big bands had played during the 1930’s. Don and the band recreated a long and successful series of Tea Dances with live radio broadcasts simultaneously transmitting over two radio stations. More attention from the public followed which led to an amazing period of non-stop work and travel.

Don and the orchestra starred in an hour-long PBS television special, a superb production recreating an authentic Art Deco night club, with their San Francisco fans making up the dancing audience.

Jonathan Stout - Bandleader | Guitarist | Dancer Dec 07, 2023

From Sourced Network Productions, it’s the Hot Jazz Network, with host, George Cole.

Today on our show, we have an incredible guitarist, but he's much more than that. He's a historian. He can help you get out of a parking ticket as well. And I personally feel that his left pinky should be enshrined in the Smithsonian. He's bringing, shining a light on guitarists like Alan Roos, Eddie Lang, Freddie Green, and much, much more.

Folks, you're going to love it. Here he is, Jonathan Stout.

Bruce Forman - Guitarist | Educator | Arranger | Storyteller Nov 30, 2023

From the Sourced Network Productions, it's the Hot Jazz Network Podcast with host George Cole. Here's a great story to get you started on the episode with Bruce Forman, recounting his early influences and how he found his life's path at the early age of 17 years old.

From Bruce Forman

My first jazz guitar player that I really remember loving was Kenny Burrell. Just the bluesy-ness and the elegance and the eloquence of his playing, it was just such a beautiful counterpoint musically, sound wise and feel wise to everything, even though I was much more interested in playing a lot more than he liked to play, a la Charlie Parker.

That was my first one, and then Wes just blew my mind, and then Barney Kessel just creamed me, and then, of course, 1972 or 3 was the year Virtuoso Joe Pass came out. And that changed the world for us guitar players. That just changed the world. By then, I guess I was pretty well printed. I was probably about 17 at that time.

My first Monterey Jazz Festival I went to in 1973. Joe Pass was there, Roy Eldridge was there, Dizzy Gillespie was there. It was amazing. It was just a mind blowing experience.  

Matt Munisteri - Guitarist | Songwriter Nov 23, 2023

Matt Munisteri: I had to steal a guitar back from airport employees who were stealing it from me, and I had to do that by sneaking out on the tarmac through a back door. It was just pre 9/11, coming back from a gig in Portugal. 9/11 really changed things.

Prior to that, guitars really would disappear. I know Frizzell lost guitars, at least one. I know Brian Setzer lost guitars. In the 90s, things were sort of vanishing, so this was in early 2000 or late 99, I can't remember. But yeah, these airport employees kept telling me that it wasn't there. And finally I peeked through a window and the guy was telling me it wasn't there and telling me to go home at whatever, 2, 3 in the morning.

I looked and my guitar was right next to him. So I waited until I watched him walk away. And then I slid under a garage door that led out to the tarmac from the luggage area, from the luggage carousels.

I stole my guitar back.

George Cole: Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Hot Jazz Network Podcast. I'm your host, George Cole, and today we have a very special guest. One of the most important guitar players working in the United States today, the one and only Matt Munisteri. He plays guitar for Catherine Russell, he's an expert on all things vintage jazz and he also plays the banjo. Matt comes out of Brooklyn, New York City, and we are going to speak to him right now.

David "Dawg" Grisman: Mandolin Visionary; Founder - Acoustic Disc Nov 16, 2023

David "Dawg" Grisman: Stéphane Grappelli told me that, when he and Django first met and started playing together in between sets at a big hotel in Paris, he said they were basically trying to imitate Eddie Lang and Joe Venuti.

George Cole: Thank you. Thank you for saying that. Listeners out there in podcast land, that is a very important piece of information, because if you read the books, people will try to tell you that Django was mostly influenced by Duke Ellington, who's great, and Louis Armstrong, who's great. We love all that. But I've always thought the same thing as you just mentioned.

Welcome, welcome to the Hot Jazz Network Podcast. I'm your host, George Cole. On our show today, we have one of the most important musicians in American history. He's a legendary mandolinist and composer, but more important, he's also my friend. He's the creator of Dawg Music, has recorded with Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead, Doc Watson, Del McCoury, and countless others.

Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only David Grisman, the man we call Dawg.

Welcome to The Hot Jazz Network, with host George Cole Aug 02, 2023

Hi, this is Hot Jazz guitarist, vocalist, and acoustic disc recording artist George Cole. I’m super excited to announce my new podcast “The Hot Jazz Network”. With my 40 years of experience in the music business, we are going to get to the bottom of what Hot Jazz is and just as important, what it is not.

Join me as we take an in person backstage look into all things Hot Jazz. I’ll be speaking with legendary performers, such as acoustic music legends, David Grisman, Bruce Forman, and Matt Munisteri. You’ll hear first hand the backstories of early influences, the personal grit and determination it takes to make it in the music biz, and how after 100 years, Hot Jazz is as vibrant and exciting as it was in the 1920s and 30s.

Let’s explore what makes some of the most successful musicians in jazz history do what they do. Expect the unexpected as me and my A-list guests share behind the scenes stories of our journeys, with all the heartaches, victories, and pitfalls that come with life on the road as a target announce my new podcast, Jazz musician

This is George Cole, and I invite you to my backstage conversations on “The Hot Jazz Network”.

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