Behind The Note Podcast

This podcast is a response to an email received from a young aspiring musician. Here are 7 tips to have a great career in music. The Time I Was Fired https://soundcloud.com/behindthenotepodcast/51-the-time-i-was-fired

In this episode we talk about what it takes to host a successful event. You will learn what it takes to go from your idea of having an event to actually hosting an event that your audience will want more of. Paul Hall is our guest and just the right person to teach us on this episode. Press Play. Enjoy. Share

Here is a great introduction to an online resource for learning jazz called "Learn Jazz Standards" dot com. In this episode you will learn a good layout for creating your own resource online with special guest Brent Vaartstra. Press play. Enjoy. Share. Brent acquired a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz Performance at the City College of New York, where he studied with world-renowned guitarists Peter Bernstein, Vic Juris, and Steve Cardenas and other respected musicians. He has played in groups such as the Don Hahn Quintet and the Laura Campisi Trio, among others, and his own groups: the Brent Vaartstra Trio and Quartet. He teaches and gigs actively around the New York area as a leader and a sideman, and has played at iconic jazz clubs such as Fat Cat in Greenwich Village. Brent is the author of Hal Leonard publication "500 Jazz Licks" released in 2015. Brent owns and operates LearnJazzStandards.com, a renowned website dedicated to jazz education. He is also the creator of Online Jazz School, a web school that allows students to take lessons with professional jazz musicians through Skype and Google Hangout.

In this episode I have a conversation with Len'i McKinney who is a young saxophonist from Chicago and someone to keep your eyes and ears open for in the future. We have a casual conversation at a local Starbucks but there is so much to learn in here. Press play, Enjoy, Share!

Rufus Bonds Jr. is our special guest today! Rufus is an accomplished actor and director in the musical theater profession and a recipient of the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. There are several parallels in the acting and music profession so I wanted to have Rufus as a guest because he is at the top of his game. Press play, Enjoy, Share

This is part 2 of our Musical Theater Series where we speak with Contractor Sean McNeely about how he came to be a contractor.

In this episode Tom Vendafreddo is our guest. Tom is an actor and director that I recently had the privilege of working with on Jesus Christ Superstar. Tom is a strong and versatile performer with an undergraduate degree in classical voice (Eastman School of Music) and a graduate degree in musical theatre (San Diego State University). He also has made his presence known in the Chicago cabaret scene, performing sold-out shows annually at venues such as Davenport’s Piano Bar and the Logan Square Arts Center. Though based in Chicago, Tom continues to work regionally on the West and East coasts, as well as throughout the Midwest.

Wynton Marsalis joined us for Behind The Note Podcast today! We talked many things including leadership, building a team, and turning vision into reality. Rate Behind The Note Podcast on the platform you're using right now to read this script and to listen to the show. Press Play. Enjoy. Share. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is Wynton's Bio straight from his website: Wynton Marsalis is an internationally acclaimed musician, composer, bandleader, educator and a leading advocate of American culture. He is the world’s first jazz artist to perform and compose across the full jazz spectrum from its New Orleans roots to bebop to modern jazz. By creating and performing an expansive range of brilliant new music for quartets to big bands, chamber music ensembles to symphony orchestras, tap dance to ballet, Wynton has expanded the vocabulary for jazz and created a vital body of work that places him among the world’s finest musicians and composers. The Early Years Wynton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 18, 1961, to Ellis and Dolores Marsalis, the second of six sons. At an early age he exhibited a superior aptitude for music and a desire to participate in American culture. At age eight Wynton performed traditional New Orleans music in the Fairview Baptist Church band led by legendary banjoist Danny Barker, and at 14 he performed with the New Orleans Philharmonic. During high school Wynton performed with the New Orleans Symphony Brass Quintet, New Orleans Community Concert Band, New Orleans Youth Orchestra, New Orleans Symphony, various jazz bands and with the popular local funk band, the Creators. At age 17 Wynton became the youngest musician ever to be admitted to Tanglewood’s Berkshire Music Center. Despite his youth, he was awarded the school’s prestigious Harvey Shapiro Award for outstanding brass student. Wynton moved to New York City to attend Juilliard in 1979. When he began to pick up gigs around town, the grapevine began to buzz. In 1980 Wynton seized the opportunity to join the Jazz Messengers to study under master drummer and bandleader Art Blakey. It was from Blakey that Wynton acquired his concept for bandleading and for bringing intensity to each and every performance. In the years to follow Wynton performed with Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, Sweets Edison, Clark Terry, John Lewis, Sonny Rollins, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams and countless other jazz legends. Wynton assembled his own band in 1981 and hit the road, performing over 120 concerts every year for 15 consecutive years. With the power of his superior musicianship, the infectious sound of his swinging bands and an exhaustive series of performances and music workshops, Marsalis rekindled widespread interest in jazz throughout the world. Wynton embraced the jazz lineage to garner recognition for the older generation of overlooked jazz musicians and prompted the re-issue of jazz catalog by record companies worldwide. He also inspired a renaissance that attracted a new generation of fine young talent to jazz. A look at the more distinguished jazz musicians of today reveals numerous students of Marsalis’ workshops: James Carter, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, Harry Connick Jr., Nicholas Payton, Eric Reed and Eric Lewis, to name a few. Classical Career Wynton’s love of the music of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and others drove him to pursue a career in classical music as well. He recorded the Haydn, Hummel and Leopold Mozart trumpet concertos at age 20. His debut recording received glorious reviews and won the Grammy Award® for “Best Classical Soloist with an Orchestra.” Marsalis went on to record 10 additional classical records, all to critical acclaim. Wynton performed with leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Pops, The Cleveland Orchestra, Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestr

In this episode we hear from trumpeter Thaddeus Ford who is a 6th generation musician from New Orleans which makes him royalty in the world of music! Thaddeus teaches us how we can get up after we fall because Thaddeus had a heart attack, nearly lost his life. But, he was able to recover back to good health and start his music career anew! Press Play, Enjoy, Share!

Austin Ellis was a past contestant on NBC's The Voice but that is not the best part of his career. Austin is someone that has figured out how to truly earn a living as a musician and in this episode he shares what has worked for him. This will give you some ideas. A little bonus here is how he actually sells his music.

In this episode we get tax tips from an accounting veteran so that we can be better prepared for this tax season and future tax seasons. Submit your questions on BehindTheNote.com by leaving a voicemail.

BehindTheNote.com/64 We cover a lot in this 45 minute episode with Rick Barker, Taylor Swift's first manager. Some questions we answer are: • When is a good time to hire a manager • How to build a loyal audience • And of course, Advice For A Successful Music Career ;) Grab a pen and paper, take notes, and then get to work! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rick Barker strives to teach artists how to be artists. With major changes in the music industry and digital world, record labels expect artists to build their online presence and fan base, become great songwriters and performers, and ultimately create their own buzz. Labels no longer spend thousands of dollars to “develop” an act. Today, labels are interested in investing in small businesses. Therefore, it is the artist’s job to treat their art as a business and become an attractive partner to a record label. Between formerly managing music superstar Taylor Swift, serving as the Social Media Mentor to finalists on FOX’s American Idol, and working as a private consultant to entities such as Big Machine Label Group and Live Nation, Rick Barker’s influence on the music industry is without question. Utilizing his extensive experience in radio, Rick created the “Nashville To You” radio tour, which played an important role in the early development of several acts, including Taylor Swift and Sugarland. With marketing tactics featured in Billboard and other well-known publications, Rick has dedicated his life to helping independent artists plot out the most efficient strategies for turning their music into a career. He is also the co-author of “The $150,000 Music Degree”, a music business e-book that, upon its release, was the most downloaded book on Noisetrade and he created Social Media For Music, the first ever step by step instruction course dedicated to the Music Industry. He was the first record promoter hired by Big Machine’s Scott Borchetta, where he had a role in the label’s first Number One record with singer-songwriter Jack Ingram. Rick later went on to found his own marketing and consulting firm, at which his first client was Sony Music Nashville. He is also the mastermind behind Music Industry Blueprint, a development service teaching artists from around the world everything they need to know about the complicated music business. We hope Rick’s free resources inspire you to take control of your career and become a business-minded artist who is ready to take on this crazy industry. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions.

NOTE: I mistakenly called this episode 62 throughout the episode. It is indeed episode 63. Jeff Schneider wants to share with you everything he knows about making music. His greatest fear is dying before uploading to the internet all of the things he’s learned over the past 20 years. Jeff hates the word talent. It downplays the power and necessity of hard work. It wasn’t until the summer after his freshman year in high school that Jeff showed any real promise or progress on the saxophone. It was in that summer that he started practicing eight hours a day, transposing Charlie Parker solos in all 12 keys. By the way, Charlie Parker practiced 15 hours a day. When he’s not making YouTube videos, Jeff teaches Skype lessons to people in time zones all over the world. It makes scheduling a welcomed challenge. He also composes music for film, television, and advertising with a client list that includes NASA, CNN, Google, Gatorade, Ferrari, and many more. Jeff is a DownBeat Magazine award winner and three-time recipient of the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award. A graduate of New England Conservatory of Music (‘09), Jeff also holds a Master of Music degree in Jazz Composition and Arranging from UMASS Amherst (‘13). His teachers over the years include Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, Will Vinson, John McNeil, Bob Moses, and the late, great Charlie Banacos.

This is part 3/3 where we talk about The Presidential Suite written by Ted Nash. Today's guest is executive producer Kabir Sehgal. Kabir is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best selling author as well as a Grammy Award winning producer. He has created organizations that give back to musicians and to the community. Kabir, quite simply, is a renaissance man and in this episode we talk about how he put his expertise to great use to help create The Presidential Suite. Press Play, Enjoy, then Share this episode!

This is part 2/3 for The Presidential Suite by Ted Nash. Today, Ted Nash is our guest and gives us an inside look to the work that went into creating this great album. Ted is best known for his work with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and this is his 12th album as a leader. Presidential Suite is available at TedNash.com and you can see more about this episode at BehindTheNote.com Press Play, Enjoy, and Share!

Herschel Garfein is a Grammy Award winning composer and is also known for his work as a director of stage plays and for writing libretto. Herschel teamed up with Ted Nash and Kabir Seghal as the producer of Ted Nash's newest work called The Presidential Suite which features The Ted Nash Big Band. The Presidential Suite is available on September 9th and can be ordered right now at TedNash.com.

In this episode we get to speak with vibraphonist Warren Wolf as he travels the country. Warren is a multi-instrumentalist from Baltimore, MD. From the young age of three years old, Warren has been trained on the Vibraphone/Marimba, Drums, and Piano. Under the guidance of his father Warren Wolf Sr., Warren has a deep background in all genres of music. Beginning with classical music, Warren had studied classical composers from Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Paganini, Brahms, Vivaldi and Shostakovich. Warren also studied ragtime music learning music from the songbooks of Scott Joplin, Harry Brewer and Geroge Hamilton Green. In Jazz, Warren has studied artist and composers from Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Freddie Hubbard, Clifford Brown, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, Milt Jackson, Bobby Hutcherson, Cal Tjader, Return to Forever, Weather Report, Wynton Marsalis and many others. After graduating from Berklee in May of 2001, Warren became an active musician on the Boston local scene. Warren was hired in September of 2003 to become an instructor in the percussion department at Berklee College of Music. Warren taught private lessons on the Vibraphone and Drums, as well as teach a beginners keyboard class for entering freshman drumset majors. Musicians that Warren has played with or recorded with are Wynton Marsalis and The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Jeremy Pelt and "Creation", Nicholas Payton, Tim Warfield, Adonis Rose, Donal Fox, Anthony Wonsey, Aaron Goldberg, Cyrus Chestnut, Lewis Nash, Willie Jones, Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Yoron Israel, Larry Willis, David "Fathead" Newman, Stefon Harris, Reuben Rogers, Kevin Eubanks, Curtis Lundy, Steve Davis, Duane Eubanks, Ron Carter, Wycliffe Gordon, Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spaulding and many others.

Sara Gazarek is one of the best voices in jazz today. It's okay if you don't know about her yet but soon everyone will. In this episode, she talks about her walk in pursuit of a music career, personal experiences with Diane Schuur and Wynton Marsalis, and the talk of "relationships" which keeps coming up on Behind The Note Podcast. Press Play. Enjoy. Share.

We talk about my cd release concert! I tell you about what I used to help make it a successful night and I tell you what can be improved for next time as well. Use this episode coupled with episode 47 to help you with your own release. Press Play. Enjoy. Share

If you have ever accepted a gig that ended up being something you wished you had nothing to do with then press play on this episode. We'll talk about signs to look out for from the first point of contact that may help you protect yourself in the long run. Press play. Enjoy. Share