WUSF Studio Sessions Podcast

Host: Warren Buchholz, Jazz Brand Manager, WUSFGuests:Rita Batiste – Sommelier / Wine Attendant, Piccolo BucoAlex – Brand Manager, The ZestLocation: Piccolo Buco, Tampa, FLIn this special on-location episode of Studio Sessions, WUSF Jazz Brand Manager Warren Buchholz sits down with Sommelier Rita Batiste at Piccolo Buco in Tampa to explore the sensory connection between classic jazz albums and carefully selected wines. Each pairing is designed to mirror the mood, texture, and emotional depth of iconic jazz recordings, blending music appreciation with wine education in a relaxed, conversational setting.Jazz and wine share the same language—emotion, structure, improvisation, and personal taste. There is no “right” pairing, only what resonates with the listener and drinker.Album & Wine Pairings🍾 Thelonious Monk –  Monk's Dream  →  Camille Brilliant Champagne (France)🍷 Miles Davis –  Kind of Blue →  Petite Sirah🍓 Oscar Peterson –  Night Train →  Strawberry Rhubarb Spritzy Sangria🍷 Nina Simone –  Gifted and Black →  Vin Velouté Wine🍷 Frank Sinatra –  My Way →  Super Tuscan Blend🍾 Ella Fitzgerald –  Like Someone in Love →  Riesling🍷 Dave Brubeck –  Time Out →  Cabernet Sauvignon & Zinfandel BlendRecorded by: Natalie Jarrin

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Gustavo Matamoros is a sound artist and composer who has lived and worked in Miami since 1979. His compositions have earned two Venezuelan music awards and have been performed by prestigious ensembles in his home country. His sound art installations have been commissioned and exhibited throughout the U.S. and Europe by notable institutions, including the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami-Dade Art in Public Places, Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Polk Museum of Art, and the Deering Estate. Matamoros has performed at prominent venues such as the Dali Museum, the Lloyd Foundation, and the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery in West Florida, as well as Roulette and Experimental Intermedia in New York City, the Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, and LAXart and Mills College in California. Since 1988, Gustavo Matamoros has served as the artistic director of the Subtropics Organization. The college campus is located at 6605 5th Ave. North in St. Petersburg. Funded by St. Petersburg College & EMIT.

Led by founder Holly Cordero, Steamin’ Jazz is made up of players from the Central Florida area with a sense of New York Flair. Steamin’ Jazz plays tunes from jazz standards to brazilian to Funk to arrangements of pop tunes in a Jazz fashion. Holly received her Master’s in Jazz Performance from New York University playing with Jazz greats such as Kenny Werner, Chris Potter, Jean Michel-Pilc, Brad Shepik, Tony Moreno, among others. She learned under the tutelage of Mike Richmond who tours with the Mingus Big Band. She now resides in Florida continuing to compose and arrange, constantly learning more from the jazz idiom. She continues to be a strong force in the jazz world performing with multiple ensembles and for multi styled events from Burlesque to Symphony to Country to Funk.Mike Harris - SaxJoe Barone - PianoKen Shadrake - DrumsHolly Cordero - Bass/composer/bandleaderCamera/Editor - Warren BuchholzAudio Engineer - Jackson HarpeAssistance / Setup - Chandler BalkcomLearn more about Studio Sessions at wusfjazz.org. Studio Sessions is made possible by WUSF, Community Foundation Tampa Bay, and viewers like you. Thank you for your support!

Consisting of Chris Kottke on trumpet, John Wheatley on tenor sax, Jim Lemli on guitar, Don Colladay on bass (Steve King on bass substituting on the Arts Axis Studio Session recording) and Pete Szujewski on drums. The SRQuintet is committed to carrying on the tradition of the great jazz quintets of the last 60 years. Playing everything from songbook standards to bebop classics, blue note gems, bossa nova favorites, and many new original tunes, the quintet is a can't-miss feature of the Sarasota jazz scene. 

Don Was has left his mark on music, producing the Rolling Stones, playing bass for Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Grateful Dead, and leading Blue Note Records. He joins us ahead of his Clearwater show with Don Was & The Pan-Detroit Ensemble to discuss new music, collaborations and stories from his career. This was originally broadcasted on WUSF 89.7fm as part of the Florida Matters episode dated February 9, 2026.

Established in 2022, Sokołowski Trombone Project is a Trombone Band made up of 4 trombonists and 3 rhythm section players. The band’s goals consist of promoting innovative arrangements for the trombone of popular jazz standards, while also aiming to contribute original and modern music in various styles. STP recently won the International Trombone Association’s "Kai Winding Jazz Trombone Ensemble Competition" as well, where the group was given a featured performance at the International Trombone Festival in Salt Lake City.

Meet Al Di Meola. He’s a GRAMMY® Award-Winning American jazz fusion and Latin jazz guitarist/composer, working as a solo artist on hit albums like Casino and Land of the Midnight Sun and performed with Chick Corea’s Return to Forever. He recently released a new album Twenty Four and is currently on tour where he’ll be performing at the Nancy & David Bilheimer Capitol Theatre in Clearwater on January 17 at 8pm.

Meet Laila Biali. She’s a Multi award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist and CBC Music national radio host of the program Saturday Night Jazz. She is a JUNO award winner and has recently released a new album Wintersongs. She will be performing at the Carrollwood Cultural Center in Tampa on January 16 at 7:30pm. I hope you enjoy.

Gumbi Ortiz a 30 year veteran of The Al Di Meola Group, was born and raised in The South Bronx, Gumbi has Recorded, performed, and/or Produced, some of today’s most diverse and acclaimed  musicians on the Planet  including : Phillippe Saisse, Jeff Berlin, Steve Vai, Nat Adderley, Joel Taylor, Cyril Neville, Irvin Mayfield, Bill Summers, Armand Sabal-Lecco, Senri Kawaguchi, Chick Corea, Gato Barbieri, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy, The J.U.S.T.I.C.E League,Jeff Lorber, Dave Weckl, Eric Marienthal, Brandon Field ,Jay Beckenstein, Barry Miles, Joel Rosenblatt ,The Black Honkeys, Nick Brignola, Jim Pepper, Ted Shumate, Fred Johnson, Irene Cara, kamau kenyatta, Walter Booker, Jimmy Cobb, Rachel Z, Lenny White, kei Akagi,Leonid Agutin, Roman Miroshnichenko, Rick Braun, The Allen Carman Project, Tom Brechtlein, Luis Alicea, New Groove City, The Electrik Rendezvous, Marc Quiñones and Sammy Figueroa, to name but a few. The college campus is located at 6605 5th Ave. North in St. Petersburg. Funded by St. Petersburg College & EMIT.

Welcome to the Studio Sessions Holiday Special! I’m Warren Buchholz, jazz brand manager here at WUSF. It’s been a wild year, but now it’s time to slow down and celebrate the holidays—with friends, family, pets, that one uncle who comments on every Facebook post, and even your mail carrier. This season is full of joy, traditions, and of course… some incredible jazz. Listen to some music by local artists like Julián Pernett Castilla, The House Cats, Jeremy Carter, and Dan Bremer along with interviews and music from Dave Koz and Mindi Abair.

Meet Mindi Abair. She’s is a 2x GRAMMY nominated saxophonist, vocalist, author and wine entrepreneur. She’s recorded and toured with ensembles and musicians like Aerosmith, Gerald Albright, Gregg Allman, Dave Koz and Trombone Shorty. She’s currently touring with Peter White and Vincent Ingala for the 2025 Peter White Christmas show where they will be performing at the Capitol Theatre in Clearwater on December 11 at 8pm. You can find tickets for this wonderful holiday show at RuthEckerdHall.com

Meet jazz bassist Ron Carter. He is a performer, band leader, author, and educator with a prolific record of performing with some of the greats like Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Eric Dolphy, Cannonball Adderley, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, and so many more. He has recorded over 2,200 albums and has a Guinness world record to prove it! He is releasing a brand new album, Sweet, Sweet Spirit, which is a love letter to his mom. Pre-sales begin December 5. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Ron Carter.

Meet Dave Koz. He’s an American saxophonist, composer, and radio host. Over the past 30 years, he’s earned nine Grammy nominations and performed with artists like Celine Dion and Stevie Nicks–to say the very least. He recently released a new album with his friend Bob James and is currently on tour with his Dave Koz and Friends Christmas Tour, which stops at Ruth Eckerd Hall on November 29–the perfect start to the holiday season.

In the late ’60s, Robert Callender — then recording as Bobby Callender — was a young singer-songwriter with a vision that defied his era. On Rainbow (1968, MGM), he fused Eastern raga textures with Western psychedelic rock, crafting a concept-driven song cycle long before such albums became common. The sessions brought together some of New York’s finest: bassist Richard Davis (Astral Weeks), guitarists Eric Gale and Hugh McCracken, and sitarist Colin Walcott of Oregon. 50 years later, Callender finally performed and recorded the album live for the first time. Rainbow Live will be released on November 14, 2025. Rainbow: The Anniversary Concert is more than a rediscovery — it’s a long-overdue validation of Robert Callender’s role in the psychedelic movement. Once whispered about only in collector circles, his music now takes center stage.

Rod Alnord is Haitian-born drummer with multiple musical influences including Jazz, Gospel/Worship, and Afro-Caribbean Music. He studied at the University of South Florida under Ric Craig and Bob McCormick. He has since developed his playing style, inspired by the explosive Elvin Jones and modern-day drummer Brian Blade.

Hayes Carll isn’t preaching or teaching. He’s not interested in telling the rest of us what to do or think. But he is charting out a personal guide for his life, quieting the noise, and sitting with his real voice – the one that’s candid, consistent, and often inconvenient.We’re Only Human is Carll’s tenth album. Like his best lyrics, it is also an understated masterpiece, an honest snapshot of one man’s confrontation and delight with humanity’s biggest and most intimate questions. Where do we find forgiveness for ourselves and grace for others? How do we hold on to peace of mind and stay present? What can we—and should we––trust? And how can we moor ourselves to, well, ourselves, in the midst of confusing, trying times? We’re Only Human offers audiences the chance to listen to Carll as he listens to himself.

Meet Stanley Jordan, a jazz guitarist and composer who has performed in 70 countries on 6 continents. His Magic Touch album was an instant classic, and it stayed at #1 on Billboard’s jazz chart for 51 weeks. He is widely regarded as the foremost exponent of the touch, or tapping technique on guitar. To date Jordan has been nominated for four Grammys, and he’s performed in 70 countries. He made a cameo appearance in the movie Blind Date with Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger, and numerous TV appearances through the years, including Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon. He has collaborated on the stage or in the studio with a diverse array of artists including Phil Lesh, Miles Davis, Kenny Rogers, Herbie Hancock, Dionne Warwick, Dave Matthews, Sharon Isbin, and Carmen McRae.Stanley is performing at the Palladium in St. Pete on October 31. Stanley Plays The Dead is not just a concept-it’s a real band that truly works as a unit, with each member contributing something unique and important. All the members sing as well as play instruments. Learn more at mypalladium.org

Singer, composer, and creator Ona K envelops you in a mist of beauty. Once you enter, you won’t want to escape. With the sensuality of her voice, the elegance of her compositions and arrangements, her powerful aesthetics, and the strong community of musicians she has created around her music, she moves the listener’s soul in a way that they will always remember.Her music pushes stylistic boundaries. It is born in the roots of descriptive cinematic music, connected to poetry (in English and Spanish), with a voice and arranges that navigate between r&b, and jazz, and a string quartet that is rooted in her to her classical origins. 

Jon Batiste is a five-time GRAMMY® and Academy Award®-winning singer, songwriter, and composer known for his time on Late Night with Stephen Colbert, his film scores on the Disney film Soul and Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, and the Netflix documentary “American Symphony,” which explores a year of Jon’s life, his career, and his wife’s struggle with Leukemia. He’s currently released 9 solo albums and has collaborated with a plethora of musicians like Willie Nelson, Madonna, Prince, and many many more. He’s performing at Ruth Eckerd Hall on October 8. Be sure to see him live. Go to RuthEckerdHall.com to learn more.

Boogie-woogie, jazz, and blues pianist Craig Brenner is a performer, composer, teacher, and recipient of many arts grants. He leads Craig & The Crawdads, is a member of The Ragin' Texans, and has released seven albums. The founder of Bloomington Boogies: The Bloomington Blues & Boogie Woogie Piano Festival, Craig keeps boogie-woogie and similar non-classical styles alive through concerts, compositions, recordings, and hands-on music educational activities, including workshops, master classes, and in-school performances.