Concert Honesty

Josh is the principle percussionist with the Kansas City Symphony.

Travis is the band captain of Casym Steel Orchestra as well as one of the founding members of the Brooklyn Steel Orchestra.

Mekka is a DJ and advocate for Caribbean culture. This is the second time we’ve had a chance to chat and catch up after our meeting on Soca Passion Live. Mekka is someone I really enjoy talking to, so I hope you enjoy these chats.

Kristian is a member of the Philly Pan Stars and is a wonderful musician and educator residing in the Philly area. We’ve crossed paths many times at Brooklyn panorama so it was nice to finally chat in person.

Tim and Jamel work at Blackswamp percussion in Michigan. They are amazing percussionists and are at the forefront of instrument development and building in the percussion world.

Noah is a drummer and musician in Brooklyn who plays with Despers USA as well as other big bands in the steel band world. He played in the Oberlin steelband and is a super nice guy and Cleveland sports fan. You’ll enjoy this conversation.

This is Khuent’s second time on the podcast. He’s an amazing thinker, player, arranger, tuner, and human being in the steel pan community. Im grateful to have him in my life, and you will be as well.

Ayano is a great friend of mine and one of the world’s best teachers and percussionists. She teaches at UMASS Amherst and plays with the Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center. She and I killed thousands of cockroaches at Yale in the practice rooms.

Dr. Batson is a Trinidadian educator and musician who ran the steel band program at Florida Memorial University, becoming a hub for steel pan education in the US. Many of my Caribbean students at NYU and my friends in Brooklyn worked with her in college. Her composition “Black Holes Do Exist” for Steel Orchestra is mind-bending in all the best ways. She’s a national treasure…

Erin founded and runs the Young Women Composers Camp. It’s a great org for young female and non-binary composers in high-school. Her work with this festival is gonna change the future of composition.

Bill is a good friend of mine and we chat about advocacy and the current state of afairs in the US. He is also involved in the PAS Diversity Alliance and we talk about their great and important work.

Arone is a member of Buke and Gase as well as a composer and advocate. She has a great project called Drone Choir. You should check it out.

Rob is a composer living in Princeton, NJ. We talk about his growing up listening to classical music as a kid. His writing for percussion is amazing. You should check him out.

Andy is a steel drum builder/tuner and advocate living in Trinidad and Tobago. We talk about his upbringing in Trinidad and the flourishing of pan worldwide.

Richard blows my mind with a mathematical analogy to show just how little of the covid-19 virus actually exists on earth (that we know of) as a way of showing how seriously we should take this.

Grey and I chat about a the nature of discourse in the world right now. I love having friends in my life who think about things as thoughtfully as he does. He’s also an amazing guitar player.

Cenk and I chat about the way he generates material, what the difference between composing and improvising is, and his new project he started during quarantine. I’m a big fan of Cenk., and honored to call him a friend.

Dan and I chat about how to think about making music during times like these. Dan is a really unique thinker. I highly recommend you check this out.

Nicky is a composer and dj based in Canada. She’s written two pieces for So Percussion—Dystopian Suite and White Label Experiment. Her music is incredible.