
OTS SFO #012 with Ben Allison BONUS Clinic Excerpt Part 3 of 3
06/27/17 • 22 min
As a complement to our two part conversation with New York Based, Bassist, Composer, Recording Artist, and Educator, Ben Allison, with his permission, we are providing a special peek into a portion of a discussion held at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, California.
This preceded a performance of material from his new recording with the Think Free Band entitled ‘Layers of the City’; now available.
Also in the room was his touring band for the occasion, Steve Cardenas on Guitar, Allan Mednard on drums, and Kirk Knuffke on Cornet.
Tracks featured throughout Episode #012 Part 3 of 3:
- Respiration - Little Things Run the World
- Jealous Guy - Little Things Run the World
As a complement to our two part conversation with New York Based, Bassist, Composer, Recording Artist, and Educator, Ben Allison, with his permission, we are providing a special peek into a portion of a discussion held at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, California.
This preceded a performance of material from his new recording with the Think Free Band entitled ‘Layers of the City’; now available.
Also in the room was his touring band for the occasion, Steve Cardenas on Guitar, Allan Mednard on drums, and Kirk Knuffke on Cornet.
Tracks featured throughout Episode #012 Part 3 of 3:
- Respiration - Little Things Run the World
- Jealous Guy - Little Things Run the World
Previous Episode

OST SFO #012 with Ben Allison Part 2 of 3
We continue with Part two of our discussion with New York Based, Bassist, Composer, Recording Artist, and Educator, Ben Allison. In Part one we discussed the process leading up to the recording of the new album, stylistic choices made, curators of taste, the Salsa scene of Newhaven Connecticut, Production techniques, the visceral experience of music and physical product, becoming an entrepreneur, cultural diplomacy through music, and finally, turning audiences on to jazz through dialog and live performance. We resume our discussion with Part two to further unbox Ben’s viewpoint on the intrinsic value of music, the importance of copyrights, the benefits of an extended career in jazz, touring life, advocacy and engaging with politicians, and how that is channeled into his creative process. We also reference a conversation surrounding Ben’s personal approach to composing, and how it yielded some of the tunes on his new recording, ‘Layers of the City’.
Tracks featured throughout Episode #012 Part 2 of 3*:
- Ghost Ship - Layers of the City
- Layers of the City - Layers of the City
- Tricky Dick - Cowboy Justice
- Enter the Dragon - Layers of the City
- Blood Count - Duke Ellington Orchestra Feat. Johnny Hodges
- Andrew - Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel, Third Eye
- Broke - Think Free
- Broken - Action-Refraction
- Follow Your Heart - John McLaughlin, My Goal’s Beyond
- Magic Number - Layers of the City
- Love Chant Remix - Riding the Nuclear Tiger
- Swiss Cheese D - The Stars Look Very Different Today
- Riding the Nuclear Tiger - Riding the Nuclear Tiger
- Roll Credits - Little Things Run the World
*All from Ben Allison recordings except where otherwise noted
Next Episode

OTS SFO #013 with Moorea Dickason and Tarik Ragab of MoeTar
Singer and creativity enthusiast, Moorea Dickason, is one half of the San Francisco/East Bay original art-rock super group, MoeTar, along with amazing musician and artist husband, Tarik Ragab. Striving to always serve the music, she shows up passionately and professionally in all that she participates in; to the extent of fearlessly baring her soul to appreciative audiences.
MoeTar put 2 albums out with Magna Carta Records but struck out on their own as an independent project in January 2016. Moorea and Tarik are presently producing consistent video songs every two weeks for their growing patrons on the Patreon platform. For those who love interesting new music, unexpected covers of familiar and unfamiliar songs, quirky yet poppy originals- all done with stellar musicianship and love for art and craft- will find the fertile soil of Moorea and Tarik’s imagination, nourishment to the spirit of creatives and music lovers alike.
With good humor and forthrightness, the two spoke with OTSSFO about the care and feeding of a band of virtuosos, self-awareness, making a living through creative endeavors and content, and marriage in art and life.
Tracks featured throughout Episode #013:
- Dichotomy - From These Small Seeds
- Butchers of Baghdad - From These Small Seeds
- Where the Truth Lies - Entropy of the Century
- You Only Get This Life - NPR Tiny Desk Entry
- Ist Or An Ism - From These Small Seeds
- Dystopian Fiction - Entropy of the Century
- We Machines - Entropy of the Century
- Confectioner's Curse - Entropy of the Century
- The Unknowable - Entropy of the Century
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