Spotlight On

Today, the Spotlight shines On multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator, and performer Brendan Grey of the Canadian hip-hop group Super Duty Tough Work.

In addition to his duties as MC, drummer, and band leader, Brendan has become a sought-after performance, session, and touring drummer.

We spoke back in the autumn of 2023 for a conversation that still sticks with me. I look forward to hearing what you think.

(all musical excerpts heard in the interview are taken from the album Paradigm Shift by Super Duty Tough Work)

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Dig Deeper

• Visit Super Duty Tough Work at sdtw.ca
• Listen to Super Duty Tough Work's Paradigm Shift on Bandcamp or your streaming platform of choice
• Follow Super Duty Tough Work on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
• Hip-hop group Super Duty Tough Work is keeping its grind alive
• Winnipeg State of Mind – Top 100 Winnipeg Hip-Hop Songs
• Super Duty Tough Work Nominated for Polaris Prize
• S N A K E S & L A D D E R S - S L E E P I N G G I A N T S [2014]
• Style Wars
• The Importance Of The Message by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
• Winterruption At Home 2021 featuring Super Duty Tough Work
• Be sure to peruse this episode's extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com

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Today, the Spotlight shines On Dave Wish, founder and Chief Vision Officer for Music Will. This nonprofit organization funds and runs one of the largest instrumental and vocal music programs in US public schools.

Dave, a former Palo Alto, California school teacher, launched Music Will due to frustration with the lack of music programming in his school. He started by borrowing instruments from friends and hitting area flea markets for deals. From there, he began offering free guitar lessons after school using popular music—the actual music his students wanted to play. What started out as an informal effort to provide musical education to his students has become the largest nonprofit music program in the U.S. public school system. Music Will has taught over a million and a half students how to play music. To hear the story in detail, as you will, is amazing.

Dave’s enthusiasm for his cause is infectious, and we are very happy to bring Music Will to the attention of our listeners.

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Dig Deeper

• Visit Music Will and learn more at musicwill.org
• Follow Music Will on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube
• Babyface Brings Music Education To 20 Indianapolis Schools With Nonprofit Music Will
• Tom Morello brings his ‘school of rock’ to Van Nuys High School
• Phoebe Bridgers Re-Releases “Waiting Room” for Charity
• Be sure to peruse this episode's extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com

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• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

• Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice.

• Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, the Spotlight shines On Roberto Di Gioia of the German Jazz supergroup Web Web and his group’s collaborator, the songwriter and producer Max Herre. WEB WEB’s fifth album is also their second with Max, appropriately titled, WEB MAX II, out now on Compost Records.

This is an exciting, genre-bending album that includes appearances from Los Angeles-born percussionist and producer Carlos Gabriel Niño, hot on the heels of his own work on the new Andre 3000 album...

This record is the complete package, from the striking cover art to every well-placed organic and synthetic musical touch. Roberto, who is a repeat guest of Spotlight On, and Max are both fun, engaging, and deeply committed artists.

(all musical excerpts heard in the interview are taken from the Web Web x Max Herre album WEB MAX II)

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Dig Deeper

• Check out Web Web x Max Herre's album WEB MAX II on Bandcamp or your favorite streaming platform
• Follow Web Web on Instagram and Facebook
• Follow Max Herre on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter (X)
• Astral Traveling: The Ecstasy of Spiritual Jazz
• Kraftwerk And Black America: A Musical Dialogue
• Web Web x Max Herre live | Jazzline | 2021
• Be sure to peruse this episode's extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com

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• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

• Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice.

• Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, the Spotlight shines On Mareike Wiening.

Mareike is a drummer and composer who joined us on the occasion of the release of her third record as bandleader, Reveal, out on Greenleaf Music. Featuring her long-time group: tenor saxophonist Rich Perry, pianist Glenn Zaleski, guitarist Alex Goodman, and bassist Johannes Felscher, the band is joined on three tracks by trumpeter and Greenleaf founder Dave Douglas.

After several years in New York City, Mareike is now based in Cologne, in her native Germany, where she has observed and been personally impacted by the upheavals — personal and global — in the world today. Reveal is not an album of despair. Instead, the music channels hope, joy, and connection, with an uncommon sensitivity amongst the players in the group.

Marieke studied jazz drums in Mannheim, Copenhagen, and New York City. In addition to her performing and recording work, she is a jazz drum instructor at the Zurich University of the Arts.

Please enjoy our talk and the album Reveal, which is linked to this episode in the show notes.

(all musical excerpts heard in the interview are taken from Mareike Wiening's album Reveal.)

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Dig Deeper

• Listen to Mareike Wiening's Reveal on Bandcamp or your streaming platform of choice
• Visit Mareike Wiening online at mareikewiening.com
• Follow Mareike Wiening on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X), and YouTube
• Mareike Wiening about Drumming, Doubts, and the Disappearance of Education
• Mareike Wiening - "The Girl By The Window" (live video version 1)
• Mareike Wiening - "The Girl By The Window" (live video version 2)
• Be sure to peruse this episode's extensive show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com

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• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

• Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice.

• Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastodon.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've put the "Gone Fishing" sign up here at Spot Lyte On... as we wrap up Season 6 and get things ready for next one. But that doesn't mean we want you to miss out on your weekly dose of LP’s conversations with his fascinating guests. So we'll be featuring a few "best of" Spot Lyte On... episodes over the next few weeks.

This week's episode comes from Season 5 and features Dr. Richard Brent Turner, Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and the African American Studies Program at the University of Iowa. He is the author of Jazz Religion, The Second Line, and Black New Orleans, New Edition, and Islam in the African-American Experience.

Turner is a 2020 American Council of Learned Societies Fellow.Dr. Turner joined the University of Iowa faculty in 2001 and holds appointments in Department of Religious Studies, African American Studies Program, and International Programs.

His research program focuses on twentieth-century and contemporary African-American religious history and African diaspora religions in the Black Atlantic world. He is especially interested in the following areas: Islam in the United States; religion and music in New Orleans, before and after Hurricane Katrina; Vodou in the United States and Haiti; interactions between African-American religion and popular music — jazz, soul, and hip hop; black nationalism and religion; African-American religion and human rights; ethnography; urban religious experience; and globalization and transnationalism.

Dr. Turner is currently working on a book project on African-American religion and music in the 1960s. He is a member of American Academy of Religion, American Anthropological Association, Association for Africanist Anthropology, and is on the board of directors of KOSANBA, an international scholarly association for the study of Haitian Vodou.

Learn more about Lyte.

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