The Stereo Image – Details, episodes & analysis

The man who won Lenny Bruce a pardon four decades after his death turns out to be a tuba player who came to jazz through Dave Brubeck. Robert Corn-Revere has spent more than 40 years as a First Amendment attorney, and on this episode he and Mike Jones trade the law for the record store: classic rock, the ritual of dropping eight bucks on an album, and why the music of that era still fills the same bar he drank in back in college.

Then the cases. Bob walks through the posthumous pardon of Lenny Bruce, the FBI's year-and-a-half hunt for dirty words in "Louie Louie," the Tipper Gore "porn rock" hearings where Frank Zappa stole the show, and the eight-year fight over Janet Jackson's nine-sixteenths of a second at the Super Bowl. Subscribe and find the rest at TheStereoImage.com.

FIRE - Robert Corn-Revere

Robert's book: The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder

Violinist, violist, composer, producer, and world's first LED string ensemble founder Michelle Jones joins The Stereo Image for a wide-ranging conversation about a remarkable career built on versatility and relationships. Michelle shares the story behind her orchestration work on Maluma's "Botero" (recorded under NDA on Halloween, now with over 4 million streams), the debut of the Robert Kerr Ensemble at Carnegie Hall, and Violectric - the group she founded that plays rock and pop on light-up, wirelessly DMX-controlled instruments.

She also opens up about a legal battle that changed U.S. copyright law for content creators, her 26 years as a Disney seasonal solo musician (one of only seven in the world with that status), a Grammy nomination for a children's album featuring Alice Cooper and Slash, and what it's like recording in her home studio just three miles from the Magic Kingdom - fireworks and all.

Violectric & Cosplay Records

Robert Kerr Ensemble

Our latest guest is Céline Peterson, daughter of legendary jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. Céline and Mike talk about the importance of fair treatment and appreciation for artists. Céline shares her experiences managing artists and the impact of social media on music careers, while also reflecting on her upbringing in a musical family.

More info for this episode:

Oscar Peterson's 100th Birthday Celebraion Year

Oscar, With Love

Bassist Dave Young

Drummer Mark McLean

Britney Spears (YouTube)

Sarah Vaughan (YouTube)

John Mayer (YouTube)

Céline Peterson Artist Representation

Vocalist Caity Gyorgy

Capri Records

This week, Mike chats with Randy Pitchford. Randy owns Gearbox Software which produces the Borderlands game series among others. He is incredibly smart and insightful. Mike and Randy talk about the creative music kids are making these days and how it relates to the music earlier generations created. Randy grew up in a musical family and plays the piano himself. But that’s not all! Randy is also an accomplished magician and performer. It’s fascinating to hear his take on music from the perspective of a technical and creative visionary like him.

More info for this episode:

Peacock Theater of Frisco, Texas

Fleetwood Mac

Frank Sinatra

The Black Box

opera singer Timur

Tony Fitzpatrick

Magic Castle 

Irma ghost piano player 

We are so excited to have Eric Mingus on this week’s episode! In fact, that Mike stammers through the first part of the episode because he’s so excited! Luckily he gets past that and he and Eric have a wonderful discussion about his own recent projects and a little about growing up as a member of jazz royalty with his dad Charles Mingus.  Note:  Occasionally you hear some dogs in the background.  Eric was fostering a bunch of dogs when we talked.  Mike's cat, Ella, gave her meow of approval.

Eric talks about his heritage and his experiences with music growing up. He shares his feelings on the experience of live acoustic instruments. He talks about his collaboration with Yoyo Ma. Through it all he’s a lovely guy!

More info for this episode:

The Mill - collaboration between Yoyo Ma and Eric Mingus

Hal Willner

Weird Nightmare (plays in YouTube)

Mingus Mill in North Carolina

Harry Smith Collection of folk music

Illinois Jacquet - Jumpin At Apollo

bassist Red Callender

Dimitri Toimkin

well-known phot with Monk, Charlie Parker, Roy Haines, Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus in the Library of Congress

Beneath the Underdog (Charles Mingus autobiography) 

The Ertegun Brothers

bassist Gary Karr

guitarist Hubert Sumlin

pianist Don Pullen

Billy Gibbons guitarist in ZZ Top 

Karen Mantler and My Cat Arnold

David Sandborn’s Night Music TV show (YouTube clips)

Michael Brecker

Jeff Friedman - Ellington Effect 

Berklee College of Music

Susan Berk

Today we are excited to have Tim Jenison on the podcast. If we were looking for guests who would literally embody the name of this show, Tim would be the perfect guest. He is an inventor, filmmaker, musician, and amazing technician who’s current project is to build a recording studio using only analogue gear. He knows his tech and he knows his music too.

You might have heard of him from his Tim’s Vermeer documentary but I talk with him more about one of his latest projects. He’s building a recording studio near his home but he’s using only analog gear. It’s fascinating to hear about the challenges he’s facing and why people still look for that analog experience in todays digital world.

More info for this episode:

Tim's Vermeer (IMDB)

Monty Alexander

Shure 55 Elivs Mic (Wikipedia)

Herbie Hancock - Empyrean Isles (YouTube)

Bosendorfer Pianos

Weber Duo-Art Player Piano (YouTube)

Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces (YouTube)

Switched on Bach (YouTube)

In this episode, Mike chats with former Chicago Tribune music critic, Howard Reich. Howard shares his journey from being a jazz critic to becoming an accidental filmmaker and opera writer. He emphasizes the role of music in storytelling and the importance of critics in promoting lesser-known artists. He also reflects on his transition to new artistic mediums like opera and ballet, celebrating the legacy of musicians and the power of music to shape identity and experience.

More Info for this episode:

Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F (YouTube)

An American in Paris trailer (YouTube)

Makoto Ozone - pianist (YouTube)

Patricia Barber - pianist (YouTube)

Kurt Elling (YouTube)

Mike Jones - Duke Ellington Medley (YouTube)

Prisoner of Her Past - Book by Howard Reich

The Art of Inventing Hope - Book by Howard Reich

Kimikos Pearl - Ballet inspired by Howard Reich

For the Left Hand - Documentary by Howard Reich

From Howard’s website: Howard was born in Chicago and at age 10 moved with his family to Skokie, a northern suburb that was a nexus of Holocaust survivors, like his parents. At age 16, Howard happened on the film “An American in Paris” and instantly became obsessed with music. By 18 he was a piano performance major at Northwestern, and at 22 he began freelancing articles on music for the Chicago Daily News. The next year he started contributing arts coverage to the Chicago Tribune, where he was hired full time in 1983 and spent his entire newspaper career. Howard’s stories took him to London, Paris, Warsaw, Vienna, Moscow, Munich, Prague, Havana, Panama and other locales, as well as deep into one of the most culturally vibrant cities in the world: Chicago. Howard served for 32 years as the Tribune’s jazz critic, the last three years doubling as classical/opera critic. He retired from the newspaper in 2021, continues writing for the stage and page, and lives in a Chicago suburb with Pam Becker, his wife, a retired Tribune editor.

Mike Jones bio: Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, Jones attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, and after college he remained in the city, working with such eminent local players as Herb Pomeroy and Gray Sargent. After significant East Coast performances, appearances at the Floating Jazz Festival on the S.S. Norway and the Queen Elizabeth ll, and a series of recordings that established him as a world-class pianist steeped in the pre-bop jazz tradition, Jones relocated to Las Vegas. There he caught the ear of Penn Jillette who, in 2002, brought Jones onboard for the nightly Penn and Teller show at Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.

Our latest guest is Ashley Kahn, author, educator, and deep thinker! He and Mike discuss how people discover and listen to music today and how it differs from the past.

More info for this episode:

Paul Simon's Graceland (YouTube)

Dr John - There Must Be A Better World Somewhere (YouTube)

International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers

John Beasley - pianist

Tuesday's Just As Bad Radio Show

Hot Tuna Blues (YouTube)

The Universal Tone By Ashley Kahn

Monty Alexander - pianist

Montreux Alexander (YouTube)

Kenny Banks Jr - Take 5 (YouTube)

Theo Croker

From Wikipedia: Ashley Kahn (b. 1960) is an American music historian, journalist, and producer. He was born in the Bronx, New York, and was raised in Cincinnati. Kahn graduated from Columbia University in 1983. While attending Columbia, he hosted a jazz and blues radio show on WKCR, and was known on the air as "The Cincinnati Kid."

In 2014, Kahn co-authored the autobiography of Carlos Santana, titled The Universal Tone: Bringing My Story To Light. To date, his most critically acclaimed books have been on two major jazz albums, Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and A Love Supreme by John Coltrane. He pens articles, interviews and other features on music, and is a prolific liner note writer for a variety of music labels, and for which he has earned three ASCAP/Deems Taylor awards, and three Grammy nominations. In 2015, he was awarded a Grammy for his album notes to the John Coltrane release Offering: Live at Temple University.

This week’s episode features Marc Myers. If you are a lover of all things music, Marc is the man for you. If you appreciate music's history and evolution, Marc is the man for you. If you have always wanted to get into jazz music but just didn’t know where to begin or what to listen for, Marc is the man for you! Marc is the creator of JazzWax which hosts a wealth of history, stories, opinions, and more about jazz and other forms of music.

We talk a little about the musicians Marc has known over the years and what it’s like to meet them. Marc and Mike share their opinions of rock and jazz and the musical process. Marc is fascinating to talk to.

Marc Myers is a frequent music and arts contributor to The Wall Street Journal. He writes two regular columns—“House Call,” in which he interviews Hollywood actors on their childhood years, and “Album@50,” on pop albums celebrating a 50th anniversary and how they changed music history. He is the author of “Why Jazz Happened,” two volumes of “Anatomy of a Song” and “Rock Concert: An Oral History.” He posts five days a week at his award-winning JazzWax.com blog, launched in 2007.

This week, Mike is talking with Jason Garfield. Jason is a great juggler. But don’t roll your eyes at that. He does a lot of other things too! Jason is trying to get juggling into the Olympics and he talks a little about the struggles involved in that. He is also a fitness buff and he and Mike have a lot to say about that. Mostly Mike which is odd since Jason is the expert.

Jason also learned to play the piano… sort of . He has opinions about that too. We had a great time talking with Jason and we hope you enjoy it too!

More info for this episode:

Valentina Lisitsa playing Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (YouTube)

Valentina Lisitsa playing Moonlight Sonata 3rd Mvmt (YouTube)

Jason Garfield's 5 ring color change (YouTube)

The World Juggling Federation

Eminem - Houdini (YouTube)

Rhythmic Gymnastics - Varfolomeev's ball routine (YouTube)

Jason Garfield's Fast Food series (YouTube)

Leafside Meals

Jason Garfield's bio: Jason started juggling when he was 11 years old.  He went on to win International Juggling Association championships and World Juggling Federation championships.  He has performed on cruise ships, television, and across the internet.  Additionally, he has produced programs for ESPN and others related to juggling and fitness.  Currently he is not only a professional performer but also a fitness and health coach.