May 11, 2026

The Sound of Gold with Jazz enthusiast Darrius Willrich

The Sound of Gold with Jazz enthusiast Darrius Willrich
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Season 2

Online Jazz piano lessons with Darrius Willrich. The well established singer, songwriter and educator from Seattle Washington.

The Sound of Gold is broadcast live Mondays at 4PM ET / 1PM PT on K4HD Radio - Hollywood Talk Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). The Sound of Gold TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

The Sound of Gold Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.

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This program is designed to provide general information with regards

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to the subject matters covered. This information is given with

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the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station

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are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,

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legal counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek

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the services of competent professionals before applying or trying any

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suggested ideas.

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Hi, welcome to the Sound of Gold. It is good

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to be back and good to have you here tuning in.

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I am if you're a new to listening, and if

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you are returning, you know, I am here in my

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home music studio in front of my piano with one

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of my cats who likes to be on stage here,

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and I'm excited today. I always have these amazing guests,

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and I'm especially excited today because for me personally, piano. Yeah,

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I do play other instruments, but piano is my love

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and I have my own way of playing. And I

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love all kinds of genres of music, and I teach

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all kinds of genres of music, but I think one

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of the most I would say it's not tricky, but

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one of one of the types of music that is

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taught or two of the types of music that is

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taught is not something that's taught.

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All the time, and I wonder why.

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And like jazz and blues, like we hear it, we

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love that rhythm, we love the melody of it, but

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we always not we but a lot of us tend

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to just focus on the pop or the classicals. And

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why is jazz and blues not as obviously popular as

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classic and popular music?

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I don't know, but I can tell you that for.

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Me personally, even though I am a radio show host,

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I'm also a music piano teacher, and I'm also a student.

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I think I will always be. I love learning new

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ways of playing and getting different feedback from different teachers

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and different ideas, and also engaging in programs for taking

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lessons because sometimes with my schedule it's hard to schedule

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a live one on one with a teacher, but it

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might be easier for me with my schedules to have

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online classes. With that being said, I would love to

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tell you about my yes today, I have a very

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well known piano player, and not just a regular piano player,

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but a jazz pro piano player that is sitting behind stage,

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and I would love to welcome on stage, mister Darius Florich.

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Hello, Hello, Hello, hy Darius.

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Thank you so much for being here.

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My pleasure.

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So, Darius, I've been I love piano. You heard me

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say I love piano. It's my go to instrument I have.

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I have my own way of channeling and energy and

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I play and you and I've had conversations before, and

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I think I've mentioned that, and I just have this

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knack for plane and I can't explain it, and I

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can't exactly teach what I do what I teach. And however,

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jazz and blues it has a different rhythm and has

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a different beat, and it's so fun and it's so cool,

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but it's not everybody's main focus. And my question is

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why not?

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But also, like the emails, I have so.

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Many questions for you. Tell us a little bit about

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your journey.

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Let's start with that. Tell us a little bit about.

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Your musical background and how you got to where you

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are and your inspirations, and then I'd love to share with.

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The audience more.

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Yeah, I've been playing for like forty years. I started,

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you know, actually kind of late for some people. I

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like I got started around twelve to fifteen. Got my

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first instrument at fifteen and was just hanging out with

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some church musicians that were inspiring and I was like, oh,

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you have to show me how to play this on

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the keyboard, and then they created a monster. So I

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later took some So I went and took just some

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lessons and then took some jazz focused lessons because I

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felt like that was the music that was more I

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was hearing in my head. Even though those first lessons

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I learned how to read a bit and was playing

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sanatinas and a little bit of jazz stuff, but I

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definitely knew the music that was wanting to come out

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was more like jazz because my influences then were like

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Stevie Wonder and Prince Big, you know, big, big influences there.

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And then I went to Cornish College of the Arts

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after that to study jazz formally and have been teaching

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and playing. I also put out some records as an

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R and B singer, nice like four or five albums,

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the first of which got released in nineteen ninety nine,

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and so that's that's a bit of my journey right now.

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Right now, like the things that are happening now, I'm

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working on a new project right now. The last project

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that I released was in twenty twenty, and I play

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the keyboards for Diggable Planets, which was a group that

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successfully put together hip hop and jazz for the first

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time in the early nineties. And I also play for

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Shabbaz Palaces. Yeah, so that's that's that kind of takes

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you from way back when too kind of now. In

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a quick, quick, quick synopsis, A brief.

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Yes, and so uh the record like the last record

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that you produced? Can you please share with our audience

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if they want to download some of your music or

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buy some of your music, where did they find that? Yeah?

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So the best place too if you want to buy

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buy it would be just to know how to spell

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my name which is on the screen. And then for

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those people who aren't on screen, it's d A R

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R I U S Darius and last name is Wilrich

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w I L L R I c H. So that's

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band Camp would be the great place. But and also

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all the streaming platforms should have it, Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube,

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every everything. But if you wanted to support and pay

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for the music, band camp is the best place. I

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would recommend bandcamp dot com.

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And what's the last album that you that you produce.

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The last yea yeah, yeah, yeah. The last album. Well,

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i'll tell you while, I was laughing in a second

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because the album is Stay Here with Me, that which

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it has a little bit of a story because a

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friend of mine, really amazing bass player named Evan Floye

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Barnes that lives here in Seattle's where I live. He

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wrote a song called Apex of a Beautiful Day and

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it sounded like some chords that I would have put together,

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and I told him I would write some lyrics to it,

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and I didn't realize it would take a decade for

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me to do that, but finally I did, and so

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it was called stay Here with Me. I put a

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bridge to it as well. So the reason why I

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was laughing is because the first single from that album, yes,

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was called easy to Forget, and I was like, oh,

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I was forgetting the Navy. You could tell I was

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kind of so that was That's funny.

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That is funny though, So Darius, for our audiences out there,

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a lot of musicians are listening, and then a lot

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of the fans that want to maybe get into music

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are listening. And so there's so much social media, there's

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so many different things online. There's so much coming at

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us all the time. And you and I met because

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you have this wonderful program called Jazz Pro Jazz Piano Pro,

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and I love your emails. But I'll get to that

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in a minute, but please share with our listeners the

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website if they want to check out your studio and

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your teachings.

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Yeah, it would be jazz pianopro dot net. That would

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get you to a presentation and get you really get

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your feed in, and like, really, my method and my

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point of view of how I think is effective to

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start teaching people and actually how to make jazz easier

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to understand it can I feel like it gets taught

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very in a very over complicated way. So that's my

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way of saying, hey, like this is doable if you

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do it a specific way.

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So some of I don't know. I'm not giving away

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your secrets. I read your emails and they're so inspiring

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to me. And you focus on scales and you and

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you and I have talked a couple of times where

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you're like put the book away.

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You're like, yeah, just get.

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Rid of the sheet music. We get rid of like

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the sheet of the you know whatever scales I'm looking at,

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and we talked about breaking it down to look at

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it from a different point of view, and it's not complicated.

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So for for many of my listeners who may be

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more new to this world, how could we share with

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them in the most simplified way. How you let's say,

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take a C major scale has no sharp, so flats,

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then you have the A minor that's the reflection of

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the sea. So how could we how can we in

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a nutshell again without giving secrets away, to share with

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our listeners a little a little snippet of your approof.

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Well, so you know, especially for for people that want

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to make music, and you know, as improvisers. You know,

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like if you want to read music and you read

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the classics, that's that's one skill, that's a skill, But

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that skill reading doesn't necessarily give you the ability to

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create music, the same as reading a book doesn't make

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you an author. It's he it's helpful. So I focus on,

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especially when people are starting out in the beginning, to

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focus on one scale, because of course jazz has like

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oh you know, lydian lydian dominant and as so many

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these scales, half tone, hole tone, whole tone, scale, like

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they have so many, so many things, and a lot

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of times I find that that teachers want to you know,

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they they mean well, but they're they want to give

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their students all of that, but giving it to them

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at the beginning to memorize is just really discouraging and

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and over complicated, you know, like because I feel like,

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you're not going to use any scale but the major

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scale until it's time to make your solos interesting. So

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major scales is like the thing, because that's going to

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lead to everything else if you can fully understand and

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squeeze the juice out of that. Because chords are inside

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the major scale, and that's what you these building blocks

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to making music. They're in the major scale, and you

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can accomplish so much. You can accomplish actually everything from

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learning all the chords, even learning altered extensions of of

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of chords and reading lead sheets and all of that,

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because all of that precedes you making your solos interesting. Yes,

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and the moment it's time for you to make your

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solos interesting, you need the other scales, but not a

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second before, or else you'll just be bogged down learning

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those scales that you're wondering how to use. Because you're

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only going to use them taking but the major scale,

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you're gonna need that. To have chords in your back pocket,

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not like have someone give you chords. You're going to

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like have an unshakable confidence because they're just in there

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in every other note fashion, you know. Yeah, I mean

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like like someone can't ever tell me that E major

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seven has a D natural in it, because I know

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that E major doesn't have a D in it. Like

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when you have those things, when you have that, when

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you have that, you just can't be fooled. So I

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definitely focused there and discourage people from trying to get

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anything else together beyond that right at the beginning.

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So when you, from from my experience and from us chatting,

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you offer a forty five minute session for anyone that

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wants to step into learning with you. And I would

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think this is not for like the very beginner who

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doesn't know their notes yet or there or have an

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idea of their scales yet.

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Is that correct?

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It can be because you know, like scales are pretty basic,

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so if you're okay, So for the beginner, it's great

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because you don't have a lot of bad habits to

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unlearn and you'd be stuck yeah, and you'd be starting

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in a very focused and very step by step way

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instead of Oh, I practiced this for a while and

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I had to go over here and find out what

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that was. No, you have a step by step you know,

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in the jazz p have a pro mastermind, and I

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ideally not it necessarily ideally, but I just get to

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what you're speaking to. Like. It definitely speaks to the

230
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jazz p on pro Mastermind, definitely, And my approach speaks

231
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to people who have been practicing and are stuck and

232
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don't know why they're stuck. And so that forty five

233
00:13:57.080 --> 00:13:59.960
minute session a lot of times onearthed why they're stuck

234
00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:02.799
and what we think a good step by step plan

235
00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:06.480
would be, and whether they study with me or not,

236
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they have that step by step plan, and if they

237
00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:10.759
want to work on that plan with me, then we

238
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talk about what that might look like.

239
00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:15.120
Good. Yeah, sure, No, that's great.

240
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And you know, you're very easy to speak with. And

241
00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:23.879
Sunday one day when when I when there's like more

242
00:14:23.960 --> 00:14:27.039
days than the week, added more time on the clock,

243
00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:30.720
I do want to take lessons from you because there's

244
00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:34.399
so much that you teach that in some ways I

245
00:14:34.440 --> 00:14:37.279
don't teach it the same way, but I don't. I

246
00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:39.320
think I would learn so much from you, even though

247
00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:41.919
I've been playing forty five plus years, I would still

248
00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:44.720
learn so much from you, and I look forward to

249
00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:48.399
that time. I'm going to jump around for a minute,

250
00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:53.320
because I really feel and know a lot of people

251
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that are not in the music world, and especially maybe

252
00:14:56.679 --> 00:15:00.879
from us growing up with this world of like looking

253
00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:05.600
up to icons and musicians that are like bigger than life.

254
00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:09.679
You know, we didn't wake up and just like I

255
00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:11.720
didn't wake up, and just like, hey, I can play piano,

256
00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:15.759
yet I'm teaching Like it doesn't work that way. Like

257
00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:18.639
we've had to build our way up to where we

258
00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:22.360
are and make the connections we had to make, and

259
00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:27.600
you know, take on jobs that to supplement because it's

260
00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:31.080
not and I guess I'm more speaking for myself. It's

261
00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:33.519
not like the one stop shop and like all my

262
00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:36.279
bills are paid and gases in the car, fee in

263
00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:40.039
the fridge, and I'm I'm just living the dreams. It's

264
00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:44.919
work at it's work with a purpose, but so it

265
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.399
doesn't feel like work. It's almost like a juggle. And

266
00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:50.879
I've said in previous shows, it's not the struggle.

267
00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:51.799
It's the juggle.

268
00:15:52.360 --> 00:15:56.879
How well do you juggle? Because we all juggle, don't Yeah,

269
00:15:57.120 --> 00:15:59.399
forget the struggle. We just just call it a juggle.

270
00:15:59.720 --> 00:16:03.000
So share this a little bit. You're recording artists. You've

271
00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:05.919
done more than I've done, and I haven't walked that

272
00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:10.240
path yet, see yet, I haven't walked that path yet.

273
00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:14.000
But share with our audience a little bit about your

274
00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:18.039
experiences on how you've you know, how you've zig zagged

275
00:16:18.120 --> 00:16:21.759
in life and you still like keep you've got it going.

276
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Uh you know, I don't know that there is a formula,

277
00:16:26.279 --> 00:16:30.039
but for you know, like for for me, uh, funny,

278
00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:39.279
at this funny, at this age twenty five, which forty five, hilarious.

279
00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:44.559
I'm for the record, I'm fifty five. But at this age,

280
00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:49.240
what it looks like my best results have come in

281
00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:52.240
surrendering to what's right in front of me and just

282
00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:54.960
going with that and then figuring out how to work

283
00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:58.039
in because as you know, music and some of those

284
00:16:58.080 --> 00:17:00.960
good times in music and where everything's flowing seasonal, it's

285
00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:02.960
like it's not like, oh, this is going to be

286
00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:04.480
this way in the next six months. You're kind of

287
00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:06.400
like this is a busy season and then it's going

288
00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:09.440
to be slow season. And I remember coming, you know,

289
00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:13.000
as a younger full time musician, knowing that the first

290
00:17:13.079 --> 00:17:14.920
three months of the year we're going to be slow

291
00:17:14.960 --> 00:17:17.759
because you know, all the New Year's Eve and Christmas

292
00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:20.799
and everyone is taking the first three months to reup,

293
00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:22.440
so there's probably not going to be that many gigs

294
00:17:22.440 --> 00:17:25.200
and all that stuff. So knowing how to either put

295
00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:28.200
back money or get a part time job for the

296
00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:30.880
first three months and then sometimes being surprised that January

297
00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:34.720
through March was very busy, you know, So a lot

298
00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.519
of times for me, it's just going with the flow.

299
00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:41.039
Do you need to stop and regroup and then do

300
00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:45.519
that and then have plans to get back on either

301
00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:51.480
creating or getting back out to play live. And you know,

302
00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:56.839
a weird thing because I have a day job, and

303
00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:00.759
the day job has helped me not do a lot

304
00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:04.000
of gigs that I didn't want to do, nice because

305
00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:05.200
when I was a full you know, when you're a

306
00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:08.480
full time musician and you know, it's sometimes it gets

307
00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:12.119
feast or famine. It's like you're by yourself playing stuff

308
00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:14.400
you don't want to play, but that you might have

309
00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.799
to because you have to keep the lights on. So

310
00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:21.599
having having a day job, Yes, there's a big chunk

311
00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:24.920
of either practice time or creative time that gets taken away.

312
00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:27.880
But also I get to focus on the projects that

313
00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:32.039
I really love focusing on and can say no to

314
00:18:32.119 --> 00:18:34.880
the ones that I didn't want to do anyway.

315
00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:38.240
Yeah, yeah, I get it, and.

316
00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:41.079
You know, I guess it to I don't know if

317
00:18:41.119 --> 00:18:43.200
that really answers your question, but it's kind of like

318
00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:47.799
going just kind of going with the flow of things.

319
00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:51.359
I mean, it makes it sound easy, but there's there

320
00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:53.799
is juggle and struggle with that, you know, because yeah,

321
00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:58.480
sometimes where what the flow is saying is contrary to

322
00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:01.400
what you think is better best for your art. However,

323
00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:06.319
life you living life also informs your art and that's uh,

324
00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:08.599
you need to have the stories to tell about real life.

325
00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:10.880
You know. If you if I was I was just

326
00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:13.839
you know, being a musician all the time all the

327
00:19:13.880 --> 00:19:15.759
time and was full, you know, I don't know that

328
00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:17.799
I would have a lot of life stories to tell.

329
00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:23.079
But you know being a dad helps. Uh Uh, having

330
00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:25.039
a dage and not being able to do what you wanted,

331
00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:27.640
what you say you should be doing for a while

332
00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:33.160
because of whatever reasons, it gives you material. It gives

333
00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:35.759
you material. So like at the age I am now

334
00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:40.799
looking back, the best course of action is surrender and

335
00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:44.839
still make sure that I am participating in what I

336
00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:47.079
love and what the message that I might have to

337
00:19:47.119 --> 00:19:50.440
share with people, uh, in whatever way I can, Like

338
00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:52.319
you look at my calendar and be like, okay, well

339
00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:54.000
I have this, this, and this going, and then well

340
00:19:54.039 --> 00:19:57.119
where can we fit these few important things in over

341
00:19:57.160 --> 00:19:58.559
the course of the next three months, you know, like

342
00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:03.319
so yeah, and having people in your life to help

343
00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:07.119
remind you of that, Like I've gotten better at that

344
00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:11.160
at having people that are motivating me to like, Okay,

345
00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:12.359
we're going to do this next.

346
00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:12.920
You know.

347
00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:15.359
That's why I'm working on a new project because someone

348
00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:17.880
from the outside is saying, hey, I would like to

349
00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:20.720
promote something, but we need something to quote. So that's

350
00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:24.160
I'm like, Okay, that's cool that this person has a

351
00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:29.799
thing going helping me stay creative and creative minded, because

352
00:20:29.799 --> 00:20:32.119
it can get easy to get lost, and many times

353
00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:33.440
I have looked up and been like, oh my god,

354
00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:35.359
it's been a while since I created and set down

355
00:20:35.400 --> 00:20:37.920
and you know, but then you come back. The coming

356
00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:41.640
back over and over again is I think the coming

357
00:20:41.720 --> 00:20:44.920
back over and over again inside of going with that

358
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:48.119
flow is the answer for me, it has been the answer.

359
00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:51.240
I mean, I think that's you know, because you can't

360
00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:53.240
all the way control the things that are going on

361
00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:55.160
in life, but you con throw your responses to it

362
00:20:55.240 --> 00:20:58.519
and what you're going to do given the new circumstances.

363
00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:01.319
And I've been through the you know, the thing that

364
00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:03.759
we lose hope. I mean, like I said fifty five,

365
00:21:03.799 --> 00:21:05.799
I've been through the lost hope and it's like, oh,

366
00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:08.200
make this work and I'm never gonna I'm never going

367
00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:10.839
to do this. And you know, it finds a way

368
00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:13.200
and if you really stay focused and that's really in

369
00:21:13.240 --> 00:21:15.079
your heart to do you right.

370
00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:18.519
And so for for listeners out there, like and I

371
00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:21.160
have friends that like, I'm just quitting my job. I'm

372
00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:22.599
just going to do this full time and be.

373
00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:26.799
Like whoa wait, put on the brakes, like.

374
00:21:26.200 --> 00:21:29.480
Like you know, you want to have that that juggle,

375
00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:32.920
And like you said, there's I'm listening to a lot

376
00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:36.400
of what you're saying. There's you need consistency, you need

377
00:21:36.440 --> 00:21:39.640
to be flexible, you need you need your family, you

378
00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:42.640
need your friends, you need you need like a whole

379
00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:46.200
salad mix together of all this stuff to keep you

380
00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:50.200
solid because we as human beings and especially as artists,

381
00:21:50.759 --> 00:21:54.559
like we'll give it our all, and it can we

382
00:21:54.599 --> 00:21:57.240
can easily burn out kind of like what you were saying,

383
00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:58.960
like I can keep doing this and doing stuff I

384
00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:01.039
really don't want to do, just pay the bills, but

385
00:22:01.079 --> 00:22:04.200
I'm loving what I'm doing, and so you.

386
00:22:04.119 --> 00:22:07.160
Know, it's I don't know if it's a thing about getting.

387
00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:11.200
Older, but I had this conversation with younger girls the

388
00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:13.440
other day and I said, you know what, I don't know,

389
00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:16.680
but it might be something with getting older where we

390
00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:20.880
find comfort inconsistency, and when I teach music, when I

391
00:22:20.920 --> 00:22:24.359
teach sheet music, I'm like, the beauty about teaching.

392
00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:26.279
Sheet music is that it's consistent.

393
00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:29.519
But once you own it, then you can you can,

394
00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:33.200
you know, jazz it up or improvise on it, but

395
00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:37.279
like know your foundation, own it and know that it's

396
00:22:37.319 --> 00:22:40.039
consistent because it's not going to change unless you change it.

397
00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:44.119
So with what you're sharing, you know, it's it's so

398
00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:47.480
important for I think it's also like mental health, like

399
00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:52.119
we and there's no surprise it's not uncommon today to

400
00:22:52.200 --> 00:22:59.480
bring that up because we all most people work most

401
00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:03.480
of us, you know, have to earn a living to

402
00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:06.839
make it, to pay the bills, to to eat. And

403
00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:09.640
that's that's not like uh oh sorry, what was me?

404
00:23:09.960 --> 00:23:13.440
It's just life. That's just like how do you how

405
00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:16.680
do you juggled? Like nobody's like what fun would it

406
00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:18.960
be if we didn't have to like work and do

407
00:23:19.079 --> 00:23:22.000
all this stuff? Like I don't know, I'm having fun,

408
00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:25.680
you know, and you meet people along the way, and

409
00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:28.839
like you said, going with the flow. You know, you're

410
00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:30.920
not giving up on life, you're not giving up on

411
00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:34.240
your dream, but you're being open to like the universe

412
00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:38.079
and you know, people walking into your life and inspiring

413
00:23:38.119 --> 00:23:40.079
you and being like hey, oh I know so and

414
00:23:40.119 --> 00:23:44.240
so let me you know, uh let me introduce you

415
00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:46.480
or hey you know, like you were saying, you have

416
00:23:46.519 --> 00:23:47.799
a project coming up.

417
00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:52.640
Yes, yeah, yeah exactly, And and that's comes from you know,

418
00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:55.200
kind of going with the flow and meeting meeting this

419
00:23:55.279 --> 00:23:57.599
person in the studio because they wanted me to uh

420
00:23:58.079 --> 00:24:02.400
play play live something that needed to needed to get recorded.

421
00:24:03.079 --> 00:24:04.920
And then that just led to like, oh, we're working

422
00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:05.720
on a project now.

423
00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:09.200
So yeah no, that's great, that's great.

424
00:24:09.480 --> 00:24:12.440
And again for our listeners out there, how do they

425
00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:16.240
find you on on your website for jazz.

426
00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:23.079
Pro jazz pianopro dot net, jazz pianopro dot net, I

427
00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:26.599
see the theories weewich dot rocks. That's definitely the artist

428
00:24:26.680 --> 00:24:28.319
website where you can see hear a lot of my

429
00:24:28.480 --> 00:24:29.119
music as well.

430
00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:34.160
Okay, nice, nice jeris what would you share with our

431
00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:38.880
audience out there that maybe is thinking about taking up

432
00:24:38.920 --> 00:24:43.119
an instrument and playing, but not not sure. And you know,

433
00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:45.400
we've we've been there where you know, you kind of

434
00:24:45.440 --> 00:24:48.400
like have to break the ice and you kind of

435
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:51.200
fake it till you make it think. But but for

436
00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:55.559
our audiences out there that might be interested but not sure,

437
00:24:55.960 --> 00:24:58.359
what what could we what could we offer them to

438
00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:02.079
invite them to to get more involved?

439
00:25:02.599 --> 00:25:05.480
Well, well, you know, I would always if you have

440
00:25:05.720 --> 00:25:10.559
any inclination to you're drawn to a specific instrument, just

441
00:25:10.680 --> 00:25:16.119
trust that inner knowing that inner desire, and try some things.

442
00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:21.079
You know. Of course, I'm partial to the piano. It's

443
00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:24.200
like basically the and I don't really play any other instruments.

444
00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:26.680
I sing in songwrite, but I don't really play any

445
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:30.119
other instruments. How and something that may feed into this

446
00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:32.799
what you're saying is like, if I had it to

447
00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:35.920
do all over again, and if I had known that

448
00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:38.319
I was going to be a musician, especially when that

449
00:25:38.359 --> 00:25:41.599
wants to create music, I would have started with the

450
00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:45.599
drums then piano, Like if I had a music academy,

451
00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:49.279
I'd make no matter what instrument you play, you need

452
00:25:49.319 --> 00:25:49.799
to know.

453
00:25:50.039 --> 00:25:52.680
How to play the drums right for the timing.

454
00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:56.720
Drums and the piano because you know, as musicians, I

455
00:25:56.759 --> 00:25:59.640
feel like, especially a creative musician, you're only as good

456
00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:04.440
as your sense of time. You start with that instrument

457
00:26:04.480 --> 00:26:06.720
that is responsible for the time, then you take that

458
00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:10.960
great sense of time to other every other instrument you touch. Now,

459
00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:12.880
I don't play drums, but that's just me. If I

460
00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:14.559
had it to do over again, that's what I would do,

461
00:26:14.640 --> 00:26:17.599
and that's what I would That's what I would recommend

462
00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:20.519
for people that maybe party from zero. And the reason

463
00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:23.759
why piano, especially for Western music, is because it's basically

464
00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:26.440
the calculator for Western music. All the rules about it

465
00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:28.839
are just laid out in front of you. The knights

466
00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:32.279
and the spaces between notes and harmony, it's just right

467
00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:35.480
there on the piano. So if you have those two,

468
00:26:35.559 --> 00:26:38.759
you've got what's going on. You've got basically what's going

469
00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:41.359
on in Western music. There's a sense of time, and

470
00:26:41.480 --> 00:26:46.880
there's this harmony and theory as well as full range

471
00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:48.000
from lowest to highest.

472
00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:50.519
You've got it's literally black and white.

473
00:26:50.839 --> 00:26:56.920
Yeah, it's literally and so and so logical. When you're

474
00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:59.920
trying to teach it, it's like it defies our lives,

475
00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:03.359
because our lives are not as logical as that piano

476
00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:04.119
thing is.

477
00:27:04.599 --> 00:27:08.000
And the craziest thing is, and I teach this to

478
00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:11.759
the youngest of my students. The keyboard is just a

479
00:27:11.759 --> 00:27:14.319
bunch of patterns. And then if you break it down,

480
00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:15.319
and this goes into like.

481
00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:17.640
More adulthood, not children's mind.

482
00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:20.079
But there are twelve notes, you know, there's twelve numbers

483
00:27:20.119 --> 00:27:23.440
on the clock, there's twelve you know, I don't know, religion, disciples,

484
00:27:23.480 --> 00:27:26.799
there's twelve of this. There's the number twelve. And you

485
00:27:26.839 --> 00:27:33.000
know it's almost humorous, yes, you know, And it's so simplified.

486
00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:36.039
Yet we make it so complex.

487
00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:39.440
Right, I mean, and there's a complex you know. It's

488
00:27:39.480 --> 00:27:44.599
because like when you're listening to music and you're enjoying music,

489
00:27:44.680 --> 00:27:47.559
or you're even in love with music, none of that

490
00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:52.720
seems connected to logic. It's very ethereal and spiritual and

491
00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:57.240
inspirational and like you know, could be even even borders

492
00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:00.160
on the wu WU. So when you sit down to

493
00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:03.400
learn it and you're and you're bomb maybe even I

494
00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:05.640
don't know about bombarded, but like you're, you start to

495
00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:08.559
realize that, oh, to get to get gain access to

496
00:28:08.599 --> 00:28:12.920
that world of magic, it's actually pretty logical, Like it's

497
00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:17.559
actually super logical. Well it's going to It may confuse

498
00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:21.279
you how logical logical it is, because life's not as

499
00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:26.039
logical as getting the getting availing yourself of those tools

500
00:28:26.079 --> 00:28:28.160
to make music super logical.

501
00:28:29.160 --> 00:28:34.400
Yes, yes, A couple of questions for our listeners out

502
00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:40.839
there that are musicians or just beginning to become or

503
00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:45.000
the becoming of You mentioned that you have recorded some

504
00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:49.000
records or some music, and you've also mentioned that you're

505
00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:51.799
in bands. So I would love to share with my

506
00:28:51.880 --> 00:28:55.960
audience a little bit about your journeys on both those topics.

507
00:28:56.039 --> 00:29:01.279
And and you know, what what's it been like for you?

508
00:29:00.519 --> 00:29:00.640
Uh?

509
00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:05.279
You know? So making recordings is so when you're doing

510
00:29:05.319 --> 00:29:10.640
it yourself, is very time consuming and very expensive. It's

511
00:29:10.640 --> 00:29:14.279
been made less expensive with the advent of how computers

512
00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:17.240
and home studio stuff is you know, you can get

513
00:29:17.240 --> 00:29:21.759
a lot done these days or for a lot less,

514
00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:24.799
but you know that's part of the juggle, you know,

515
00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:31.200
like working, working, trying to create and practice and record.

516
00:29:31.319 --> 00:29:36.880
And like, I feel like my first album was all live.

517
00:29:37.440 --> 00:29:40.200
I just recorded live. It was no computers really involved

518
00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:44.079
except for mixing or whatever. And I feel like I

519
00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:47.640
want to kind of get back to that. But we'll see.

520
00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:53.279
But my second and third albums. Oddly enough, I produced

521
00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:57.160
the first two albums and then to two songs on

522
00:29:57.200 --> 00:30:01.000
the second album were produced by other produce ucers, and

523
00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:06.400
as a player songwriter. I after that second album and

524
00:30:06.440 --> 00:30:11.880
I saw how well the two people that produced that,

525
00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:15.400
the two tracks that got produced by other producers, they

526
00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:17.799
turned out so well. I realized that, oh yeah, there's

527
00:30:17.839 --> 00:30:20.799
there's people that that's all they do is produce music.

528
00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:23.839
I'm wearing all these hats. So from now and I'm

529
00:30:23.880 --> 00:30:25.720
going to try to hire people that that's all they

530
00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:29.319
do is produce to at least consult. You know, that's sure,

531
00:30:29.359 --> 00:30:31.359
I could do it, but like I would love to

532
00:30:31.400 --> 00:30:33.359
talk to someone that's all that they do is produce,

533
00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:35.680
so they would I would get more information and so

534
00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:41.240
the next two albums were had producers people that whose

535
00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:46.359
work I look up to, Vitamin D and Donie Goodman

536
00:30:46.440 --> 00:30:51.720
and Ian Delile so so. But the process is like

537
00:30:51.759 --> 00:30:53.880
another go with the flow for me, Like it's not

538
00:30:53.960 --> 00:30:58.000
like a prescribed this is how I'm going to do it.

539
00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:01.799
It's it's an adventure every product, sure, an it's an

540
00:31:01.799 --> 00:31:06.960
adventure every project like this this next one that I'm doing, Like,

541
00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:10.559
I'm just going to go song by song, like I

542
00:31:11.440 --> 00:31:15.079
have a collection of songs that may be an album okay,

543
00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:18.640
and may not be an album. I may need to supplement,

544
00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:23.559
but I'm looking forward to wherever that leads. Actually, I'm

545
00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:26.279
looking forward to wherever that leads just the opportunity to

546
00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:28.680
stay creative and the things that have been in my

547
00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:30.480
hard drive for a long time, being able to see

548
00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:31.039
the light of day.

549
00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:32.000
Nice.

550
00:31:32.359 --> 00:31:36.200
So, before you answer the other question, when you're creating

551
00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:40.160
an album, do you have like a theme, like is

552
00:31:40.200 --> 00:31:43.000
your album theme based or are you just like, oh yeah,

553
00:31:43.039 --> 00:31:45.240
here's ten songs, just gonna throw it on there. Or

554
00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:48.680
do you have a purpose like a in your own world,

555
00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:52.359
in your own mind and heart, do you have like

556
00:31:52.359 --> 00:31:54.759
like this song, you know, it made me feel like

557
00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:59.000
this chapter of my life or or I mean I don't.

558
00:31:58.839 --> 00:32:02.480
Know the song. The songs are like that chapters of

559
00:32:02.519 --> 00:32:04.920
life or just you me telling stories from my life.

560
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.559
An album usually for me these days, you know, especially

561
00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:14.160
in the last two albums, are just collections of songs

562
00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:18.559
that I think go together. They're not like, oh, I

563
00:32:18.599 --> 00:32:21.160
have this theme and I create an album from the theme.

564
00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:25.039
It's like, oh, I've just been following the muse off

565
00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:26.680
and on for a few years, and now I have

566
00:32:26.759 --> 00:32:29.480
a collection of things to pick from. So yeah, that's

567
00:32:29.480 --> 00:32:31.680
what's going on right now. I mean, because even the

568
00:32:31.720 --> 00:32:34.119
ten songs that I have scripted out for this next record,

569
00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:36.119
and there's more songs that I could choose from, but

570
00:32:36.319 --> 00:32:41.279
these ten seem to have either either a similar vibe

571
00:32:41.480 --> 00:32:45.759
or feeling, and in the list that I put together,

572
00:32:45.799 --> 00:32:52.160
it seems like, oh, that goes together and we'll see. Yeah.

573
00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:57.160
But mostly just from again like me surrendering over the

574
00:32:57.240 --> 00:33:02.640
years to the creativity, you know, coming through and what's

575
00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:03.440
there now and.

576
00:33:04.039 --> 00:33:06.319
Right like getting out of your own way because we've

577
00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:08.720
all done it. We all do it, we all have

578
00:33:08.880 --> 00:33:11.440
done it. It's just kind of like, even for myself,

579
00:33:11.640 --> 00:33:14.319
it's not the only person that limits me.

580
00:33:14.319 --> 00:33:15.400
Is me right?

581
00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:15.839
Right?

582
00:33:16.279 --> 00:33:21.240
And for me like like making I mean, I know

583
00:33:21.359 --> 00:33:23.960
back in the day, especially my heroes like Stevie Wonder

584
00:33:24.000 --> 00:33:27.759
and Prince Like, they came up in an album focused era,

585
00:33:28.319 --> 00:33:32.119
so I know that their thinking about an album is

586
00:33:32.279 --> 00:33:38.480
very thematic and cohesive. And for me, for me these

587
00:33:38.599 --> 00:33:42.400
days and with the juggling, like I feel like it

588
00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:44.519
would be fun to have the luxury to work that way,

589
00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:47.759
especially with a budget or studio budgets and being able

590
00:33:47.759 --> 00:33:49.920
to work that way. But for me right now, that

591
00:33:49.960 --> 00:33:53.519
would be another barrier to getting it done if I

592
00:33:53.559 --> 00:33:55.480
had to, like, oh, sit, I have to make it thematic,

593
00:33:55.640 --> 00:33:57.680
like let's just take the group of songs I've got

594
00:33:58.599 --> 00:34:02.200
and have them go to get a specific way. Otherwise

595
00:34:02.279 --> 00:34:07.359
I may not even do this excuse to not do it,

596
00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:09.000
or to waylay it, or like oh I got to

597
00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:11.280
wait until it's this, No you don't. You got to

598
00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:13.360
put your put your music out because there's more music

599
00:34:13.400 --> 00:34:13.679
to make.

600
00:34:14.039 --> 00:34:17.519
Yeah, there is this book I read not to get

601
00:34:17.559 --> 00:34:19.800
off the subject, but I'm going to come back to it.

602
00:34:19.960 --> 00:34:23.000
There's this book I read by Sonya Croquette, and she's

603
00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:28.360
she's a spiritual healer, Lady and I'll never forget because

604
00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:30.960
I've taken this with me everywhere I go and every

605
00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:34.960
decision I make. She had said, especially some difficult times

606
00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:37.719
in my life, really has helped me. In her book,

607
00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:42.159
she said, we're always looking out there like what's next,

608
00:34:42.239 --> 00:34:44.199
what's coming? What are we going to do? Where are

609
00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:46.400
we going to go? But she goes, we forget to

610
00:34:46.559 --> 00:34:48.960
look down or look around us and look for the

611
00:34:49.000 --> 00:34:52.599
bread crumbs because it's the bread crumbs that are going

612
00:34:52.679 --> 00:34:56.079
to create where you are now, to where you're going.

613
00:34:57.280 --> 00:34:58.840
And I just love that.

614
00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:00.559
To take it.

615
00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:04.079
Yeah, no, yeah, to jump to piggyback on that, Like

616
00:35:04.119 --> 00:35:07.199
that's definitely something as at my age and I realize

617
00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:09.880
its valuable, Like well, it's easy to be like, oh

618
00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:12.360
when I get that thing, then I can create this. Like,

619
00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:14.079
I mean there's some things that I there's some gear

620
00:35:14.079 --> 00:35:16.440
that I want, but like, really, like what do I

621
00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:19.519
have right now that I'm not maybe that I'm not

622
00:35:19.559 --> 00:35:23.719
even using? Like we're you're right, we we too often

623
00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:29.119
look out out there for permission to live fully. But yeah,

624
00:35:29.559 --> 00:35:33.079
it's your life right now. Just use what you've got.

625
00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:36.920
I mean, there's so many stories that I've heard that

626
00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:42.360
have been inspiring about musicians that just I mean a

627
00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:44.360
luxury to do this if you can. But like just

628
00:35:44.440 --> 00:35:46.199
took just got in a car and went to a

629
00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:48.039
cabin and just took the gear that they had and

630
00:35:48.159 --> 00:35:50.079
recorded an album and it was magical.

631
00:35:50.280 --> 00:35:51.159
Uh uh.

632
00:35:51.239 --> 00:35:52.880
But you know a lot of times it's just like

633
00:35:53.159 --> 00:35:56.719
cutting cutting the bull and be like okay, yeah I could,

634
00:35:57.079 --> 00:35:59.760
I could wait until then, but like now, it's always

635
00:35:59.800 --> 00:36:04.639
the now. It's always yes, it's always with whatever you have,

636
00:36:04.880 --> 00:36:06.519
even if you just have a guitar and a mic.

637
00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:09.119
We have just a piano and a mic. Now is

638
00:36:09.159 --> 00:36:09.440
the time.

639
00:36:09.920 --> 00:36:12.559
I'm not saying go quit your job and go to

640
00:36:12.599 --> 00:36:15.639
the cabin, although that is a great idea. However, it's

641
00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:18.920
just you know, in the real and the reality of things,

642
00:36:19.000 --> 00:36:21.519
you got to put it in perspective. Sorry, but that's

643
00:36:21.559 --> 00:36:22.320
the truth.

644
00:36:22.119 --> 00:36:24.079
Right yeah, yeah, I mean, and your job is going

645
00:36:24.119 --> 00:36:27.159
to help finance your love of art. You know that

646
00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:31.320
you're going to need some money to keep that thing going.

647
00:36:32.079 --> 00:36:36.480
That's or to pay for the studio. Absolutely, so tell

648
00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:38.880
us a little bit about and then I know I'm

649
00:36:38.920 --> 00:36:42.199
in my second season here and I love doing this

650
00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:44.719
radio show, so I promise some of my listeners or

651
00:36:44.800 --> 00:36:47.039
many of my listeners that I'd play a little piano

652
00:36:48.199 --> 00:36:51.639
before I do that, though, can you please share with us,

653
00:36:51.679 --> 00:36:55.679
I asked, before I cut you off my fault, tell

654
00:36:55.760 --> 00:36:57.920
us a little bit about your bands and how people

655
00:36:57.960 --> 00:36:59.599
can come out to see you and kind of like

656
00:36:59.639 --> 00:37:01.760
how you Matt and how you you know, got to

657
00:37:01.800 --> 00:37:02.440
where you are.

658
00:37:02.880 --> 00:37:07.800
Oh boy, okay, so yeah, like two minutes, it's all.

659
00:37:08.039 --> 00:37:11.519
So the bands that I tour with, the most of

660
00:37:11.760 --> 00:37:16.800
the most famous Diggable Planets who in ninety three had

661
00:37:16.840 --> 00:37:20.679
a song called well. The catchphrase was cool like that

662
00:37:21.840 --> 00:37:23.719
and it was a rebirth of the name of the

663
00:37:23.760 --> 00:37:27.760
song was rebirth of slick and I'm from Seattle, sure

664
00:37:28.280 --> 00:37:31.880
Ishmael Butler is the creator of that that group and

665
00:37:31.960 --> 00:37:36.639
he did that in Brooklyn and New York. Uh, that's

666
00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:39.639
where that that band was born. However, what people don't

667
00:37:39.679 --> 00:37:42.480
know is that he went to high school in Seattle, Washington.

668
00:37:42.800 --> 00:37:48.639
So that's why we all the whole band is from Seattle. Nice.

669
00:37:48.360 --> 00:37:53.199
He now lives here, and so it's just was a

670
00:37:53.280 --> 00:37:56.519
no brainer to have to look back in his musical

671
00:37:56.519 --> 00:38:01.119
pass and put together folks from the scene where he lives. Uh,

672
00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:05.360
I mean, I mean I don't know, that's that's exactly

673
00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:07.559
what I was just broaching next to us, like I mean, well,

674
00:38:07.599 --> 00:38:10.559
I mean we we met under musical circumstances, just probably

675
00:38:10.960 --> 00:38:12.760
a producer that I was working with, or a studio

676
00:38:12.800 --> 00:38:14.440
owner that I was working with that he was also

677
00:38:14.440 --> 00:38:17.599
working with that and we we got a face to face.

678
00:38:17.639 --> 00:38:20.440
I think we knew each other was even before you know,

679
00:38:20.480 --> 00:38:24.280
our reputations probably preceded us and uh for a long while.

680
00:38:24.320 --> 00:38:26.000
I mean I wasn't playing in any of his bands,

681
00:38:26.000 --> 00:38:28.840
but you know, was was in conversations with him and

682
00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:32.840
know that he would wanted to create with me. And finally,

683
00:38:33.719 --> 00:38:37.960
I think I subbed for a Diggable Planets gig before

684
00:38:37.960 --> 00:38:41.639
I actually played. And the pianist that was in Diggable

685
00:38:41.639 --> 00:38:47.360
Planets before me was Brian Jackson, who would was was

686
00:38:47.880 --> 00:38:51.760
of Gil Scott Heron fame. So I was very honored

687
00:38:51.760 --> 00:38:55.800
to step in after him into Diggable Planets. And and

688
00:38:55.920 --> 00:38:59.320
the other band, Shabbaz Palaces is another one of Ishmael

689
00:38:59.320 --> 00:38:59.960
Butler's baby.

690
00:39:00.639 --> 00:39:00.800
Uh.

691
00:39:01.480 --> 00:39:04.039
You know Ishmael, you know back in ninety three putting

692
00:39:04.119 --> 00:39:06.679
jazz and hip hop together in that way that that

693
00:39:06.679 --> 00:39:09.920
that that him and those producers did was was groundbreaking

694
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:15.280
and visionary, and Shabbaz Palaces is another futuristic. Uh no

695
00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:19.079
one's thinking like this but him kind of deal and

696
00:39:19.480 --> 00:39:25.079
very refreshing and engaging way, like, yeah.

697
00:39:24.519 --> 00:39:28.320
Now, are you guys playing anytime? Coming up soon?

698
00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:31.880
Let's see. So we just came off of a small

699
00:39:31.880 --> 00:39:34.880
tour we did. We played in Seattle, we played La

700
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:37.719
in the Lodge Room, and we played in San Francisco

701
00:39:38.360 --> 00:39:42.000
just a week and a half ago. Okay, And I

702
00:39:42.039 --> 00:39:46.360
feel like Shabazz has something. Oh I don't exactly know

703
00:39:46.400 --> 00:39:49.159
because it's in the next couple of months, but definitely

704
00:39:49.440 --> 00:39:53.679
they have a website Shabbaz Palaces. Uh and uh, I

705
00:39:53.719 --> 00:39:57.639
know diggable planets. We play in Canada coming up to

706
00:39:57.679 --> 00:40:00.280
the next month, and we have some overseas tracks will

707
00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:02.920
coming in August, maybe some East Coast stuff as well.

708
00:40:03.599 --> 00:40:06.800
And so if listeners out there want to connect with

709
00:40:06.920 --> 00:40:10.880
you and follow you, is it just as easy as

710
00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:13.000
go to Facebook and find Darius will Rich.

711
00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:17.639
That is it? That is the ticket. Yeah, And and

712
00:40:17.639 --> 00:40:19.159
really the trick is just knowing how to spell my

713
00:40:19.239 --> 00:40:25.679
name Darius with two rs will Rich like will be Rich. Yeah,

714
00:40:25.679 --> 00:40:27.880
that's because if you can spell my name, then I'm

715
00:40:28.079 --> 00:40:28.880
I'm easy to find.

716
00:40:28.960 --> 00:40:32.639
But yes, yes you're not hard to find. Just look

717
00:40:32.719 --> 00:40:37.599
up piano pro. Yes, piano pro your name comes up.

718
00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:38.320
Yes.

719
00:40:38.800 --> 00:40:43.480
So it's Monday. And whether you're listening my listeners out

720
00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:46.639
there on the East Coast or the West Coast, it's

721
00:40:46.679 --> 00:40:49.400
still Monday. If you're tuning in from Europe. I know

722
00:40:49.440 --> 00:40:54.440
in Australia it's already Tuesday. Wherever you are, wherever you're

723
00:40:54.440 --> 00:40:57.360
tuning in from. I'm just going to play a little

724
00:40:57.360 --> 00:41:00.840
something just to say, hey, like take two minutes just

725
00:41:00.880 --> 00:41:03.639
to chell. If you're in a space and a place

726
00:41:03.639 --> 00:41:06.159
where you can close your eyes and relax. Awesome if

727
00:41:06.199 --> 00:41:10.760
you're driving, don't do that and H and yeah, just

728
00:41:10.920 --> 00:41:13.519
relax for a couple of minutes and then we'll continue

729
00:41:13.559 --> 00:41:18.559
with uh, with our conversation Darius And yeah, it's so

730
00:41:18.639 --> 00:43:35.480
awesome to have you here. H. Just a little little

731
00:43:35.559 --> 00:43:37.840
snippet of something I got to play yesterday at the

732
00:43:37.840 --> 00:43:43.320
Marriotte Hotel. We had a Body Soul expo and it

733
00:43:43.400 --> 00:43:44.199
was for Mother's Day.

734
00:43:44.199 --> 00:43:45.679
I got I got to be there and play a

735
00:43:45.719 --> 00:43:46.079
little bit.

736
00:43:46.119 --> 00:43:46.840
So that was fun.

737
00:43:47.679 --> 00:43:50.679
And it's hard to like play for like three minutes

738
00:43:50.719 --> 00:43:52.760
and stop because I'm like one of those people that

739
00:43:52.800 --> 00:43:56.159
could just sit and play for hours. But thanks for listening,

740
00:43:56.360 --> 00:43:59.239
Thanks for and thank you to my audience for tuning

741
00:43:59.280 --> 00:44:01.360
in and being here. I do this for all of you,

742
00:44:01.920 --> 00:44:05.880
and Darius for our listeners. Please tell us again how

743
00:44:06.039 --> 00:44:08.880
we connect with you and find you and sign up

744
00:44:08.920 --> 00:44:10.559
for your jazz classes.

745
00:44:11.320 --> 00:44:14.519
Yeah, so for the jazz piano pro mastermind, you would

746
00:44:14.559 --> 00:44:18.639
go to jazz pianopro dot net to really get a

747
00:44:18.760 --> 00:44:21.760
taste of what's going on there and what's available and

748
00:44:22.199 --> 00:44:27.800
how accessible jazz piano can be if taught that way.

749
00:44:28.559 --> 00:44:31.719
Yes, yes, And you make it fun. Your your emails

750
00:44:31.800 --> 00:44:35.280
are so informative. When I read them, I'm like, you

751
00:44:35.360 --> 00:44:38.760
must spend hours like putting together these, like they're so

752
00:44:39.519 --> 00:44:42.639
they're so easy to connect with because you're.

753
00:44:42.480 --> 00:44:43.880
Just like real about it.

754
00:44:43.880 --> 00:44:47.280
It's like, hey, if you're doing this, you can do

755
00:44:47.360 --> 00:44:50.159
this so easy, you know, so easily. You just make

756
00:44:50.199 --> 00:44:52.880
it so understandable. And I thank you for that because

757
00:44:52.920 --> 00:44:55.880
it helps me as not only as a teacher, but

758
00:44:55.960 --> 00:44:58.840
as a piano player. It makes it easy for me.

759
00:44:58.920 --> 00:45:02.280
And like I said, one of these days, we'll talk

760
00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:04.840
about me taking some classes from you because I could,

761
00:45:04.880 --> 00:45:08.440
I would love to learn. I think it's just getting

762
00:45:08.440 --> 00:45:11.400
that that groove going and just getting my groove on.

763
00:45:11.719 --> 00:45:12.000
That's it.

764
00:45:13.039 --> 00:45:18.239
Indely, we have another another minute, and I would love

765
00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:21.320
for you just to help close us off. Next week,

766
00:45:21.519 --> 00:45:24.039
all of you listening, I'm not going to tell you

767
00:45:24.079 --> 00:45:29.639
who my guest is, but I have this wonderful gosh,

768
00:45:29.880 --> 00:45:32.480
I'm so blessed with knowing so many wonderful people. So

769
00:45:32.480 --> 00:45:34.559
you'll have to tune in to hear who my guest

770
00:45:34.679 --> 00:45:38.079
is next week. But right now, I have a very

771
00:45:38.159 --> 00:45:40.920
well known Darius Wilrich on my show, and I'm so

772
00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:44.039
honored to have you. Please share with our audience maybe

773
00:45:44.280 --> 00:45:47.199
a couple of words before we finish for today, a

774
00:45:47.280 --> 00:45:48.480
couple of words of inspiration.

775
00:45:49.639 --> 00:45:53.320
Words of inspiration, you know, whatever you're dreaming about, just

776
00:45:53.599 --> 00:46:00.320
start and just start and take consistent small stay yeps,

777
00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:03.719
and love yourself the whole way.

778
00:46:04.920 --> 00:46:07.760
Yes, and surround yourself with people that are going to

779
00:46:08.239 --> 00:46:12.039
that believe in you. Don't let somebody say, oh, that's

780
00:46:12.039 --> 00:46:14.159
a waste of time, don't care, you know, what are

781
00:46:14.199 --> 00:46:16.440
you going to do that for? Surround yourself with people

782
00:46:16.440 --> 00:46:18.159
that believe in you and that are going to support

783
00:46:18.199 --> 00:46:20.480
you and be a like group for you one hundred percent,

784
00:46:21.079 --> 00:46:24.519
even if you know you're you're building a snowman, just like, Hey,

785
00:46:26.119 --> 00:46:27.960
well I'm in Florida, so I guess it would be

786
00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:28.599
a sandman.

787
00:46:30.599 --> 00:46:34.239
Yes, you definitely want to surround yourself with empowering people

788
00:46:34.360 --> 00:46:39.800
and empowering thoughts and empowering as much as empowering circumstances

789
00:46:39.800 --> 00:46:44.480
as possible. Yeah yeah, and to stay and stay consistent,

790
00:46:44.559 --> 00:46:48.440
even if that means small steps. Small a step is

791
00:46:48.480 --> 00:46:49.199
a step.

792
00:46:49.239 --> 00:46:52.360
That's right, and help keep music alive. AI will never

793
00:46:52.519 --> 00:46:56.119
ever ever take the place of the human soul or

794
00:46:56.519 --> 00:47:02.079
the authenticity that goes into playing an instrument. Yeah, yeah, Yeah,

795
00:47:02.119 --> 00:47:05.159
we're the real real deal and it doesn't get any

796
00:47:05.239 --> 00:47:05.920
realer than that.

797
00:47:08.519 --> 00:47:11.960
I think that AI will make live, live music interaction

798
00:47:12.519 --> 00:47:13.440
more premium.

799
00:47:14.920 --> 00:47:18.400
Yes, so let's keep music alive. And I look forward

800
00:47:18.400 --> 00:47:24.480
to to talking with you off screen and and we will,

801
00:47:24.559 --> 00:47:28.360
we will get to work together. And again, thank you

802
00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:31.679
all for tuning in today. I look forward to you'll

803
00:47:31.679 --> 00:47:33.800
see me. I won't see you, but I look forward

804
00:47:33.840 --> 00:47:37.480
to having on my show next week. And yeah, tune

805
00:47:37.480 --> 00:47:39.440
in to find out who it is who my guess

806
00:47:39.480 --> 00:47:42.920
will be have a blessed week. Everyone, Happy Monday or

807
00:47:42.960 --> 00:47:45.039
Tuesday or whatever day you're listening.

808
00:47:46.320 --> 00:47:49.000
Thank you, Darius, easy my pleasure. Thank you for having me.

809
00:47:49.320 --> 00:48:00.480
Absolutely b