221. Interview with Dan Ansotegui, Boise, Idaho (06:06)

Date:
2020-06-10
Main contributors:
Dan Ansotegui
Summary:
Dan Ansotegui (Boise, Idaho) Dan Ansotegui was raised by the scents and tastes of his mother’s cooking and the sound of his father’s music. The music came from the accordion and the aromas that filled the house were brought to this country by his grandmother Epi. His exposure to the traditions of the Basque Country prepared him for a life of immersive study, commitment to preservation, and a talent for performance. Through his role as master, mentor, and entrepreneur, Dan is a bearer of Basque music, dance, and foodways traditions that contribute to the creative growth and sustainability of his cultural community. Dan is a National Heritage Award recipient (2019), performs traditional Basque dance music, and plays in a fusion Basque pop band called Amuma Says No. He is also one of the primary teachers in the Boise trikitixa and pandero teaching program, training new players of Basque music on diatonic accordion and tambourine. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 06/10/2020.

222. Interview with Dewa Berata, Los Angeles, California (05:57)

Date:
2020-10-23
Main contributors:
Dewa Berata
Summary:
Dewa Berata (Los Angeles, California) Bapak I Dewa Putu Berata is an internationally acclaimed Balinese musician, teacher, and composer based out of the San Francisco Bay Area and Pengosekan, Bali. A graduate of STSI Denpasar (Bali’s National Academy of the Arts), he has been an artistic collaborator with dance troupes, theater companies, and music ensembles in multiple countries. He has served as Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s Guest Music Director many times since his first residency in 1994. Berata is the founder and director of Çudamani, one of Bali’s most innovative and acclaimed gamelan ensembles that has toured extensively including appearances at the Cultural Olympiade (Greece), EXPO (Japan), Tong Tong Festival (Holland), and Lincoln Center & Zellerbach Hall (USA). Çudamani has become one of the most vibrant centers of artistic activity in Bali, endeavoring to study rare classic forms of Balinese arts. Berata’s life’s work has been dedicated not only to the arts, but to creating community by providing opportunities for active arts engagement to children, youth, women, and elders. He is also the musical director for Gamelan Sekar Jaya, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering artistic exchange between Bali and the United States and to sharing the excitement of this exchange with diverse audiences in California, the US, and abroad. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/23/2020.

223. Interview with David Romtvedt, Buffalo, Wyoming (06:19)

Date:
2020-09-10
Main contributors:
David Romtvedt
Summary:
David Romtvedt (Buffalo, Wyoming) David Romtvedt was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in southern Arizona. He is a writer and a musician. A recipient of two NEA fellowships, the Pushcart Prize, and the Wyoming Governor's Arts Award, David served as the poet laureate of the state of Wyoming from 2003 to 2011, his work has appeared in numerous magazines, and he has published books of fiction, poetry, and essays including Gernikako Arbola, translations of the nineteenth century songwriter and poet Joxe Mari Iparragirre, and the 2021 poetry collection No Way, an American Tao Te Ching. He is a multi-instrumentalist and for many years played dance music of the Americas with the Wyoming-based band the Fireants. He is an ambassador of Basque culture and plays trikitixa, a two-row accordion designed specifically for Basque music. Romtvedt served as the program manager for the Centrum Foundation's Festival of American Fiddle Tunes and International Folk Dance and Music Festival and continues to work with the Children's Band Lab program at Fiddle Tunes. He lives in Buffalo, Wyoming, with his wife, the potter Margo Brown. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/10/2020.

224. Interview with David Reihs, Portland, Oregon (05:40)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
David Reihs
Summary:
David Reihs (Portland, Oregon) Playing Arabic keyboard and accordion, Middle Eastern percussion, ud, and elektro-saz, David Reihs is a multi-instrumentalist turned producer and educator who currently focuses on music of Turkish and Arabic cultures. He has been studying a wide variety of Middle Eastern genres and instruments since 2001, including four years living in Istanbul, Turkey, where he learned and spent time with many of the country’s finest musicians. Aside from his work with Ritim Egzotik, David’s company produces concerts, workshops and instructional DVDs for Middle Eastern music and dance. He is the artistic director for Ritim Egzotik, a modern Turkish and Arabic music ensemble that respectfully plays classic and popular Arabic and Turkish compositions and tosses in prog rock and psychedelic spices to add their own twist and modernize the songs they love. Added to this feast of sounds are Greek and Turkish Roman favorites. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/14/2020.

225. Interview with Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti, Bay Area, California (06:15)

Date:
2020-10-31
Main contributors:
Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti
Summary:
Dewa Ayu Dewi Larassanti (Bay Area, California) Dewa Ayu Larassanti is a Balinese dancer, musician, and vocalist who regularly teaches at Sanggar Çudamani, a Balinese performing arts school founded by her parents in Pengosekan, Bali. With Çudamani, she has toured Greece, Japan, Canada, and the United States. Ayu grew up both in the Bay Area and in Bali, experiencing the challenges and the beauty of two worlds. She loves to study different forms of music and dance, including choral music, jazz dance, and hip hop. She is a student at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/31/2020.

226. Interview with Eddie Parente, Portland, Oregon (05:07)

Date:
2020-08-31
Main contributors:
Eddie Parente
Summary:
Eddie Parente (Portland, Oregon) Originally from Jersey City, NJ, Eddie Parente studied violin and four-part harmony at Jersey City State College and played in string orchestra while studying jazz with saxophonist Emile DeCosmo. Eddie also studied with violinist Julie Lyonn Lieberman in NYC and credits trumpeter Ted Curson, who held jam sessions in Hoboken and encouraged Eddie to play jazz in those formative years. In the early 1980s, Eddie lived in Boston, Massachusetts, where he played in a Mexican mariachi band while studying classical Indian music with tabla, attending Irish traditional music sessions, and playing in an international folk dance band. Upon moving to Portland in 1985, Eddie participated in Ron Steen's jam sessions and studied and played with the great jazz violinist/bassist Rob Thomas. Since then, Eddie has played and recorded with a wide variety of musical groups. These days, Eddie is leading his own jazz quartet and plays in Mariachi Viva Mexico, a successful working mariachi group in the large and growing Latino community in the Pacific Northwest. Eddie has a CD of his original jazz and Latin compositions entitled Touraco and a CD entitled Quartet Jazz. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 08/31/2020.

227. Interview with Del Rey, Seattle, Washington (06:36)

Date:
2020-09-22
Main contributors:
Del Rey
Summary:
Del Rey (Seattle, Washington) Del Rey started playing guitar when she was four years old. At thirteen, she was immersed in the world of folk music via the San Diego Folk Festival. She has tried to get a whole band onto her solo instrument from the beginning. This gives her music an interesting complexity, especially when applied to the ukulele. Rags, blues, and tunes of the early twentieth century are her specialty, even as she writes new music to add to the tradition. Del Rey also has fashion sense that would make Minnie Pearl smile. Del Rey has taught and played all over the world and brings her distinctive finger-style approach to guitar and ukulele to her teaching. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/22/2020

228. Interview with Erin Heist, Juneau, Alaska (05:57)

Date:
2020-09-23
Main contributors:
Erin Heist
Summary:
Erin Heist (Juneau, Alaska) Born and raised in Juneau, Alaska, Erin Heist plays guitar and sings bluegrass, old-time, Cajun, and country music. She performs in a duo with her husband and in a honky-tonk, old-time band that plays at bars, festivals, or local events. She works for the State of Alaska and considers music a very important part of her life. She is very involved in Juneau’s folk music scene and praises the sense of community music brings to the city, particularly through the Alaska Folk Festival. Interview by Raquel Paraíso, 09/23/2020.

229. Interview with Gao Hong, Northfield, Minnesota (06:08)

Date:
2020-10-21
Main contributors:
Gao Hong
Summary:
Gao Hong (Northfield, Minnesota) Gao Hong, a Chinese pipa player and composer, began her career as a professional musician at age twelve. She graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she studied with pipa master Lin Shicheng. She has received numerous awards and honors. In 2019, Gao Hong became the only musician in any genre to win five McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians. In 2018, she became the first Chinese musician to win a Sally Award from the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. She has performed throughout Europe, Australia, Argentina, Japan, Hong Kong, China, and the United States, and has world premiered numerous pipa concerti with important orchestras. She has been featured as both pipa player and composer in important festivals in the U.S. Her composition for solo pipa, “Flying Dragon,” won the 2012 Global Music Award of Excellence-Solo Instrumental (Gold Medal). Since her arrival in the U.S. in 1994, Gao Hong has presented hundreds of educational workshops for elementary through college-age students and has been on the faculty of Metropolitan State University and MacPhail Center for the Arts. Currently, she teaches at Carleton College in Minnesota. During the COVID pandemic, Gao Hong released two CDs, Hunting Eagles Catching Swans (Chinese Pudong pipa music featuring Gao Hong and her master, Lin Shichen) and From Our World to Yours (ARC Music in U.K.). Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/21/2020.

230. Interview with Fred Riedel, Gresham, Oregon (04:16)

Date:
2020-10-06
Main contributors:
Fred Riedel
Summary:
Fred Riedel (Gresham, Oregon) A retired schoolteacher, Fred Riedel is the bandleader, guitar player, and singer for the blues band—swing style—Blues Battalion. The group plays cover tunes as well as original tunes mostly written by Fred. Blues Battalion is John Johnston (keyboard), John McKenney (bass), Shelley Lenz (vocals), Cardo Bonjourno (drums), and Fred Riedel (guitar & vocals). Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/06/2020.

231. Interview with Jessica Pacheco, Los Angeles, California (06:08)

Date:
2020-10-15
Main contributors:
Jessica Pacheco
Summary:
Jessica Pacheco (Los Angeles, California) Jessica was born and raised in Miami, Florida, to Cuban parents Miriam and Jose Pacheco. Growing up, Jessica partook in numerous extracurricular activities, such as ballet, piano, art, music, drama, and classical Spanish dance/flamenco. Dancing highlights include performing at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England during the Monkees’ 2011 World Tour, performing with the Florida Grand Opera in Carmen, Turandot, and La Traviata, as well as the Los Angeles Opera in Carmen and El Gato Montés. Jessica’s dance company, Flamenco Tropical, combines classical Spanish, traditional flamenco, and modern rumba into one high energy show. Some of her theater credits include playing Celeste Finley in Tennessee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth, Adela in Federico García Lorcas’ La casa de Bernarda Alba, and María in Daimary Sánchez Morenos’ Are You Bringing Something From Mexico? Jessica has been cast in several Telemundo telenovelas. Since moving to L.A., she has appeared on the TV shows General Hospital, To Tell The Truth, and Superstore, to name a few. She is also very proud to have been part of Pixar’s animated feature, Coco. Currently, she has just finished producing, directing, and starring in a comedic web series she wrote called Cuban Tales. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/15/2020.

232. Interview with Isaac Callender, Sand Coulee, Montana (06:06)

Date:
2020-09-22
Main contributors:
Isaac Callender
Summary:
Isaac Callender (Sand Coulee, Montana) Isaac has been a regular in the North American folk music scene for the last twenty years. He has performed with such notable acts as Jeff Scroggins and Colorado, the April Verch Band, Bobby Hicks, John Reischman, Tony Trischka, Tommy Emmanuel, and Peter Rowan, to name a few. Isaac's versatility as a musician has garnered him accolades on fiddle, guitar, mandolin, banjo, and bass. He plays mostly bluegrass and Cajun music. Isaac has performed and taught at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes; the Port Fairy Folk Festival; the Australian National Folk Festival; the International Bluegrass Music Association Festival; the National Old-Time Fiddlers Contest in Weiser, Idaho; the Grand Masters Fiddle Contest in Nashville, Tennessee; and on Irish (RTE), Australian (ABC), Canadian (CBC), and US (NPR) National Radio. Isaac’s current endeavors include playing with duos, trios, and bands throughout North America and Europe, teaching at camps and workshops, building and repairing instruments, recording, and publishing tune books with his wife Louise. He is the president of the Montana Old-Time Fiddlers. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/22/2020.

233. Interview with Nat Hulskamp, Portland, Oregon (06:00)

Date:
2020-10-20
Main contributors:
Nat Hulskamp
Summary:
Nat Hulskamp (Portland, Oregon) Born in Portland, OR, Nat Hulskamp began studying guitar with guitarist/composer Paul Chasman at age seventeen. He was soon introduced to flamenco guitar by José Solano. His interest in the influence of Arabic music on flamenco led him to study oud in Morocco. After returning to the U.S., he moved to Seattle to study ethnomusicology at the University of Washington. In 2000, he co-founded the Vancouver, BC, based Arabic/flamenco group Aire. In 2004, he moved to Portland and formed the group Shabava with kamancheh/sehtar/violinist and singer Bobak Salehi. In 2010, he formed the trio Caminhos Cruzados with master jazz guitarist Dan Balmer and Ghanaian percussion virtuoso Israel Annoh. Nat has studied with the top flamenco guitarists of today, including Diego del Morao, Manuel Parrilla, Pepe del Morao, Dani de Morón, and Antonio Rey, among others. He has recorded in Spain with Diego del Morao, La Macanita, Luís de Perikín, and LaBejazz, and has performed with José Antonio Rodríguez, Santiago Lara and Antonio Rey during their US tours. He now resides in Portland, composing and performing with Shabava, Caminhos Cruzados, and Seffarine. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/20/2020.

234. Interview with Nathaniel Kuster, Albuquerque, New Mexico (06:00)

Date:
2020-10-01
Main contributors:
Nathaniel Kuster
Summary:
Nathaniel Kuster (Albuquerque, New Mexico) Known as a “virtuoso de la quena,” Nathaniel Kuster (whose stage name for many years was Chichí Pérez) plays wind instruments from the Andes Mountains, including the quena, the quenacho, and the zampoña or siku. Nathaniel first heard the music of the Andes Mountains as a child in Peru. When he was an adolescent, he realized that it was the music he wanted to play. He soon mastered the quena and the zampoña with the help and support of many friends who encouraged him and accompanied him on the journey. He subsequently learned to play many other Andean wind instruments. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico where he works as the principal of Coronado Elementary School. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/1/2020.

235. Interview with Kozue Matzumoto, Los Angeles, California (06:00)

Date:
2020-10-14
Main contributors:
Kozue Matzumoto
Summary:
Kozue Matzumoto (Los Angeles, California) Born and raised in the Tohoku (東北) area in Japan and having lived in Tokyo as well, Kozue is now based in the Los Angeles area. She has played the koto since she was three years old under Ikuta-ryu (生田流) Miyagi-kai (宮城会) and holds a semi-master title (準師範). She has also played the shamisen and the shinobue since she was very young. In North America, she has been collaborating with various musicians and movement, visual, installation, and other types of artists. Not only does she play traditional, contemporary, and experimental music, she also improvises, composes, and creates mixed media arts. She has contributed her koto sounds to 2020 Tokyo Olympics (postponed) as well as Ghost of Tsushima, a PS4 game released in 2020. She has participated in various projects and performances including at Center for World Music (San Diego, CA), SASSAS (Los Angeles, CA), Washington Street Art Center (Boston, MA), and Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble (Vancouver, Canada), to name a few. A Japanese music ensemble instructor at California Institute of the Arts, she has been invited as a guest lecturer by schools in California and also travels throughout the U.S. for lectures, master classes, and workshops. She studied improvisation, composition, and music technology, and graduated with a Performer-Composer MFA from California Institute of the Arts. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/14/2020.

236. Interview with LaRhonda Steele, Portland, Oregon (06:16)

Date:
2020-10-26
Main contributors:
LaRhonda Steele
Summary:
LaRhonda Steele (Portland, Oregon) Gospel, jazz, and blues singer LaRhonda Steele began her musical journey in Jones, Oklahoma, at age 13 singing her first solo in church. Her journey continued to Portland, Oregon and beyond culminating into a powerful legacy of musical experiences. Throughout her musical career, she has enjoyed working with local, national, and international artists including Gino Vannelli, Curtis Salgado, Norman Sylvester, Janice Marie Scroggins, and Tharp Memory. She is the 2017–2019 Muddy Award winner for Best Female Vocalist presented by the Cascade Blues Association and is a member of the Cascade Blues Association Hall of Fame. Performing in Porretta, Italy, at the 30th annual Porretta Soul Festival honoring American Soul Music; Lincoln Center with Obo Addy in 2005; and her yearly appearances at the Waterfront Blues Festivals are just a few of the many highlights of her career. LaRhonda currently enjoys directing the nonprofit Portland Interfaith Gospel Choir, serving as music director of the Portland Center for Spiritual Living, performing with her own LaRhonda Steele Band, vocal coaching, and songwriting. LaRhonda will be inducted into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame in 2021 since the 2020 inductees have to wait a year due to COVID. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/26/2020.

237. Interview with Lawrence F. Archambault, Fort Yates, North Dakota (05:38)

Date:
2020-10-12
Main contributors:
Lawrence F. Archambault
Summary:
Lawrence F. Archambault (Fort Yates, North Dakota) Lawrence (Larz) Archambault, a Hunkpapa Lakota from the Standing Rock Sioux Nation of North and South Dakota, is the drummer for the recording group Stones of Red. Fans describe their music as a mix of Lenny Kravitz, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, and Delbert McClinton, which Stones of Red finds humbling as all have been their influences. Since regrouping the band in 2016, Stones of Red has progressed at an astonishingly quick rate to emerge on the music scene as a budding young, high-energy group coupled with the group’s hauntingly soulful vocals and musicianship. Stones of Red is backed by seasoned musicians, playing original music and a variety of cover music during their live shows. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/12/2020.

238. Interview with Kevin LaMarr Jones, Richmond, Virginia (05:50)

Date:
2020-09-25
Main contributors:
Kevin LaMarr Jones
Summary:
Kevin LaMarr Jones (Richmond, Virginia) Kevin LaMarr Jones is a dance artist, choreographer, and performer. He is the artistic director of the community-based dance company and academy called Claves Unidos (translated United Rhythms), a collective of independent artists that celebrates the multiple Afro descendent roots—dances from different parts of the world, especially the Caribbean and the Americas. Kevin believes that beyond the barriers of race, age, gender, religion and geography, it is the African presence in the arts that unites the world. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/25/2020.

239. Interview with Luc Reynaud, Winthrop, Washington (06:08)

Date:
2020-09-02
Main contributors:
Luc Reynaud
Summary:
Luc Reynaud (Winthrop, Washington) Luc Reynaud is a musician, producer, and humanitarian who lives by the code that anything is possible if we do not limit ourselves. Along with his band Luc and the Lovingtons, a globetrotting world-soul-reggae band, he co-founded the Goodness Tour, a nonprofit organization that brings music and art experiences to people facing adversity all over the world. The tour travels to refugee camps, disaster zones, homeless shelters, hospitals, and anywhere that humans are in need of a positive outlet for expression. In 2005, Luc co-wrote a song with a group of kids in an evacuation shelter after Hurricane Katrina called “The Freedom Song,” which Grammy Award-winning artist Jason Mraz would cover on his Love Is a Four Letter Word album. In 2016, Luc and the band released a music video called "Welcome to My House," which was filmed in a Syrian refugee camp in northern Jordan and in the northwestern United States. The song and video paired Syrian and American youth together singing “You’re welcome to my house” in Arabic and English. In 2017 and 2018, Luc directed a project through the Goodness Tour that brought over a hundred Puerto Ricans together to write and sing a song in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. In 2019, Luc began co-writing a musical with Bahamian evacuees living in disaster shelters in the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian. Luc continues to respond to his calling with a dedication to serve humanity through music. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/02/2020.

240. Interview with Giani Martinez, Tampa, Florida (06:06)

Date:
2020-10-03
Main contributors:
Giani Martinez
Summary:
Giani Martinez (Tampa, Florida) Metal/heavy metal musician Gianfranco Martinez De La Torre lives in Tampa, Florida, where he was born and raised. He does promotions and booking for a DIY venue located in a basement called “The Millhaus.” In recent years, he has played in local bands called Spit and Invade as well as filling in for the bands Poster and Bad Human. Most recently, he has been working with local producer Eric Dina on his first demo. The project is planned as a solo four-song self-titled demo tape.  Interviewed by Holly Hobbs, 10/03/2020.