Music Life and Times Kevin Bales

At 57, Roderick Harper is gaining steam. A versatile artist with both jazz and R&B albums, he calls on a background that started as early a small child singing along with TV commercials, through early lessons in the American Songbook and a minor in jazz studies at Southern University, to a performer audiences love for the passion and integrity of his singing. Mike and Kevin talk with Roderick in between two nights of his performances, accompanied by Kevin, at the Atlanta-area jazz club, The Velvet Note.

Every Elton John has his Bernie Taupin. Jerome Kern had to have his Oscar Hammerstein. Even Duke Ellington needed a Billy Strayhorn or Irving Mills or Bob Russell. Point is, a song isn’t much of a song without lyrics, and how lyricists and composers work together, if unique to each pair, is one more example of the cooperation involved in making great music.

Consistent with the podcast’s focus on the life lessons that learning to play music teaches, Kevin and Mike talk about musical conversation, that is, how musicians playing together collaborate, listening to each other and accommodating each other’s playing, to create better music.

Whether you’re a youngster who wants to learn how to play an instrument, or a parent who recognizes the value of music in their child’s education, or an adult who has never played but wants to learn how, it’s never too early or too late to start. Kevin shares insights on how to get started from his three decades of teaching young and adult students.

People who make their living playing music typically do a lot of travelling. While some might have a house gig in their hometown, most find themselves in venues that take them to different parts of their country and even around the world. Those experiences—that breadth of experience—combine to be one of the great benefits of life as a musician.

From Bill Evans to Oscar Peterson to Ahmad Jamal to Charlie Parker to John Coltrane to Miles Davis, and on and on, each of the great players is distinguished by their own unique style. In this podcast, Kevin talks about the some of those legends and how they expressed themselves, and he and Mike discuss the importance of individualistic expression—that is, to perform from your heart—to all music.