On the Record and Off the Wall Buzz Fleischman

Ricky Valido is a captivating young performer with his own take on modern traditional country music and with a unique vocal style. He’ll get you up and moving with a rattling and foot stomping musical experience and more.

Ricky draws on his interesting personal history with his songwriting and ability to connect with his audience, both on and off stage, which is the driving force behind the growing demand for his music.

With a timeless sound his relationship with his art is pure, honest and genuine. With a true appreciation for the people who come out to enjoy his shows, Ricky is a fully independent artist with a sincere work ethic and gratitude for his community.

He’s an artist who embodies family values, a passion for raising awareness for the protection of nature and wildlife, while also being a talented musician, producer, businessman and creative soul.

Today, the big top is gone and its celebrated performers scattered around the world but we’ve got two people with intimate knowledge of the back story of the circus.

We’re going to go back-stage during its glory days to see what it was like behind the scenes with the clowns and other performers. To do that we’ve got circus insiders, Greg DeSanto, who spent 35 years as a performing clown, producer, director, consultant and writer for circuses across the country. He’s the last celebrated producing clown from Ringling and is now Exec. Dir. of the International Clown Hall of Fame and Research ctr in Baraboo Wi. and Dinny McGuire, a TV talk show host, who emceed and directed the Vaudeville Show at the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville Theater, Dinny is a recent guest on our show and former Ringmaster with the RBB&B Circus. Greg and Dinny, you each spent loads of time behind the scenes at the circus, is there a record for number of clowns coming out of a car?

Greg Diamond is a prolific guitarist, composer, and recording artist from New York City.   Touted as “a rising star in the New York jazz scene" by All About Jazz and a “composer of great maturity and genius” by Latin Jazz Network, he has created his own niche with an innovative eclectic style that continues to evolve.

Since 2008 he has released five albums including his first solo acoustic venture Musings & Origins (Chasm 2019).

He has presented his group at numerous premier venues, such as The Blue Note, Iridium Jazz Club, Joe’s Pub, Smalls Jazz Club, and Zinc Bar —not to mention numerous international festivals, such as The Madrid International Jazz Festival, Barranqui Jazz Festival, Jimmy Glass Jazz Festival, Teatro Libre Jazz Festival, Mede jazz Festival, Jazz al Parque Festival, and the Nublu Jazz Festival. In 2007 he was a semi-finalist at The Gibson International Jazz Guitar Competition hosted by The Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

In the past two decades he has collaborated with numerous renowned artists in the international arena, such as Seamus Blake, Steve Turre, Hector Martignon, John Benitez, Oscar Stagnaro, Emilio Solla, Antonio Hart, Michael Philip Mossman, Don Friedman, Gretchen Parlato, Asha Puthli and others.

Diamond has a DMA in Instrumental Jazz Performance from the University of Miami.

 Khoa Le (Kwa Lay) is a NJ/NY based filmmaker and video designer, author of feature films, documentaries, essays and all types of video production.  Le is CEO and Founder of KVibe Studios, an award-winning full-service film and video production company in 2012 and its subsidiary, Live Picture Studios. Khoa is also the president of US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Northeast region where he creates opportunities for businesses to win contracts as a social responsibility. 

Khoa directed the movie "Walt Before Mickey", a narrative feature film about Walt Disney’s early life struggles before creating Mickey Mouse.

He attended Julliard for music composition and has directed a TV Pilot for the NY Yankees. With little prior film-making experience, Le produced, wrote, and directed his first film, Denial, in 2009. It went on to win the award for "Best Suspense Short" at The New York International Film Festival which received global internet and mobile distribution with Australia’s Goliath Productions.

In the early days of pop music this pioneer radio DJ in Boston got fired after playing Rhythm & Blues for the white audience. He discovered teen idol Freddie 'Boom Boom' Cannon and with American Bandstand's Dick Clark, brought him musical fame. Jack's wife, Beverly McDermott was a leading casting agent for film and TV and Jack's stories are filled with delightful chunks of unheard behind the scenes goings on. Jackie Gleason, Frank Sinatra and Burt Reynolds all add to the story.

A wonderful conversation with Norm Brunet who continues to strike Gold with his music. His new six-song EP "Reflections", is again filled with top-drawer songs all delivered with his smoky, ear-catching vocals. The material here ranges from bluesy, ballsy and funky to solid ballads.
While the opening three selections (Let Me In / She Makes It Hard To Walk Away/ All Of The Time) are again another example of Norm Brunet's special talent as a songwriter; the closing three numbers (Letting You Go / She Makes Me Look Good / She Forgot That), all come from Nashville tune-smiths, the first time in his recording career that he goes that route. Brunet's own compositions stand up nicely against the imports.
Norm Brunet, an Ottawa-based recording artist for the past quarter century, has been somewhat overlooked domestically while attracting solid airplay Stateside..."Reflections" should change that scoreboard overnight.