Matt Beaumont is a percussionist who studied with the late Alan Abel, who passed away from a Covid-19 related illness. Mr. Abel was a percussionist with the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1959-1997.

Chris, Michael, and Jeremy are percussionists who studied with the late Alan Abel, who passed away from a Covid-19 related illness. Mr. Abel was a percussionist with the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1959-1997.

Martin Dougie Douglas was the owner and founder of Crossfire Steel Orchestra in Brooklyn, NY. I met him 6 years and he threw the doors to his lanyard wide open to me and my students. I sit down with a few friends to remember him.

John is a percussionist who studied with the late Alan Abel, who passed away from a Covid-19 related illness. Mr. Abel was a percussionist with the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1959-1997.

Peter is a former student from SoSI who once argued a good snare drum roll was essential for success in life. We talk about that. And how he’s not completely wrong. It was nice to chat with Peter and here about his work at Facebook. Chat begins at 3:09

Sherwin is an amazing pan player and was a guest of mine at NYU with the steelband a few years back. He’s very wise and comes from a big family of musicians. I always learn something when I talk with Sherwin. You will too. Chat starts at 6:45

Clark was a student at SOSI a few years back who might have been the first person to ever listen to my podcast. It was fun to have him on my podcast and to get his perspective as a student right now dealing with the current state of affairs. chat starts at 3:45

Arone and I check back in about her current state of employment and what is giving her energy and life right now. Always enjoy checking in with Arone. chat starts at 8:00

Jerry is a good friend of mine from the steel band world in Brooklyn. He’s an amazing drummer and driller, but happens to also be a NYC corrections officer working with mentally ill patients and sex offenders who are civilly confined to the facility he works at pending their court case outcome. He’s an essential worker and human being. chat starts at 8:00

Ross is a percussionist with ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble). 15 years ago at a Reich show he said something silly-goose-ish about Reich, and I avoided him until recently. He’s awesome. I was 25/26 years. Forgive me, Ross. We had a great time chatting about building things. Enjoy! Chat starts at: 7:40

Mika was a student at the very first SoSI. She went on to found, with her friends, the group Mobius Percussion. It was great to chat with Mika about her career and hear about the fundraising she’s doing right now. Chat starts at 4:00. You can find that link here: www.gofundme.com/f/funds-to-support-performers-affected-by-covid19 or https://equalsound.org/project/corona-relief-fund/

Todd Meehan, Doug Perkins and I found an organization in real time. Take it as a joke or not. But take away the content ask yourself if the structure that’s left might work for YOU right now in a time of chaos and wondering if you want to start something. The short answer is: start. Chat starts at 2:40

Dan is an electronic musician and entrepreneur living in Baltimore, MD. He’s been a hero of mine my whole life and I’ve had the privilege of working with him a few times. Dan’s approach to DIY living and making and working is inspiring to me. We had a wide-ranging conversation and I thoroughly enjoyed it. chat starts at 4:12

Bill returns to the podcast to talk about approaches to transcribing and adapting older works for new instruments. I always have a blast talking with Bill. He’s way smarter than I am, so every time I make fun of him, I’m just being insecure. I make fun of Bill a lot. Listen to this. You’ll learn something. I did. chat starts at 4:18

I met Jon on a chat during Meagan Gillis’ live event on Facebook, and said to myself “I’ve always wanted to talk to him. He wears a cookie monster onesie, but he’s incredible on xylophone.” It was lovely to meet and chat with Jon and meet his daughter, who was hiding in the dresser drawer for most of the podcast.

Yuko and I have been friends for a long time through our mutual mentor Cliff Alexis. She is an amazing musician, composer, arranger, pan tuner and builder. I’m honored to call her a friend. You won’t regret listening to this chat.

Nadia is a musician I’ve crossed paths with many times in many green rooms but never really got to know. green room honesty: I was afraid to talk to her. She was good. I was not. Pretty simple. She’s amazing at what she does and thinks long and hard about her music and her podcasts (which you should check out) called Living Music and Meet the Composer. I thoroughly enjoyed this chat. You can her work at www.nadiasirota.com

Meagan is an amazing xylophone player and timpanist and is an all around gem of a person. I saw her on a facebook/instagram live performance a few weeks ago where she was improvising over ragtime music and taking requests, chatting, and drinking a beer. She was hilarious and VERY ok with making mistakes and having a blast, and I was like “I gotta chat with her.” It was time well spent. Enjoy.

Matt Dudack, Dr. Larry Snider, and I chat with the current percussion students at the University of Akron. It’s always good to be home. www.uasteelband.com

Doug and I talk for a brief while to put the nail in the “corona-cast” series of the Concert Honesty Podcast. I don’t want to label my chats with friends, new and old, with that name any more. Time to move on! Doug is my bubby and the first Corona-cast guest, so it seemed fitting. Enjoy.