#barrystephenson

The Pace Report: "Celebrating Carnival: The Sound of a People" The Etienne Charles Interview

Welcome to another edition of The Pace Report featuring trumpeter, composer, and educator Etienne Charles. Etienne's latest project, "Carnival: The Sound Of A People," explores and showcases the past and present of the music of his native Trinidad. The project was funded through a Guggenheim Fellowship which allowed him to travel all the islands of Trinidad and Tobago to record and document the work of the musicians, dancers, performers, and costume makers that make up Carnival. The music and compositions focus on a lot of the Trinidadian culture and features some of the most important young jazz musicians in the business featuring James Francies, Luques Curtis, Christian Sands, Sullivan Fortner, David Sanchez, and Ben Williams.

In addition to Etienne's music being featured online, he also showcases a heavy video component that shows him traveling across Trinidad. I sat down with Etienne to talk about conducting the research on Carnival, explains the musical styles of Trinidad as it relates to jazz, and his role as Assistant Professor of Jazz Trumpet at Michigan State University.

The Pace Report: "No Rest For The Dignity" The Henry Conerway III Interview

The Pace Report: "No Rest For The Dignity" The Henry Conerway III Interview

Welcome to another edition of The Pace Report featuring drummer and composer Henry Conerway III. Last night at Dizzy's in New York City, Henry played to a sold-out crowd for his official New York Record Release for his debt album "With Pride For Dignity".

The album was produced by his mentor and legendary drummer Michael Carvin and features Kenny Banks Jr. on piano and Kevin Smith on bass. Both Kenny and Henry wrote and composed music on the album and perform classics like "Gingerbread Boy" composed by NEA Jazz Master, Jimmy Heath, and "Cottontail" composed by Duke Ellington.

This Detroit native and Morehouse College graduate was a co-founding member of Jaspects as well he's backed the likes of Freddie Cole, Jazzmeia Horn, Russell Gunn, and Marcus Printup.

Yesterday also marked Henry having the number # 1 jazz recording on the I Tunes Jazz charts, the first day of it's release.

I sat down with Henry before his set and talked about the new CD, his mentors Marcus Belgrave and Michael Carvin on how they affected him as both a musician and performer, and his deep Detroit musical roots.