Freilich interviews guitarist, Chris "Critter" Eldridge for The Banjo Studio podcast

Had the opportunity to interview acoustic guitar wizard, Chris Eldridge. I think this one will be interesting to many people with many different interests. If you don’t know his work you will find a new lane to check out. If you like the sound of steel string guitar, his playing draws out all the iconic color of the instrument.

The Banjo Studio interviews have really been intriguing to be involved with and this one is right at the top end of what is becoming a great archive of interviews.

Banjo Studio wrote:

Chris "Critter" Eldridge is a master of the dreadnought guitar and is the guitarist & sings with Punch Brothers, Live From Here, Julian Lage, and more. This is a great interview and host Jonathan Freilich talks with Chris about compositional form of the Punch Brothers tunes, Chris' training with legendary guitarist Tony Rice, how to get the best live sound and recorded sound for an acoustic guitar, and more!

The link to the interview…

Episode 2 of the Double MacGuffin with Henry Griffin

This time, on the Double MacGuffin podcast, we talk about ‘The Tree of Wooden Clogs’(Olmi,1978) and ‘The Last Mistress’ (Breillat, 2007). These are two excellent, fascinating, and unusual films that will really get you away from the pandemic and saturation in corona journalism.

More information and the audio is available here…

Alison Brown interview for The Banjo Studio podcast now up.

She also has two Grammy’s and did a long stint with Alison Krauss and Union Station, as well as having a very large catalogue of her own.

Link to the interview…

Continuing with the series for The Banjo Studio where you can get my favorite guitars (Collings) and also great instruments from the banjo family (Deering)…

I spoke with master 5 string banjoist and Compass Records founder Allison Brown.

Banjo Studio says:

In this interview we talk with Allison about the development of the Deering Julia Belle banjo, how she made the jump from the business world to becoming a full time professional musician, how she balances being an artist and CFO of a successful record company, and much more.

New interview with Ketch Secor at Banjo Studio.com

I recently interviewed Ketch Secor of The Old Crow Medicine show. The podcast is up now and available at Banjo Studio.

Banjo Studio says:

In this episode, we talk with Ketch Secor, a founding member and frontman of the band Old Crow Medicine Show. Take a listen to stories of how the band came to be, what brought Ketch down this path. Host Jonathan Freilich talks with Ketch about a number of subjects including the effect the banjo had on Ketch's musical journey, how Old Crow Medicine Show got its start, the influence of African Americans in country and old-time music, and more.

The direct link to the episode.

Podcast interview with Mary Gauthier at Banjostudio.com

Another episode of the series I’m working on for The Banjo Studio. This time with Mary Gauthier. If you don’t know her songwriting, you should!

Banjo Studio says:

Mary Gauthier is one of the most articulate and poignant songwriters of our time. She grew up in southern Louisiana, moved to the Boston area where she started her singer/songwriter career and is now based in Nashville. Her most recent record, Rifles And Rosary Beads was nominated for a Grammy Award. This record consists of songs she co-wrote with U.S. military veterans and their families. Mary is currently working on a book about her life journey. 

Host Jonathan Freilich talks with Mary about what brought her to a place of such clarity in her songwriting, what motivates her, and what she is currently working on.

The podcast is available here…

Brand New: store is open for business... music downloads are on SALE!

Finally the store is up.

Check it out here…

Download some of my original works that you might not have. The album tunes are listed individually so you can cherry pick and consume in that most contemporary style.

Much on the site is still free though, and you are invited to to enjoy what is here. Feel free to hit those donate buttons if keeping an artist in work and providing living music ideas to you inspires.

Podcasts and Donation buttons

I am now producing 2 podcasts:

1) Interviews with Notable New Orleans Musicians- is my original podcast of long form interviews and oral histories with many of the fascinating musicians and related artists of New Orleans. There was a layoff of some time but now it is back in earnest. A couple segments of interview with drummer, Carlo Nuccio just went up and, in the next day or so there will be a form interview with all round musician/writer/poet and Bazouki player, Beth Patterson. This podcast has been going for 10 years now

2) The Double MacGuffin Film Podcast-with Henry Griffin. These are conversations/ reviews about interesting movies. Again here, for life reasons there has been a two year layoff. We are back to it and there will be one coming up on the films Safe and Silent Running. This podcast has been running for 3 years and this site is taking over the hosting from Nolascape where it has been for a couple of years.

I host another:

… and record and edit a 3rd podcast for The Banjo Studio. So far we have interviewed Ryan Cavanaugh, Danny Barnes, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Mary Gauthier. We have two more immediately in the works and they are all very interesting.

The Banjo Studio is run by David Bandrowski, who also produces the podcasts so check those out.

All of this is some work and I have done it asking nothing— but you will now find across the website donation buttons like this functional one here…

Donate

I appreciate the support for any of this and my work in composition, film, music, recording to keep the operations going.

So, if you feel that you get anything from large amount of content on this site, donations would really help the cause.

Podcast Interview with Carlo Nuccio-pt. 1 & 2 available now!

I am back to my series of podcasts started in 2010. There has been a long layoff. Here is part 1 of an interview I conducted with the great drummer, producer, singer, writer, Carlo Nuccio.

The interview, pt 1. is here…

Pt 2. is here…

I will get to the next section within a few days.

And I am in the middle of conducting another great one which you will be notified of shortly.

All the podcasts can be accessed here…

Or from the menu link that says podcast above.

Or from the apple podcast engine-

Donate

Podcast interview with Danny Barnes at Banjo Studio

Carrying on from the Ryan Cavanaugh, this fantastic conversation with banjo phenom, Danny Barnes just posted.

Banjo Studio says…

Songwriter/banjoist Danny Barnes is always experimenting and trying to become a better musician. Host Jonathan Freilich talks with Danny on his path from traditional banjo styles to how he created his own sound.  Danny recently released his Man On Fire album which is killer. This  was produced by Dave Matthews and  he is featured as a guest artist as well as Bill Frisell, John Paul Jones (bass and mandolin), and drummer Matt Chamberlain.

Danny Barnes

Now host of Banjo Studio Podcasts- this week with Ryan Cavanaugh

I’m back to doing music interview podcasts. This time for BanjoStudio.com. This week is number 1- modern banjo virtuoso Ryan Cavanaugh about his journey to becoming one of the most innovative banjoists in history. 

Banjo Studio sells Deering Banjos, Collings guitars and accessories. They are at- https://www.banjostudio.com.

To get directly to the podcast-

https://www.banjostudio.com/blogs/banjo-studio-podcast/banjo-studio-podcast-episode-1-ryan-cavanaugh

ESPLANADE showtimes at New Orleans Film Festival: Daily 2:30pm & 9:30pm

ESPLANADE, a film by David Gamble and Jonathan Freilich is showing at the film festival this week and next.

It shows at the Micro Cinema in the CAC daily at 2:30pm and 9:30pm from the 16th-22nd of October.

Information about ESPLANADE is here…

007 is back on the scene- Oct 18-20 DBA, New Orleans & Pensacola, Fla

Do you love ROCKSTEADY music?

007 does too.

Jeffrey Clemens is back around so we have a show Friday the 18th at DBA, 10pm. We will also play two nights at the Paradise Inn, Pensacola, Fla. Oct 19-20.

For those of you who missed the sensation of 007 in the heyday it comprised of:

Jeffrey Clemens (G-Love & the Special Sauce)- drums/vocals
Alex Mcmurray (Alex Mcmurray)-guitar/vocals
Joe Cabral (The Iguanas etc.)- bass/ vocals
Jonathan Freilich (see website)- Guitar

And was greater than the sum of the parts (which was confusing for people so oriented toward the diminutive.)

More on 007 here…

Getting back after Summer

The calendar has lapsed. After a very busy start to the year which involved composing and mounting two operas-’ The Coronation’, ‘ Darling, please don’t be offended at what I wrote.’, and finishing a film, as well as some other interesting projects, we needed a mental break. A disconnection- vaguely, or at least some slippage.

Now the calendar will be back on and hopefully emails to those who sign on.

Look out for showings of Esplanade, a 16mm film by myself and photographer and artist David Gamble.

'Esplanade', film by Gamble and Freilich, accepted into New Orleans film festival

The film we worked on together has been accepted. The date isn’t set. It is in the Louisiana shorts category. Our film runs 35mins. There is a taster in the post below if you haven’t checked it out.

It is a tight audio visual collaboration between David Gamble and I. The film is in 16mm. The sound is mixture of electro acoustic music and some pieces with a few great players in town- Nobu Ozaki, Martin Krusche, Cyrus Nabipoor, Stephanie Nilles, Phil DeGruy, Glenn Hartman, Annie Ellicott.

We are happy, it’s competitive. Stay tuned and we will give the date of that showing as well as one other coming up in November.

The New Orleans Film Festival runs October 16-22. It’s a great event. Here is their blurb on their website…

Shows heading into the first weekend of Jazzfest.

It’s that time of year again. Here are some events to add to your entertainment schedules into the first weekend of the festival:

Mon 4/22- with King James and the Special Men- Saturn Bar 10pm
Tues 4/23- with Martin Krusche Band- Hi Ho Lounge 9pm
Thurs 4/25- Trio with James Singleton and Skerik- Zeitgeist Theater and Bar-9pm
Thurs 4/25- New Orleans Klezmer All Stars- Siberia Lounge 11pm
Saturday 4/27- with the midnight disturbers- Jazzfest 1:20pm
Saturday 4/27- with James Singleton Trio- Zeitgeist Theater and Lounge- 9pm
Sunday 4/28- with The New Orleans Klezmer All Stars- jazzfest lagniappe stage-6pm
Sunday 4/28- with the valparaiso men’s chorus- siberia lounge 10pm
Monday 4/29- solo guitar- Bywater Bakery 10am

French Quarter fest performances.

Check the schedule page-

But- it will include, the klezmer all stars at the GE stage on Friday of the Fest. Saturday at 4 there will be an interview of guitarist ,carl leblanc and I at the interview stage. Also a solo morning gig at The Bywater Bakery and Sunday night at Blue Nile with Andy j Forest.

The Coronation goes up at Music Box- Operatic Collab. by Bernard Pearce and Jonathan Freilich

Shows are April 5 and 6. It’s an intriguing idea and I have been lucky to be a large contributor, compositionally, on the project.

Other performers include Helen Gillet, Janna Saslaw, Anais St. John, Jennie Lavine, Julie Odell, and Trendafilka.

Contributing to 'Golem' with experimental film Artist, Julie Weitz

I started collaboration with an interesting artist recently. So far it has used some of my more modern klezmer creations. She posted a taster on Instagram this week…

89 Likes, 3 Comments - J U L I E W E I T Z (@mygolem_is_here) on Instagram: ""Rituals of A Globalist" premieres @aspectratiogallery March 29-May 4 in a two-person show with..."

Taster of 'Esplanade'- a collaborative film nearing completion

For about 18 months I have been involved in a fascinating film/music collaboration with artist, David Gamble. It is neither a soundtrack to a film, nor a music video…finally!

Anyway it is an exciting work. Here is a taster. I composed all the music.

David Gamble is a great artist and portrait photographer. For more info on him go here…

Donate

New Film Taster "ESPLANADE" By David Gamble and Jonathan Freilich. #neworleans orleans #film #art #avantgarde #filmnoir

33 Likes, 7 Comments - David Gamble (@davidgambleartist) on Instagram: "New Film Taster "ESPLANADE" By David Gamble and Jonathan Freilich. #neworleans orleans #film..."

Composing for Collaborative Opera at Music Box Village

Back to Opera composing. It’s been a few years since the last one.

I will be collaborating with Bernard Pearce and many others on his original idea. The Music box Village is a fascinating outdoor performance venue with a very special set of large installation instruments.

The piece will go up in Spring 2019.

To follow the information-

https://musicboxvillage.com

bernard pearce