Articles by Mike Jones

Radio & Podcasts

Todd Robbins, Part 2: Dave McKenna as saloon pianist…

by Mike Jones
October 26, 2026

In Part 2 of their conversation, the magician, sideshow artist, and ragtime pianist tells Jonesy about his mid-80s job emceeing the piano room at the Fortune Garden Pavilion, where he brought on Tommy Flanagan and Dave McKenna under a greenhouse roof. Dave McKenna asked Todd Robbins to introduce him as “a saloon pianist," so Todd did, and then added that if that's true, Rembrandt painted by numbers.From there the two trade stories about McKenna, Dick Wellstood, Dick Hyman, ...

Radio & Podcasts

Todd Robbins, Part 1: The Night Dick Wellstood Played for One Person

by Mike Jones
October 19, 2026

In Part 1 of a two-part conversation, the magician, sideshow artist, and ragtime pianist, Todd Robbins, tells Mike Jones how a string of happy accidents built a career that now runs six nights a week at Speakeasy Magick in New York, a show he says he put together on the fly, “just like a jazz solo." He learned the Maple Leaf Rag by slowing down a Scott Joplin piano roll and watching where the keys went. From there he went ...

Radio & Podcasts

Quentin Walston: Teaching Jazz, Retro Future, and Reviving 1920s Stride

by Mike Jones
October 5, 2026

This week Quentin Walston, pianist, author, and jazz educator, joins Mike Jones for a conversation about a simple idea: people enjoy the music more when they understand what is going on inside it. He would know. He broke down Take Five into a short video and four and a half million people watched. They trace Quentin's path from a bluegrass corner of Virginia to a self-taught start on ragtime and boogie-woogie, the moment in high school when the ...

Radio & Podcasts

David Silverman: Sketches and Sonatas

by Mike Jones
September 28, 2026

This week on The Stereo Image, Mike sits down with his old friend David Silverman. He's an Emmy-winning director and animator on The Simpsons, and the artist behind every one of Mike's album covers, and he joins Mike for a wide-ranging conversation about how a childhood spent poring over miniature orchestral scores turned into a lifelong love of the tuba, jazz, and everything in between. David traces the whole arc: hearing “The Rite of Spring" in middle school, ...

Radio & Podcasts

Skip Heller on Dizzy, Joy, and Never Taking a Music Lesson

by Mike Jones
September 21, 2026

This week Mike Jones sits down with the great Skip Heller: composer, guitarist, bandleader, arranger, and one of the most restlessly curious musicians you will ever meet. Skip grew up in Philadelphia a few blocks from Dizzy Gillespie's old house, never took a real music lesson, and built a life in music that runs from bebop to rockabilly to exotica.They get into his new Dizzy Gillespie project with his band Voodoo 5, why joy is the fuel in ...

Radio & Podcasts

Marc Myers: JazzWax and Music Listening

by Mike Jones
September 14, 2026

This week's episode features Marc Myers. If you are a lover of all things music, Marc is the man for you. If you appreciate music history and evolution, Marc is the man for you. If you have always wanted to get into jazz music but just didn't know where to begin or what to listen for, Marc is the man for you! Marc is the creator of JazzWax which hosts a wealth of history, stories, opinions, and more about jazz ...

Radio & Podcasts

Michael Jackson: Photographer, musician, and jazz journalist

by Mike Jones
September 7, 2026

This week Mike Jones sits down with Michael Jackson: photographer, musician, author, and the guy with his finger on the pulse of every jazz event in Chicago. From playing lead alto in a London big band to graduate school at the School of the Art Institute, from iconic Downbeat shoots to late nights at the Green Mill, Michael has done a bit of everything, and he still never stops. They dig into his 32 years in Chicago, tracking ...

Radio & Podcasts

Tom Burns: From Record Collector to Capri Records Label Owner

by Mike Jones
August 31, 2026

Throwing back to our very first episode with Capri Records label owner, Tom Burns! For over 40 years, Tom has been producing jazz records and running his label. He has known and worked with some of the greats like Ray Brown,, Bud Shank, Jeff Hamilton, John Clayton and so many more. Tom talked with host, Mike Jones, about some of the people he's known and his work as a record and comic book collector. It was a wonderful chat about ...

Radio & Podcasts

Alex Frank: Jeff Goldblum's Bassist on Swing and the Ray Brown Tradition

by Mike Jones
August 18, 2026

Alex Frank grew up in the room while the music was being made. The son of an LA film composer, he was a kid at recording sessions who traded the clarinet for an upright the moment he heard Ray Brown . Now he's the musical director of Jeff Goldblum's jazz band and one of the most in-demand bassists working the drummerless-trio tradition that ran from Nat King Cole to Oscar Peterson. He joins host Mike Jones for a conversation about ...

Radio & Podcasts

Bill Prady: Saxophonist & Successful Script Writer

by Mike Jones
August 17, 2026

This week, I am joined by Bill Prady. You may know some of his work: The Big Bang Theory or Stuart Saves the World and even the Muppets! Bill is a friend from way back. We discuss his recent foray into saxophone playing. I've heard him and he's really good. He didn't start learning the sax until later in life. We discuss his experience with that and all the jazz music that has inspired him including his experience with Betty ...