Chats with Cats

Guitarist B. D. Lenz chats with today's industry experts about career advice and approaches for today's jazz professional.

Mark Gross: Jazz for Teens

by B.D. Lenz
September 8, 2026

For many young musicians, learning jazz is about much more than learning how to play an instrument. It's about developing confidence, learning to listen, finding your own voice, and discovering how to work with others.Few people understand that better than Mark Gross. As Director of Jazz Instruction at NJPAC, Gross has spent years helping shape the next generation of jazz musicians through programs like TD Jazz for Teens, while also drawing on his own experience as a performer ...

Michael Ricci: Still Building a Home for Jazz

by B.D. Lenz
August 19, 2026

This is a very special installment of Chats with Cats. Normally, I interview people from different corners of the jazz world. This time, I turned the microphone toward the person who made this conversation possible--the cat, if you will. As the founder and publisher of All About Jazz, Michael Ricci has spent decades building one of the most respected destinations for jazz journalism, discovery, and conversation. What began as a passion project grew into a global resource connecting ...

The A&R Producer: Matt Pierson

by B.D. Lenz
May 26, 2026

Behind many great records is someone helping shape the music beyond the notes themselves: a producer, collaborator, sounding board, and sometimes even an unofficial artist-development guide. While listeners often focus on the musicians on the cover, producers and A&R figures can play a major role in how a project ultimately comes together--and whether it reaches an audience at all. Few people have occupied that space as successfully as Matt Pierson. Over the years, Pierson has worked with an ...

The Jazz Learning Innovator: Stephanie Matthews

by B.D. Lenz
May 4, 2026

For many jazz musicians, the focus is often on the stage, the rehearsal room, or the studio. But increasingly, another part of the ecosystem is shaping how the music is created, shared, and experienced: the world of education, community engagement, and creative programming.Stephanie Matthews is at the center of that shift. As Executive Director of A Tribe for Jazz, she has built a platform that approaches jazz not only as an art form, but as a framework for ...

The Sync Director: Eric Meyers

by B.D. Lenz
April 10, 2026

As an independent jazz artist with more than a dozen releases, I've promoted my recordings in all the usual ways, hoping to spread my music and eventually recoup the money I'd invested. Early on, though, I learned about “music libraries"--companies that house vast catalogs of music, soundscapes, and sound effects for film and television production. I mailed CDs to several of them and largely forgot about it. Years later, checks started arriving in the mail. At first, they ...

The Music Supervisor: Gary Calamar

by B.D. Lenz
March 17, 2026

For most musicians, the idea of hearing their music in a film or television show feels like hitting the lottery. One day, you're writing and recording in your basement studio, and the next, your song is underscoring a pivotal scene on a major television program. Behind those moments, though, is someone whose job it is to find exactly the right music for the right moment: the music supervisor. Music supervisors sit at the crossroads of art and logistics. ...

The Audiophile: Adrian Butts

by B.D. Lenz
October 9, 2025

Speak with any recording engineer, and they will express to you the frustration they have with modern music listening habits. Think about the money invested in top-notch gear to maximize the sonic quality of their productions, the effort put into having great sounds on a recording, the care poured into getting just the right mix, and all of the considerations taken when finally mastering their work. And for all of that, most people only listen to it through their phone ...

The Publicist: Antje Huebner

by B.D. Lenz
September 11, 2025

With technology transforming our world and every aspect of our lives changing so rapidly, it can be difficult to keep up. And the music business, like every other enterprise, has seen the same metamorphosis. For anyone who simply wants to be a musician, it's just not that easy anymore. With all the tools to manage a career at our fingertips, there's more expectation placed on us to understand and utilize them. But it can often be a struggle for artists ...

The Jazz Innovator: Jerald Miller

by B.D. Lenz
July 11, 2025

It's understood that talent alone is rarely enough to be successful in the music business. Among other things, it requires drive, relentless hard work, resilience, and a certain level of business acumen. But, in the last few decades, it's become increasingly important to be tech-savvy as well. To highlight the difference, could you imagine Miles Davis posting a selfie on Instagram or John Coltrane uploading a reaction video to YouTube? Now, consider how many artists in recent times have built ...

The Ukraine Connection: Sandy Eldred

by B.D. Lenz
April 9, 2025

It's an understatement to say that politics are very polarizing right now and one of the most heated topics is that of Ukraine. Regardless of how you feel about the war, we can all agree that it is a very difficult time for the Ukrainian people. With the conflict raging on for years, they're undoubtedly trying to find some semblance of normalcy amongst the terrifying chaos and uncertainty. With this in mind, it was enlightening to speak to ...