Priscilla's Podcast

This is a special edition of my podcast recorded on location at Jazz Camp West in 2008 with Tootie Heath, one of the greatest jazz drummers of all time. Tootie has a long history of recording and playing with the best known musicians starting his career in 1957 on a debut album with John Coltrane.That was followed by years spent with JJ Johnson, Cedar Walton, Wes Montgomery, Herbie Hancock and Yusef Lateef...Just to name a few. He was very well known for his years spent playing with his brothers, Percy and Jimmy in the Heath Brothers Band.
In this interview, Tootie talks about his latest project in which three or sometimes four drummers play standard tunes providing all of the parts of a tradition song...the melody and the solos..without the help of any other instruments. You can hear more of the music and learn more about his new project at this website: http://www.thewholedrumtruth.com

Join Priscilla in a conversation with Ernie Mansfield, a brilliant musician and composer, who plays at least five different instruments, about what brought him to his passion of teaching music to people of all ages. If you are an aspiring musician who never had the chance to study an instrument, this podcast might give you the inspiration to start some music lessons. Ernie feels that it is never too late to make music! Check out his website at www.mansfieldmusic.com

The opera is alive and thriving in Berkeley, California! This podcast, an interview with the Artistic Director Jonathan Khuner, gives you a taste of the programming and history of this unique operatic company.The Berkeley Opera is known for it's adventurous productions. Jonathan describes how he has attracted very talented singers and musicians to perform in an intimate setting for over 25 years.

Priscilla interviews the fabulously talented Lenny Williams, the former lead singer of the 70's R&B group,"Tower of Power". Lenny tells tales of how he got into the music industry, a wonderful benefit concert he is involved with which raises money for the music programs in the San Leandro school system and tells some great stories about his current theatrical run with the great Billie D. Williams.

Mike Macedonio co-authored the New York Times Bestselling Book,"Truth or Delusion, Busting Networking's Biggest Myths". If you are curious about how to become a better networker, then listen to this interesting discussion. As the President of the Referral Institute, Mike has a wealth of information to share. One of his goals is to create the world's leading referral training organization. Check out www.referralinstitute.com for more information.

Kid Beyond, aka..Andrew Chaiken, is one of the most talented and most unusual vocal artists I have ever met. He is a one man vocal orchestra, also known as a beat boxer, who creates all the sounds of the drum set and the rest of the band with his voice. He then layers the sounds with the help of a digital looping device and then sings in harmony over the top.The result is incredible. All of the music you will hear is created, not by instruments, but by Andrews mouth! This podcast was recorded at Jazz Camp West in Northern California where Andrew was teaching this summer. His website is www.kidbeyond.com

Dawn Lyons is a Master Trainer with the Referral Institute and an Executive Director for BNI (Business Networking International). She is a vibrant and dynamic speaker. In this podcast she describes one of her most popular trainings called the "Gems Workshop", in which different behavioral styles and personality traits are identified as belonging to different groups named after the gems: Rubies, Sapphires, Emeralds and Pearls. Knowing more about a client helps you treat them the way they would like to be treated. Since building great relationships is one of the keys to sucessful networking, this is a fabulous and fun tool to help you improve your skills. Dawn's email is dawn@referralinstitute.com Please send any questions or comments to priscilla@liveoakstudio.com

Dr. Misner is the Founder and Chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. In this interview, we learn about the unusual use of the concept "Giver's Gain" as the guiding principle for all BNI members. He also reveals to Priscilla the influences in his early life which gave him the confidence to be a successful leader of a multinational organization. If you would like to learn more about BNI or become a member, go to www.bni.com

Claudia Gomez is a wonderfully talented singer, songwriter and guitarist from Medellin, Colombia. In this wide ranging interview, she speaks of the influences of her upbringing in a musical family and her later travels to foreign lands. These experiences are all reflected in her music, an intoxicating blend of Columbian and Cuban rhythms and melodies, mixed with harmonies from Spain and Brazil, and swirled together with American Jazz...all of it graced with the earthly, voluptuous sound of Claudia's voice.

Ellen Kim is an entrepreneur who followed her dreams and started a new business as a floral designer with a goal of creating beautiful and unique floral art for her individual clients. No two arrangements have ever been the same! She took a leap of faith and gave up a very stable and lucrative job in the graphic design business to do something which feeds her soul and gives joy to her clients as well.