This episode is about all that jazz. Esperanza Spalding is a five-time Grammy Award-winning bassist, singer, songwriter and composer. Recently, she has expanded her gifts to include work with fellow creators, teachers and practitioners in various fields to explore the therapeutic potential of music. Her last two albums, 2018’s 12 Little Spells and 2021’s Songwrights Apothecary Lab, reflect this new direction in her evolution as an artist.  She wrote an opera with Wayne Shorter, which premiered in fall 2021, and is presently working with Harvard University to co-create and learn with students there. We talked to her as she prepared to grace the legendary Newport Jazz Festival Fort Stage. Also, we talk to Michael R. Dudley, a trumpet player,  educator and recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. Michael was selected to perform at this year’s Newport Jazz Festival as part of the Newport Festival Foundation’s enduring partnership with the ASCAP Foundation to promote emerging jazz talent. Visit Esperanza’s website Check out Michael R. Dudley’s website Learn more about The ASCAP Foundation RSVP for the ASCAP Experience

In celebration of AAPI Heritage Month, we share highlights of two conversations from recent ASCAP Experience sessions featuring a diverse group of voices from ASCAP’s AAPI community. You'll hear a provocative discussion with playwright, librettist and lyricist David Henry Hwang and composer and conceptual artist Huang Ruo about art, identity and the power of music to help us fight racism and understand each other better. Then international superstar Amber Liu of K-pop royalty f(x), and Justin Park, a rising singer-songwriter recently endorsed by BTS’s Jungkook, talk about how their identities have shaped their lives and music careers, and the joys and challenges of growing up in the AAPI community. Watch "Chinese as Apple Pie" from David Henry Hwang and Huang Ruo’s opera THE RIFT Watch "The Perfect Woman" from David Henry Hwang and Huang Ruo’s opera  M. BUTTERFLY Watch “Easier” by Amber Liu (featuring Jackson Wang) Watch “Shady” by Justin Park Check out the ASCAP Experience You can also check out past VERSED episodes here

In celebration of Earth Day, we talk to Guster frontman and guitarist Adam Gardner, whose nonprofit environmental organization, Reverb, partners with fellow music makers like Billie Eilish, P!nk, Maroon 5, Dead & Company, Bonnie Raitt, Sleater-Kinney, Jack Johnson and more, as well as festivals and venues, to green their concert events while engaging fans to help tackle today’s most pressing environmental issues and create real, measurable change for people and the planet. Adam shares some of the actions music creators and music lovers alike can take to reduce their footprint. He also highlights the positive impact that Reverb’s recent campaign, Music Climate Revolution, has made within the last year, and how more sectors of the music industry are supporting their mission. Learn more about Reverb Join the Music Climate Revolution See Guster live  Check out The ASCAP Experience You can also check out past episodes here

In celebration of Women’s History Month, we talk to one of today’s most exciting singer-songwriters, mxmtoon, who is set to release a new 12-song album, rising, that is “a triumph of pop-and-disco confessionalism,” while prepping a major North American tour. She opens up about the meaning behind her uplifting new song (and our podcast’s new theme song), “Mona Lisa,” how moving to New York City has affected her creativity, the storytelling benefits of playing video games, the women who have inspired her and how she needs to create to feel fulfilled. PLUS we catch up with Grammy Award-winning engineer Ann Mincieli, longtime collaborator with Alicia Keys and a co-founder of the pivotal music industry organization, She is the Music. Watch the official video for mxmtoon’s "Mona Lisa" Visit Women Create Music: ASCAP Celebrate Women's History Month Learn more about She is the Music Check out Ann Mincieli’s Jungle City Studios RSVP for The ASCAP Experience Listen, Watch & Subscribe!  

We talk to virtuoso violinist, composer, performer and producer Tim Fain about his adventurous and boundary-pushing career that spans film, the concert stage and virtual reality, and his collaborations with everyone from Philip Glass to The National. Then we talk to participants from the ASCAP Lab’s 2021 Immersive Music Studio Challenge, our partnership with the NYC Media Lab, that offers grants to startups and university teams to develop and expand upon prototype technologies that demonstrate new ways artists can create music, connect with fans and reimagine how we interact with music and sound. Watch Tim Fain’s Resonance: A Jump VR Video Listen to Tim Fain Plays Philip Glass: Partita for Solo Violin Watch Algorithm Nation: Four Tech Tools Pointing to Music’s Future Watch the ASCAP Experience - the ultimate music creator community and event series. Check out The ASCAP Lab  RSVP for The ASCAP Experience Listen, Watch & Subscribe: i Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | Stitcher 

We talk to one of the most celebrated songwriters in music, Diane Warren, about Diane Warren: The Cave Sessions Vol. 1, her fantastic new cross-genre album of original songs recorded with some of the world’s best artists, including Ty Dolla $ign, Maren Morris, John Legend, Luis Fonsi, Jon Batiste, Pentatonix, G-Eazy, Carlos Santana, Rita Ora, Celine Dion, Darius Rucker and many others. She also talks about her Academy Award nominated work writing for film and what it’s like hearing The Beatles sing your song. PLUS: We get some sound advice from master composer-producer of instrumental hip-hop, RJD2, about making beats - without rhymes. Watch video for “Seaside” featuring Diane Warren, Rita Ora, Sofía Reyes and REIK Watch video for “She’s Fire” featuring Diane Warren, G-Eazy and Santana Here is Diane Warren’s official website Check out this course! RJD2: From Samples to Songs on SoundFly ASCAP Members get a discount on a Soundfly subscription. Just go to Member Access to activate it. RSVP for The ASCAP Experience Listen, Watch & Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | Stitcher 

It’s Primetime Emmy Awards season, and in this episode we talk to two great nominees. Michael Abels joins us for a discussion about composing music for the acclaimed HBO docuseries Allen v. Farrow, for which he has received two nominations. He also shares his experience working with filmmaker Jordan Peele on Get Out, Us and a project in the works, and explains the mission of his advocacy group, the Composers Diversity Collective. PLUS: We take a dive into the exciting world of music directors with Billie Eilish’s MD, Aron Forbes. He’s nominated for two Emmys for his work on the Apple TV+ doc Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry. Learn more about the Composers Diversity Collective Watch performance of Michael Abels’ “Sikiliza Kwa Wahenga” (from Get Out) at the 2018 ASCAP Screen Awards  RSVP for The ASCAP Experience Listen, Watch & Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | Stitcher   

The Newport Folk Festival is back with a passion. In this episode we talk to the talented Yasmin Williams, a virtuoso composer and musician who has been praised by the New York Times as “one of the country’s most imaginative young solo guitarists,” and who is set to make her Newport debut this year. She will join fellow ASCAP members performing, including Beck, Grace Potter, Bonny Light Horseman, Kevin Morby, Vagabon and many others. Williams shares her feelings about joining the Newport tradition, her journey to mastering the guitar, pushing herself to learn new instruments and experimental approach to recording her gorgeous, acclaimed new album, Urban Driftwood. We also check in with Jay Sweet, Executive Producer of the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals, about why Newport has endured as two of the oldest and most meaningful music festivals, why supporting music education is more important than ever and the joy he feels in evolving the legacy of an organization whose mission makes an impact far beyond the stage. Watch Newport Festivals Foundation’s “Sessions”  Watch Yasmin Williams’ “Urban Driftwood” video featuring Amadou Kouyate  RSVP for The ASCAP Experience Listen, Watch & Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | Stitcher 

In celebration of Pride Month, we talk to Rufus Wainwright about his livestreamed concert on June 10th, Rufus Does Judy at Capitol Studios, where he re-creates and celebrates Judy Garland’s classic 1961 Carnegie Hall concert, and shares his thoughts on what it was like to be one of the first openly gay artists when he first emerged on the music scene in the ‘90s. He also talks about family, fatherhood and what the world needs now. We also talk to acclaimed Maine-based singer-songwriter-producer Lady Lamb about how discovering her identity early in life allowed her the freedom of expression to forge her own unique musical path. All this and some valuable advice from our recent ASCAP Experience session on how important video is to releasing new music today. Check out Rufus Does Judy at Capitol Studios on June 10th. Watch Lady Lamb's film "I Feel a Stillness Growing." RSVP for The ASCAP Experience. Listen, watch and subscribe on YouTube.

In response to the recent wave of racism and violence against the Asian American & Pacific Islander communities, this special episode of VERSED is devoted to lifting up our many AAPI songwriters and composers. We invited a diverse group of ASCAP members to give voice to their Asian heritage, and how it has impacted them as music creators and people. You’ll hear from Jihye Lee, Kazi, Amritha Vaz, Nick Lee, Alex Ritchie, Brian Warfield, Trace, Wendy Wang and Will Yip. Our own Brian Reyes also joins to discuss his own experience and shares what ASCAP is doing to #StopAsianHate. +Find resources to help #StopAsianHate at ASCAP's Fight for Change page Listen, Watch & Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts | YouTube | Spotify | Stitcher