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B-Side Morning Brew with Bij & Niles is a unique radio show broadcasted on 91.5FM KUNV Jazz & More in Las Vegas, pairing music and lifestyle through tasteful consciousness. Live the Lifestyle™. Shows air the first Sunday of each month.
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This is a Kun V studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education. Good
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morning. And welcome.
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You're listening to B side morning brew with beef and Niles.
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Hot coffee,
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cool chat, chilling on the corner of lifestyle app
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and music stream on 91.5k
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u and v, jazz and more. Good morning my man,
Unknown Speaker 0:39
good morning. Man, good let's start with our sip of coffee. Oh yeah, oh yeah, that's it. We're just going right in, my friend,
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we're going in for those that are
Unknown Speaker 0:56
all of you that are just joining us, we're deep in the middle of this conversation about the new Andre 3000 who I think is cool, right?
Unknown Speaker 1:08
Oh, well, you know, I'm some, some might consider him an A legend, iconic in that, in the in that, yeah, genre in the rap, you know, genre outcast and, yep, I mean, one of the most infamous, famous party songs, you know, yeah, you know. I mean, the reality is, is that, you know, it's interesting, as we are want to do well, first of all, hello, my friend, now that we are actually, you know, encapsulating our conversation into our Morton brew construct here. Yeah, you know, I don't think many of our listeners realize that about 90% of the conversations that Niles and I have never really makes it to air, and it's probably some of the most compelling radio show content that we have. We're like, why didn't we record this? I think we're gonna end. I think we're just gonna be come vloggers, right? And just then, while Right, yeah, it's going deep, right? It's going back, going back. Not that we are necessarily of that age, at least in our minds, anyway. But yeah, but yeah. So this is yet another one of our conversations that we have decided to actually encapsulate for you, our listeners. And we're always and not anxious. What's the word I'm looking for? We are always excited. Yeah, yes, excited to share with you what goes on in the minds of Niles, Thomas and Watson of
Unknown Speaker 2:48
this nonsense. Yes, well, going back to the Andre 3000 thing, right? We're going to get into what you're telling your or asking your students at Berkeley, right about the funny thing is, the first time I experienced Andre 3000 or Andre Lauren Benjamin, this is giving There you go. Look at you. Was the was the guy Richie film called revolver. And I'm like, great film. I feel like Guy Richie's films. I mean, come on, that's a, that's a really good film. But I was thinking that my guy, he looks familiar, and he's just like this cool cat. Who is this guy? Then I come to find out who he is, musically, whom I, I've never was introduced to, you know? I mean, that's, that's, it's not my not my bag, you know. So, but anyway, tell the audience so you're teaching the kids at Berkeley and they're off to go see Andres 3000s concert right now, right or exactly
Unknown Speaker 3:48
so. Andre 3000 received an honorary doctorate from Berkeley College of Music last year. He's actually doing a concert at the Wang Center here in Boston tomorrow or this week, whatever. And so he's doing a like a panel discussion at Berkeley today. And so a few of my students were in my harmony class. They're like, 103,000 is, you know, on campus, and I saw the line building outside of the theater there for the Performance Center, the theater. So I raised the question, you know, they so they asked me, like, you know, like, I don't know nothing. They said, You're the old man. Did you know? Did you know that, that Andre 3000 did a, you know, this new age jazz flute album. I said, as a matter of fact, I was very well aware of that. But I'm like, do you even know where Andre 3000 what his original band was? And one of the students eagerly raised their hand. They're like, outcast. And I'm like, You do realize that? Outcast was around before you were born.
Unknown Speaker 5:04
Yeah, yeah. They're
Unknown Speaker 5:06
like, yeah. I never really thought of it that way, exactly. But
Unknown Speaker 5:10
you brought up a good question about, would these kids go see a quote, unquote flutist, if it wasn't, Andre 3000 and I think the answer would be no. For the most part, it'd be No, but because Andre 3000 has that body of work from the past, and has that influence and cool and now doing something left field for him, these students, you know, how did they answer? I mean, you could they answer? So
Unknown Speaker 5:42
when I asked, when I asked the question, I said, I like, you said, I swear, I said, so if you know, if you had just heard this, you didn't know who Andre 3000 was, and you would just heard this music, would you listen to it? And one of them answered, yeah, yeah. I was like, Really,
Unknown Speaker 5:59
no, you wouldn't,
Unknown Speaker 6:01
I said. I said, I just want you to be honest, we're in the cone of we're in the cone of truth here, in this in this class. I said, Yeah, you're probably right. No, I wouldn't listen to I said, and that's fine. I said, Listen, I'm not trying to say you're any less than for listening to it. Of course you're intrigued by it, right? So it breaks up. He said, All of you, one day, plan to be artists, right? You go into Berklee College of Music, you plan to get into the entertainment industry in one way, shape or form. And you know, honestly, you should look at what Andre 3000 is doing as a blueprint for here's a here's a cat that has been doing this for decades. Yep. And as a result of the the following he has built, he has the the luxury of being able to put out an album that is truly a reflection of where he is at artistically, yeah? Now, whether you like it or not, that's a whole nother
Unknown Speaker 6:56
and unapologetically so in terms of, I watched those perfect work, unapologetic, yeah, I've watched his interviews, and he's so cool about it, you know, because the the questions are, you know, there's such a departure from what you do, blah, blah, blah. He's like, Listen, I don't, I really don't care what you think. I'm just doing what I do. I'm into this. And so if you're into it cool, and if you're not into it cool, it just doesn't matter. That really is an important message today in terms of, I don't care what age you are, honestly, whether you're younger learning, getting into the artist industry or being a musician, to how long you've been doing it. Nowadays, we live in this time where, I mean, people could always tell if you're not honest with what's going on, but nowadays it's more so than ever, I think. And so the idea is like, just do what you do, and if people like it great, and if they don't great, it doesn't matter. But just do what you love, but do it because you genuinely want to do it, not because you think someone's gonna like something you know doesn't work. Doesn't work, right?
Unknown Speaker 8:06
I mean, literally, the first track on his album is, I swear I really wanted to make a rap, quote, unquote rap album, yep. But this is, this is how the wind blew,
Unknown Speaker 8:22
well, and he said, I've seen him in interviews talking about how he just doesn't have anything to say lyrically. He has something to say musically, with this new instrument, he's like, I'm not going to as he calls it, like spit or rhyme, if I've got nothing to say lyrically, right? And he goes, I because I try, I've sat, I've tried to compose lyrics, and I don't have anything to say. That's a value, because when I do, I will, I will put that kind of record together. And that's genius too. That's almost, you know, whether he thinks this or not, but that's genius marketing also, you know, exactly, by the way, I'll be back with the things that you're familiar with at some point, but I'm not making any promises, you know. So you better come see my, my flutist concert. You know this genius
Unknown Speaker 9:13
new blue sun, you know crazy ambient, New Age spiritual jazz. That's what, that's how the the industry has coined it. Coined it, yes, yeah,
Unknown Speaker 9:25
they gotta use something just to, you know, advertise, market, sell their product. You gotta use some sort of word, you know, put it into a genre, pretty,
Unknown Speaker 9:39
pretty amazing. But, you know, it goes into, I mean, we talked about just understanding that, listen, we do this for a reason. And the reason is not necessarily to make money. The reason is because we have, we have to do it. And one of my. Like friends and mentors in the business who passed away, unfortunately, way too soon. Roy Hargrove, yes, phenomenal trumpet player, flugelhorn, amazing writer, a composer. Writer, composer, you know, he would go to jam sessions till four in the morning that you know, Smalls in New York City and wherever he was touring, he would just show up at jam sessions and just play, because, without getting paid, without getting paid, exactly, yeah, and, and really, you know, and through that, encouraged a whole range of musicians over the course of his lifetime, yes, by him being there, and, you know, just being so pure in his desire to make music and make art, yeah.
Unknown Speaker 10:51
And you know what? You know, it's interesting with everybody has their own story. Every musician artists that we talk to, but it's interesting where those lines get blurred, and why they become blurred. And my only thought in theory is that, look, when I was younger, you get, I got into music, and you get a band together, and everybody's in it and, like, let's, you know, sleep on the couch, on the floor, do these little tours. You go over, you do what you need to do, but everybody's all in, right? As we get older, right? You gotta, you gotta make a living, bills, car payments, you rent back, then you know whatever you're going to do. And so it becomes a job, right? If you want to do that music, and if you're going to be a session player music, you know whether it's live session playing or or recording session player at one point, does it not become about the music anymore, and it's just about the paycheck. Walk into a studio, or walk into a session, a live session, and go, I'll take the gig because I'm going to make X amount of dollars. That's what's disheartening. The reality of that is disheartening because, and then as we get older, we go back to going, Wait a minute, this isn't about the money. It's some weird dichotomy,
Unknown Speaker 12:04
I guess. I mean, yeah, the reality is, is that you and I have this conversation all the time, yeah? And I come from that studio session player, yes. What's the word? I'm looking for community, if you were will. But I also am fortunate enough to be able to understand the importance of being an artist, and so that that, as a result, it's made me a better session player, because I want to bring these other influences of being an artist into a session Yeah, and not just show up and punch a clock and just play like an automaton. And actually, the reason why I get called is because i can, i I'm willing to bring something to help the artist that's recorded.
Unknown Speaker 12:50
Yeah, it that. That's a fine line, too. Do you remember there was a he was young at the time. As a kid, we used to hire when, you know, when we did those shows in New York and Boston a number of years ago, and he ended up moving to LA great bass player. Man, great. Do you remember we were having him? We started to to bring him on for the jazz Republic, yep. But he kept it was just like, well, what's the bread? What's the bread? Even when we told him that, you know, what's the bread, you know, am I going to do this with the bread, with the bread, with the bread. And after a while, we're like, you know what, man, as the employer, you're going to keep asking that. Then after a while for us, it's like, well, you're not in this for the music, and it's one. And we understand the hybrid. Of course, we understand the hybrid of it's for the music and for the end, for the bread. But at that point it was just about the about the bread. It's like, man, we're not going to hire this kid anymore, like you're done. You're done for, you know, in terms of us hiring you, we don't want that. We don't want that vibe, you know. I mean, if it's just for the punching in for the time clock,
Unknown Speaker 13:53
good luck with that. Well. And as a result, we see in the industry now that so much of an emphasis is just on, how do we make something viral? How do we get that short term gain from a monetization standpoint, as opposed to really being focused on sharing something that is artistically important to the artists at the core? Yeah,
Unknown Speaker 14:16
and what's the big what's the big picture look like for you? Do you know what I mean? If you're not thinking about that, then you're going to misstep as you go along. You're just going to screw up, potentially burn bridges, and you know that kind of thing. It's tough. It's tough to it's tough to know that too, when you are mid, late 20s into your early 30s, you know, we know some, some early 30s, and they're, I don't miss that, man. I do not miss being at that age and trying to figure out who you are, what you're doing. I gotta get here, and I gotta do that, you know that? Oh, man, I don't miss that anxiety
Unknown Speaker 14:52
of and some might say that we have because of our experience, we're able to take a look back, you know, for they say. Hindsight is always 2020. Apply the same token. I like to think I'm trying to mentor these, some of these younger players, into understanding that time, what you think takes a long time to build is not, did we have that conversation? We were like, Yeah, you know, oh yeah, it's a three year process. Well, it went by in the blink of an eye, yeah?
Unknown Speaker 15:21
And at the at the at the top of that three years, you just like, how am I going to get through this in three years, or stay focused for three years or but yeah, you look back on three years, like, where did that go? Exactly, you know, especially in today's times, oddly enough, the clock seems to be faster. Yeah, that's just weird, and I guess it's because we're all, I don't care what industry you're in, but we're all looking we all live in different months. Well, we're all two, three months ahead of ourselves, you know, scheduling things and doing things, and it's, and I get it, but it, you know, it's not helping at the same time well,
Unknown Speaker 15:59
but that's the core. If you're show a level of discipline, no matter what you do, yeah, being disciplined and focused on what's important. And I think people just don't take time to reflect, yeah, on what is important to them. And when you do finally find what's important to you, and you can focus on that, then you start really seeing results and reaping dividends. Absolutely,
Unknown Speaker 16:22
yeah, and not you know, your your schedule of events changes. Things that you want done at a certain time period in your life just gets altered. It's changes, you know, meaning it may not plan that the date you want something to happen may not be that date. It might again, you and I when, when we you know, when you're 40, ish, I remember you're trying to, you're trying to get the gig at Berkeley. Man, it just wasn't happening. And John Clayton told you, it ain't your time, man, and when it's time, Berkeley will reach out to you. And that was that day for you was so hard. I was there, and now look, you're just like, Yeah, whatever. I'm at Berkeley. You know what I'm saying? It's like, but now's your time. It wasn't then, and it's so hard for any of us to swallow those moments. It's like the wind being knocked out of your sail on such scales. You know? You're like, man, it's a it's interesting, but that's a testament to you just got to stay the course. You know, you just got to stay the course. And I was giving you praise. Go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 17:30
Well, that being said, I think it's time for a little music. You know, I'm in a reflective mood. Here's another, you know, I'm in, I'm in the shed, a little bit as the, as the old heads would say, I'm in the shed, practicing a lot more than I normally do in preparation for some guest artists. Things I have coming up, yeah, and really been digging into some you know, everyone knows me as El Toro. You know, in your face, you know, bombastic, bringing the heat, the sizzle, but it really going into more reflective side in my playing, which exists, by the way, and this is a tune that I've been working on that, once again, another favorite of mine, Miles Davis. This is a tune entitled, it never entered my mind off of the Miles Davis quintet album, let's check it out.
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You're listening to it here on B side morning brew with beige and Niles, A, 91.5k, U, N, V, E, jazz and more. You.
Unknown Speaker 19:20
It fit in the
Unknown Speaker 23:54
Welcome back. You're listening to B side morning brew with beige and Niles here in 91.5k and v jazz and more. That was Miles Davis and his quintet. It never entered my mind. I'm proud of you, man, this is normally not what you know. I know you to listen to in terms of a bit haunting for you. You know what I mean? That's my bag, generally. But this thing's all over the map, isn't it? I mean, it is. It's beautiful man starts out with kind of a classical kind of idea, then goes into a even more of a haunting vibe and very romantic even, I'd say, Yeah, you know, wow. Good on you. I like you. All right, everybody, just give bija Watson a round of applause.
Unknown Speaker 24:51
We're listening to something else. This is great. Very cool. Man, beautiful, yeah. Man, what again? Here's a testament to you know, as an art. Just listening to different different styles within the genre that you love, right? I think so even,
Unknown Speaker 25:05
or even outside of the genre. I mean, you know, yeah, listen to the whole, you know, me, I listen to a whole lot of different stuff. But, I mean, it goes back to, you have to bring your totality of your experience, yeah, your experiences, to be creative as an artist, and so that's part of it, you know, yeah,
Unknown Speaker 25:22
yeah. It's, it's an interesting thing, well, as an artist, you know, it's good to be open to all sorts of genres. And, you know, kind of be influenced and inspired by all sorts to bring into, you know, your bag of tricks, so to speak. I think in terms of hearing session players, to me, the best, are the ones that can just reach into anything you know, that says something you know. It's interesting. Absolutely,
Unknown Speaker 25:50
that's what we're here for. I mean, now we're at a stage in our careers where we are mentoring other people coming up.
Unknown Speaker 25:58
You are, I will say definitely you are. You know you you are
Unknown Speaker 26:02
in your own way. You don't realize it. But and mentoring doesn't necessarily mean meaning one on one, but just inspiring people to keep creating and going and going in directions. And I mean, you look at the body of work and things that you produce, and the people you produce, from country music to rock, to pop to rock,
Unknown Speaker 26:24
rap, you know,
Unknown Speaker 26:25
rap, you know, I'm saying, so, yeah, I mean, there's something that that's, that's what it's about, and that that doesn't happen. People don't come to you for that unless you have shown an ability to bring the best out of people and being creative, and that requires a an expanse of knowledge to be able to extract that from people. So
Unknown Speaker 26:47
yeah, and then yeah, that's a whole other higher wire, right? And
Unknown Speaker 26:52
it comes down to, there's no, there's no substitute for experience. Yeah, true. You can have all the chops in the world, but you do have the experience.
Unknown Speaker 27:02
Yeah, man, no, it's cool. It's It's interesting. It's exploration, I think, is what it is in the music world, you know, it's good to be an explorer. Kind of idea, Explorer, you know? I mean, really is. I'm all about it, you know. I mean, look, even as you know, the stuff I'm doing now, venturing more into the rockabilly and swing thing, which I've always loved it, but I never tried it, you know. And it just so happens guitar wise, I'm because I'm more natural at it than I would have thought. But that could be years of me listening to stray cats, those kind of bands, you know. But
Unknown Speaker 27:36
you wouldn't have known that unless you tried it.
Unknown Speaker 27:37
Yeah, you have to be willing to try something that's at the end of the day, that's the bottom line, right? And hence, going back to Andre 3000 you know, he's just like, I'm gonna try something completely different, because I'm someone gave me a flute, and I'm interested in exploring this and seeing where it takes me. You know,
Unknown Speaker 27:55
it's great. Well, we were filming movies and stuff. Yeah, between filming movies, well,
Unknown Speaker 28:00
being an artist, right? You know, it's just being a true artist, trying out different mediums, which I think is cool. Well, close us out, brother.
Unknown Speaker 28:10
Hey, that's our message for today is, you know, always working on authenticity and integrity and whatever you do and be disciplined, and you will see the results, you know, 20 years ago or more, when I first met, I don't think doing a radio show was on our radar at all. So 25 years ago, yeah, you know, at least so, yeah, it's we're happy to be here. We're happy to share these thoughts with you. We're thrilled that you take the time to listen to us ramble.
Unknown Speaker 28:46
Be happy, and we're happy and thrilled and thrilled and happy and thrilled
Unknown Speaker 28:50
and happy and happy, happy and thrilled. Yes, really burgers appears
Unknown Speaker 28:55
really appreciate the happiness and
Unknown Speaker 28:58
the I'm happy. We're all happy. We're
Unknown Speaker 29:00
all happy. On that note, we wish you all a very happy Sunday. And
Unknown Speaker 29:06
we'd like to thank our media partners, 91.5 KU and B jazz and more, and all of you as well. And if you're interested in finding out what's going on, feel free to go to the jazz Republic. Com,
Unknown Speaker 29:21
good morning. Everybody. Enjoy your Sunday. Have a great weekend.
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You've been listening to B side, morning brew with bees and Niles, chillin on the corner of lifestyle app
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and music street on 91.5k,
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u and v. Jazz.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai