Jack Hui Litster: An Inspiring Musical Journey
Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman
09/16/23
•79m
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This week’s episode is with the Canadian musician Jack Hui Litster, who has developed a satisfying creative career after some interesting twists and turns. In this episode, you’ll learn about his experiences as a jazz drummer, his pivot into international development, and his path back to composing, producing and recording music in different styles. The music included in this episode features two tracks from his album "Shining Suns”, a guzheng improvisation and an excerpt from his second opera “What is Love”. We talked about different ways to make a living as a musician, achieving a flow state, some of the positive impacts of technology, and the importance of finding a work-life balance. Like all my episodes, this is available wherever you listen to podcasts, also as a video on YouTube, and the transcript with the show notes are all linked on my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/jack-hui-litster Please consider buying me a cofffee; I’m an independant podcaster and I need my listners’ help: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (06:34) Shining Suns album, Jack’s return to music (11:50) Awakener from Shining Suns (15:40) Jack’s musical education, start as a drummer (19:14) St Francis Xavier (21:05) learning different instruments (22:47) jazz scene (24:27) Chinese music explorations, Master’s degree (28:18) intro to guzheng piece (29:28) guzheng improv (32:29) creative process, how Jack started composing (34:41) influence of choral music (36:46) Jack’s operas (49:13) call to action: I need my listeners’ help! (49:29) intro to What Is Love (51:12) excerpt from What Is Love, the finale (55:21) Berklee online (58:55) Shining Suns, Mark Ferguson (1:03:09) Shining Suns with Hidden track (1:09:10) Jack’s career change, dealing with burnout, work-life balance (1:18:14) flow state, creative process (1:20:57) helpful technology
photo: Curtis Perry
Previous Episode
Jah'Mila: "Roots Girl" complete track
September 9, 2023
•1m
As a bonus, this track, which is a special version of "Roots Girl" has generously been provided by Jah'Mila. The interview with her also features two other tracks, within this fascinating episode. You can listen to it on your favourite podcast player, watch the video, or read the transcript. The shownotes are also linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/jahmila
Next Episode
Kait Dunton: Keyboards and a Creative Life
September 23, 2023
•73m
In this episode, you get to hear the brilliant and engaging keyboard player and composer Kait Dunton in both conversation and a mini theory workshop on her hit tune This One’s For You! In this wide-ranging conversation, we talked about her early days with Snarky Puppy, recording the soundtrack to A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood, her love of vintage keyboards and the challenges they present, and her unique approach to teaching which has been influenced by her mentor John D’earth. Kait has gained a huge following on social media like Instagram and TikTok, so I was curious to get her perspectives on connecting with her fans, and dealing with necessary boundaries. Kait’s new album Keyboards features the sounds of the 1970s and we got into some of her influences and her personal journey to becoming a full-time performer. This episode features some of her recorded work and she generously agreed to demonstrate as well; you can use the timestamps to navigate and you can listen to this wherever you get your podcasts, watch the YouTube video or read the transcript, everything is linked to the show notes on my website https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/kait-dunton with a gallery of images of Kate’s vintage keyboards as well.
I’m an independant podcaster, and through this series I hope to inspire you with these stories of the incredible breadth and depth of a life in music with my inspiring guests. This podcast needs your support to continue, and every dollar helps: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman
Timestamps
(00:00) Intro
(02:09)recording for the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
(04:28) 2023 album Keyboards and working with vintage keyboards
(10:09) Richard Tee’s influence
(13:28)Lunch Break from Keyboards
(16:15)recording process, husband drummer Jake Reed, parenting
(20:15) childhood musical education
(22:30)John D’earth
(26:29) Planet D’earth
(26:28) call to action: support the podcast!
(30:24) Snarky Puppy, North Texas, finding her way to a career as a performer
(33:09)music marketing, social media
(38:33) teaching music and theory
(43:28) Kait demonstrates at the piano with some theory within This One’s For You
(50:32)teaching and the importance and deeper meaning of music
(56:35)playing concerts, marketing and social media
(01:01:50) albums versus playlists, streaming versus buying music
(01:09:22) Kait’s reflections on her journey to becoming a full-time performer and composer
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