Jessica Cottis: Hearing in Colour

Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

06/22/24

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86m

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Jessica Cottis is an acclaimed orchestral conductor, and in this wide-ranging interview you’ll gain insights into the special world of orchestral conductors and also some of Jessica’s interests in the natural world and the arts. She spoke to me about her musical path, from how she made her first trumpet, to life on a sheep farm, to her transition from a career as a concert organist, to lessons learned from conducting mentors including Colin Davis and Colin Metters. Jessica is such an articulate champion of the value of music and the arts, and I’ve also been privileged to have worked with her in my role as a violinist in Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra.

I have a special interest in synesthesia, so I was interested in hearing her experience of sound through colour, and if you look at the description of this episode, you’ll find detailed timestamps for the many topics covered, inluding some beautiful music from Julie Cooper’s new album Oculus with Jessica Cottis conducting. Jessica also shared her difficult recovery from a concussion and how her senses were further mixed for a period of time.

Like all my episodes, you can also watch this on my YouTube channel and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/jessica-cottis

Jessica Cottis website: https://www.jessicacottis.com/about

Angel in Dark Green by composer Julie Cooper is featured in this episode from her album Oculus (conducted by Jessica Cottis): https://juliecoopermusic.com/

Can you buy this independent podcaster a coffee? ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠

Complete Catalog of Episodes: ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/about⁠

Newsletter sign-up: ⁠https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter⁠

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photo of Jessica Cottis: Gerard Collett

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(02:46) Jessica Cottis transition from organist to conductor

(13:57) the experience of conducting an orchestra

(16:57) Julie Cooper Oculus project, synesthesia, chromesthesia

(20:41) Angel in Dark Green by Julie Cooper from Oculus

(25:45) synesthesia

(26:22) please support this listener-supported series!

(26:58) synesthesia, random assault and recovering from concussion

(37:08) childhood and the sheep farm, butterflies

(42:08) childhood musical education, trumpet, piano

(43:45)programming orchestral programs

(48:52) presenting and interpreting contemporary music

(52:20) equity and inclusion in classical music

(56:19) conducting mentor Colin Davis

(01:00:18) conducting mentor Colin Metters, the art of conducting

(01:07:41) how Jessica learns scores, listening to historical recordings

(01:16:00) inspiration from books

(01:17:34) time-space synesthesia

(01:19:16) childhood and using music to understand and express emotions

(01:20:52) early conducting experiences, founding the Bloomsbury Opera and getting sponsors

Previous Episode

Vahn Black: Celebrating Gladys Bentley

June 15, 2024

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67m

Vahn Black is a vocalist based in Atlanta, and in this episode we focused on her project celebrating Gladys Bentley, including Vahn’s fantastic album Petrichor. Born and raised in Detroit, Vahn grew up in a melting pot of music and this aided her in cultivating her soul-charged, jazz infused sound, marrying her reverence for vocalists like Sarah Vaughn with her love of producers like J Dilla. We talked about her musical education, her career path, her research into Black history and culture, her joy of collecting vinyl and some of her other creative outlets. It was interesting to hear about her contrasting experiences with work, life and music in Detroit, New York and Atlanta.

As a composer Black has lent her artistry to various art mediums from short films to interactive performance art. In 2023 she was selected to perform at NPR's Tiny Desk on the Road Tour stop in Atlanta, and for those listeners who are fans of Vahn Black and those who are discovering her, I hope you’ll enjoy this conversation which is punctuated with her music.

Vahn Black Website: https://www.vahnblack.com/about

Vahn Black's Care Too Much video NPR submission: https://youtu.be/B09NXWSoSWc?si=_f3SeS18fgN_MLB6

The transcript and video version of the podcast are linked here on my website: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/vahn-black

Can you buy this independent podcaster a coffee? ⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠

Complete Catalog of Episodes: ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/about⁠

Newsletter sign-up: ⁠https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter⁠

Linktree for social media: ⁠https://linktr.ee/leahroseman⁠

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(02:36) Gladys Bentley project

(10:58) intro to Too Soon from Petrichor

(12:13) live version Too Soon

(16:33) Detroit, Atlanta, finding her place and people

(20:20) The City from Temporary Colors

(23:20) Detroit, Atlanta, studying Classical music at Detroit School of Arts

(26:16) please support this series and sign up for my newsletter

(26:57) inspiring music teachers Connie Malabed and Cheryl Valentine

(29:08) studying Library Science, AI

(31:46) undergrad experience

(33:43) NPR Tiny Desk Block party

(35:22) Care Too Much

(40:05) Trunino Lowe arrangements, recording spirituals

(41:36) Vinyl collection

(50:55) Gladys Bentley project

(51:45) Lucid Dreams

(55:54) Gladys Bentley project next albums, different inspirations

(59:47) career path choices

(01:02:05) creative outlets crocheting, creative process

Next Episode

Cliff Beach: You Showed Me the Way

June 29, 2024

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104m

Cliff Beach is an award-winning singer, songwriter, author of “Side Hustle and Flow”, podcast host, record label owner and also works fulltime as VP of digital and operations in the beauty industry. This episode focuses on his recent album and tribute to Ella Fitzgerald “You Showed Me the Way”, we also got into his funk hit “Confident” and the last part of the interview we talked about some of his valuable advice from his book. Most of the guests I speak with work in music full-time, but of course that always means having many skill sets, and a few musicians like Cliff have a day job and also work hard on their music which is central to their lives. Cliff didn’t write his book for musicians, but for anyone that wants inspiration and advice for making the best of their lives, and I found a lot of what he wrote about resonated with me. Take a look at the time-stamps below.

Like all my episodes, you can watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast, and I’ve also linked the transcript to my website : https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/cliff-beach

Cliff Beach music link for You Showed Me the Way: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/cliffbeach1/you-showed-me-the-way-2

Cliff Beach website: https://californiasoulmusic.com/cliff-beach-fyc-confident

Check out cool new merch to support this series and channel: https://www.leahroseman.com/beautiful-shirts-and-more

Ko-fi link to buy this independent podcaster a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman

Complete Catalog of Episodes: ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/about⁠

Newsletter sign-up: ⁠https://mailchi.mp/ebed4a237788/podcast-newsletter⁠

Linktree for social media: ⁠https://linktr.ee/leahroseman⁠

Instagram and Facebook @cliffbeachmusic

photo: Sheldon Botler Photography

Timestamps:

(00:00) Intro

(02:34) jazz album “You Showed Me the Way” tribute to Ella Fitzgerald