Rafael Greco Interview | Verses Under My Shadow, Venezuelan Jazz & Guaco

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Venezuelan-born jazz saxophonist, composer, singer, producer, and arranger Rafael Greco. In this episode, we take a deep dive into his compelling new 2026 album, Verses Under My Shadow, his love of jazz, his Venezuelan roots, and an extraordinary career in music.

Released by Blue Canoe Records in April 2026, Verses Under My Shadow is Rafael's sophomore release for the label and features a remarkable cast of musicians, including Dave Weckl, Vinnie Colaiuta, Jimmy Haslip, Anton Fig, Scott Kinsey, Charles Altura, Luisito Quintero, Mark Ferber, and others.

The album moves through a fascinating blend of contemporary jazz, Afro-Latin rhythms, groove, experimental textures, vocals, electronics, percussion, and deeply personal storytelling. Across its 12 tracks, Rafael draws inspiration from literature, family, memory, friendship, loss, humor, history, and the world around him.

Born in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Rafael graduated from the prestigious José Luis Paz Conservatory and was an integral member of the National Youth Orchestra of his home state of Zulia. After moving to Caracas in 1988, he continued his advanced musical studies with masters including Gerry Weil, Álvaro Cordero, and Olegario Díaz.

Rafael went on to enjoy a distinguished career with Guaco, Venezuela's influential, multi-Latin Grammy-winning group. For decades, he toured internationally with the band, bringing the unique rhythmic spirit and musical perspective of Venezuela to audiences around the world.

In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore Venezuelan jazz, Latin jazz, Afro-Latin rhythms, composition, saxophone, vocals, production, arranging, Guaco, world music, touring, creativity, storytelling, and the inspiration behind Verses Under My Shadow.

It's a fascinating journey through Venezuelan music, jazz, literature, memory, and a lifetime spent creating across borders.

Get the Album
Rafael Greco — Verses Under My Shadow | Blue Canoe Records

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Lawrence Udeigwe Interview | Four Lemmas, Jazz, Mathematics & the Meaning of Music

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with Nigerian-born, New York-based artist Lawrence Udeigwe, a fascinating musician, composer, vocalist, pianist, mathematician, educator, and interdisciplinary thinker.

In this episode, we dive into his remarkable new 2026 album, Four Lemmas, and the extraordinary intersection of jazz, mathematics, neuroscience, music, teaching, perception, identity, and human expression.

Four Lemmas is an eight-track concept project built around mathematical ideas including orthogonality, sparse matrices, local maxima, and stable equilibrium. Rather than simply translating mathematics into music, Udeigwe uses these structures as lenses through which to explore emotion, identity, perception, clarity, independence, growth, and meaning.

Udeigwe's artistic and academic worlds are deeply connected. He works as a Professor of Mathematics at Manhattan University, while his creative life encompasses music, composition, vocals, piano, keyboards, writing, performance, and interdisciplinary exploration. His work is guided by the idea that structure shapes perception—and perception becomes expression.

On Four Lemmas, Lawrence performs alongside Steph Clement and Wayne Tucker on trumpet, Josh Green on drums, and Rade Bema on bass, with mixing and mastering by Dave Darlington. The album brings together modern jazz, soul, African influences, groove, poetry, and mathematical concepts into a singular musical vision.

In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore jazz and mathematics, music and neuroscience, Nigerian musical influences, composition, creativity, teaching, cognition, philosophy, identity, improvisation, perception, and the creative thinking behind Four Lemmas.

It's a fascinating journey through the mind of an artist who refuses to put music and intellectual inquiry into separate boxes.

Get the Album & Learn More
Lawrence Udeigwe — Official Music & Website 

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Dr. Lisha Antiqua Interview | Healing, Self-Care, Personal Transformation & Reclaiming Your Life

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. In this powerful episode, we talk with author, trainer, transformational educator, and founder of Your Own University, Dr. Lisha Antiqua, about healing, self-care, personal transformation, intimacy, self-trust, and creating a life beyond the experiences that have shaped us.

Dr. Lisha is the creator of the Amazing YOU and Reclaim Intimacy Method and has been recognized as America's Premier Expert in Self-Care. For decades, she has studied transpersonal psychology, human behavior, personal transformation, healing, and recovery from childhood sexual abuse.

After working with thousands of survivors, Dr. Lisha recognized a powerful pattern: healing can sometimes become centered entirely around what happened in the past, while the equally important question of what comes next can remain unanswered.

Her philosophy is rooted in the belief that healing was never meant to become your identity.

Today, Dr. Lisha helps women reclaim the parts of themselves that trauma and difficult experiences may have disrupted—including their voice, value, self-trust, relationships, intimacy, pleasure, purpose, confidence, and ability to create a life they genuinely love.

A prolific author, Dr. Lisha has written five books and continues to help people transform the way they understand healing, identity, relationships, and personal growth.

In this deeply meaningful conversation, we explore personal transformation, self-care, healing from trauma, self-trust, intimacy, relationships, purpose, resilience, human behavior, transpersonal psychology, recovery, empowerment, and building a meaningful life after difficult experiences.

This conversation isn't simply about surviving the past. It's about discovering the possibility of creating what comes next.

More Dr. Lisha Antiqua
Dr. Lisha Antiqua

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Liza Katsman Interview | Executive Coaching, Leadership & Empowering Entrepreneurs

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. In this episode, we talk with Liza Katsman, an ICF-certified executive coach and facilitator for entrepreneurs and leaders, about leadership, personal transformation, entrepreneurship, and finding the path between where you are and where you want to be.

Liza works with leaders and entrepreneurs who are ready to make meaningful changes in their professional and personal lives. Her coaching helps clients gain clarity, strengthen their leadership abilities, navigate transitions, and take purposeful steps toward their goals.

Her own journey is a powerful example of transformation. Liza began her career in education, transitioned into the corporate world, and eventually built her own coaching practice. Along the way, she experienced firsthand the profound difference between great leadership and poor leadership—how inspiring leaders can bring out the best in people while ineffective leadership can undermine confidence, motivation, and organizational culture.

A pivotal moment came when Liza worked with a coach who helped her recognize something important: the path she wanted was available to her, even though nobody in her immediate circle had taken that particular path before.

That realization ultimately helped lead her toward executive coaching and the work she does today.

In this engaging conversation, we explore executive coaching, leadership development, entrepreneurship, career transitions, personal growth, confidence, decision-making, professional transformation, workplace leadership, and the courage to create a path that may look different from everyone else's.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, executive, manager, emerging leader, career changer, or someone considering your next chapter, Liza's story offers an inspiring reminder that sometimes the biggest obstacle isn't whether a path exists—it's whether we can envision ourselves taking it.

Enjoy this insightful conversation with Liza Katsman.

More Liza Katsman
Liza K Coaching

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Stephen E. Wright Interview | Pick One Strategy, Business Growth & Profitable Momentum

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. In this episode, we talk with speaker, business strategist, consultant, and author Stephen E. Wright, an expert in helping small and midsize business owners cut through complexity, identify what really matters, and take the strategic action that creates meaningful momentum.

Stephen's approach is built around a deceptively simple idea: pick the right thing and focus on it.

Drawing on years of experience working inside struggling companies, growth-stage organizations, and business turnarounds, Stephen brings a practical, results-oriented perspective to the challenges facing today's entrepreneurs and leaders. His work helps business owners move from constant reaction and overload toward clarity, focus, execution, and profitable growth.

What makes Stephen's experience particularly valuable is his combination of real-world CEO and VP turnaround experience with more than a decade of consulting directly with business owners. He has helped leaders navigate challenges involving growth, expansion, team development, execution, leadership, strategy, and organizational performance.

In this engaging conversation, we explore business strategy, entrepreneurship, leadership, small business growth, business turnarounds, strategic planning, team development, execution, decision-making, focus, productivity, and creating profitable momentum.

Stephen also shares the stories, practical illustrations, and hard-earned lessons that have shaped his approach to helping leaders solve the right problems instead of simply working harder on the wrong ones.

If you're a small business owner, entrepreneur, CEO, executive, consultant, or leader struggling with too many priorities, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on how to simplify the noise, find the real issue, and make the move that matters most.

More Stephen E. Wright
Pick One Method

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Kirk McCarley Interview | Leadership, Faith, Coaching & Lessons for a Successful Life

Welcome to a new edition of the Famous Interviews with Joe Dimino series. In this episode, we sit down with Kirk McCarley, The Seed Sower Coach, author, executive leadership coach, and ESPN production assistant, for an inspiring conversation about leadership, personal growth, faith, communication, confidence, and discovering your God-given potential.

With more than 30 years of executive leadership experience across both public and private-sector organizations, Kirk has built a reputation for helping individuals grow beyond what they thought was possible. His coaching philosophy combines enthusiasm with reflection, determination with calm, and practical leadership experience with a deep belief in the potential within every person.

As The Seed Sower Coach, Kirk works with clients to help them develop self-confidence, strengthen their leadership abilities, improve communication, and pursue meaningful personal and professional growth.

But Kirk's story extends well beyond executive coaching. He also works as a Production Assistant for ESPN, supporting college football and basketball broadcasts, and stays active as a Certified Spinning Instructor, leading group cycling classes.

Kirk is also the author of Thoughts for My Kids...and Other People's Kids, a collection of thoughtful vignettes exploring leadership, communication, relationships, life lessons, personal success, and the principles that can help people navigate life's journey.

In this wide-ranging conversation, we explore executive leadership, coaching, faith, confidence, communication, personal development, purpose, sports, ESPN, cycling, fatherhood, mentoring, and the lessons that can help us become better leaders and better human beings.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, executive, coach, parent, young professional, sports fan, or simply someone looking for inspiration and practical wisdom, Kirk's story offers plenty to take away.

More Kirk McCarley
The Seed Sower Coach

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George Cotsirilos Interview | In The Wee Hours, Solo Jazz Guitar & a Remarkable Career

Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series with acclaimed Bay Area jazz guitarist and composer George Cotsirilos. In this episode, we take a deep dive into his remarkable career and his beautiful new 2026 album, In The Wee Hours.

On his seventh recording, George returns to the intimate sound of solo nylon-string jazz guitar, bringing beloved jazz standards and two original compositions to life with patience, warmth, subtlety, and extraordinary depth.

Recorded largely in unedited first takes over several years, In The Wee Hours captures the spontaneous character and emotional honesty of George's playing. Rather than relying on elaborate production, the album allows the guitar, the compositions, and the spaces between the notes to tell the story.

Originally from Chicago, George has been an important part of the San Francisco Bay Area jazz community for many years. His extensive career has placed him alongside an extraordinary range of musicians, from Bay Area jazz fixtures such as Mark Levine to internationally celebrated artists including blues legend Etta James and jazz icon Pharoah Sanders.

In this fascinating conversation, George and Joe Dimino explore solo jazz guitar, nylon-string guitar, jazz standards, original compositions, improvisation, recording techniques, first-take performances, the San Francisco jazz scene, Chicago roots, Etta James, Pharoah Sanders, Mark Levine, and the evolution of a lifelong musical voice.

In The Wee Hours is an intimate portrait of an artist who understands that sometimes the most powerful musical statement comes from simplicity, space, and letting the music breathe.

It's a story you need to hear. Dig this interview with George Cotsirilos!

More George Cotsirilos:
George Cotsirilos Official Website

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