Jazz Vocalist Andy James has just released her eighth studio album. It’s on Le Coq Records which is an independent label started by James and her husband Piero Pata, not only as a vehicle for releasing her music but also to work with acclaimed veteran jazz musicians including John Patitucci, Nate Smith, Terell Stafford, Alex Acuna, Rick Margitza, Chico Pinheiro, and many more.

This latest recording is a fusion of jazz and flamenco music called, “Happy People.” You might ask why the blend of jazz and flamenco? Here’s where the story gets really interesting.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Andy heard both jazz and flamenco music at home. Her mother was a jazz vocalist and her father an aficionado of Flamenco music. At a young age, she fell in love with dancing, and particularly flamenco, but instructors were scarce in Australia. In order to pursue her passion, Andy moved to Spain to study flamenco and went on to become a world acclaimed flamenco dancer.

So, what influenced her to take a 180° career turn move to United States to become a jazz vocalist? That’s where we pick up the rest of this story in our conversation.

There have been a number of significant changes in the life of this noteworthy singer four years after releasing her debut recording. No doubt, people will be making even more comments about Anaïs’ ability to interpret song lyrics with emotional depth, enhanced musical maturity, and style after discovering more about her latest release. She has, once again, tackled the Great American Songbook with her newest album, LADY OF THE LAVENDER MIST, the inspiration which began while taking a train ride and listening to the music of Duke Ellington.

Our mission at All That’s Jazz is to elevate the voices of the people who create, produce, present and write about all Jazz idioms by helping them tell their backstories about why they do what they do, and what got them to this moment.

One such person is a man named Eric Oberstein. A young, highly educated, New York born and raised saxophonist and drummer of Cuban American heritage, Eric has always been on a fast track to success. He has followed a path that’s taken him from being a musician to becoming a brilliant, internationally respected and trusted arts leader, and a two-time Grammy and two-time Latin Grammy winning producer, curator and educator.

Eric collaborated for multiple years with GRAMMY-winning bandleader, pianist, composer Arturo O'Farrill, as well as forming a collaboration since 2016, with Cuban-born, GRAMMY-winning bandleader and drummer, Dafnis Prieto, who he currently manages.

My conversation with this highly accomplished and interesting man begins with a discussion about the often misunderstood role of a music producer. We also explore his career that was serendipitously launched by a questionnaire in a performance program, and all the experiences leading up his new business, Eric Oberstein Productions.