Vibraphonist Joel Ross Previews Hudson Jazz Festival

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: All Of It with Alison Stewart

Episode: Vibraphonist Joel Ross Previews Hudson Jazz Festival
Date: October 2, 2025
Host: Alison Stewart (A) | Guest: Joel Ross (B)

---

Main Theme

This episode highlights the upcoming Hudson Jazz Festival, featuring vibraphonist and composer Joel Ross as the headliner. Ross joins Alison Stewart in the studio for a live performance and a conversation about his latest album, New Blues, his personal journey as a musician, the unique qualities of the vibraphone, and what audiences can expect at the festival.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Joel Ross’s Latest Project: New Blues

[00:48-01:44]

• Ross describes New Blues as his "personal interpretation and exploration" of what the blues means historically and in the current era.
  • Quote: “I would say New Blues is a personal interpretation and exploration in, you know, what the history of the blues is as well as what it means to me and to my fellow musicians in this day and age.” (B, 00:54)
• He aimed to avoid merely imitating past icons, instead focusing on representing his and his band’s “personal sounds” while respecting the tradition.

2. Introduction to the Vibraphone

[01:44-02:37]

• Ross provides an accessible explanation of the vibraphone, highlighting its unique features:
  • A mallet percussion instrument with a sustain pedal and a vibrato motor.
  • Quote: “It gets its name, the vibraphone, because it has a motor. And that motor gives it vibrato, which is the woo, woo, woo, woo, woo sound…” (B, 02:10)
• Distinction from other mallet instruments due to its pedal and flat, aluminum bars.

3. Live Performance

[02:41-07:58; 13:45-20:37]

• Ross performs two pieces live in the studio:
  • An improvised take on "Autumn Leaves" (inspired by the show’s introduction).
  • The title track from his album, New Blues.
• Stewart is visibly excited, remarking, “That was really, really cool,” and taking photos of the performance (A, 08:47).

4. Early Musical Influences and Learning

[08:58-10:18]

• Ross is a twin; both he and his twin brother, Josh, began on drums—playing in church in Chicago.
• He started jazz and vibraphone at age 10, learning music like a language, from basic “letters and words” to full communication through improvisation.
  • Quote: “I teach now…like learning a language. You learn the letters to form words, and then you understand how different letters and words function…to communicate.” (B, 09:36)

5. Comparison of Vibraphone and Piano

[10:18-11:08]

• Ross describes the vibraphone as “the perfect meeting place of the piano and the drums.”
• Main difference: the piano allows ten fingers; the vibraphone (as Ross plays it) uses two mallets, limiting options but sharing a similar approach to harmony and rhythm.

6. Deciding Music Was His Life’s Work

[11:08-12:09]

• Ross credits supportive parents and Chicago’s educational programs for never having to question if music could be his career.
  • Quote: “I knew that's what I wanted to do. And I, besides my parents, so many programs at Chicago, the educational programs at our schools, they just fed into us.” (B, 11:30)

7. Key Mentors and Life Lessons

[12:09-13:29]

• His father, a church leader and counselor, was instrumental—encouraging practice and recognizing potential even before Ross saw it himself.
  • Quote: “He saw the potential before we ever did. And to this day, it…had a long lasting effect on how I approach music today and how I share this information with others.” (B, 12:56)
• These lessons inform both Ross's music and how he teaches the next generation.

8. Creative Process: How Joel Ross Writes Music

[20:37-22:47]

• Inspiration can come from any experience: city sounds, films, or musical moments.
• He lets ideas “develop on their own” and allows songs to reveal their needs, rather than imposing structure too early.
• “New Blues” arose from just a few melodic phrases, allowing room for open interpretation by the band.
  • Quote: “It starts with an inspired idea, and from there it'll hopefully figure itself out, depending on what the idea calls for.” (B, 22:44)

9. Hudson Jazz Festival Performance Preview

[22:47-23:37]

• Ross will perform material from New Blues with bassist Kanoa Mendenhall, drummer Jeremy Dutton, and pianist Micah Thomas. There’s excitement about playing with Thomas, whom they rarely get to collaborate with.
  • Quote: “It'll be nice to play some of this music with Micah because we've all known him and played with him in different iterations, but it'll be cool to do this with him.” (B, 23:10)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “I just knew that I loved it. And I've been blessed and fortunate to be able to make money playing music.” (B, 11:53)
• On teaching and music as language: “You learn the letters to form words…and eventually understand how to communicate.” (B, 09:36)
• Host Alison Stewart’s delight: “That was really, really cool.” (A, 08:47)
• Ross on improvisation: “I just think it was like learning a language…how to communicate about the song that is Autumn Leaves and improvise a conversation about it.” (B, 09:58)
• On creative method: “I try to let all musical ideas develop on their own and not try to assert what I want it to be.” (B, 21:10)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:54: New Blues vision and intention
• 01:44: Introduction to the vibraphone
• 02:41: First live performance (“Autumn Leaves”)
• 08:58: Early influences and family background
• 10:33: Vibraphone vs. piano comparison
• 11:17: Deciding on a music career
• 12:18: Mentorship and life lessons from his father
• 13:40: Second performance (“New Blues”)
• 20:37: Artistic process—how Ross writes music
• 22:52: Hudson Jazz Festival set details

---

Conclusion

The episode offers an intimate, engaging glimpse into Joel Ross's artistry—his reverence for musical history, his creative process, and the thread connecting his family, faith, and community support to his journey as an acclaimed jazz vibraphonist. His preview of the Hudson Jazz Festival promises a performance rooted in tradition but bursting with the vitality of today’s jazz scene, inviting listeners both to appreciate his musicianship and to consider how life itself inspires art.

---

Transcript

[A]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Since fall is now in full swing, many of you might have plans for a trip upstate. Here's one idea for some fun in Hudson this weekend. The Hudson Jazz Festival is taking place starting tomorrow through Sunday. The headliner of the festival is composer and vibraphon is Joel Ross. He's sitting right there. Ross lives in Brooklyn by way of Chicago. His latest album is called New Blues. Joel is playing the Sunday in Hudson at 5pm with his band, aptly named Good Vibes. He's joining me now for a live performance before the festival. Hey, welcome.

[B]

Thank you, Alison.

[A]

So your latest album is called New Blues. How would you describe your vision for the project?

[B]

I would say New Blues is a personal interpretation and exploration in, you know, what the history of the blues is as well as what it means to me and to my fellow musicians in this day and age.

[A]

What did you want it to sound like?

[B]

To feel like it was important to me that it sounds like what we sound like today? I didn't want to sound like I'm trying to sound like anybody who I looked up to in the past or listened to, but that we stayed true to our personal sounds and the way that we interpret music today while still being respectful to the idiom and the art form and the history before it.

[A]

Now I'm looking at the instrument that is over your shoulder. I don't know a lot about it. Would you tell me a little bit about the vibraphone?

[B]

Yes. The vibraphone is a mallet percussion instrument. So meaning you strike it, and I'll be hitting it with only two mallets, though some people use three or four or more. It's special in the mallet instrument family because it's one of the only instruments that has a pedal. It has a sustained pedal similar to the piano, and it has aluminum bars, and they're all flat instead of raised like on a xylophone or marimba, because there's a dampener pedal. And it gets its name, the vibraphone, because it has a motor. And that motor gives it vibrato, which is the woo, woo, woo, woo, woo sound that the motor allows me to change the speed on the instrument. So that's the vibraphone in a nutshell.

[A]

Well, let's hear a little bit of it. What are we going to hear first?

[B]

I'm going to stand in front of the instrument and figure it out right now.

[A]

All right. Well, you just stand on up, walk on over. Joe Ross is going to decide between now. And when he gets behind the vibraphone, what he is going to play. Sa.

[B]

Sa.

[A]

My guest is vibraphonist and composer Joel Ross. He's here with his VOD to perform live ahead of his appearance at the Hudson Jazz Festival, happening this weekend in Hudson. It's October 3rd through the 5th. Joel is playing on the 5th at 5pm his latest album is called New Blues. That was great.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

That was really, really cool. Luke's bringing me my phone so I can take pictures of your next performance. How does one learn to do that? When did it start?

[B]

I. I am a twin.

[A]

You're a twin?

[B]

Yes. And I have a twin brother named Josh Ross. And we both started on drums.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And we grew up in the church playing. Playing drums in church. So music was all over the household, listening to everything. In Chicago, I started playing jazz specifically and vibraphone at the same time around 10 years old. So by that time, music was already a part of my life. But that's when we started learning, like, the grammar, like, theory and understanding scales and things of that nature from there. And this is the way I teach now. I just think it was like learning a language. You know, you learn the letters to form words, and then you understand how different letters and words function in different ways to formulate sentences and eventually understand how to communicate. And so all of this, which. That was a version of Autumn Leaves, which I was inspired by your introduction, it's how I figure out how to communicate about the song that is Autumn Leaves and improvise a conversation about it.

[A]

It's interesting to watch you play because there is the pedal underneath. And when I came in earlier, you were on the piano, and you play piano as well.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

What's the difference between playing the vibraphone and playing the piano? Because I can imagine it's not that different.

[B]

Yeah, it's definitely a huge similarity. I think the vibraphone is actually the perfect meeting place of the piano and the drums.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The main difference being you have 10 fingers on the piano, and I'm only using two mallets for the vibe, so that limits the choices of what I can say or what I may decide to say or how I can say things on the instrument. But other than that, I think of the two instruments as very, very close.

[A]

When did you decide that music was going to be your life? You could do it as a hobby or you could do it as your profession.

[B]

I think from the beginning. As soon as we started, my parents were very supportive of us pursuing this. And once they knew we Were serious. They just fed into us doing all these programs and getting teachers and. And just absorbing as much music. So I never questioned the ability to be able to do music. I knew that's what I wanted to do. And I, besides my parents, so many programs at Chicago, the educational programs at our schools, they just fed into us. And I knew that. Maybe I hoped, but I knew that I was going to find a way to continue to do music whether it was work or not. I just knew that I loved it. And I've been blessed and fortunate to be able to make money playing music.

[A]

Who turned out to be a mentor or somebody who just really believed in you, maybe when you didn't believe in yourself.

[B]

I have to say, my father.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

In the sense of he was a pastor in church.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

He's not specifically a pastor, but he's. He's a marriage counselor, a Sunday school teacher, a mentor in the church.

[A]

I knew who he is.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

I knew who he is.

[B]

And for us, I think, especially when we were younger, he would just express the need to practice. As a young, stubborn boy, I didn't always listen to him. Or rather, he would sometimes express. If you would put in just a little more time to certain things, you would be that much further along. And at the time, and though we did do a lot of practicing, a lot of playing, I knew I wasn't at the time living up to the potential that I could have. So now I express this to a lot of the cats that I teach now. But he saw the potential before we ever. Before we ever did. And to this day, it is a long. It's had a long lasting effect on how I approach music today and how I share this information with others.

[A]

Also. How you approach life. Yeah, I have to imagine.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right, you're gonna head on back to the vibraphone. What are you gonna play for us next? You're gonna decide between here and there.

[B]

I'm gonna do something from the album. I think I'll do the title track. New blues, New blue. All right.

[A]

Joel Ross is headed toward his vibraphone. He's going to perform for us. Sa that is vibraphonist and composer Joel Ross. He's here with his vibes, performed live ahead of his appearance at the Hudson Jazz Festival, happening this weekend in Hudson, New York, October 3rd through the 5th. Joel is playing the Night of the 5th at Hudson Heritage Main Stage. His latest album is called New Blues. How do you write?

[B]

Oof. It changes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Generally, I live life and just get inspired by an experience. Whether It's a musical experience. Maybe something rhythmic. I could be walking down the street, hear construction and hear a rhythm, a pulse coming from something. Could be watching TV or a movie and hear some little musical theme, which usually any moment like that will happen, and then the idea will get stuck in my head, and I'll keep ruminating over it until I can either write it down or sit at an instrument and play it. And then I really try to let all musical ideas develop on their own and not try to assert what I want it to be. So I'll often I'll just. Yeah, just loop an idea, really sort of meditate on it and just keep doing it until I'm familiar with it. And then try to let it naturally see what flows next and really just build songs based on that process. And then try to figure out, does this need more? Does this feel complete? And so that'll change. Like something like New Blues is really just two or three melodic phrases that call and response. But it didn't really need much more than that, which allows us to. That's the written information. And then from there, we can interpret it as openly or as strictly as we want to, while there are other compositions that call for a lot of notes on the page just for the sake of getting the information out. So it starts with an inspired idea, and from there it'll hopefully figure itself out, depending on what the idea calls for.

[A]

Let's talk about this weekend. What can we expect? Who's at the jazz festival? What are you gonna do?

[B]

I believe we're gonna interpret some music from New Blues. It'll be with my bassist and drummer, Kanoa Mendenhall, and Jeremy Dutton, who are on the record, and a good friend of ours, Micah Thomas, on piano, who we don't get to play with very often.

[A]

So you smiled when you said that.

[B]

Yeah. It'll be. It'll be nice to play some of this music with Micah because we've all known him and played with him in different iterations, but it'll be cool to do this with him.

[A]

That is happening In Hudson, New York. It's the Hudson Jazz Festival. It's happening from October 3rd through the 5th. Joel Ross will be performing there. He's a vibraphonist and composer, and he's been spending some time with us. Thank you for coming into the studio.

[B]

Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.

[C]

Since WNYC's first broadcast in 1924, we've been dedicated to creating the kind of content we know the world needs. In addition to this award winning reporting. Your sponsorship also supports inspiring storytelling and extraordinary music that is free and accessible to all. To get in touch and find out more, visit sponsorship.wnyc.org Our state has changed a lot in the last 140 years. We know because MultiCare has been here guided by a single making our communities healthier. That comes from making courageous decisions, partnering with local communities to grow programs and services, and expanding healthcare access to those who need it most. Together, we're building a healthier future. Learn [e-mail].