Music Life and Times

About Music Life and Times

Music Life and Times, an ongoing discussion between internationally renowned jazz pianist Kevin Bales, and Mike Shaw, singer-pianist and author of the novel The Musician, argues that becoming an accomplished musician takes three commitments: discipline, self-acceptance or self-confidence, and cooperation. They are also the life lessons that music teaches those who would learn to play. Our podcast seeks to prove the premise through revelations about music and musicians past and present as well as from our own experiences as career musicians.

Publisher

Kevin Bales

Category

arts · music

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

3 Apr 2023

Latest episode

26 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

89 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Sept 2026

   EP89: Supportive Club Owners

   Some of the best places in America and around the world to play music are provided by club owners who see their role not as businesses designed to create profits, but as a service, to musicians as well as their audiences. By providing work for musicians and a place for people to hear great music, they live at the heart of the music community and are key to the very existence of the profession.

2. 

   12 Sept 2026

   EP88: The Upside of Jazz with Joe Alterman

   On Saturday evenings at 7:00 on WABE 90.1 FM, the National Public Radio affiliate in Atlanta, jazz pianist Joe Alterman hosts a show titled “The Upside of Jazz.” The show is not so much about songs or albums but “it's more around how they find hope in the music, how they have found their sound, or if they work in a variety of projects, how they stay themselves in totally different things,” Joe says. Beyond the musicians, Joe talks with people whose lives have been significantly impacted by jazz, like Oscar Peterson's wife and comedian Robert Klein. In this episode we talk with Joe about, among other jazz related issues, the show and some of the iconic figures who have appeared with him.

3. 

   28 Aug 2026

   EP87: Play for Someone You Love

   Rich Matteson was a jazz euphoniumist, rare enough in itself, but also a legendary teacher who started the jazz studies program at the University of North Florida. He recruited Kevin to the University and had a major influence on Kevin's career as a jazz pianist. One of Matteson's favorite lessons to his students was based on an experience recording with Louis Armstrong. Matteson recounts the tale here, and the fundamental lesson he took from it, Armstrong's advice to always “play for someone you love.”

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

283

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 45 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

40

Social presence

0

YouTube

64

Engagement

60

Contact Music Life and Times

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.