Tal Yahalom is an award-winning jazz guitarist and composer who has just released a compelling quintet album, Mirror Image  with  refreshingly unique instrumentation: violin, cello, percussion, sax and flute and both nylon-string and electric guitar. You’ll be hearing excerpts from the album and hear about Tal’s creative process and collaborators including percussioninst Rogerio Boccato and David Leon on sax and flute. Tal told me about some great advice he got from Pat Metheny, whom he met  when Tal won the Detroit Jazz Festival National Guitar Competition, and the invaluable guidance of key mentors throughout his education and career. Tal recently came back from musically immersive travels in Brazil and Argentina, and it was inspiring to hear about his experiences their as well as hear about several of his collaborators,  including his band KADAWA, and we’re featuring a track from their new album as well. Towards the end of this interview, Tal shared some personal reflections on his new duo with vocalist Danielle Wertz, and some very wise insights into student-centered learning, which I think apply quite broadly, not just to music.  Like all my episodes, you can watch this on my YouTube channel or listen to the podcast on all the podcast platforms, and I’ve also linked the transcript

This episode is a special Catch-Up episode with the Dutch guitarist and composer Marc van Vugt, who was previously featured in Season 2 with his album The Lonely Coyote. Today you’ll hear a selection of highlights from his new solo guitar album, The Curious Badger. We caught up on some of his recent projects, and he also shared some wonderful insights into his creative process, and different ways for independent musicians to find audiences for their music.