Joanna Sternberg is an American singer, songwriter, visual artist and multi-instrumentalist born and based in New York City.
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"I think I started listening to Sam & Dave when I was maybe in seventh grade and up till now it still puts me in a great mood and teaches me a lot about singing and harmonies and teaches me a lot about musicianship and the backing band, the baselines, just the feel of the music."Watch this moment
"the first one I'll talk about is Porgy and Bess, it's Gil Evans' arrangements, Miles Davis playing like a trumpet connoisseur over Porgy and Bess with the big band orchestra, tuba everything. It's the kind of thing you listen to a thousand times."Watch this moment
"I actually transcribed all the baselines from this and it was really very important to my musical learning as a bass player and also starts with a bass solo."Watch this moment
"the Jazz Master's is so cool because she plays all these really beautiful piano solos, really jazz piano solos but very inspired by Bach 'cause she was such a classical virtuoso."Watch this moment
"I really love Brahms. He wrote four symphonies in his life. The first one I think it took 10 or 20 years to write because he was so stressed out by his obsession with Beethoven, so that's kind of inspiring to me when I can't write."Watch this moment
"Scott Joplin's melodies just the feeling of his music really is a very anti-depressant for me and very inspiring and it's great to listen to when you're walking around."Watch this moment
"I'm tired of living and scared of dying and Paul Robeson is just one of my favorite singers. Also listening to his singing teaches me a lot about bass playing with the bow, like trying to emulate his voice."Watch this moment
"Ornette Coleman really changed the way I thought about music because there was less rules, and rules make me very anxious. He follows all the rules without following any; he knew exactly where he was in every song."Watch this moment
"Ornette Coleman really changed the way I thought about music because there was less rules, and rules make me very anxious. He follows all the rules without following any; he knew exactly where he was in every song."Watch this moment
"Tomorrow Is The Question! really changed the way I thought about music because there was less rules, and rules make me very anxious. He follows all the rules without following any; he's able to follow all the rules, he knew exactly where he was in every song."Watch this moment
"I first picked Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington. I admire the fact that he was classically trained, a classical virtuoso, and he kind of invented his own technique of playing."Watch this moment
Every picker shows up alone, sits down in front of the camera, and unpacks a bag. The next one is one click away.
